Fix or replace the monorail

rob0519

Well-Known Member
Technology has improved greatly since its construction. And here Disney could be a leader. Would hate to see them make such a decision. Maybe if they'd stop building more DVC, they'd have the funding. It's one of the unique aspects of WDW.

I think they should have stopped building DVCs 10 years ago. It's ruined the ambiance of the resort, in my opinion. However, as long as DVC is a cash cow and allows them thousand of more sheep...er customers per year they'll keep building them.
 

POLY LOVER

Well-Known Member
Let's get real here, a cracked beam would be cause to shut it down, can you imagine if a car load of passenger hit the ground. Huge lawsuit and criminal charges, if they knew about it and did nothing.
 

Sonconato

Well-Known Member
Flex tape 19.95 it will even work on the boats!
You beat me to it!
16583158_1353577578039281_4570102510139736064_n.jpg

Yeah, doggie!
 

thomas998

Well-Known Member
Abandoned monorail beams would be an eyesore - and hazard - no one would miss.

I just don't get it. Everyone's trying to reduce their carbon footprint. Disney built a small solar farm, for goodness sakes. Why not upgrade the monorail, expanding it through the property and reduce the number of desiel exhaust genetating buses on the roads?
If Disney really cared about the carbon footprint wouldn't they have already replaced the Tomorrowland Speedway cars with electric cars? It would be very easy to do as we have local electric go kart track that use car pretty much identical in size to the Speedway cars and the charging stations are the loading area.... would hardly require much in the way of reconfiguration if Disney wanted to do anything about pollution.... But I doubt they will ever do that in my lifetime because it would cost money.

You can get certain that if Disney built a solar farm it was only because it made them more money... My guess is it was probably subsidized by the state of Florida and/or the US government. At one time Disney was squawking about how good they were for some water treatment project they had created, but the fact is it was only done because it provided them with cheaper water for all their plant watering needs than simply buying it from the municipal source. Disney is a business and a business has one driving force - making money.
 

POLY LOVER

Well-Known Member
Hand the parks over to joe rhodie and stand back and let the creativity fly. The bean counters minus creativity will make Disney just the ok park.
Happiest place on earth too just another place on earth!
 

rdominelli

New Member
Just got back from Visiting DW and I have to say I was dissapointed that maintenance has fallen off in general. We road the monorail around the lake and the car we were in had a door which needed to be manually slammed at every stop. Maintenance as a whole seems to have fallen off, failed monitors in Space Mountain, lights out here and there, paint and walls in need of repair in the Toy Story ride.
 

Minnesota disney fan

Well-Known Member
While NOTHING is outside the realm of possibility, I think somewhere, deep down inside even Iger and Chappie and others understand that the monorail is synonymous with the US Disney parks.

The age of the trains in of itself is not the problem. Seriously. Delayed or deferred or just plain not enough maintenance is. We are hearing some positive steps are currently being taken in that regard. Hopefully, that trend will continue. I am hoping this situation is similar to MyMagic+, the huge costs (that ballooned even higher) to implement that system took virtually all of the investment from the parks. They're playing a bit a of catch-up now. The monorail is finishing up the automation program, now that it is wrapping up, hopefully we will see maintenance increase on the trains and beams. Again, we seem to be getting underway with that now, we just need that momentum to continue, and maybe even ramp up a bit, as they are now playing catch-up there too. The current fleet is a very different animal than any other Disney fleet in history.

I'm bringing my millions in February. Maybe that will help them to fix the monorail!! :)
 

1stWDW96'

Member
I would love to see the numbers, that Disney uses to determine the worth of the Monorail system. From my meager perspective, the Monorails are an extremely efficient (in both cost, and capacity) to distribute guests throughout the parks. I cannot believe that such an important element to the resorts operations, has been neglected so much. Given the benefits including environmentally safe(er) operation than buses, the pretty incredible safety record (given its years of operation), and the love the monorails receive from so many, I honestly think it's a shame, that they have been allowed to deteriorate so much. The infrastructure is there, it just needs some good repair, new and additional trains, and all would be right in the world.
 

ppete1975

Well-Known Member
heres the thing, there is one thing that saves the monorails and its only one thing. The premium hotels on the monorail loop, this is an upsell for them and something I don't see them getting rid of.. especially with the contemporary. IF the monorail didn't do the hotel route id say they would already be gone, or on the chopping block. Whats odd is Disneyland seems to not have the same view on the monorails, that might be because the loop is so much smaller and maybe the guest wear and tear isn't as bad either.
if I can trust wiki...
Disneyland
mark 1 1959-1961
mark 2 1961 -1969
mark 3 1969-1987
mark 5 1987-2008
mark 7 2008-now

Disneyworld
mark 4 1971 to 1991
mark 6 1689 to present whoops 1989 to present ;)

clearly Disneyworld is over due, its odd that these aren't the same replacement schedule... is it diff people running the two parks budgets (if naïve question I apologize)
 

Phantom Mickey

Active Member
I believe it would be really difficult to justify getting rid of the WDW monorails as they were designed as a function of transportation for the parks. I know that legally, Disney can run the MK VI for another 20 years so perhaps the recent inquiries to manufacturers of Monorail trains could be for a total rebuild of the present trains.
If costs show that the present MK VI are too far gone for repair, then replacement may be needed, perhaps a couple at a time.

I tend to believe Disney won't go with the Lear Jet, pointed nose cab design again so I believe they should consider a design like the monorail trains that were imagined for the movie Jurrassic World. They would be stunning as a train and would fit anywhere in the park if Disney were to ever expand the tracks. Best part is they wouldn't look like the average subway train......
 

rsm

Well-Known Member
I tend to believe Disney won't go with the Lear Jet, pointed nose cab design again so I believe they should consider a design like the monorail trains that were imagined for the movie Jurrassic World. They would be stunning as a train and would fit anywhere in the park if Disney were to ever expand the tracks. Best part is they wouldn't look like the average subway train......

Nah... I'm sure the lawyers and Imagineers will come to a beautiful compromise...
monorail 2038.jpg
 

POLY LOVER

Well-Known Member
The monorails are just part of the overall maintenance issues. If they were replacing them one at a time over the past ten years it would not be such a capital outlay all at once that seems to be the reason for not doing it. the monorails are iconic symbols of Disney, if management doesn't understand that then they should be replaced! Disney without monorails I can't imagine that. The Orlando airport has built new track and replaced cars so it can be done!
 

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