What about the monorail extension?

[Grumpy24]

I know it was reported the Eisner never liked the monorail. . . for what reason I have no idea. But I was curious if there has been any news now that Iger is at the top. Has anyone heard anything about the next phase or the overall plan?

Thanks.

 

[zcasper]

I don't think the Monorail would be high on Iger's list. Too bad that an expantion like we all hope for would require the CEO's approval. In other words, too bad it would be insanely expensive.

Zach

 

[JonJehrio]

For the life of me I cannot understand why in this day and age a Monorail extension would be so expensive? I would think it would be cheap and easy with the way concrete is all prefab now.

 

[Lil_Tink]

Hmm.. maybe they could actually connect it to all the parks?

 

[zcasper]

For the life of me I cannot understand why in this day and age a Monorail extension would be so expensive? I would think it would be cheap and easy with the way concrete is all prefab now.

I think everything is way too expensive. Take a look at Stitch's Great Escape. Do you know they spent $10 million to get us what we got. What a waste of $10M. Now take that and imagine building something as complex (how many parts go into a monorail system) and safety critical (really increases costs) as a monorail.

Zach

 

[Villain Dude]

The monorail will never be extended .... way to costly.

 

[ApolloSaturnV]

Now, now, Villian Dude, never say never. After all, it was at one time widely repeated that Eisner would never leave.

Before Disney extends, however, they should maintain the existing. The support columns and beams are a disgrace. What should be white pristine concrete is black with age/dirt/fungus whatever. A very visual Disney icon deserves better treatment than that.

Maybe Iger will get with the program and get some fends directed so that WDW can get back to the way it was in the days before Ei$ner: Clean, well-maintained, and sparkling.

 

[Disney Gator]

I believe it is time for Eisner to leave, but I do think he saved Disney. If not for the revitalization of Disney that Eisner started the company might now be part of a larger corporation, instead of being the global power it is. Do you remember how bad off Disney was in the early 80's?

I remember gonig to WDW in the late 80's and all through the 90's, when Eisner was in charge, and the parks were "clean, well maintained, and sparkling." I think some of the decline of the last few years can be attributed to decreased park attendance due to a bad economy.

By the way I think you're right to spell it Ei$ner...he is responsible for how successful the company is today. It is time for new blood though, he has been in for too long and stagnated.

...and I'm sure I'll get flamed for this, be gentle.

 

[WDSearcher]

You think that everyone in the "World" wanted to extend the monorails but Eisner said no, so it was never done? There hasn't been a convincing case made for extending the monorail for years. If someone could come up with one, it would be done regardless of the money needed -- if it was economically feasible ... if it were more efficient or effective than busses, it would have been done years ago. Eisner didn't say no to monorail extensions just because he didn't like the monorail. He said no because it didn't make economic sense.

I mean, Michael isn't fond of roller coasters either, but he's not saying no to them, because he knows it will bring people in.

 

[JimB.]

There hasn't been a convincing case made for extending the monorail for years.

Um, They look really cool?

Nah, didn't think it would fly.............

 

[Franne]

In October, I went on the Behind the Magic tour and someone asked that same question. The tourguide said that they will not do it because it is way too expensive. He had said they priced it out and decided that it wasn't worth it.
Franne

 

[ShadowWind]

I shutter to think about what will happen when the Mark VI's need replacing. There was rumor going around that Disney was going to scrap the entire system all together at one time when these died out. I hope that is still not the case. I don't know, the pendulum seems to swing with the breeze. One day it's monorails for everyone, the next is monorails are bad. Personally I would love to see the monorails extended. I don't know why Disney doesn't use their own technology. Does anyone besides me think a Peoplemover would make life a lot easier at Downtown Disney, Animal Kingdom, World Showcase?

I understand they spent $9 million to turn the castle into a cake that everyone hated and a few million for Sunny Eclipse. There is a few million that they could have put into the monorail fund.

 

[CaipiraBob]

I know it was reported the Eisner never liked the monorail. . . for what reason I have no idea. But I was curious if there has been any news now that Iger is at the top. Has anyone heard anything about the next phase or the overall plan?

Thanks.

I have read that the monorail track expansion would run some 12 million dollars per mile. Considering the distance between the hotels and the expense of modifying resorts such as BC, YC and BW to have local access, there'd have to be a very compelling reason to give the project a "go".

People seem pretty satified with the current setup. Personally I'd love to see monorail access for the Epcot resorts. If I was the US government, I'd be more than happy to spend Disney's money, let's plate it in gold while we're at it. Since it's their call, I suspect we're out of luck.

Yes, I just paid my taxes...

 

[WDSearcher]

I have read that the monorail track expansion would run some 12 million dollars per mile.

It's actually closer to a million a mile. Maybe the $12 million figure was how much it would cost to extend it to a specific resort?

 

[Plus4206]

With the price of new E-rides reaching the $200 mil level, I'd be willing to trade the next E-ride for about 200 miles of monorail. What a blast it would be to have a monorail tour of the entire World.

 

[DancingBear]

Where does the $1 million/mile come from?

Here's a pro-monorail site that says the actual capital costs of Las Vegas' monorail could have been "only" $25 million/mile:

http://www.austinmonorail.org/monorail_costs.htm

The pro-monorail Monorail Society shows costs from a low of $4 million/mile (much lower than any of the other systems shown); median seems to be about $25 million/mile:

http://www.monorails.org/tMspages/HowMuch.html

And some info from an anti-monorail (vs. light rail) site:

http://www.lightrailnow.org/facts/fa_monorail004.htm

 

[TheRustyScupper]

It's actually closer to a million a mile. Maybe the $12 million figure was how much it would cost to extend it to a specific resort?

1) Actually the $12million is close to the target.
2) I have heard much larger numbers (up to $18million/mile for WDW)
3) There are a lot of costly components, and not just track
4) Costs include
. . . foundations and pilings (very expensive with Florida soil & shifting base)
. . . new stations (big bucks)
. . . enlargement of current stations (such as TTC)
. . . parking lot enlargement at TTC
. . . support columns
. . . track beams
. . . added train repair barn
. . . power (generating capacity and transmission)
. . . the actual trains (mega bucks)
5) Unfortunately, there is little cost justification/payback for monorail adds.
. . . won't necessarily bring in more people to WDW like rides might
. . . there isn't that much park hopping *relatively speaking*
. . . park hopping isn't always that profitable for WDW
. . . capital intensive and not variable for lower attendance
. . .

 

[Mickmse2002]

The monorails are cool and all but I would much rather have capital reinvested into the existing infrastructure of the parks.

 

[WDSearcher]

Sorry ... I was talking track only. Should have clarified.

 

[Bstanley]

WDW needs to do something to improve the transportation infrastructure - it doesn't have to be monorails - but unless they figure out some other way to get everybody from place to place besides mass quantities of massive internal combustion engines it will end up choking their business and affecting their bottom line.

People don't like standing in lines - but they'll do it for an amusing ride - like a monorail. They'll go home and tell their friends how kewl the monorail was - not how long they waited for it. If they're standing around waiting for a bus - they'll go home and tell their friends how long they waited for the bus.

Also - with the price of diesel almost doubling over the past year the amount of money spent on fuel for a fleet of 500+ buses has got to be downright painful nowdays.

Basically WDW is a moderate sized city on any given day - it needs to approach it's mass transit with a bit more foresight than it's used over the past 15 years or it will end up the same way a lot of moderate sized cities have ended up - people just stopped going 'downtown' simply because it's was too much of a pain.