Does anyone on the board think that WDW is even remotely comtemplating putting a monorail everywhere?
Yes, in fact, they have considered it and at one time, there was little doubt that they would eventually do it. (Perhaps not everywhere, but significantly expand it.)
However, the busses are far and away the most effecient (and cost effecient) ways to get people from the outlying resorts to the parks. So, if putting more money into the busses is the best way to make them so magical, why are we all arguing?
Because people will pay money for Magic at WDW.
The continual references to cost efficiency ignore the revenue aspect. It also makes a lot of assumptions, starting for example, with the assumption that its everywhere or nowhere.
The current system has issues from a guest pov. For all the talk about dispatching improvements, they still have trouble handling the peak loads. If you're not traveling between a park and a resort, they can be downright irritating. But in fairness, so would any single system. Hence the idea that busses are not the sole answer to Disney's transportation's needs.
The monorail was never the most "cost efficient" way of getting people from the resorts to the parks, even on the loop.
Are you saying it never should have been built?
Great! So glad we've cleared this one up. Now we can aptly dismiss any and all remarks coming from a general direction comparing Disney's attendance figures to the vast City of Las Vegas and the entire State of Hawaii and concentrate our efforts toward the Del Coronado, the El Tovar, and the Stratosphere.
No, we can simply try to keep things in the proper context. As tourist destinations, those cities are direct competitors with WDW, therefore comparisons of trends in numbers are valid. No, they don't tell the entire story, but they are valuable nonetheless, and in terms of tourism trends, they are darn good comparisons. Sure, there can be anomolies. If one destination is doing better, then you've got to look at the specific circumstances. If pretty much every destination is doing better, one would be wise not to ignore that slap in the face.
In terms of transportation, some of the same challenges those cities face are also faced by WDW. However, WDW is unique in that the sole purpose of the vast majority of its transportation system is to move tourists around. The small remainder is used by the employees of WDW.
In the cities with mass transit systems, the vast majority of the transportation system is used by employees of private companies commuting to and from work. The funding is different, PART of the purpose is different, and PART of the benefit is different. Therefore you cannot make direct comparisons out to be the end of the debate.
Yes, it would be nice and easy if everything were black and white, apples to apples.
But it doesn't work that way, hence the need for a more critical analysis than simply saying the El in Chicago isn't profitable so Disney should stick to busses.
Well, the first mistake here is trying to equate Jerry Lewis and poor in the same sentence.
I never equated Jerry Lewis with poor. Two words being in the same sentence does not mean the intent is to equate them to each other.
I seriously hope you're merely having a good time with my post. You do get the concept of the Foundation and who in our lovely society establishes these wonderous little tax-exempt organizations. Never confuse fund raising with destitute when discussing the likes of the Rockefellers, the Forbes, the Kennedys, and Mr. Gates.
Thanks for the sermon, as irrelevant as it was. Yes, I get the difference. Apparently, far better than you understand the difference between a publically funded mass transit system for commuters and the transportation system of the most popular vacation resort in the world. You actually made it sound like Disney has more funding challenges because they don't get DOT funds.
Your idea that some ride the system for free is completely off-base. Virtually everybody who rides the system is either staying at a Disney resort, attending a Disney theme/water park, shopping at Disney stores, eating at a Disney restaurant, etc, or some combination thereof. If you look at the resort as a single entity, as it should be for the purposes of this dicussion, the system is never being used in a complimentary manner.
Again, that's another key difference between the purpose and use of Disney's system as compared to the system in any city in the world.
Therefore there are different factors to consider when planning the system. You may still come to the same conclusions. Doubtful, but you could. What you cannot do is logically say those factors do not exist and that WDW = Detroit.
