Appalling state of the monorail cabins

[HM Spectre]

The issue is that the powers that be are taking the wrong side of the fence when it comes to increasing profitability at WDW. It used to be about maintaining a standard of excellence and innovating to get better for the future. Now, it’s about cutting corners and costs while delivering just enough to keep the general uninformed public content.

They COULD pay a maintenance man to clean the monorails every night but if the general public isn’t going to notice, cutting that guy (and whatever he would need to keep it spotless) represents a short-term savings (because over the long haul, it’s cheaper to do good maintenance than replace). So long as that kind of move represents a savings in the “now” and goes relatively unnoticed, the suits will keep doing it over and over and over until you have WDW today. Watering down the Disney standard saves money in the short term which means goals met which then means raises and bonuses.

“Relatively unnoticed” is the reason why it’s not just enough to stop buying tickets and APs. Most people on these boards are in the minority in that they notice slight dips in quality but they also make up a tiny percentage of the Disney ticket base. Joe Blow going to Disney for the first time probably isn’t going to notice the wear and tear on the monorail unless it’s pointed out to him.

That’s why it would be so much more impactful for things like this to go viral. Everyone in this thread is saying that the mold and dirt, etc. are gross. What happens if the public suddenly becomes aware of some of the nastier things that have gone under the radar… some of the shoddier repairs and the diminished quality that previously went unnoticed? What happens if it causes a public uproar that gets to the upper offices at Disney? What if those people then decide to go to Universal in droves? When the average uninformed Joe (their bread and butter target audience) is getting upset, suddenly it’s a BIG issue.

If it becomes big enough, it could do legitimate damage to their numbers and THAT is when change would start to happen. Right now, they’re being cheap and half-hearted with their attitudes towards maintenance and show quality because they can get away with it… what they’re doing is working for the bottom line right now… show quality (and future prospects) be damned. IF the decreased standards decrease revenue enough to hurt them vs. the saved expense, then you’ll see an uptick in quality. But that is a BIG, ugly sorcerer’s hat sized IF.

 

[Dasnowz]

Maybe they should take all the change that people throw into the docks to hire some maintenance for the boats. Seriously, have you seen all that change? Who does that?

The change is donated to make a wish

 

[wdisney9000]

The fact that Disney World has been trending slightly upward is a testament to the fact that the company expects what guests want and can deliver

Is there actual evidence of "trending slightly upward" or are you referring to Iger saying that attendance has increased? (i am not asking that to be smart , just curious) As far as the company expecting what guests want, most everything in WDW that guests want was put in place by prior leaders of the company. New FL isnt much of a reason for a first trip or even a return trip. The only original attraction is Story time with Belle. (as of now)

 

[Dasnowz]

Let me repeat this PLEASE Email the pics to guest relations!!! with times and such. There are dedicated paid maintenance people that are supposed to be cleaning every night. Walk by the monorail 2 hours AFTER park closing and you will see them at TTC. This needs to be addressed so please send this in as a formal complaint and have it addressed.

 

[tissandtully]

Let me repeat this PLEASE Email the pics to guest relations!!! with times and such. There are dedicated paid maintenance people that are supposed to be cleaning every night. Walk by the monorail 2 hours AFTER park closing and you will see them at TTC. This needs to be addressed so please send this in as a formal complaint and have it addressed.

These photos are more than just a cleaning. Significant repairs to the insides need to be done, which I doubt any of the cleaners is responsible to do.

 

[Dasnowz]

That true and needs to be brought to attention. The cleaning people should be reporting this and doing a better job and obviously are not. They are front line and who should be aware of things and the ball is being dropped. Monorail staff do not ride the cars so they may not be aware of all the things the OP found.

 

[Atomicmickey]

This is so sad.

I hope that if someone gets a response, they will post it, here.

 

[Bairstow]

Just for the sake of argument, scouring pads wouldn't be nearly as effective as a TV news crew.

Unless the trains wreck again, you're not going to get a news crew interested.

Is there actual evidence of "trending slightly upward" or are you referring to Iger saying that attendance has increased? (i am not asking that to be smart , just curious) As far as the company expecting what guests want, most everything in WDW that guests want was put in place by prior leaders of the company. New FL isnt much of a reason for a first trip or even a return trip. The only original attraction is Story time with Belle. (as of now)

I'm going by the numbers TEA has put out.
If attendance is continuing to go up while ticket prices ALSO increase AND the recession continues, it doesn't look like Disney's strategy is failing.

 

[Camera1950s]

It has been a while but I will put my 2 cents in. People/corps/govs say what they believe people want to hear. One indicator of true believe is where does the money go! I see nice new buses and a nice new bus loop at MK. I see experiments with new buses. I see the same boats but still running and clean. The only news on the monorail is the tugs to pull you in when they fail. Looks like management may be looking at them like an old car. Use it until you can't. This is a slow process indeed. However, if management continues this path then park cleaning will be cut more. Looks like its all about the short money.

 

[HM Spectre]

I'm going by the numbers TEA has put out.
If attendance is continuing to go up while ticket prices ALSO increase AND the recession continues, it doesn't look like Disney's strategy is failing

And it will be successful in the short term because that's how the cost cutting strategy works. So long as the public doesn't care about the corners cut, that strategy will continue to make money... for a time. One problem is that their competition is taking the opposite approach and slowly increasing their quality which is the path to long term success. The other is that when you cut enough here and there, it will eventually have an overall impact on your product.

What happens if Disney deteriorates (due to lack of maintenance, upkeep and innovation) to the point where it starts to become sub-standard vs. the competition and a bit dumpy to the general public? You're going to see those numbers bottom out. At that point, the only solution is to either give up the ghost or spend a preposterous amount of money and time rehabbing both your parks and your reputation... far more money than if they had just taken care of things when they should've in the first place. Eventually, a day of reckoning always comes to those who try to make more money by screwing their customers... and it will come for WDW if they aren't careful.

 

[Bairstow]

And it will be successful in the short term because that's how the cost cutting strategy works. So long as the public doesn't care about the corners cut, that strategy will continue to make money... for a time. One problem is that their competition is taking the opposite approach and slowly increasing their quality which is the path to long term success. The other is that when you cut enough here and there, it will eventually have an overall impact on your product.

What happens if Disney deteriorates (due to lack of maintenance, upkeep and innovation) to the point where it starts to become sub-standard vs. the competition and a bit dumpy to the general public? You're going to see those numbers bottom out. At that point, the only solution is to either give up the ghost or spend a preposterous amount of money and time rehabbing both your parks and your reputation... far more money than if they had just taken care of things when they should've in the first place. Eventually, a day of reckoning always comes to those who try to make more money by screwing their customers... and it will come for WDW if they aren't careful.

Perhaps, but from what I saw and have read, the policy of reducing cleaning staffs and budgets began in the mid '90s.
We're 20 years into the trend and no one but the Disney fanatics seem to care.
Whether it matters or not, Disney's competition hasn't been much better in this regard.

 

[TP2000]

This is probably my age showing but I always saw the monorails as a bit of the future when we visited Florida. A public transport to which our towns and cities could (and should) aspire. And now (more buses!?) it seems like we're going backwards.. for me, the monorails help sell the overall experience - the idea that WDW is somewhere SPECIAL - a place like no other.

It's not just you. In this country, "mass transit" in the mid to late 20th century was mostly old, decrepit, dirty and scary. The WDW Monorail System, especially when it debuted to early 1970's audiences, was a gleaming example of what could happen in the future with our urban mass transit. It was a living dream.

Then by the 1990's, big cities began cleaning up and revamping their aging systems, and mid-sized cities began building new systems. Cutting-edge cities like Portland, Oregon brought back the Streetcar to American cities for the first time in 50 years, and other cities followed Portland's lead in the 2000's. There was a renaissance in mass transit, and a new expectation for how clean and safe and shiny they should be in newly reborn urban cores.

The result is that here in the 2010's many WDW visitors have gleaming points of reference from their own hometowns on how clean and shiny a public transport system should look, and how fresh it should smell.

That's basically what has happened here, and TDO being rather provincial people stuck in Orlando their whole lives, doesn't seem to realize that.

I would bet that top execs like Meg Crofton and George Kalogridis haven't been on the WDW Monorail in years. On the rare occasion they visit a park or resort hotel on WDW property, they drive their company Cadillac to the nearest reserved parking spot. We wouldn't want them to have to rub shoulders with all those paying customers and low-level employees out there without a handler and company photographer to protect them!

 

[JenniferS]

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
View attachment 39227
Damaged seats, rips and stains
View attachment 39228
Missing trim on door panels
View attachment 39229
Damaged trim, non existant paint
View attachment 39230
Mold and stains on seats
View attachment 39231
Stains on doors
View attachment 39232
Cracked and broken trim
View attachment 39233
Mold growing on the roof panels
View attachment 39234
Mold and grime on the roof
View attachment 39235 View attachment 39236

All I can say is - thank goodness for ridiculously dark sunglasses. I didn't see any of this during our recent trip.

 

[DznyRktekt]

Little town it's a quiet village.
Everyday like the one before.
Little town full of little people, waking up to say..

 

[lazyboy97o]

The result is that here in the 2010's many WDW visitors have gleaming points of reference from their own hometowns on how clean and shiny a public transport system should look, and how fresh it should smell.

That's basically what has happened here, and TDO being rather provincial people stuck in Orlando their whole lives, doesn't seem to realize that.

I doubt many Walt Disney World visitors even consider mass transit outside of the Resort.

 

[sparky03]

perhaps lots more buses from the TTC hauling hoi polloi to the park entrance, and the monorail reserved for the Bay Lake hotel guests...?

Don't give them any ideas.

 

[wdisney9000]

Perhaps, but from what I saw and have read, the policy of reducing cleaning staffs and budgets began in the mid '90s.
We're 20 years into the trend and no one but the Disney fanatics seem to care.
Whether it matters or not, Disney's competition hasn't been much better in this regard.

Like @HM Spectre said, a day of reckoning will come. Even if it takes another 20 years and regardless of what the competition is doing. I would like to think that someone at TWDC has taken into consideration that if they wait too long to fix some of these problems that it will be nearly impossible to refurb them. Part of me says to relax because they MUST have people that notice these things and they probly have a plan for everything. The other part of me shutters to think what happens if they dont have a plan, or worse, they just dont care.

 

[Atomicmickey]

So, these pics are of Monorail Black?

Someone needs to go on photosafari, to discover and document
how widespread this is.

I guess my fear is, they'll say 'oh, it's just that one car' or 'just that one mono'.

Is this sort of thing visible across the whole fleet?

 

[englanddg]

Little town it's a quiet village.
Everyday like the one before.
Little town full of little people, waking up to say..

Ah, I see! And the people singing this are Disney Management?



(Myers) "Buy more!"
(Staggs) "Buy more!"
(Crofton) "Buy more!"
(Kalogridis) "Buy more!"
(MacPhee) "Buy more!"

(Guest) There goes the VP of Park Op-er-a-tions. He's really busy I can tell!
And he thinks what would be neat, is another meet and greet.
Cause they make those Princess dresses sell so well.

(Staggs) "Good Morning, Guest, where are you off to?"
(Guest) "To Epcot! I just finished the most wonderful story about a Dreamfinder and a dragon and..."
(Staggs) "That's nice." (turns away disinterested) "MEG! The pro-fits! Push them up!"

(Crofton and Kalogridis) "Look there they go, those Guests don't see the magic,"
(Crofton and Kalogridis) "That we have crafted up so well."
(Myers) "They don't like our magic bands."
(Staggs) "But we don't care about the fans."
(All of them) "Unless they buy the things we have to sell!"

(MacPhee) "Buy more!"
(Crofton) "Buy more!"
(MacPhee) "How is the Starbucks?"

(Crofton) "Buy more!"
(Staggs) "Quick pay!"
(Myers) "It's on your wrist."

(Monorail Driver) "I need, maintenance."
(Staggs) "That's too expensive."

(Guest) "There must be better, maybe up I-Drive?"

(Kalogridis) "Ah, Guest!"
(Guest) "Good Morning! Where is the new ride you promised!"
(Kalogridis) "But those have been rumors for years, you came already?"
(Guest) "It's the only reason I drove down! Have you got anything new?"
(Kalogridis - laughing) "Well, we've got some Tangled restrooms."
(Guest) "Well, that's not right. I'll go to Uni then"
(Kalogridis - shocked) "Universal? But you've been there twice already!"
(Guest) "But it's got some favorites. Far off places, daring thrill rides. Magic spells, and it's clean and it's nice!"
(Kalogridis - sarcastic) "Well, if you like it that much, then it's yours."
(Guest) "But sir!"
(Kalogridis - sarcastic) "I insist. We can always find others willing to take your spot."
(Guest) "Thank you, thank you very much!"

(Senior Park Management) "Look there they go, those Guests are so peculiar."
(Senior Park Management) "We've got some great new stuff to sell."
(Crofton) "With our brand new Mermaid ride,"
(MacPhee) "That's boring and plastic inside."
(All management) "What a puzzle to the rest of us, oh well."

(Guest) "Oooooh, isn't this amazing. It's my favorite ride, because you'll see."
(Guest) "Here's where you'll meet Olivander, and get a wand just like the Wizard Harry P!"

(Crofton) "This makes me wonder if those Guests are worthy."
(Crofton) "MK now has wine it can sell."
(Staggs) "They really cannot see, our strong earnings quarter 3."
(Kalogridis) "Very different from the rest of us...

(All management) "They're nothing like the rest of us, they're different then the rest of us, oh well!"

(Rasulo) "WOW. You never flub a deal, Bob! Your the best IP hunter in the WORLD!"
(Iger) "I know."
(Rasulo) "No unique concept stands a chance against you! And no WDW fan, for that matter."
(Iger) "It's true! But next, I've got my sites set on that one (points to DC Comics)"
(Rasulo) "More comic fodder?"
(Iger) "That's the one! The lucky company I'm going to acquire!"
(Rasulo) "But it's..."
(Iger) "The most beautiful concepts I could ever acquire!"
(Rasulo) "I know..."
(Iger) "That makes DC the best! And don't I deserve the best?"
(Rasulo) "Of course, I mean...you do!"

(Iger) "Right from the moment that I became chairman,"
(Iger) "I knew how to make Disney run well."
(Iger) "I'd slash all maintenance, and build timeshare units."
(Iger) "And standardize the merchandise we sell."

(Croften) "Look there, he goes, isn't he dreamy."
(MacPhee) "That Bob I-ger. Oh he's so cute."
(Staggs) "Bestill, my heart. I'm hardly breathing."
(All 3) "He's such a strong and corporate minded brute!"

(Iger is walking through a crowded main street chasing the Guest)

(Kalogridis) "Buy more!"
(Croften) "Quick pay!"
(Guest) "This guest is leaving"
(Staggs) "Starbucks!"
(MacPhee) "Fastpass?"
(Guest) "Not in your life!"

(Kalogridis) "Restrooms!"
(Croften) "Phone Apps!"
(MacPhee) "One more princess restaurant!"


(Guest) "There must be more than this pre-packaged grime!"
(Iger) "Just watch, we'll make you spend every last diiiiiime!"

(All Management) "Look there they go, that Guest is strange but special."
(Croften) "And with good credit, I can tell!"
(All Management) "It's a pity they can't see, all the great things we're doing."

(All Management) "They really are a funny guest. A rich, but quite peculiar guest."
(Iger) "They'll spend it all before we rest!"
(All Management) "OH WEEEEELLLLLLL!"

(Myers) "Buy more!"
(Staggs) "Buy more!"
(Crofton) "Buy more!"
(Kalogridis) "Buy more!"
(MacPhee) "Buy more!"
(Iger) "Buy more!"

 

[wdisney9000]

So, these pics are of Monorail Black?

Someone needs to go on photosafari, to discover and document
how widespread this is.

I guess my fear is, they'll say 'oh, it's just that one car' or 'just that one mono'.

Is this sort of thing visible across the whole fleet?

My sister is leaving for Disney tomorrow and invited me since her husband has to stay home now. I will get pictures of the other monorails. I will be as thorough as possible. If anyone has any other suggestions please let me know. I was thinking of getting pics of the monorail stations at TTC and MK and EPCOT as well to see how they are holding up.