Waggy182 said:
At roughly $1,000,000 per mile, it is indeed unlikely.
The "roughly $1,000,000 per mile" number is an untrue
Internet rumor itself! If Disney could expand the monorail for so little money per mile, they would already have done so.
The new Las Vegas Monorail cost $654 million for just 4.4 miles. It uses the same Bombardier technology and the same kind of track as the WDW Monorail.
I'm sure that the monorail developers in Las Vegas did everything they could to keep costs as low as possible. I assume the costs in Las Vegas refer to a double track, all stations, all trains, and the cost of fitting the system into an existing built-up area. So, at WDW, the cost per mile would probably be lower, especially for a loop track instead of a double track.
Just think how much a mile-long concrete and steel structure would cost to build. That's a lot of concrete and steel. And the beams have to be able to carry the weight of the trains. The trains must be many millions of dollars each. Yes, the cost is staggering. But I guess it costs what it costs!
A monorail is a huge capital expense that does not generate direct revenue. Sure, a monorail expansion could reduce bus fleet expenses. And, for guests, a monorail adds to the "magic" of a WDW vacation. But it's still hard to justify, even if WDW could hold the costs under $75 million per mile.