lazyboy97o
Well-Known Member
What do new trains offer besides being new? New trains don't fix the issues that allow these conditions to become normal.
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Appalling state of the monorail cabins
- Thread starter ptaylor
- Start date
lazyboy97o
Well-Known Member
The Mark VIs only date to the late 1980s and early 1990s. Unless the entire system is completely reworked, additional capacity will be accomplished through a new interior cabin design.
hpyhnt 1000
Well-Known Member
^What he said. The current Mark VI trains are fiberglass body panels attached to a steel frame, really no different than todays modern cars. As such, Disney could (probably) reuse the steel frame while putting new body panels and interiors over the existing frame, in the same way auto manufacturers put different car bodies over the same chassis to create different car models. I believe the Mark VII trains at Disneyland were built this way, reusing the frame of the previous Mark Vs.
And to those who admire Tokyo's monorails, note that WDW's infrastructure is not capable of supporting trains like Tokyo's.
And to those who admire Tokyo's monorails, note that WDW's infrastructure is not capable of supporting trains like Tokyo's.
lazyboy97o
Well-Known Member
Excepting the noses, the Mark V bodies were also reused in the Mark VIIs. The frames originally came from the Mark IIIs.
hpyhnt 1000
Well-Known Member
Really? Didn't know it went back to the Mark IIIs. Thanks for clarifying that.
lazyboy97o
Well-Known Member
Yep. I find it sort of interesting as to what constitutes new. Would we say Walt Disney World got new trains if each one had everything but the frames and bodies replaced? To me though the bigger change that I think could help capacity, with a new interior, is rebuilding the stations and changing the doors so that there is level entry.
lazyboy97o
Well-Known Member
At Disneyland. The Mark IVs and Mark VIs are 100% separate trains.
Cesar R M
Well-Known Member
but we're talking about the Monorails of WDW now, right??
lazyboy97o
Well-Known Member
The Mark IVs and Mark VIs are the two models that have operated at Walt Disney World. The larger Mark VIs replaced the Mark IVs over several years. Here is a post from last year showing the size difference between two.
The Mark IV's looked sleeker because they were shorter, everyone sat down in four rows of 10 with doors on each side for each row.
The Mark VI's couldn't be wider or significantly longer (2') to fit through the stations so they grew about a foot taller, removed 20 seats and added hang bars.
Here's a rare picture of Monorail Black in Mark IV (left) and VI (right)
The Empress Lilly
Well-Known Member
Tokyo is a painful slap in the face, a reminder that (and 'how' and 'why') 'Disney' was once a byword for 'quality'.
EDIT: And just for kicks...
However, in every other aspect besides upkeep and cleanlines WDW's monorail beats Tokyo's! Our trains are sleeker, more futuristic. They also don't need Mickey heads and handles and windows and statues to be 'Disney': WDW's monorail remembers a time when Disney stood for optimism, futurism, experimental innovation, instead of just the a limited 'collection of cartoon ip franchises'. On top, the routes at WDW are much nicer. Seven Seas Lagoon has got 'Tokyo industrial Bay' beat. (Well did, before infinite DVC sprawl, parking places, convention centers, dirty beaches, algae, clutter, bus stations, and no more topiaries)
The Empress Lilly
Well-Known Member
Although neither Tokyo nor WDW has got anything on the Monoroller Coaster! (I just coined that term. Why isn't somebody paying me a seven figure salary to come up with stuff!)
Bairstow
Well-Known Member
Agreed.
They might be big and clean, but from the exterior the Tokyo Disney monorails are hideous.
jdmdisney99
Well-Known Member
I agree. I think they're like that due to the culture though. Japan loves the characters. :shrug:
G00fyDad
Well-Known Member
It wasn't always like that though. When I lived there as a child I did not see Disney outside of the base at all. The things that were big then was Gatchaman, Ultraman, and Hello Kitty. I had a ton of Disney things (record player, phone, etc...), but I loved Disney at the time and we could find the stuff in the BX. When we went off base Disney was nowhere to be found. But then this was back in the 1970's.
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Cesar R M
Well-Known Member
they got the disney fever a bit late hu?
eastvillage
Active Member
While they are at it (cleaning and repairing the cabins), could they also pressure clean the monorail beams? The stains all along the track look horrible.
StageFrenzy
Well-Known Member
They did clean the beams inside EPCOT a couple years back, made a big difference looked significantly better. I don't if they considered cleaning the rest of the system.
eastvillage
Active Member
That's great to hear and goes to show what a huge difference it makes with simple maintenance. I've been going to WDW since the mid-70s and unfortunately haven't been back in the past year to visit, but the monorail beams that loop through the front of Epcot (and provide such a picturesque backdrop for photos) is where I really started to notice it. From there, I couldn't get away from how bad it looked on the journey to/from Epcot (whether you were looking across to the beam running in the other direction or looking up from a car or bus in the road below) as well as the beams that run around the entire MK resort loop.