Why haven't they done this....

[elizflynn]

So I was thinking....How come they haven't extended the monorail for all resorts in an effort to eliminate this constant bus accidents that have been reported lately? I know this question must have been posed before but I haven't found anything? Do you think it takes away from that "deluxe" price? Or is it simply not possible because of the other architecture around the WDW area? Just wondering!

 

[aurorae]

I'm sure it is money. Monorail track is extremely expensive. Buses and roads are a lot cheaper than monorails.

 

[AJKMOM]

I read here that the cost to extend the monorail os estimated at $1 million per FOOT.

I would think that is exaggerated, but that's what they said.

 

[clandisney]

We spoke with a cast member about this on our trip two years ago and they confirmed with us there would never be anymore additions to the monorails unless something monumental happened to the steel economy. The steel and metal prices have gone up so much in the last few years. I'm pulling from my memory here but they tossed figures around like when the monorail was first built back in the '70's the rail cost $1 million per 1000 feet. They looked into it in the last decade and it would have cost $11 million for the same amount in todays economy. It was staggering. When they built that they really were light years ahead of their time.

 

[Lynne M]

Monorail lines are unbelievably expensive to build. I can't imagine the cost of extending the monorail system to all resorts over a 40+ square mile property; it would probably be in the billions of dollars, with no real return on that investment to Disney. Buses will always be cheaper, and have the added advantage of being more flexible. You can easily re-route buses to parks or resorts if there's a need to move people out; can't do that with a monorail.

Disney spends money on things that increase its revenue - new rides that lure people to the parks, new resorts with family suites that entice families to stay on property instead of in suite hotels offsite. An extended monorail system doesn't make people say "hey, let's plan a trip to WDW this year so we can ride the monorail from CBR to MK!"

And to be honest, monorails aren't perfectly safe, either; there are monorail accidents from time to time, including the one that took the life of a driver last year.

 

[MinnieMommy07]

If you look at a google map or the equivalent, you can see that there is the possibility to extend water transportation.... a lot of little rivers and lakes can almost connect every resort and park....

 

[damone]

As mentioned, the cost would be outrageous. Also, the engineering/traffic logistics would be incredible during construction.

Another major problem is you'd have to have multiple lines, which would cause major traffic at each station, thus longer commuting times. It would make the value of the monorail resorts much less than what they currently are.

In short, there is simply no major benefit, and too many problems involved in extending the monorail line.

 

[Jestocost]

I read here that the cost to extend the monorail os estimated at $1 million per FOOT.

I would think that is exaggerated, but that's what they said.

That is very much exaggerated, but it's not unreasonable that the capital cost could approach $100 million per mile. Either way, if you factor in the lack of flexibility to match capacity there's really no reason to spend that much money.

 

[honeydiane1953]

The monorail system is enormously expensive to build BUT so are the prices for the resorts esp deluxe and food and souviners(sp) etc. for millions every yr for 30+ yr at WDW. Now I feel BETTER !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[CanadianGuy]

Given conservative costs of anywhere between 100 and 125 million dollars per mile of monorail (probably more.. ) and that doesn't include the cost of the monorail trains (5 to 10 million each) or the electricity to run them... this would easily go into the 'several billions with a capital "B"' type of budget..

And ... as noted by many others in this thread.. they would likely never recover that investment..

Knox

 

[honeydiane1953]

With more and more people(if that's possible) are going to WDW yr after yr something drastic needs to be done. Some days/weeks/months are so crowded u cannot see the pavement. Maybe the government will step in and let only certain states in/ during certain months and other states other months. Just kidding but SOMETHING needs to be done. Some days u feel like dominoes. If one person falls it will start a reaction and wipe out thousands.

 

[TagsMissy]

One thing to consider... with the amount of buses, routes, times the buses travel the routes each day the accident percentage is probably very small... and for that very reason at all when an accident does occur it's a 'big deal'. I consider the bus transportation to be very safe at WDW.

 

[jenseib]

I asked a similar question a couple of years ago. I had thought they would connect the parks via monorail, but I got the same response. The cost per foo is phenomial and they will never do what they origionally planned.
I like to ride the monorail, but we are lucky if we ride it once per trip. We don't stay on the line and don't park hop

 

[Tara]

With more and more people(if that's possible) are going to WDW yr after yr something drastic needs to be done. Some days/weeks/months are so crowded u cannot see the pavement. Maybe the government will step in and let only certain states in/ during certain months and other states other months. Just kidding but SOMETHING needs to be done. Some days u feel like dominoes. If one person falls it will start a reaction and wipe out thousands.

Building more monorail lines won't make the parks less crowded? In fact, it will almost guarantee the parks remain crowded because it would be a monumental capital expenditure that would effectively kill any hopes for a 5th gate or substantial addition of attractions for several to many years surrounding any monorail expansion.

Another drawback is that the monorail system must run at a certain height - the monorail resorts were built to accommodate this, but other resorts were not. Think about a resort like Port Orleans. How would the monorail work there? Where would the platform be located? And how much of an eyesore would it be?

The most promising option I've seen discussed is light rail which would run at ground level. But even that seems like a stretch.

 

[elizflynn]

Cost certainly makes alot of sense and the fact that they really don't get a return from it also makes alot of sense. However, it would be pretty awesome don't you think?

Someone mentioned earlier about the water transportation...is there really that much water surrounding it that can extend the boat transportation? I read a different thread where many people were not thrilled with the boat transportation so maybe this is something that Disney doesn't seem to think is worth it.

 

[Missytara]

Given conservative costs of anywhere between 100 and 125 million dollars per mile of monorail (probably more.. ) and that doesn't include the cost of the monorail trains (5 to 10 million each) or the electricity to run them... this would easily go into the 'several billions with a capital "B"' type of budget..

And ... as noted by many others in this thread.. they would likely never recover that investment..

Knox

Look at the one they built in Las Vegas. They collect money for it and still have to file for bankruptcy. And it is only 3.9 miles long.

 

[skiingfast]

1. The monorail doesn't require a minimum height. They are generally suspended to allow things to pass underneath.

2. The style does not need to match CBD or YC of AKL to run there. It also already passes through 3 resorts that have highly different styling and are based on cultures that have nothing in common with eachother.

3. I don't have any idea why two moderators would comment on this thread when it needs to be moved.

4. All these arguments have been made on the thread linked below. Some inculding factual data.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2447545

 

[elizflynn]

Sorry, didn't see that other thread.

Moderators, please feel free to move or close this thread if you see fit.

 

[maxiesmom]

With more and more people(if that's possible) are going to WDW yr after yr something drastic needs to be done. Some days/weeks/months are so crowded u cannot see the pavement. Maybe the government will step in and let only certain states in/ during certain months and other states other months. Just kidding but SOMETHING needs to be done. Some days u feel like dominoes. If one person falls it will start a reaction and wipe out thousands.

Huh? You want the government telling you when to go to Disney World?

Do you not know that there are already limits on how many people can be in the park at one time? And I don't know when you are going to WDW, but even over the 4th of July I have never felt as if one person falling down would wipe out half the park.

And I am not all that sure that more and more people are going to WDW. If that were the case, they sure wouldn't be offering all of the room discounts and bounceback enticements to fill their resorts.

 

[PixieDustandEeyore]

Huh? You want the government telling you when to go to Disney World?

Do you not know that there are already limits on how many people can be in the park at one time? And I don't know when you are going to WDW, but even over the 4th of July I have never felt as if one person falling down would wipe out half the park.

And I am not all that sure that more and more people are going to WDW. If that were the case, they sure wouldn't be offering all of the room discounts and bounceback enticements to fill their resorts.

The previous poster was just kidding. I went during the new jersey week in november one year , I stood still for 1 seconds to adjust something and a wheel chair ran into my heel that was 3 years ago the scar is still huge!

But that would have been funny only certain states at certain times teehee.

Anyways the dolphin was to be on the monorail line near the top there are these big huge windows and the monorail was to go through the dolphin as well, but like many said 1 million dollars per foot (that wasn't an exageration as Knox confirmed as it could be over 100 million dollars a mile)

Steel is sooo costly right now