Monorails to no longer operate during Evening Extra Magic Hours

[asta]

I keep seeing it mentioned by various posters that the hard ticket events are so much more crowded than EMH. I can't directly compare because I have never attended a hard ticket after hours event but I have attended quite a few July EMH at the magic kingdom and they are always packed. I am talking over an hour wait to get on the mountains at 1am. Are you guys sure that your hard ticket events are that much more crowded or if they are even as crowded as EMH at the MK? Not trying to argue, I just wonder on what you are basing these claims. Maybe your reference for EMH is at a less crowded time. And more to the point, I want to know when those uncrowded EMH are because all of the July ones I have attended were too crowded to be much fun.

 

[Eponine1]

The monorail will be running until at least 10PM those nights.

Yes but I'm staying at the Poly which means the MK monorail will not be running.

So I take the monorail to the TTC and walk to wait until after 10 pm (depending on where we view IllumiNations) and take the bus back.

 

[Robo]

Yes but I'm staying at the Poly which means the MK monorail will not be running.

So I take the monorail to the TTC and walk to wait until after 10 pm (depending on where we view IllumiNations) and take the bus back.

There is little doubt that the Resort Monorails will run until 10PM (actually after 10, if you count that, once boarded, they must finish the route.)

The MK Express will stop running an hour after MK closes, but that doesn't (necessarily) mean that the Resort Monorail will stop running then.

Of course, there would be little point in continuing to run the Epcot/TTC Monorail until 10 (again, likely after 10) if they stopped running the Resort Monorail earlier than that.

 

[mom2rtk]

I keep seeing it mentioned by various posters that the hard ticket events are so much more crowded than EMH. I can't directly compare because I have never attended a hard ticket after hours event but I have attended quite a few July EMH at the magic kingdom and they are always packed. I am talking over an hour wait to get on the mountains at 1am. Are you guys sure that your hard ticket events are that much more crowded or if they are even as crowded as EMH at the MK? Not trying to argue, I just wonder on what you are basing these claims. Maybe your reference for EMH is at a less crowded time. And more to the point, I want to know when those uncrowded EMH are because all of the July ones I have attended were too dorwded to be much fun.

There's really no way to quanitfy it. We usually attend MVMCP the last week it's offered in December and have been to many actual sell-outs. A large number of people do stay until the very end, compared with an EMH night where people dissipate throughout the evening (When you invest $60 a head, you tend to stay as long as possible). Exiting the park on a non sold-out night around 11 PM last December 14th (The only reason this one didn't sell out was becuase it was BITTER cold:

 

[jade1]

The monorail will be running until at least 10PM those nights.

How do you know that? Or do you mean from EPCOT to TTC only? If the MK loop goes down at 8PM-you wont get back by monorail.

 

[Robo]

How do you know that? Or do you mean from EPCOT to TTC only? If the MK loop goes down at 8PM-you wont get back by monorail.

I don't "know" anything.
But, based on how the transportation has normally worked up until now...

There would little doubt that the Resort Monorails will run until 10PM on nights that Epcot is open until 9PM (actually after 10, if you count that, once boarded, they must finish the route.)

There are 3 routes to consider, so
the MK Express will stop running an hour after MK closes, but that doesn't (necessarily) mean that the Resort Monorail will stop running then.

Of course, there would be little point in continuing to run the Epcot/TTC Monorail until 10 (again, likely after 10) if they stopped running the Resort Monorail earlier than that.

 

[mousescrapper]

It just really sucks for the people staying at the Contemporary/ Bay Lake Tower cause once they leave the park their gonna have to walk back to their room from the Magic Kingdom, because there is no boat that runs from the Kingdom, neither is there a bus that rides there from the Kingdom. So them guests are gonna be tired from walking around all night, than they gotta literally walk back to their room. Any thoughts?

IMHO the walk back and forth from BLT/CR to MK really isn't that bad at all...we walked it muliple times during our Nov stay last yr...one time we took the circut on the monorail it actually took longer...


the path never seemed overly crowded at any time of the day and it didn't neccessarily seem longer or harder even walking back at 2 am

yes it can be tough for those that easily tire or just are worn out after a full day at the park...but I am just saying it's very doable and nice


I wonder though if it will fill up come the monorail not running as long we have a MK EMH night planned in Jan next yr...have to wait and see...we wouldn't opt to take the monorail either way...

my main bug is the EP track...that really stinks to have to take a bus back to BLT when we look forward and enjoy the perk of the monorail...yes the monorail does get packed and crowded like buses but always seems quicker...are there even buses that go to/from EP to CR? andd the other monorail resorts

my DH and I are planning on an EP EMH night in Oct... not to thrilled about this change, based on lines may opt to do a cab back now. have to just wait it out...at least it's only us and not w/ our kids in tow that's always the best part of monorial not having to carry/hold the sleeping child you have to take out of the stroller...

 

[jade1]

I don't "know" anything.
But, based on how the transportation has normally worked up until now...

There would little doubt that the Resort Monorails will run until 10PM on nights that Epcot is open until 9PM (actually after 10, if you count that, once boarded, they must finish the route.)

There are 3 routes to consider, so
the MK Express will stop running an hour after MK closes, but that doesn't (necessarily) mean that the Resort Monorail will stop running then.

Of course, there would be little point in continuing to run the Epcot/TTC Monorail until 10 (again, likely after 10) if they stopped running the Resort Monorail earlier than that.

Well sorry-when you said it as a fact, I would naturally assume you knew-my mistake and I apologize.

I agree "up until now" it would be intuitively obvious to even the most casual observer that a monorail resort would get a monorail ride home up to an hour after EPCOT closes. I just have read on here that MK loop may close at 7PM (8PM) those nights-so how would you get the monorail ride back to your room? I could be way off-but I thought if a monorail took you to the POLY-then GF, that it would go past the MK on its way to CR/BLT-is that not correct?

 

[katieam1]

IMHO the walk back and forth from BLT/CR to MK really isn't that bad at all...we walked it muliple times during our Nov stay last yr...one time we took the circut on the monorail it actually took longer...


the path never seemed overly crowded at any time of the day and it didn't neccessarily seem longer or harder even walking back at 2 am

yes it can be tough for those that easily tire or just are worn out after a full day at the park...but I am just saying it's very doable and nice


...

We did the same thing on our last trip. Most every night we walked back. Alot of times morning we also walked over because of the lines of those leaving after having breakfast at Chef Mickeys. During our afternoon naps from the park we did use the monorail. It ended up being way faster to walk than standing in the long lines. A lot of times like you we found the path overly crowded at all. It was almost nice to take the walk the only part that made me nervous was crossing the road way. They seem to drive super fast in that section and at times people would try to beat the light so you really have to be on your toes we felt. I am glad BLT is where it is and not at the POLY or GF because those are the places I could see it really affecting negatively. You are so close and at times so far away.

My only concern with the monorail shutting down would be the Epcot nights because we have two little ones and a HUGE double stroller that is not fun to get on and off a bus.

 

[Robo]

I thought if a monorail took you to the POLY-then GF, that it would go past the MK on its way to CR/BLT-is that not correct?

There are actually three monorail routes (with multiple trains running on each route).

1) "Epcot Monorail" TTC > Epcot > TTC > (loop runs clockwise)
2) "MK Express Monorail" TTC > MK > TTC > (loop runs counter-clockwise)
3) "Resort Monorail" TTC > Poly > Grand Floridian > MK > Contemp. > TTC > (loop runs clockwise)

Logically, there would be little point in continuing to run the Epcot/TTC Monorail until 10 (again, likely after 10) if they stopped running the Resort Monorail earlier than that.

 

[honeymo78]

There are actually three monorail routes (with multiple trains running on each route).

1) "Epcot Monorail" TTC > Epcot > TTC > (loop runs clockwise)
2) "MK Express Monorail" TTC > MK > TTC > (loop runs counter-clockwise)
3) "Resort Monorail" TTC > Poly > Grand Floridian > MK > Contemp. > TTC > (loop runs clockwise)

Logically, there would be little point in continuing to run the Epcot/TTC Monorail until 10 (again, likely after 10) if they stopped running the Resort Monorail earlier than that.

I completely agree with your logic. If the resort monorail is not running while the epcot line is still in service, they would have to provide busses to the three resorts from TTC. If that were the case, why not just halt the epcot line entirely after the MKT lines close and just use the bus routes they now have in place for epcot emh.

Also to the other poster, the resort line does pass through MK but it would not have to stop there if it was no longer servicing that station.

 

[Wishes Count]

What we were told yesterday was that:

The Monorail line between Epcot and TTC will stop running at 10pm, at that time guests who need to return to the Magic Kingdom will need to take a bus there. (Same goes for guest trying to get to Epcot parking from Magic Kingdom after 10pm)

The Monorail still stops at 10pm even on EMH nights.

In the near future the Monorail will stop running from Magic Kingdom 1 hour after park closing.

At this time it appears that the Resort line is still operating.

This is not being done because of a "Noise issue" but rather for our guests safety. Our maintenance team has requested more time to make sure that the monorails are operating correctly and safety for our Guests. That is why they are being shut down earlier. Safety is Disney's #1 priority

 

[jade1]

I completely agree with your logic. If the resort monorail is not running while the epcot line is still in service, they would have to provide busses to the three resorts from TTC. If that were the case, why not just halt the epcot line entirely after the MKT lines close and just use the bus routes they now have in place for epcot emh.

Also to the other poster, the resort line does pass through MK but it would not have to stop there if it was no longer servicing that station.

Thank you for explaining that. That's kind of what I thought-it would be nice for POLY guests to get back to TTC though, because they could walk to the room correct? And actually GF could as well maybe?

As for bypassing the MK-wouldnt that be just stupid since the line was active they cant work on it anyway? Why not pic folks up that want to leave?

 

[Robo]

Thank you for explaining that. That's kind of what I thought-it would be nice for POLY guests to get back to TTC though, because they could walk to the room correct? And actually GF could as well maybe?

As for bypassing the MK-wouldnt that be just stupid since the line was active they cant work on it anyway? Why not pic folks up that want to leave?

Again, we don't know what will actually happen, but we can use logic.

Once this all shakes out, I would put money (pocket change, at least) on the fact that as long as the Resort Monorail was operating, it would make its usual stop at the MK station.

 

[baler31]

I keep seeing it mentioned by various posters that the hard ticket events are so much more crowded than EMH. I can't directly compare because I have never attended a hard ticket after hours event but I have attended quite a few July EMH at the magic kingdom and they are always packed. I am talking over an hour wait to get on the mountains at 1am. Are you guys sure that your hard ticket events are that much more crowded or if they are even as crowded as EMH at the MK? Not trying to argue, I just wonder on what you are basing these claims. Maybe your reference for EMH is at a less crowded time. And more to the point, I want to know when those uncrowded EMH are because all of the July ones I have attended were too crowded to be much fun.

I can only compare to the nights we have attended but most recently in June we attended 2 EEMH at MK from 12-3am. All rides were walk on or under 5min, several had 20min waits posted but were walk ons in reality. The longest waits we had were for the characters (which seems to imply that there is some demand for those) in Fantasyland and that was under 10min. There was no one in the theatre for Mickey and the Princesses.

At 3am we rode the monrail back to GF basically alone as we saw no other people. This was on both nights we attended, although the Fri seemed slightly more crowded than the Sun. My kids rode Dumbo with Chip and Dale on Sunday right at 3am.

I compare this with our packed MNSSHP's. We have attended most years and it is more crowded every year. The parks were far more crowded for these parties than all the EEMH we have attended. I certainly agree that YMMV from night to night but I truly believe they are attempting to back out of EEMH and replace it with something else (based on a Disney survey I received a few months ago).

 

[raider97]

The monorail will be running until at least 10PM those nights.

Thanks, Robo! I had missed that, looks like our first night will work after all.

 

[jade1]

What we were told yesterday was that:

The Monorail line between Epcot and TTC will stop running at 10pm, at that time guests who need to return to the Magic Kingdom will need to take a bus there. (Same goes for guest trying to get to Epcot parking from Magic Kingdom after 10pm)

The Monorail still stops at 10pm even on EMH nights.

In the near future the Monorail will stop running from Magic Kingdom 1 hour after park closing.

At this time it appears that the Resort line is still operating.

This is not being done because of a "Noise issue" but rather for our guests safety. Our maintenance team has requested more time to make sure that the monorails are operating correctly and safety for our Guests. That is why they are being shut down earlier. Safety is Disney's #1 priority

Nice work-looks like some inside info.

A little unclear on a couple things, maybe you can clarify if possible.

Looks like you answered the EPCOT to TTC will always run until 10PM-good to know. You do mentioned that it "appears" the resort line will also keep running. Do you know if that means until 10 (or so) as well? So you can get from TTC to your monorail resort until about 10PM every night (even when MK closes at 7PM?)? Further-do you know if the "Resort line" is running-will it stop at MK as well, since it goes right through it? TIA.

In other words, these statements are not super clear:

"The Monorail still stops at 10pm even on EMH nights.

In the near future the Monorail will stop running from Magic Kingdom 1 hour after park closing.

At this time it appears that the Resort line is still operating."

 

[asta]

I can only compare to the nights we have attended but most recently in June we attended 2 EEMH at MK from 12-3am. All rides were walk on or under 5min, several had 20min waits posted but were walk ons in reality. The longest waits we had were for the characters (which seems to imply that there is some demand for those) in Fantasyland and that was under 10min. There was no one in the theatre for Mickey and the Princesses.

At 3am we rode the monrail back to GF basically alone as we saw no other people. This was on both nights we attended, although the Fri seemed slightly more crowded than the Sun. My kids rode Dumbo with Chip and Dale on Sunday right at 3am.

I compare this with our packed MNSSHP's. We have attended most years and it is more crowded every year. The parks were far more crowded for these parties than all the EEMH we have attended. I certainly agree that YMMV from night to night but I truly believe they are attempting to back out of EEMH and replace it with something else (based on a Disney survey I received a few months ago).

It sounds like June is much less crowded than July. Might have to give that some thought for the next trip. I would fully support stopping EMH if WDW can come up with a better idea. I would like to see them charge for extra hours and handle payment through the resort where you are staying. This worked for E-ticket and the crowds were much smaller. This has the added benefit of making sure that only resort guests are able to be there for late nights.

 

[KSDisneyDad]

It sounds like June is much less crowded than July. Might have to give that some thought for the next trip. I would fully support stopping EMH if WDW can come up with a better idea. I would like to see them charge for extra hours and handle payment through the resort where you are staying. This worked for E-ticket and the crowds were much smaller. This has the added benefit of making sure that only resort guests are able to be there for late nights.

We went last month and found the evening EMH quite busy. We waited over 45 minutes for Splash during evening EMH!!! Space was about 30 and even Buzz took 20 to 30 minutes! Pirates was only about 5 minutes.

I agree with you about EMH. I wish they'd bring back E-Ticket nights!!! Much less crowded than Evening EMHs and less expensive than the hard-ticket events including the old PPP. However, if they did that now, that thread may be longer than this one as many will claim Disney is going downhill again!!!! It seems many have short memories and evening EMH haven't been around that long. It was a perk to resort guests ADDED in the past few years, not another thing that was taken away. Disney actually used to charge guests for the "evening EMH" at MK, but yet taking away monorail service from this now free event seems like another Chicken Little event in the minds of many.

 

[mom2rtk]

Does anyone remember or know why the E-ticket nights went away in the first place?

Those of you who have done surveys, did they offer any alternatives to EMH for you to rate?