Rotten Monorail

[goofyernmost]

Didn't they say that the express rail was not running until later. What does that have to do with the "deluxe" monorail resorts. The express doesn't even stop at them. They use the resort monorail. Or did I read that incorrectly.

 

[zaccaglin]

Well if you think about it it makes the most sense to be down during the middle of the day. The early morning and night are the busiest time for the monorail. So being down during the middle of the day is a lot better.

That's why closures are scheduled for mid day. They did studies and less people ride the monorail on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday during the mid day. Why run the express rail when the Ferry can easily support the load. Now they can work on a handful of trains and a whole section of beam.

How about the middle of the night?

They do overnight maintenance as well. However If MK is open until midnight the trains will run tell 1. They won't be finished parking in shop until about 2:45. Then in order for the morning crew to open resorts at 7:30 trains have to start coming out at 6am if not earlier. This only leaves about 3hrs in the night for work.

They charge a premium for monorail resorts. Yet expecting it to work seems to be wrong?

Unfortunitly that premium doesn't gI towards the monorails operating or maintenance budget. Transportation is completely separate from the resorts.

I disagree. I think some would be supportive. But I think most guests who had those resorts booked would be hostile. To try and fix that Disney would have to announce any closure 18 months out. And then you would still have angry guests.

That's the biggest fear.

Didn't they say that the express rail was not running until later. What does that have to do with the "deluxe" monorail resorts. The express doesn't even stop at them. They use the resort monorail. Or did I read that incorrectly.

Yes being a deluxe monorail resort guest the express beam wasn't directly available to them anyways. Resort monorail and Epcot did not experience any midday closures.

 

[zaccaglin]

We have been here since Sept 7 and this trip has gone wonderfully in all aspects, except for the monorail service. They have been horrendous! There hasn't been a day where we haven't had a train slow down, stop completely, and shut down to "reset it's computer system". Constantly stopping and starting with monorails waiting for who knows what. Maintenance scheduled during the middle of he say and now the express is closed until 630 tonight. Kind of takes away one of the perks of staying at a deluxe.

Will this system ever be fully functional again, or is it time to replace this entire system and start over? Don't tell me they can't afford it.

As stated above, the express Monorial would have no bearing on you being a deluxe guest, it doesn't stop at any hotel. And your complaint about it shutting down at 6:30 is perplexing to me when I had already provided you with the monorail hours on another thread?? As for the monorail slowing down and stopping on the beam, that is part of the normal operation if a train is approaching the contemporary and there is a train already in the station, it had to stop outside of the station and await dispatch in. As for the systems reset, it happens, There are hundreds of computer systems aboard the train and if one of them loses connection (like your wifi at home for example) a reset is required to get it back online. It's usually not so much of a major issue but if a simple connection loss. Those resets happen inside the station before or after loading guests.

With that being said, the biggest Thing to remember about the monorails is that the system itself is 45 years old. The trains average about 26 years old. The trains run 365 days a year, upwards of 20hrs a day. They don't get much rest, the maintenance shop is taking any time they can to do anything that needs to be done. Wether that be something as simple as changing the tires, touching up paint, beamway patch repairs, or buss bar replacement. They are also taking the time to do major projects like new systems testing, complete train refurbishments, re wires, motor replacements, new fire suppression systems etc. Until the WDW executives decide to replace the trains this current crazy schedule is going to be the norm I'm afraid. Maybe one day we'll get new trains and this will all be behind us but for now we just have to deal with what we have.

 

[MillauFr]

They need to remove the entire monorail and replace it with a light rail system.

 

[mousehockey37]

How about the middle of the night?

Simple. In summer, the park can be open until 3am, not counting 24 hard ticket events.

If it has ended up being used more than expected, to me that means they should have replaced it or had a more major overhaul sooner than the end of its life expectancy, not years after.

I actually think people would respond well to a major overhaul, even if it meant closure for an extended time, if it meant finally getting a more reliable system in place.

The hard part is finding parts. These things have lived something like 20 years past their prime. They still get the job done, but not without their faults. With all the other overhauls that Disney is doing, the monorails are probably last on the list, if they even made it there.

 

[zaccaglin]

They need to remove the entire monorail and replace it with a light rail system.

Not gonna happen, not even being considered.

 

[jhaig]

What about using the same type of propulsion system used by the TTA?

 

[dreiwhit]

They need to remove the entire monorail and replace it with a light rail system.

I'd love to see it happen, but the cost would be very expensive. High enough that the Disney corporate bean counters would have a heart attack just looking at it....

 

[MillauFr]

Not gonna happen, not even being considered.

As the park continues to grow and attract more visitors Disney is going to have to do something to move all of those people around. Buses and cars are not going to hack it. They need a functioning mass transit system. The monorail is a toy, not a real transit system.

 

[maxiesmom]

As the park continues to grow and attract more visitors Disney is going to have to do something to move all of those people around. Buses and cars are not going to hack it. They need a functioning mass transit system. The monorail is a toy, not a real transit system.

Buses, boats, and cars seem to work just fine. Not sure why you think they don't.

 

[joelkfla]

As the park continues to grow and attract more visitors Disney is going to have to do something to move all of those people around. Buses and cars are not going to hack it. They need a functioning mass transit system. The monorail is a toy, not a real transit system.

The monorail is just fine for doing what it was designed to do: moving large numbers of people between MK & TTC, and between TTC & Epcot. It just needs to be updated with modern equipment: new trains, and a new integrated control system without skimping on computing power and redundancy, and perhaps a complete replacement of the busbar and any other failing or inadequate power distribution components.

Unfortunately, Disney's recent history shows a failure of will to spend the capital required to complete projects as they should be completed. Even if a new system like light rail were built, it would probably be grand in design but half-baked in implementation.

 

[dreiwhit]

When we went to MK last March, the monorail had a planned midday outage. When we got to the TTC early enough for rope drop, the CMs were directing everyone over to the ferry docks because the monorail was down. I later learned we could have gone to the buses, but at the time I didn't know about bus service and the CMs weren't directing anyone to buses. Anyway, because of all the people (crowd level was just a 4) we had to wait for several ferries before we could finally load. It ended up taking us 1.5 hours to get from our parking spot in the Simba lot at the TTC to bag check and finally through the tapstiles. The next day, when the monorail was working, the crowds at the TTC were much less and it took less time and was much easier to get from the TTC to MK.

Having said all that, Disney really needs to have redundency and additional capacity to transport folks from the TTC to the bag check area. MK is definately the one park that everyone wants to go to, and is the most difficult to get to. Everything works great when all parts of its transportation system are working, but when part of the transportation system stops working, it overloads the rest. The people who said "getting there is half the fun" never tried to get from the TTC to MK when a monorail isn't working!

However, I don't see Disney really doing anything about it. Doing something, whether light rail or new monorails or larger ferries, costs money and Disney is in penny pinching mode.

 

[AngiTN]

We have been here since Sept 7 and this trip has gone wonderfully in all aspects, except for the monorail service. They have been horrendous! There hasn't been a day where we haven't had a train slow down, stop completely, and shut down to "reset it's computer system". Constantly stopping and starting with monorails waiting for who knows what. Maintenance scheduled during the middle of he say and now the express is closed until 630 tonight. Kind of takes away one of the perks of staying at a deluxe.

Will this system ever be fully functional again, or is it time to replace this entire system and start over? Don't tell me they can't afford it.

Exactly why I do not consider the monorail a benefit to stay in a monorail resort. I hate the thing

 

[OKW Lover]

Isn't it already a number of years past its life expectancy?

I've never heard of a "life expectancy" age for the monorail.

 

[mikedoyleblogger]

I don't think an extended rehab would do any good. The cars are simply too old & worn out. They need to give up on trying to retrofit improvements, and just spring for entirely new trains with up-to-date technology.

Not necessarily. The Mark VIIs at DL are simply the old Mark Vs with new interiors, nose cones, and detailing. The Mark VI chassis at WDW may be fine. From the work being done, it seems to be the aging beams and control systems that are the problem. Isn't the main thrust of this work to install an automated control system?

In response to OP, monorails slowing down and stopping en route to stations is normal, depending on delays ahead that could easily be due to slow passenger loading. You can't blame them all on maintenance issues. It's normal on rail transit systems everywhere. When the automated control system debuts, instead of stopping between station, the trains will moderate their speed (i.e. slow down) anyway.

 

[mousehockey37]

I've never heard of a "life expectancy" age for the monorail.

Think of it like a car. After so long they may not make the parts for it or whatnot so it becomes something obsolete. The monorails are pretty much there.

 

[mousehockey37]

Not necessarily. The Mark VIIs at DL are simply the old Mark Vs with new interiors, nose cones, and detailing. The Mark VI chassis at WDW may be fine. From the work being done, it seems to be the aging beams and control systems that are the problem.

In response to OP, monorails slowing down and stopping en route to stations is normal, depending on delays ahead that could easily be due to slow passenger loading. You can't blame them all on maintenance issues. It's normal on rail transit systems everywhere.

Now having something aboard the trains to keep them running when lightning is nearby... that's another story.

 

[zaccaglin]

What about using the same type of propulsion system used by the TTA?

That would require an entire rework of the rains, and beam ways. The current system isn't anything close to the TTA system.

The monorail is just fine for doing what it was designed to do: moving large numbers of people between MK & TTC, and between TTC & Epcot. It just needs to be updated with modern equipment: new trains, and a new integrated control system without skimping on computing power and redundancy, and perhaps a complete replacement of the busbar and any other failing or inadequate power distribution components.

Unfortunately, Disney's recent history shows a failure of will to spend the capital required to complete projects as they should be completed. Even if a new system like light rail were built, it would probably be grand in design but half-baked in implementation.

Joelkfla this is why I like you, you actually get what's going on with WDW Transportation. You hit the nail on the head.

I've never heard of a "life expectancy" age for the monorail.

Neither have I....

Not necessarily. The Mark VIIs at DL are simply the old Mark Vs with new interiors, nose cones, and detailing. The Mark VI chassis at WDW may be fine. From the work being done, it seems to be the aging beams and control systems that are the problem. Isn't the main thrust of this work to install an automated control system?

In response to OP, monorails slowing down and stopping en route to stations is normal, depending on delays ahead that could easily be due to slow passenger loading. You can't blame them all on maintenance issues. It's normal on rail transit systems everywhere. When the automated control system debuts, instead of stopping between station, the trains will moderate their speed (i.e. slow down) anyway.

They are looking into and testing an "auto-pilot" system so to speak. Disney won't and can't go to a full automation system, to much of a guest safety element involved.

Now having something aboard the trains to keep them running when lightning is nearby... that's another story.

Lightning only affects the trains if physical power is lost, and when that's the case the trains aren't the only thing in the area affected.

 

[OKW Lover]

They need to remove the entire monorail and replace it with a light rail system.

why?

 

[zaccaglin]

why?

dont feed in to that age old agument.