Monorails to no longer operate during Evening Extra Magic Hours

[mom2rtk]

If the issue is maintenance, why don't they at least run the resort monorail? Have guests show there room keys when they get on (make them a distinct color so they wouldn't have to look to close.)

I just don't see that ever working. Too many people have ADR's in the resort restaurants. Nor do I think they want to staff at the level required to check ID's.

 

[Don Disney]

Oh the times we live in.Just another victim of the"cut-back"economy;or perhaps it's just not worth all of the extra expense of pm EMH-I can see how it's not economically feasable to have the park open so late and burning all of that energy up for a relatively empty park.I love pm EMH,so I hope they'll keep it in some form or fashion-we LOVED being in the MK at 1:00 am riding rides,and feeling really special being able to be there without the"masses"! It made staying on-site even more worth it.As for the monorail,I hope it works out too,although we can't afford any of the monorail resorts.

 

[katdralion]

The obvious flaw is making this a blanket change beyond the late-night summer hours. Early park closings during non-peak times will REALLY mess with people's late ADR's

This is my main problem. We usually vacation in November or December and stay at BWV or BCV.

At this time of year, when the parks close early, there's not a whole lot to do in the evenings so we will often book late ADR's and resort hop round the MK resorts.

This year we will be there at the beginning of December when MK is only open late 1 night a week so effectively we will be losing the monorail as a form of evening transport.

Having to use the buses at the end of a long day is just no fun, especially with the new bus design which has less seats and more standing room.

Now don't get me wrong, I would be perfectly willing to accept this inconvenience if I was certain that it really was necessary for safety reasons AND would be of limited duration. But I'm not convinced that this is the case.

For us, the main attraction of Disney is not the rides, it is the theming, the attention to detail, the atmosphere and last but not least, the service. Over the years we have seen a lot of the little details and special touches disappear and the level of service decline dramatically. This saddens me.

We have taken annual Disney vacations since 1994 but are now beginning to think that enough is enough!

 

[KSDisneyDad]

Been reading this fast moving thread here and there.

We are owners of BLT and although disappointed, this will not affect our trips too much. On our last 10-night trip, we did do evening EMH twice. Once was a failure and we returned early, but the second time we did ride the resort monorail back to the CR. The express was already parked for the night inside the CR. I would miss the resort monorail for that one night, but it's not the end of our trips.

With respect to the beginning of the end to EMH. Am I the only one that really misses the days when on-site guests paid an extra fee for evening EMH at the MK? It was about $10 or $12 per person as I recall and you received a bracelet. I liked it as it kept the crowds down. It was a lot of fun! The last few times we've tried evening EMH, they were so unbelievably packed it wasn't that much fun. Granted, it did get a little better after 1:30 am, but the line for Splash was still 30 minutes long!

We probably won't be doing EMH anyway on our next trip due to the EMH crowds. I'd rather pay a little extra and have smaller crowds. Don't know if that would bring back the monorail, but with smaller crowds, the transportation back should be easier.

Granted, cut-backs aren't fun, but we loved the new MMY show on the castle, the new Star Tours 2.0, the new queues at HM and SM and are looking forward to the Fantasyland expansion.

Out of curiosity, how many people on this thread actually wrote Disney a letter expressing their displeasure with this decision? Isn't that more productive than complaining here anyway? I've written Disney in the past with a few complaints. One of my complaints, enough others also expressed dissatisfaction and it was changed back. I've heard a rumor that another one may be addressed in the near future (fingers crossed). Disney does actually listen (at least sometimes).

 

[cseca]

Without getting into a discussion about tired/overtired kids... crossing the street shouldn't be a problem, nor should 'dodging buses' if one sensibly uses the long-installed traffic light; meteorological conditions at 3 AM in Central Florida are generally not conducive to pouring rain; and has been indicated several times, new visitors are the ones least affected by a change like this - they weren't there before, so they have nothing to miss.

Just want to point out that the last time we were there the traffic light for pedestrian didn't work properly. As in it won't change the "walk" at all, didn't matter how long we waited.

And I can attest that walking back from MK to BLT at night with a tired kid is a long walk, worse than taking the monorail because at least on the monorail we get to rest our legs/feet before we had to walk again to BLT... then again to some people it doesn't matter so much.

 

[Beauty & the Best]

Have only read a few posts on the first and last few pages, but I think that shutting down the monorail for hard ticket events (MNSSHP and MVMCP) is an especially terrible idea - as a "drive in" customer (even when we stay at resorts we still drive), I wouldn't do a hard ticket event if it meant we had to take busses from MK back to the TTC or wait for the boat.

Can you imagine how many people will be in those lines after the 1st parade of the night?

Dear Disney,

If you're listening, this new policy really sucks.

 

[yooperfan]

I just don't see that ever working. Too many people have ADR's in the resort restaurants. Nor do I think they want to staff at the level required to check ID's.

Unless they are monorail resort guest, they wouldn't have paid the big bucks for access to the resort monorail, therefore they should use the bus to get to ADR's

 

[keypooh90]

Yup...actually a CM announced this on one of the Friendship boats we rode two days ago.

 

[FireDancer]

This appears to be the "current" position. But it did not start out that way. It was initially announced as a "permanent" schedule change applying to EMH and Events with an invitation to contact guest services to register thoughts/comments/complaints. Then it was changed to "permanent, but could be revisited" and would apply to EMH and Events, and is now stated to be "indefinite due to maintenance" and applicable to EMH with a decision forthcoming as to Events. I think that there was every reason to vent over the course of 55 pages, and I have no doubt that those 55 pages along with the thoughts/comments/complaints sent to guest services has caused an instant revisitation of the whole plan.

Everything that was said before the article by Garcia was merely speculation. Just because it comes from a CM, some possibly non-existent "memo", or an online CM forum (even one run by Disney) doesn't mean it was ever their official stance on the matter.

To believe anything that was "official" in this entire thread before Jason's article is to be as gullible as the guests who believe the rumors the bus driver tells them.

 

[MissJanice]

I would be most concerned about the weather condiditions when they stop all the water transportation. That scares me a little, especially if you need to get to the TTC.

 

[mcd2745]

With respect to the beginning of the end to EMH. Am I the only one that really misses the days when on-site guests paid an extra fee for evening EMH at the MK? It was about $10 or $12 per person as I recall and you received a bracelet. I liked it as it kept the crowds down. It was a lot of fun! The last few times we've tried evening EMH, they were so unbelievably packed it wasn't that much fun. Granted, it did get a little better after 1:30 am, but the line for Splash was still 30 minutes long!

Several people (myself included) have referenced the old "E-Ride" nights at MK throughout this thread. I thought it was one of the best ideas they ever had. You really felt like you had the place to yourself and was well worth the money.

Some PPs (again, myself included) hope that if they did eliminate evening EMH in its current form that it would pave the way for them to bring that back. But unfortunately, the majority believe that the price would be much higher and the number of tickets they sell (which was very limited) would be much higher as well. Can't say I disagree with that.

I've never done the current "free" version of evening EMH. I usually go with the strategy of avoiding the parks with the evening EMH. According to you at least, they're very crowded anyway. According to another PP in this thread, they're completely empty. And this is what I've always seen on the topic - completely opposite views. It's never a consensus. Can it really be that random or hit and miss?

 

[racefanof88]

I would be most concerned about the weather condiditions when they stop all the water transportation. That scares me a little, especially if you need to get to the TTC.

What weather conditions? I heard that it doesn't get bad in Central Florida after 10pm .

 

[cindyfan]

My point is with two tired kids, at 3am, it might as well be an 8 mile walk. Crossing the street, dodging umpteen busses, carrying two exhausted kids, in the pouring rain, after paying that amount of money would be a deal breaker for most, if not all, new Disney guests.

I agree with your senario and your opinion of the reaction of new Disney guests.
it was only a couple years ago that we stayed at CR SPECIFICALLY for the monorail on EMH nights!!! We did a split stay.
We've also done a couple split stays at Poly for the same reason.... convinience of the monorail for EMH and MNSSHP.

That being said....... we never would have stayed at either if we knew we were going to have to use a bus or walk in order to get back that late.

It may seem like a short walk for some of us from MK to CR...... but.... it really isnt that short for most people! especially with kids late at night!!!!!!
and espcecially when the entrance to the monorail is right at the exit!!!

 

[Colleen27]

I just don't see that ever working. Too many people have ADR's in the resort restaurants. Nor do I think they want to staff at the level required to check ID's.

And besides, Disney CMs are notoriously non-confrontational as a matter of policy. They aren't especially good about enforcing the resort-guests-only rules during evening EMH or telling people that the refill stations aren't for Big Gulps, why would we think they'd play the heavy on who can use the resort monorail?

 

[jade1]

Several people (myself included) have referenced the old "E-Ride" nights at MK throughout this thread. I thought it was one of the best ideas they ever had. You really felt like you had the place to yourself and was well worth the money.

Some PPs (again, myself included) hope that if they did eliminate evening EMH in its current form that it would pave the way for them to bring that back. But unfortunately, the majority believe that the price would be much higher and the number of tickets they sell (which was very limited) would be much higher as well. Can't say I disagree with that.

I've never done the current "free" version of evening EMH. I usually go with the strategy of avoiding the parks with the evening EMH. According to you at least, they're very crowded anyway. According to another PP in this thread, they're completely empty. And this is what I've always seen on the topic - completely opposite views. It's never a consensus. Can it really be that random or hit and miss?

Well gee if your now going to pay for EMH, you really deserve a monorail ride home.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

That's just not realistic.

Change the resort to Poly or Grand Floridian, and maybe they'd balk at taking a bus, but the 8 minute walk from MK to CR would unlikely be a deal-breaker.
(Many guests choose CR BECAUSE of the walkway.)

If "no monorail for PM EMH" was gonna throw 'em, they'd find something else to be a "never again" situation, anyway.

I agree because the walkway is what sets apart the Monorail Resorts, that's if people want to stay somehwere that gets them back to their resort from the Magic Kingdom as fast as possible.

This was in reference to the Contemporary Resort.
There (very likely) won't be a bus to/from the Contemporary.
It's just across the street from the MK bus loading area.

I also doubt there will be a bus from the Magic Kingdom to the Contemporary because of the walkway. A few years ago when I left the Magic Kingdom one night and was walking towards the Resort Monorail ramp a Cast Member said if we are going to the Contemporary use the walkway because there was an issue with the Monorail. So it's not like they added a bus will be along shortly because there was no other option besides the walkway.

 

[mom2rtk]

I'm curious...... those of you who think the walk back to the Contemporary is not biggie........ do any of you have little kids?

 

[Robo]

I'm curious...... those of you who think the walk back to the Contemporary is not biggie........ do any of you have little kids?

Disney parks are big places.

 

[mom2rtk]

Disney parks are big places.

Well, a fair number of them had Disney strollers for their little ones, and had to leave those behind when they left the park.

And that's my point. It's a HUGE place. And at the end of a very long day (which is after all the timeframe we're talking about here) it's hard enough to drag yourself the extra distance. Those with tired kids will really have their work cut out for them.

 

[rie'smom]

Several people (myself included) have referenced the old "E-Ride" nights at MK throughout this thread. I thought it was one of the best ideas they ever had. You really felt like you had the place to yourself and was well worth the money.

Some PPs (again, myself included) hope that if they did eliminate evening EMH in its current form that it would pave the way for them to bring that back. But unfortunately, the majority believe that the price would be much higher and the number of tickets they sell (which was very limited) would be much higher as well. Can't say I disagree with that.

I've never done the current "free" version of evening EMH. I usually go with the strategy of avoiding the parks with the evening EMH. According to you at least, they're very crowded anyway. According to another PP in this thread, they're completely empty. And this is what I've always seen on the topic - completely opposite views. It's never a consensus. Can it really be that random or hit and miss?

The am EMHs are wonderful. We love those in the evenings too but the crowds don't die down until 1am so we don't attend those as often.