Any Monorail Expansion Updates?

[jt04]

The thing is the monorails also pollute, just not directly. The monorails run on electricity which of course is typically produced by burning fossil fuels.


Like you I think these numbers are misleading. If you arrive to MK by car you have no other choice but to ride the ferry or the monorail to get to the park. It is like saying that 100% percent of the people that go to Castaway Cay arrive by boat so the boat must be the best way to get there.

Only because we don't rely on nuclear power more unfortunately. Ultimately though, using electricity to move people that originates from a FF plant would still create less pollution than a bus running on diesel does to move the same amount of people.

 

[DizFanatic]

Wow, a simple little question, and you get all kinds of "expert advice". I'm an engineer who's worked on several transportation projects. I will stay out of this, though, because I am not an expert. But personally, I feel that all modes of transit work well together in WDW. For the busses, quieter, greener hybrids should be dominating Disney's fleet.

As a great wise man has said several times over: "Please stand clear of the doors.":hammer:

 

[jt04]

Wow, a simple little question, and you get all kinds of "expert advice". I'm an engineer who's worked on several transportation projects. I will stay out of this, though, because I am not an expert. But personally, I feel that all modes of transit work well together in WDW. For the busses, quieter, greener hybrids should be dominating Disney's fleet.

As a great wise man has said several times over: "Please stand clear of the doors.":hammer:

"Hybrid busses"? Do tell.

Why do you have to be an "expert" to render an opinion. There would not be many conversations happening in the world if you had to be an "expert" on every subject. For example, "How is the weather there?" Answer: "I can't say because I am not a meteorologist" :hammer:

 

[tnchefbear]

I love how this thread always gets everyone so fired up... No one would love to see another expansion more then me.... but the reality up until now has been that Disney has not wanted to, nor needed to, do the expansion... I can only hope that this will change... after all my Disney memories are of the monorails, not the buses

:brick:

 

[s8film40]

The thing is the monorails also pollute, just not directly. The monorails run on electricity which of course is typically produced by burning fossil fuels.


Like you I think these numbers are misleading. If you arrive to MK by car you have no other choice but to ride the ferry or the monorail to get to the park. It is like saying that 100% percent of the people that go to Castaway Cay arrive by boat so the boat must be the best way to get there.

Do you people just really not like monorails?

I mean to go to such extremes to discredit monorails as to say they pollute indirectly. Thats about the weakest argument against monorails there is. Of course anything using electricity pollutes indirectly. You might as well say there bad for the environment because every once in a while a monorail might hit a bird. Everything has its share of disadvantages, monorails just happen to have fewer.

Personally to me my ideal form of transportation at WDW would be monorail, this doesn't mean I think that the monorails should connect to everything throughout the resort. But a well though out monorail system connecting all of the major centers of activity would be a great convenience and far more efficient than the buses. This is the type of monorail system that was originally intended for WDW before Walt Disney died.

You can argue that monorails are inefficient all you want, but you'll always be on the losing side of that argument. Monorails have been a proven efficient means of transportation for over a hundred years and will be for many years to come.

Monorails are the ideal form of transportation in a vacation resort, this is why they have been so successful at WDW and why they are still being chosen at other vacation resorts throughout the world.

Dubailand will soon take it's place as the largest Theme Park resort in the world, and the owners and developers there have chosen monorails to connect their resort. Monorails have a lot to offer faster transit time to your destination, shorter wait times, reduced costs for their operators, more efficient means of transporting people, more fun to ride, and they certainly look nicer in a resort setting than roads crowded with buses.

If Monorails were not an efficient, convenient, and pleasant means of transportation you wouldn't see them being constructed in other resorts. Just because WDW doesn't expand their system doesn't mean it's not a viable transportation means. WDW's time has come and gone a peak for development was reached some time ago and in the coming years the new leaders in the theme park resort business will show the world how a vacation resort is done right.

 

[Glasgow]

As was possibly mentioned before, I think the money would be better spent converting existing busses to hybrid or hydrogen. Disney could install their own hydrogen stations and actually generate their own hydrogen .. expensive, yes, but probably cheaper than monorail expansion.

As a side note, could they also not design a monorail-like nose to put on the front of the busses and then link several busses together?

 

[Master Yoda]

Do you people just really not like monorails?

I do not hate monorails I simply do not see them as the end all be all of mass transit and they not economically viable for WDW. The current bus system works. There is no need to expand the monorail.

If you were given the choice of 10-20 E-ticket rides on the order of EE or an expanded monorail (both would cost about the same) which would you chose and which do you think would attract more guests to WDW? You know what my vote would be.

 

[Master Yoda]

As was possibly mentioned before, I think the money would be better spent converting existing busses to hybrid or hydrogen. Disney could install their own hydrogen stations and actually generate their own hydrogen .. expensive, yes, but probably cheaper than monorail expansion.

As a side note, could they also not design a monorail-like nose to put on the front of the busses and then link several busses together?

Yes they could, but you start running into problems with the extended buses making turns. I am sure you have seen an 18 wheeler try to make a 90 degree turn in a single lane before. You would pretty much run into the same thing. It would not be quite as extreme but you get the idea.

 

[s8film40]

I do not hate monorails I simply do not see them as the end all be all of mass transit and they not economically viable for WDW. The current bus system works. There is no need to expand the monorail.

If you were given the choice of 10-20 E-ticket rides on the order of EE or an expanded monorail (both would cost about the same) which would you chose and which do you think would attract more guests to WDW? You know what my vote would be.

Glad to hear you don't hate monorails I was starting to wonder.

Unfortunately in the current situation I agree with you. Like I said in an earlier post WDW is currently being viewed as a short term development and as such monorails are not economically viable. Yes I agree that given the choice between new attractions and expanded transportation of course anyone would choose attractions. It's unfortunate that Disney has to make that choice after all thats what makes Disney special is everything beyond the attractions. The Disney company is very different today than it was in the early seventies I think if they were building WDW today it would have more in common to Six Flags than WDW as we know it. The "If you can dream it you can do it" and "spare no expense" mentality died some time ago and has been replaced with "if the return on the investment is high enough will consider it"

 

[jt04]

Glad to hear you don't hate monorails I was starting to wonder.

Unfortunately in the current situation I agree with you. Like I said in an earlier post WDW is currently being viewed as a short term development and as such monorails are not economically viable. Yes I agree that given the choice between new attractions and expanded transportation of course anyone would choose attractions. It's unfortunate that Disney has to make that choice after all thats what makes Disney special is everything beyond the attractions. The Disney company is very different today than it was in the early seventies I think if they were building WDW today it would have more in common to Six Flags than WDW as we know it. The "If you can dream it you can do it" and "spare no expense" mentality died some time ago and has been replaced with "if the return on the investment is high enough will consider it"

I agree in that it is very unlikely the monorail will ever be expanded. I also don't think the bus system works (the drivers do their best so I don't blame them). Like solving the energy problems it will take a variety of options depending on distance, terrain, topography and numbers of guests to be transported. There are good alternatives to busses they just have to think more creatively.

 

[DisneyJoe]

I think the bus system does an amazing job, the system just needs fine tuning during peak times.

 

[DizFanatic]

"Hybrid busses"? Do tell.

Why do you have to be an "expert" to render an opinion. There would not be many conversations happening in the world if you had to be an "expert" on every subject. For example, "How is the weather there?" Answer: "I can't say because I am not a meteorologist" :hammer:

No, don't get me wrong. An opinion is one thing, but I've been reading so many things that are stated as if they are fact with responses shooting them down with no back-up data on either side of the argument. We all can agree that there is a huge capitol outlay to build a monorail line. There is lots of data out there that can support the energy consumed by any form of multi car rail vehicles is less than that of a single bus. Then there's the green factor of a bus blowing out dark clouds of exhaust loaded with greenhouse gasses and acid rain producing sulfurs. And a beamway will have less environmental impact on the wetlands than a new or expanded roadway. But putting all that aside, like I said before, all the forms of WDW transit work well together. All have plusses and minuses.

I tried not to get into all that, but I guess we're all alike here. And yes, I do secretly want a monorail line built from my front door to Mickeys!!!:ROFLOL:

As for the hybrid busses, Seatle has replaced a percentage of their municipal bus fleet several years ago with GM hybrids. And there are many of these busses now on the streets of NYC along with natural gas powered busses. They are clean and quiet. No black clouds. Here's some good reading (from 4 years ago):
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5075705/

 

[jt04]

I think the bus system does an amazing job, the system just needs fine tuning during peak times.

If they can get the GPS system to function as advertised then the system would be much better. My impression is the drivers hate it because they believe efficiency = less jobs, which I think is not accurate in any substantial way. Then all they would need to do is switch to natural gas/hybrid technology and it could be a workable (and more magical) mass transit system. Just my two cents.

 

[RSoxNo1]

The thing is the monorails also pollute, just not directly. The monorails run on electricity which of course is typically produced by burning fossil fuels.

To quote Comedian Dave Mordal, "We should all shift to electric cars because electricity comes from magic."

 

[hokielutz]

Here is today's update on the upcoming new expansion of the Monorail system to addtional resorts and Parks..... See below..




























The Update is....

There is no update.... and none for the forseeable future. so sad..

 

[WDW Monorail]

"Hybrid busses"? Do tell.

In the past couple of years, Disney has tested two hybrid bus models. One manufactured by GM, the other by Designline. I'd say that it is likely that these buses will be introduced to the fleet in the future.

 

[imagineer boy]

I have two thoughts:

1. Would the monorails become more energy efficient if Disney built its own solar ray field or whatever that directly supplies power to the monorails? Could that be possible?

2. Would it be cheaper to instead of just expanding the monorail, add a metrolink system ( grouded train tracks with trains running on overhead wires or third rail ) to transport guests around the propert? You certainly wouldn't have to deal with building the beams.

 

[WDW Monorail]

I have two thoughts:

1. Would the monorails become more energy efficient if Disney built its own solar ray field or whatever that directly supplies power to the monorails? Could that be possible?

2. Would it be cheaper to instead of just expanding the monorail, add a metrolink system ( grouded train tracks with trains running on overhead wires or third rail ) to transport guests around the propert? You certainly wouldn't have to deal with building the beams.

1. No because the field would have to take up the entire footprint of the property in order to generate enough power to fuel the system.

2. It was been spoken of repeatedly.

 

[unkadug]

Here is today's update on the upcoming new expansion of the Monorail system to addtional resorts and Parks..... See below..







The Update is....

There is no update.... and none for the forseeable future. so sad..

That's like the map I have of the proposed expansion:

 

[jmvd20]

They will never do it when there are alternative and (substantially) cheaper options IMO.

I dont think it will ever happen either for a number of reasons.

I was just pointing out a common misconception that the footings and beams are the major cost factors of a monorail system when in fact they make up much less than a third of the overall costs.