Would you pay higher prices for monorail extension?

[raidermatt]

Why do you feel it would be a wise investment? It's a neat toy but it's really not extremely practical nor cost effective. There are much more cost effective and efficient systems available, including hybrid buses which are being adopted by Disney.

He said, "I think upgrading and expanding WDW's transportation system, monorail or otherwise, would be a wise investment for Disney"

Exactly.

The time when the monorail was definitely a smart investment has passed, but that doesn't mean it still wouldn't be a wise investment.

The efficiency knocks are overblown, and it has tremendous value beyond just its practical value

But that doesn't mean it's the best choice. It should still be an option on the table though.

Regardless, busses alone are absolutely not the answer, whether they be natural gas, diesel, hybrid, etc.

The thing to remember is that while Disney's transportation needs have similarities to the needs of metropolitan areas, WDW's needs also have great differences. Perhaps the most important difference is the fact that it is part of a "show".

Despite the lip service, Disney has moved away from the idea that absolutely everything the customer sees/does is part of the entertainment experience. That's the real reason why WDW's transportation system isn't likely to get any kind of major upgrade in the future. We'll see improvements that save Disney some costs, or help them in the PR department (i.e. hybrid busses), but I think that's about the extent of it.

That's truly unfortunate.

 

[jheigl]

Another thing with adding busses and such would be the normal maintenance costs associated with them, i.e. oil changes, fuel, tires, brakes, etc. To my knowledge, the monorail doesn't come close to the cost to operate. I think the people mover idea would be the best, but who knows. Hopefully they will expand something someday!

 

[tjkraz]

Too many hurdles for there ever to be 100% reliance on monorails.

1. Cost
2. Redundancy - entire line comes to a halt in the event of a breakdown; or you build multiple lines which double and triple costs
3. Capacity - Takes about 2 minutes to load a single train. That's 30 trains per hour. If a single train can hold 100 guests (which I think is high) you're only moving 3000 people per hour. Now calculate how many hours it takes to move 50,000 people out of a park at closing. Multiple load stations would help, but again dramatically add to costs.
4. Multiple loops - Buses provide direct point-to-point service while any monorail system would have to have multiple loops. Headed to the Magic Kingdom from the Animal Kingdom Lodge? At best you'd have to take a train from AKL to the TTC and then switch trains. And if the monorail system is moving 200,000 people per day, you can bet that lines would be long and stations crowded.

Buses cost less. They are flexible in that service can be ramped-up for specific parks as needed. They offer direct service. And breakdowns don't impact the system one bit. There are also many new eco-friendly alternatives which negate that advantage of monorails.

A monorail expansion sounds romantic but it's far from cost effective. Disney could expand the loop if they chose, but it wouldn't be for economic reasons. And I suspect most guests would rather Disney put $500 million into new attractions rather than giving BW/YC/BC guests monorail service to Hollywood Studios.

 

[kittychatalot]

I would pay substantially extra for some tyor of tram system, wether elevated, or on the ground. I like the bus system but nothing beats the monorail. I know the Monorail in las vegas gets very littel use though. we americans love our cars!

 

[Snowgod]

Instead of paying bonuses to all the execs, why not use that money to expand the monorail. I know the numbers crunchers will find no value in it but customer service was never a favorite of the MBAs either. I think it would be cheaper and easier to add additional track and trains to the monorail than ground based transit.

 

[dvc at last !]

Would love more monorail and less busses.

Agree.

 

[jheigl]

Instead of paying bonuses to all the execs, why not use that money to expand the monorail. I know the numbers crunchers will find no value in it but customer service was never a favorite of the MBAs either. I think it would be cheaper and easier to add additional track and trains to the monorail than ground based transit.

Unfortunately, other companies would offer Disney execs jobs with bonuses and the execs would leave for the money and we would eventually be left either with people who have no experience or people who are not that good. I agree 100% with you, but in the real world, unfortunately that isn't possible, in my opinion.

 

[Snowgod]

I say that if Disney execs want to leave, let them. I do not believe that the current culture of greed that corporate America has been following is good for business. Any corporation that wants to pay one person more than most of the hourly workers combined deserves what it gets. A bonus should only be for workers at the bottom that help customers get the value that will bring them back again and again. Workers that deliver outstanding customer service should receive a bonus. Cutting costs by laying off workers should not be worthy of a bonus, especially when the bonus is as mush as what was saved. The reason that people keep going to WDW over and over is to escape reality. Monorail and TTA are both part of what makes it special. Busses are common in every city in the world and thus not special at all.

 

[jlewisinsyr]

Snowgod, remember the recent staffing adjustments at Disney were pre-planned, just the timeline was escalated.

 

[Metro West]

Would I pay more for a monorail extension? Nope...I spend enough now.

 

[the who #3]

yes, i would be willing to pay extra somewhere to have that extension.

if the monorail ran to akl and park, you would find the akl full to capacity most of the time. also think of the extra business that would take place at dtd if the monorail went there also.

i really think it would pay for it's self in no time.

okw, the dtd dvc resorts, and akl are the dvc resorts not covered. vwl is actually accessable by boat to mk and then the monorail

 

[KYMickey]

Unfortunately, other companies would offer Disney execs jobs with bonuses and the execs would leave for the money and we would eventually be left either with people who have no experience or people who are not that good. I agree 100% with you, but in the real world, unfortunately that isn't possible, in my opinion.

Or possibly we be left with is executives who really care about Disney instead of just the money! Obviously the ones that are there for the money haven't done a very good job in everyone's opinion.

 

[the who #3]

ok, so maybe it is just a very expensive toy, but what is all of disney if not a very expensive toy. not only that, we all love that very expensive toy or we would not be on this dis.

 

[jheigl]

ok, so maybe it is just a very expensive toy, but what is all of disney if not a very expensive toy. not only that, we all love that very expensive toy or we would not be on this dis.

That's a good point!

Anyway, I'm not sure where the $$$ collected from the parking lots go towards, perhaps just profit...or maybe it goes towards the Disney Transportation, but if it is just going toward profit, why not use it toward some sort of better transportation...be it monorail extension or people mover or whatever?

 

[jimmalru80]

How much higher??

 

[jheigl]

Not much...it would all depend on what they wanted to add it on to. If they added it to the tickets, then maybe an extra 3-5 dollars total. If they added it to parking, maybe 1-2 extra dollars. If they added it to resorts, maybe an extra 5-10 dollars total. I realize that any little bit turns into a lot after a week's trip or after two weeks, etc, but this is simply for discussion...not very practical.

 

[KYMickey]

Not much...it would all depend on what they wanted to add it on to. If they added it to the tickets, then maybe an extra 3-5 dollars total. If they added it to parking, maybe 1-2 extra dollars. If they added it to resorts, maybe an extra 5-10 dollars total. I realize that any little bit turns into a lot after a week's trip or after two weeks, etc, but this is simply for discussion...not very practical.

The numbers don't make any sense. More people buy tickets than pay for parking so the increase in parking should be more than the increase in ticket prices! I do probably agree with your estimate in resort fees but I don't think that would be a likely place to increase the fees to pay for monorails.

One option that hasn't been discussed is to charge a fee for the use of Disney transportation. Charge to take the monorail from MK to DTD or wherever or charge to take the bus. As long as the fees were quite small it makes sense because people would probably be willing to pay for the convenience and for the interest in riding the monorail.

 

[JimB.]

1 million per mile that's a lot of monorail.

.

I would hazard a guess that if a monorail extension could be put in for $1 million/mile, Disney would do it in about 35 seconds. That is flippin ' CHEAP!!

5 years ago the estimate of the Florida "bullet train" was a high as $51 billion bucks for 320 miles. That would equal $159,000,000 PER MILE!!!!!!

I think the true cost of a monorail extension would obviously be much cheaper, since Disney would not have to consider right of way costs, but still tens of millions of $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ per mile. It is just too flippin' expensive.

Plus, although they are definitely much higher on the "cool" scale than buses, I bet the load capacity over time is much lower.

 

[KYMickey]

The Las Vegas monorail extinction is supposed to cost about $800 million per mile and there are no right of way costs associated with that! Monorails require a lot more foundation work and structural work than bullet trains, or any other train for that matter and thus cost considerably more.

 

[jheigl]

The numbers don't make any sense. More people buy tickets than pay for parking so the increase in parking should be more than the increase in ticket prices! I do probably agree with your estimate in resort fees but I don't think that would be a likely place to increase the fees to pay for monorails.

One option that hasn't been discussed is to charge a fee for the use of Disney transportation. Charge to take the monorail from MK to DTD or wherever or charge to take the bus. As long as the fees were quite small it makes sense because people would probably be willing to pay for the convenience and for the interest in riding the monorail.

I just sort of threw the numbers out there with no thought whatsoever...just as a guesstimate..I didn't mean them literally!