Monorails to no longer operate during Evening Extra Magic Hours

[Experiment_626]

Is the glass half-full or half-empty? Why is it that on threads like this, we only focus on the take-aways and not the additions?

I usually cringe a bit when people start evoking the spirit of Walt and talking about what they believe he would and would not like in the parks. It seems that those doing so inevitably (and maybe not-so-coincidentally) find their own likes and dislikes line up with the vision they have of Walt's likes and dislikes.

I don't always agree with others' take on such things, but that's almost beside the point. Also, Walt made mistakes (a creative person who doesn't make mistakes is probably not taking enough creative risks), and he also changed his mind at times -- so who is to say that there weren't other things he would have changed his mind about had he lived long enough?

I'm sure there are things about the parks Walt would wish were different, but that's also beside the point.

If you're now wishing I'd get to my point and are wondering what this has to do with this thread, here it comes ...

I'm not sure how Walt would have felt about x attraction or any other specific thing that has been added or taken away since he died. But one thing I do feel fairly comfortable in thinking was that he had little use for and patience with cynicism and relentless negativity. And there's far too much of that here.

Just my opinion.

Scott

 

[Experiment_626]

Seems to work both ways.

Well, the E-ticket/E-Ride nights were also only available to resort guests, I believe, and on far fewer nights as well.

Scott

 

[TLSnell1981]

You have the equivalent of about 1,040 rooms between the two properties. If each room/unit were at maximum occupancy, that would be about 6,400 people (possibly a bit less because some rooms have king beds). A large number of those would be adults or older/responsible children - capable of crossing what you perceive as a busy, poorly lit street but which has been reported by others not to be so. Many of the smaller children would be in strollers, i.e. not responsible for getting themselves across the street.

Whether you notice them or not, I'd think there are more than 6,400 minors crossing busy New York City streets every day.

Actually, there are too many variables. I just think, WDW to NYC, Paris, Rome, etc...isn't a good comparison.

Of course, children cross the street. I never said they don't.

 

[Halloweenluv03]

I think this thread has gotten a bit out of control, considering I've lost the whole concept after page 11. Anywho. This minor change will not affect my honeymoon stay at Poly next year. We're not staying because of the monorail. We're staying because it's our honeymoon and we want to splurge a little and we'll be eating a bunch of the places there. Plus, I'm use to staying at Value, so buses are not an issue for me. Plus, with it being my fiance's first time there, I don't want to over do it, so we probably won't be staying later in the parks anyway. The only night it will affect is MNSSHP. Other than that, I think we are golden. I haven't been to Disney in 10 years and I can't wait to go back. Oh, how I miss it and I won't let a little thing like the monorails running until 1 hour after the parks close ruin or cancel my trip. We're going to create our own magic there and enjoy what we have.

 

[AimeeMichele]

Pretty soon Disney will have a new attraction:

GATOR ENCOUNTER
NOW SWIM WITH THE ALLIGATORS-don't forget your fastpasses!
Yes, we cut back on our monorail service and now we're cutting back on buses. This will allow our guests to swim in Bay Lake to get to the parking lot! You'll have the chance to meet an actual Florida alligator on your swim. Meet the real Louis, Carmine and Stan! Imagine the experience of telling all of your friends you played chase with a gator! Photopass photographers might be available depending on their ability to out swim our reptilian friends.

LOVE THIS! Sign me up!!!

 

[mom2rtk]

They have sort of been testing out the "let us pick your resort" approach already. There are lots of reports on the discount board about a PIN code they've been sending out where you pay X dollars and they pick your resort. I think the one I read was $67 but they pick the resort (probably value of course, but you could get upgraded to a MOD). The other "catch" was that the trip had to be paid in full at time of booking with no changes or refunds.

As for DME....... I'm sure the car rental places would LOVE to see that one go. But it's the number one reason we haven't been to US/IOA since 2004.

 

[GadgetRick]

I won't dispute everything you've said (some because it's indisputable ), but...



Costs go up. Expenses go up. Your supermarket is charging you more than they were five or three or two years ago. Restaurants do. Why would you expect Disney (overall) to be exempt from these increases, or to not pass them on to customers?
Homogenizing menu choices also relates to costs, as well as palates.
Again, costs. The last take-away was what, four years ago? Meanwhile, the 2012 adds a refillable mug for each guest on the original dining plan (and, yes, subtracts a daily snack on the quick service plan). The former is likely in response to guest complaints - wah, it's not fair! - while IIRC the latter is in place of any increase?
Normal park hours for the MK are 9 AM to 7 PM - so they don't close early, they close on time. When this park closes to the general public later than 7, it's considered extended hours.
Okay, there was a large downsizing throughout The Disney Company a couple of years ago. The vast majority of those released were behind the scenes, upper level management. True, most were in Florida - but frontline CMs are generally part time, few/no benefits, lower paid - i.e. not the ones costing a lot to employ, but vital to successful operations.
I know about one change - unless you're in Club Level, you need to pick up packages at your resort's gift shop. Sure, not as fun or convenient as walking into my room and finding another suitcase worth of bags, but... What 'continual changes do you mean?
Sometimes you plan and plan and plan - and then something you didn't expect goes wrong. You're already at different stages of repairing, revamping, or building A, B, and C - when the floor of D collapses. You can't just automatically bring B into service so you can fix D. Stuff happens.
If I remember correctly, it was done for safety. It lets the drivers concentrate on the road, while also ensuring every guest gets the same information. Once in a while, you do get the occasional 'renegade' driver - one who chats .
More frequently than other menus or menu items increase?
-getting rid of lights in certain areas during Christmas time
-less stickers given out for the kids
-getting rid of the park-specific birthday buttons to replace them with the sterile (i.e. boring) buttons they do now
-increasing the prices for strollers (rentals) to their current (ridiculous) prices
That's the glass-half-empty point of view you could look at it - or WDW could market it - as "costing less for tickets that expire". It's what's great about Magic Your Way. You buy the features you want, not a presumed one size fits all ticket. It never does.
-standardizing the merchandise
-merchandise prices increasing and the quality (generally) falling
These two seem to be the same issues you stated earlier, just worded differently .

Not going to go into each thing here and argue about them because that wasn't my intent. My intent was to show how long the list of things being changed (for the worse)/taken away is. You seem to be in the, "Disney can do no wrong," since you--like others--love to rationalize all of these changes...it's for safety, costs for food/etc. have gone up so why can't Disney raise prices, but they're giving you a refillable mug, etc. If it makes you feel better to rationalize these things that way, more power to you. However, it is what it is and these things have all be discussed to death elsewhere and each one of these rationalizations has been picked apart in those threads.

Long story short, if you're one of the, "Disney can do no wrong," people, then Disney could do anything and you'd find a reason why it's a good thing or make an excuse for them (as you're doing here). I, on the other hand, have no qualms about calling Disney out when I see things like this. Rather than rationalize/make excuses for them, I feel it's better (for everyone) to call them on it in the hopes they might stop the madness.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Only a few more to go until 1,000/50,000!!!

 

[Wishes Count]

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."

Sorry I meant to say that the Monorail from Epcot to TTC will stop running at 10pm everynight, even on Epcot EMH nights.

It is my understanding that in the next month or so the Magic Kingdom line from MK to TTC will stop running 1 hour after the Magic Kingdom closes. It is unclear at this time what time they will run until on nights like MNSSHP.

It is my understanding that the Resort line will run 1 hour after park closing of Magic Kingdom, but this information has not been released to us yet.

 

[Kona65]

Let's hit 1,000 and shut this tread down. Just 10 more to go.

 

[Oglet]

Next is elimination of watercraft and the seven seas lagoon is going to be filled in and renamed "Bob Iger Walkway To Happiness"

 

[TLSnell1981]

Next is elimination of watercraft and the seven seas lagoon is going to be filled in and renamed "Bob Iger Walkway To Happiness"

Now, that would be an interesting thread, just to put it mildly.

 

[nurtz]

I think this thread has gotten a bit out of control, considering I've lost the whole concept after page 11. Anywho. This minor change will not affect my honeymoon stay at Poly next year. We're not staying because of the monorail. We're staying because it's our honeymoon and we want to splurge a little and we'll be eating a bunch of the places there. Plus, I'm use to staying at Value, so buses are not an issue for me. Plus, with it being my fiance's first time there, I don't want to over do it, so we probably won't be staying later in the parks anyway. The only night it will affect is MNSSHP. Other than that, I think we are golden. I haven't been to Disney in 10 years and I can't wait to go back. Oh, how I miss it and I won't let a little thing like the monorails running until 1 hour after the parks close ruin or cancel my trip. We're going to create our own magic there and enjoy what we have.

Great attitude! Hope you have a wonderful honeymoon.

We will be at the Poly in November...I am not too worried about the lack of monorail after EMH. We will be fine and I will be happy to be there! It is not like the monorail isn't going to be running at all. Frankly I don't see this as that big of an issue. We have been to WDW 20 plus times and sure things have changed (sometimes for the worse, sometimes for the better) but we still go with a great attitude and our trips are always magical. We will just ride the bus/boat back to the Poly on the 2 nights we may be at EMH (not planning on doing MVMCP)...not going to let it ruin my trip.

 

[KSDisneyDad]

Seems to work both ways.

Or, let's give guests a free three-extra hours in the park at night instead of charging them $10 to $12 for E-ticket night OR charging them $50 for the hard-ticket PPP. But let's give it only to people who stay at Disney Resorts. Who cares about the other people staying off property, but still spending money. The PPP was open for anyone even if you stayed off-site. Granted, the EMH are a perk for staying on-site. What is wrong with that? Universal does it too, but there's is arguably even better. Perhaps Disney should emulate Universal and only let on-site guests have FP's! Now there's an idea I like.

Or, let's give guests free transportation from the airport instead of charging them bus transfer fees.Read above. And your point is? Again, Disney is trying to maximize profits of it's entire parks & resort division. They want you to stay on-site and offer certain ever-changing benefits to do so. If the benefits have no value to you, then stay off-site to save money (at least sometimes).


Or, let's give guests free dining at less busy times of year (or room discounts, bounce-back offers, 4/3 offers, children play/stay free, etc.). But let's make sure we charge them rack rate for the rooms, and make them purchase park tickets they may not need. Do you miss that I also mentioned room discounts? We've used room discount codes separate from any other package promotion numerous times! No need to buy rack rate. But even if you do buy rack-rate and get free dining, you could save significantly. I've seen many posts on here how with free dining, some guests say that they simply cannot find a less expensive deal off-site even though they are paying "rack rate" and buying an extra ticket day at $5 to $8 per day.

Or, let's add a new high-tech light show on the Castle for our MK guests and not charge them any extra.But let's take the lights and decorations away from the other parks. Not sure what is meant by this. Are you talking Christmas decorations? Most guests never go during Christmas time. How does that affect the other 10 months out of the year? Plus, I'd love to visit and see the new Castle lighting, Osborne Spectacular, etc. If you think a few decorations were better than the new MMY show, then we'll have to agree to disagree.

Is the glass half-full or half-empty? Why is it that on threads like this, we only focus on the take-aways and not the additions?

Whew! I think you need someone to send some pixie dust your way!

 

[pskelly]

Ok, I have followed this thread for as long as I can without commenting, doesnt it really boil down to this.........if you are that unhappy with all of the changes Disney is making then speak with your wallet and dont go to Disney or dont stay at a Deluxe, etc etc etc............if after the price changes, cut-backs etc etc still seem like a worthwhile vacation, again speak with your wallet and go to Disney.........

 

[morethananyonex]

Back up a second, are there really people who don't understand why Disney offers ME for "free"?

 

[Planogirl]

I see that the pixie dust crowd and those who suggest you go elsewhere are here. What fun is that? It's interesting to discuss these things.

By the way, you can get fastpasses if you stay offsite and go to Universal. You just have to buy them. I don't find them necessary though.

 

[mom2rtk]

I see that the pixie dust crowd and those who suggest you go elsewhere are here. What fun is that? It's interesting to discuss these things.

Additionally, keep in mind that people who hang out here love going to Disney. Generally they find it helpful to discuss, think and mull over changes like this when evaluating whether to indeed pull the trigger and book the next trip.

 

[Ramsfan28]

Let's get 1,000!!

 

[notnothin]

Let's get 1,000!!

We're there!