Why are the monorail turnstiles at Contemporary and Polynesian so long?

[sotoalf]

This sounds like a silly question, but why are the turnstiles at the Contemporary and Polynesian monorail stations so long - especially for the former? The Grand Floridian's station isn't nearly as big. I've stayed at the Contemporary and Polynesian several times but I don't remember their monorail stations getting so crowded in the morning that they need all that space.

I heard a rumor once that up until the late '80s the monorail attendants would separate those resort guests going to Epcot from those visiting other resorts.

 

[spiceycat]

they do - they just don't open them up and have people back up into the Polyn.

the gates don't open automatically and they don't have enough CM to do this right.

before the GF was built - I think they did ask where you are going - and you were put in separate cars - MK, Cont, TTC - but too many wanted to go to the MK - so I don't think held up very long at all.

 

[pepe of ohio]

My opinion on this is that the Poly and Cont. were the first resorts built and not having a feel for crowds were built with long turnstiles to accommidate all the guests traveling to MK with envisions of EPCOT in the future. Grand Floridian came later and the need for the long 'stile was changed with all the other on property resorts built. Just my feeling on the subject.

 

[WillCAD]

I would guess that Pepe is probably right; when Poly and Contemp were built MK was the only park, so the entire Guest population of both resorts were probably packed into the monorail stations in the morning to go to MK. Today those Guests are split up into monorails, busses, and cars, going to 4 theme parks, 2 water parks, Downtown Disney, WWOS, and several golf courses.

 

[Chip 'n Dale Express]

As someone who's worked at all three stations, I can lend my two cents.

Many many many years ago, when Disney was using the Mark IV trains, there was a door for every row of seating (5 per far) and they were manually operated. At one point in time, different cars represented different destinations, so they had different queue lines for everything. Then came the modern Mark VI trains with the bi-parting transit style doors, and everything was reduced to one queue line.

The Grand Floridian used to have one of the larger queue lines, however, 3-4 years ago they took down some of the gates to make the station look less cluttered. Only once did I ever need to use those extra gates, and that was because of a delay caused by a large technical difficulty.

At the Polynesian, the queue area is actually quite small. There is a part that extends to the front of the train, but 99% of the time, that is roped off. The only time I ever needed to use that part was back when religious services were held at Luau Cove.

As for the Contemporary... thier queue lines get used on a regular basis. Some times during the morning, but mostly after Chef Mickey gets out. Also, during holidays after religious ceremonies, the full legth of the platform will be used for a queue line. In fact, there are some times when they will also load on the Express Monorail from the Contemporary. The Contemporary queue line is designed with multiple different load zones, so that the platform attendant can divert guests multiple different ways to help with the flow.

 

[sotoalf]

As for the Contemporary... thier queue lines get used on a regular basis. Some times during the morning, but mostly after Chef Mickey gets out. Also, during holidays after religious ceremonies, the full legth of the platform will be used for a queue line. In fact, there are some times when they will also load on the Express Monorail from the Contemporary. The Contemporary queue line is designed with multiple different load zones, so that the platform attendant can divert guests multiple different ways to help with the flow.

Yeah, I guess you're right, Chip: I'm not on the monorail early enough these days to notice the traffic patterns after Chef Mickey's. So do you mean that those queues extending towards the southern end of the Concourse are often used?

When is the Express Monorail used at the Contemporary? Wow! Is that during big holidays (Xmas, 4th of July, etc)?

 

[Chip 'n Dale Express]

The majority of the time, the queue line comes up the escalator, down a few feet, then wraps around to the elevator. During busier moments, the queue passes the elevator, and down to as far as the end of the platform, however far the attendant deems neccessary.

During extreme peak times, the queue line comes up the escalator, and all the way down to the south end, and then all the way back. This is usually only used during Easter and Christmas, when the religious ceremonies at the convention center get out. During these times, they also stop an Express train at the South end, and load MK guests onto it. (They keep half the train empty from TTC)


Keep in mind that with both the Polynesian and the Grand Floridian, if the line extends past the doors and into the lobby area, it's not good, but not bad. For the Contemporary, because of the escalator, it becomes a safety issue to have the line stop there. That's why there's a longer queue.

 

[sotoalf]

During extreme peak times, the queue line comes up the escalator, and all the way down to the south end, and then all the way back. This is usually only used during Easter and Christmas, when the religious ceremonies at the convention center get out. During these times, they also stop an Express train at the South end, and load MK guests onto it. (They keep half the train empty from TTC)

Interesting. So the Express train doubles as a resort monorail? I would assume it does this only at the CR, since the MK is the next stop (and it's where religious services are held anyway).