Rumor New Monorails Coming Soon?

[Cesar R M]

View attachment 586014

Way to ruin the hopes and dreams of dreamfinder
Amazing how much power a simple image has XD

 

[montyz81]

Smacking Mickey ears on everything is trashy. Monorails SHOULD give off an elegant, optimistic vibe with a touch of playfulness.

This would do albeit with a more pointed nose

 

[the.dreamfinder]

View attachment 586099
This would do albeit with a more pointed nose

I would prefer something less nostalgic and more forward thinking.

 

[monothingie]

I would prefer something less nostalgic and more forward thinking.

WDW doesn't have enough Zootopia inspired things.

OK BYE!

 

[Creathir]

WDW doesn't have enough Zootopia inspired things.

OK BYE!

Only if they expand the system to Animal Kingdom too!

 

[Brad Bishop]

That’s a great question…but beams don’t last forever. Those were placed in the harsh Florida climate going on 55 years ago…just saying.

the trains are a weird, expensive, energy non-efficient custom build.

…and the problem is that Disney won’t admit to their investors they have necessary overhead anymore. It’s the changes in Wall Street mentality that they have fallen into the pattern on. So the “we’ll make it back later” on something mostly frivolous like obselete monorails is gonna be a tough sell.

The Epcot beams should be the first to go as they were cast locally in FL and suffer from too much lime (which erodes - if I remember correctly). That said, the MK Resort Monorails (both Resort and Express) were cast in Seattle and transported down. They are of a much higher grade concrete but do have ≈10 years on the life of the Epcot line.

I think there is ZERO chance that they'll ever replace, or even repair - beyond minor fixes, any of those lines. The reality is that they'll just stop using the Monorails and leave the beams in place for a decade or two.

Even now I think the plan is to run them into the ground until they're simply not worth replacing (making it such a pain to ride them, because of reliability, that the customers give up trying to the point where they could say, "You know - we're just going to stop operating them, now, because of lack of ridership from our customers." They did the same to 20,000 Leagues. Let it fall into such disrepair that they just used that as an excuse to dump it.

If they were going to keep up with the maintenance on the monorails they would have started replacing them in 2010. That time has long past. It's clear they're just going to run them until they no longer run.

People will:
- feel initially bad
- make excuses / defend Disney for shutting down the Monorail ("People weren't using them...", "Disney IS a business...", etc.)
- They'll show right back up at the gates the next morning, in droves, to hand over even more money to Disney

Not having the monorail will not "break" WDW.

I could see WDW building a parking garage up closer to the Magic Kingdom in order to cut costs (and charge you more for parking - it's a win-win!). They could build it just North of the GF. You could then walk right up to the gate!

 

[Brad Bishop]

Another thought:

What if they have a pretty good idea of the life-span of the beams and, because of this, it'd make no sense to order new trains (because they have no intention of fixing the beams).

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

The Epcot beams should be the first to go as they were cast locally in FL and suffer from too much lime (which erodes - if I remember correctly). That said, the MK Resort Monorails (both Resort and Express) were cast in Seattle and transported down. They are of a much higher grade concrete but do have ≈10 years on the life of the Epcot line.

I think there is ZERO chance that they'll ever replace, or even repair - beyond minor fixes, any of those lines. The reality is that they'll just stop using the Monorails and leave the beams in place for a decade or two.

Even now I think the plan is to run them into the ground until they're simply not worth replacing (making it such a pain to ride them, because of reliability, that the customers give up trying to the point where they could say, "You know - we're just going to stop operating them, now, because of lack of ridership from our customers." They did the same to 20,000 Leagues. Let it fall into such disrepair that they just used that as an excuse to dump it.

If they were going to keep up with the maintenance on the monorails they would have started replacing them in 2010. That time has long past. It's clear they're just going to run them until they no longer run.

People will:
- feel initially bad
- make excuses / defend Disney for shutting down the Monorail ("People weren't using them...", "Disney IS a business...", etc.)
- They'll show right back up at the gates the next morning, in droves, to hand over even more money to Disney

Not having the monorail will not "break" WDW.

I could see WDW building a parking garage up closer to the Magic Kingdom in order to cut costs (and charge you more for parking - it's a win-win!). They could build it just North of the GF. You could then walk right up to the gate!

Another thought:

What if they have a pretty good idea of the life-span of the beams and, because of this, it'd make no sense to order new trains (because they have no intention of fixing the beams).

1000%

you are my spirit animal

 

[pdude81]

So what do you guys expect them to use to charge more to stay around Bay Lake and 7SL? More boats? Shuttle buses? A tram on the walking path? It would be insane for them to just let the tracks rot and have no usable replacement for a decade. Then what to do with the contemporary, just close it up to save on air conditioning?

I'm pretty sure they aren't ordering new trains because they would cost substantially more money and have to be built custom for these tracks. They design concrete bridges now with a service life of more than 100 years and you can't just replace posts and track sections on these bridges like you could for the monorail.

Now I'm not saying they will keep this thing forever, but there is no way that running it til it explodes like a beater car and then leaving it in the front yard is the evil master plan. I don't assume the beams need fixing unless there is some evidence to the contrary, and the trains they are just cheaping out on for the time being.

 

[UNCgolf]

So what do you guys expect them to use to charge more to stay around Bay Lake and 7SL? More boats? Shuttle buses? A tram on the walking path? It would be insane for them to just let the tracks rot and have no usable replacement for a decade. Then what to do with the contemporary, just close it up to save on air conditioning?

They don't need the monorail to charge those prices. If they shut down the monorail today, they wouldn't cut room prices and they still wouldn't have any trouble filling them at the same rate they do now.

I don't know that I buy that they're planning to just let them rot until they're unusable, though. I think it's more that current management doesn't want to spend any money on it unless they absolutely have to.

 

[zann285]

So what do you guys expect them to use to charge more to stay around Bay Lake and 7SL? More boats? Shuttle buses? A tram on the walking path? It would be insane for them to just let the tracks rot and have no usable replacement for a decade. Then what to do with the contemporary, just close it up to save on air conditioning?

I mean they have some pretty swanky incredibles rooms there at the Contemporary that I’m sure will have people just shoveling cash at Disney so they can stay in them. And then the curtains with the monorail on them will be a weird relic of the past, making for a fun trivia moment.

(This post is mostly in sarcasm… I hope).

 

[MisterPenguin]

Put a deck on the monorail beams and let it be a walking path!

 

[bpiper]

Put a deck on the monorail beams and let it be a walking path!

You forgot the premise. The beams/pylons have deteriorated and they don't want to fix them. You can't put a deck on them....

 

[HauntedPirate]

I’ve said it before - The day they get rid of the monorails is the day I stop visiting WDW. They are that important to me and my visiting experience, and it’s a hill I will die on.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

So what do you guys expect them to use to charge more to stay around Bay Lake and 7SL? More boats? Shuttle buses? A tram on the walking path? It would be insane for them to just let the tracks rot and have no usable replacement for a decade. Then what to do with the contemporary, just close it up to save on air conditioning?

I'm pretty sure they aren't ordering new trains because they would cost substantially more money and have to be built custom for these tracks. They design concrete bridges now with a service life of more than 100 years and you can't just replace posts and track sections on these bridges like you could for the monorail.

Now I'm not saying they will keep this thing forever, but there is no way that running it til it explodes like a beater car and then leaving it in the front yard is the evil master plan. I don't assume the beams need fixing unless there is some evidence to the contrary, and the trains they are just cheaping out on for the time being.

More on this below

They don't need the monorail to charge those prices. If they shut down the monorail today, they wouldn't cut room prices and they still wouldn't have any trouble filling them at the same rate they do now.

I don't know that I buy that they're planning to just let them rot until they're unusable, though. I think it's more that current management doesn't want to spend any money on it unless they absolutely have to.

Exactly.

wdw customers stopped caring about value for the price the entire Bobs era.

the idea they “have to convince” people to buy those rooms if they can afford them is obselete. They revel in the bill in most cases.

 

[M:SpilotISTC12]

Why would they get new monorails? Seriously? I get their old but why drop that kind of coin on a FREE service? Unless they start to charge (which now isn't out of the realm of possibility) they won't get new monorails. Once it's time to get new ones, they'll knock down the pillars or use them to install the skyliner on them instead.

So enjoy them for what they are now. As they get more wear and tear, they won't get any better until they are ultimately replaced with skyliner.

 

[pdude81]

More on this below

Exactly.

wdw customers stopped caring about value for the price the entire Bobs era.

the idea they “have to convince” people to buy those rooms if they can afford them is obselete. They revel in the bill in most cases.

But you've said on many occasions that people stopped going to Wilderness because the price got too high for what they were getting. What is Wilderness if not a close proximity hotel without monorail access? And it never had a monorail to begin with, where the others would have been built with this specific element in mind and had it stripped. I've walked to MK from Polynesian and from the VGF building. Neither are great benefits.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Why would they get new monorails? Seriously? I get their old but why drop that kind of coin on a FREE service? Unless they start to charge (which now isn't out of the realm of possibility) they won't get new monorails. Once it's time to get new ones, they'll knock down the pillars or use them to install the skyliner on them instead.

So enjoy them for what they are now. As they get more wear and tear, they won't get any better until they are ultimately replaced with skyliner.

I sorta agree with you…something else would likely follow.

but BS Aside…if they do do a new parking/entrance plaza to the magic kingdom to the north/west…as has been thrown around for years…the monorail ends that day.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

But you've said on many occasions that people stopped going to Wilderness because the price got too high for what they were getting. What is Wilderness if not a close proximity hotel without monorail access? And it never had a monorail to begin with, where the others would have been built with this specific element in mind and had it stripped. I've walked to MK from Polynesian and from the VGF building. Neither are great benefits.

They did…they out priced the rooms.

so they really “lost”…converted I think 300-400 rooms to timeshare and sold them at 3 TIMES the upfront price of the unit 100 feet away And ensure damn near 100% occupancy in those.

ya see? Who wins?

not the only time they did the same thing either…quietly for 10 years:

animal kingdom lodge…contemporary…poly…caribbean…and now grand Floridian.

All conversions that eliminate a problem with money up front.

It’s good to be the king of “adult children”

 

[montyz81]

Why would they get new monorails? Seriously? I get their old but why drop that kind of coin on a FREE service? Unless they start to charge (which now isn't out of the realm of possibility) they won't get new monorails. Once it's time to get new ones, they'll knock down the pillars or use them to install the skyliner on them instead.

So enjoy them for what they are now. As they get more wear and tear, they won't get any better until they are ultimately replaced with skyliner.

It is interesting that you all say this. They did drop coin on new monorails not too long ago. 2008 I believe, MK VIIs? That was the Iger era too. For WDW, if I remember correctly, new monorails were ordered but then canceled due to a downturn in the economy. Just about the time they were probably ready re-place the order, the pandemic hit. My guess is that in about 5 years, when they feel comfortable again, they will assess what to do with the monorails and possibly realize that getting rid of them for a Skyliner solution would cost way more than just buying new trains. They still use the monorail in their adverts. It is a draw for some percentage of nonfan guests. I don't ever see the Skyliner in the ads.