Appalling state of the monorail cabins

[ptaylor]

This may not be news to some, but may be for others - it needs highlighting. The monorail interiors are in a shocking condition.

I didn't go looking for this, just happened to be in a single car with no passengers, and just took a moment to realize just how bad things have become. These photos were taken yesterday on Monorail Black, but the problems can be found on all monorails and in some cases they are a lot worse than these photos.

Just how far is WDW prepared to let the condition go? I routinely go on subway trains in NYC that are in a far better condition than this, and let us not forget, these are the monorails transporting guests from those $2000 per night rooms in the new Grand Floridian Villas.

Stains on nearly every surface

Damaged seats, rips and stains

Missing trim on door panels

Damaged trim, non existant paint

Mold and stains on seats

Stains on doors

Cracked and broken trim

Mold growing on the roof panels

Mold and grime on the roof

 

[Radok Block]

Gross.

 

[TP2000]

Yikes. This is not just one bad overnight custodial shift, this is an accumulation of willful neglect over a period of time.

 

[WDWDad13]

wow that is bad...

 

[hpyhnt 1000]

At least we've been getting new buses...?

Certainly nothing new; been similar to this for ages. I'm beginning to wonder if the monorails are deliberately being left to break, so that when they do break, they can use the excuse that they broke to justify cutting them.

I don't care what upgrades may be happening to the control system; these interior photos are completely unacceptable.

 

[Knothead]

Sadly at WDW these days, "good enough" is good enough. The writing is on the wall for the whole resort, sometimes literally. I'm disheartened by this, but your examples here are some of the many reasons my family will not be renewing our APs until they get their act together. We are prepared to wait a while.

 

[marni1971]

Disgusting.

 

[baymenxpac]

embarrassing. i dare some BS lifestyler to come into this thread and defend this garbage. never been better my you-know-what.

 

[Figment2005]

Your observations are spot on, but... how good does the inside of your 25 year old, constantly used for public transportation, car look?

 

[awilliams4]

Could just be capital depreciation.

 

[tlev]

I guess I never notice since they are always full when I travel. I can understand some general wear and tear, but the mold is just too much!

 

[DonaldDoleWhip]

Does anyone else remember 2 and a half years ago, when they cut monorail hours for MK and Epcot EMH? People said it would be worth it so the monorails could receive extra 'maintenance', despite the inconvenience that it would cause for guests at WDW's iconic (and expensive) monorail resorts.

I guess it was just another cost-cutting measure after all. What a shame...

 

[Knothead]

Speaking for myself here, I don't make nearly as much money as Disney, but I replace my car before it begins to look as nasty or becomes as much of a maintenance nightmare as the WDW Monorail.

 

[omurice]

Wow that's worse than any car I saw on my last trip (and I rode on every single train at least once - it was a long trip - except for black and one of the blue shades - teal or cyan?). But I tend to look out of the windows most of the trip. Whenever I get in the monorail I smell that smell. Like disinfectant masking mold, or... something. Similar to the smell on Metro in DC too. They must disinfect at least the seats each night but from those photos, they're not cleaning off everything certainly - Ugh!
I love the monorail too or at least the /idea/ of it is so intertwined with WDW. Aw TDO get it together please.

 

[Bairstow]

Any guesses as to how much it would cost to recarpet and retrim a monorail car?

 

[ABQ]

Your observations are spot on, but... how good does the inside of your 25 year old, constantly used for public transportation, car look?

Was going to say, I'm not defending it and I do think they have the budget to correct this, however, it looks better than any subway car I've had the displeasure of riding to work.

 

[ptaylor]

Yikes. This is not just one bad overnight custodial shift, this is an accumulation of willful neglect over a period of time.

Correct. This is a major problem throughout the monorail system, and managers are perfectly happy to let monorails go out each morning in this condition. As it stands right now, I do not think any of the monorails are in show condition. It is shockingly embarrassing. Perhaps the only thing saving them right now is that they are usually so overload with guests that you cannot see just how bad things are.

 

[ptaylor]

Was going to say, I'm not defending it and I do think they have the budget to correct this, however, it looks better than any subway car I've had the displeasure of riding to work.

I must be lucky, but I have been on many subway trains in NYC that are in amazing condition, as is the Sky Train from JFK, as are many of the tube trains in London.

 

[Big C 73]

I'll tell you what that is and that is a lack of care and laziness pure BS. They either need to fix these problems or get some new monorails. (Which we can predict wont happen anytime soon) I would be ashamed to allow money paying guest to ride in such conditions. I truly did not realize how bad the lack of maintenance was on the Walt Disney World monorail system.

 

[The Empress Lilly]

Tokyo Disney monorail:

Disney World used to look like that. The 'Disney' in the name didn't denote cartoon franchises, but a place where everything was spotless, freshly painted, friendly and reassuring.
While I understand that in 2013 East Asia is First World and America is Third World, UNI still manages to have spotless transportation systems. Shiny and clean: