Appalling state of the monorail cabins

[Darth Sidious]

I'm not sure I agree. I don't think NY's subway cars are in great condition, but neither are the monorails. I have been on many subways that are cleaner than the monorails (especially 4-5-6 line trains). The fact that we even have to compare a Disney monorail to a NYC subway is actually quite sad. There shouldn't even be a comparison.

Maybe you misread my post but I agree with the above. NYC Subway cars are filthy and to even draw a conparison should be a red flag for Disney. The monorails are still in better shape than most subway cars but as you stated some of the newer cars in NY can be cleaner.

 

[Darth Sidious]

Actually, yes. There are those of us who either live in NYC, or live close enough that we frequently ride mass transit there.

Also note, a subway ride is $2.75. A "free" monorail ride costs hundreds of dollars in resort stays or park tickets.

Yes, the NYC Subway system is appalling in places. Ever see the 2/3 line at 14th St? The walls are brown with god knows what.

 

[cbconglom]

Iger made 34 million last year. Just sayin'.

That makes me vomit much vomit in my mouth

 

[Crafty]

On May 25th I attempted to ride the monorail from EPCOT to the TTC. One of my party lost a hat that was being held by lost and found. She was quite upset about it, so I said that I would go to get it.

When I arrived on the platform, a train pulled in but they didn't unload. It turned out that they couldn't unload. After about a half hour, a CM pried open one door in each car and half the people had to climb over seats to get out. They towed the train away, and another car pulled up and I got on with the crowd. We waited a while until there was an announcement that the other train was stuck on the track and that busses would be provided.

I went to the bus stop and was loaded like a sardine onto a bus. There was a woman with a clipboard counting the passengers and wouldn't release the bus to move until it had its maximum capacity. Busses were backing up, but the woman was adamant. The same thing happened on the way back to EPCOT from the TTC.

All in all because of the monorail fiasco it took over two hours to retrieve the hat. The monorail is obviously just limping along. This is a terrible disservice to guests who are paying $$$$ for a vacation.

I really wonder how they are managing to sell those expensive GF Villas, with the monorail as a major selling point.

 

[COProgressFan]

Yes, the NYC Subway system is appalling in places. Ever see the 2/3 line at 14th St? The walls are brown with god knows what.

Well, we were comparing trains, not stations . NYC subway stations are disgusting, and I think everyone can agree on that.

Again though, the TTC monorail stop could use an a overhaul and it wouldn't hurt to freshen up the MK station either.

 

[englanddg]

Well, we were comparing trains, not stations . NYC subway stations are disgusting, and I think everyone can agree on that.

Again though, the TTC monorail stop could use an a overhaul and it wouldn't hurt to freshen up the MK station either.

Different 5 foot mice.

 

[Cesar R M]

I really wonder how they are managing to sell those expensive GF Villas, with the monorail as a major selling point.

Probably they are trying their best to sell them before the entire monorail system falls apart, like a huge domino chain.

 

[eastvillage]

Well, we were comparing trains, not stations . NYC subway stations are disgusting, and I think everyone can agree on that.

Again though, the TTC monorail stop could use an a overhaul and it wouldn't hurt to freshen up the MK station either.

I agree that the NYC subway trains are kept in good condition, as are many of the stations.

But some of the stations are in horrendous condition.

 

[disney9752]

All of the monorail platforms were actually raised when the Mark VI's arrived. You will notice this most at the resorts. Contemporary and Polynesian both have ramps before you get to the loading area, Grand Floridian the whole platform is a gradual ramp This also the case at Epcot. TTC and Magic Kingdom were both raised and the ramp extended.

actually grand Floridian was built as the other platforms were being redone,it was buil

All of the monorail platforms were actually raised when the Mark VI's arrived. You will notice this most at the resorts. Contemporary and Polynesian both have ramps before you get to the loading area, Grand Floridian the whole platform is a gradual ramp This also the case at Epcot. TTC and Magic Kingdom were both raised and the ramp extended.

grand Floridian was being built or just finished as other platforms were being redone, contemporary & poly have noticeable ramps, poly I think just thru where the turnstiles were, contemporary near top of escalators, all other platforms were raised without as obvious jumps.... I went to wdw a few times as they were redoing the stations, had to widen the entrances to contemporary, resort guests only had monorail, day guests had trams or ferry boat... resort beam train would go from mk to poly or grand, drop of guests, back to mk, train from ttc would come on same beam & pick up guests to finish journey..... only time I saw them actively using the express side to load & unload guests. in the very early days of the VI they may have had nightly cleaning like the IV did, but Eisner decided it was not necessary to save his bonus..... its not all current managers, directors etc, its the money grubbing that Eisner started that still haunts us

 

[monothingie]

I understand the entire system cannot be shut down, but why can't more trains be added to the system to allow more capacity during maintenance periods?

I would also refer you to the occasions when monorails have been out of service for weeks or even months for various issues, and have returned back to service with NOTHING being done to the interior condition. If there was any desire to improve things those downtimes could have been used to clean and refurb the interiors.

Simply, Disney does not care about the condition of the monorails. It is plain for all to see.

Teal and Lime are down ( Train Control System/Rewiring and Crashed/Crushed cab) Bare minimum number to operate. You can not add more trains because you will have gridlock. You already have a lot of holds when running 3 on beam, imagine 5,6,7?

Im not arguing that TDO is trying their very best to maintain and clean them, but have you seen the guests who ride them? They practically use the trains as toilets.

It's really the worst of a bad situation. Before the crash you had trains being rotated in and out for the new control system. After the crash you were down 2, leaving the others to pull the slack. Tron (Coral) had that damn wrap on so long because they couldn't find time to take it off. Now you have Teal and Lime down for a while. Add to that the increased hours that really took a toll on the fleet which they clamped that down in 2011 with the hours of operation change and you have the state that we're in.

 

[monothingie]

actually grand Floridian was built as the other platforms were being redone,it was buil

grand Floridian was being built or just finished as other platforms were being redone, contemporary & poly have noticeable ramps, poly I think just thru where the turnstiles were, contemporary near top of escalators, all other platforms were raised without as obvious jumps.... I went to wdw a few times as they were redoing the stations, had to widen the entrances to contemporary, resort guests only had monorail, day guests had trams or ferry boat... resort beam train would go from mk to poly or grand, drop of guests, back to mk, train from ttc would come on same beam & pick up guests to finish journey..... only time I saw them actively using the express side to load & unload guests. in the very early days of the VI they may have had nightly cleaning like the IV did, but Eisner decided it was not necessary to save his bonus..... its not all current managers, directors etc, its the money grubbing that Eisner started that still haunts us

GF opened in July 1 1988, First MKVI was put on the beam in June 1989.

 

[StageFrenzy]

Teal and Lime are down ( Train Control System/Rewiring and Crashed/Crushed cab) Bare minimum number to operate. You can not add more trains because you will have gridlock. You already have a lot of holds when running 3 on beam, imagine 5,6,7?
It's really the worst of a bad situation.
Before the crash you had trains being rotated in and out for the new control system. After the crash you were down 2, leaving the others to pull the slack. Tron (Coral) had that damn wrap on so long because they couldn't find time to take it off. Now you have Teal and Lime down for a while. Add to that the increased hours that really took a toll on the fleet which they clamped that down in 2011 with the hours of operation change and you have the state that we're in.

But having extra trains available for when a monorail needs work/maintenance, which you seem to lay out points for adding another train to the fleet.

Im not arguing that TDO is trying their very best to maintain and clean them, but have you seen the guests who ride them? They practically use the trains as toilets.

If it looks and smells like.... If it is kept clean, people are more likely to keep it clean.

 

[monothingie]

But having extra trains available for when a monorail needs work/maintenance, which you seem to lay out points for adding another train to the fleet.


If it looks and smells like.... If it is kept clean, people are more likely to keep it clean.

See though, you had that buffer when there were 12 trains available. You have only 10 available now leaving no buffer. So untill everything comes back online we are stuck. This is why things have really snowballed in the last couple of years.

And have you seen the typical WDW guest recently? They have no respect for anything new old clean dirty.

 

[JasonDeyoung]

I have on occasion seen cms at TTC and mk along with the resorts do walk throughs and pick up trash out of the monorails. Not sure if they always do but like I said I do see them go through and pick up. Unfortunately they can't be clean 24/7 but it sure did seem like it back in the day.. I guess some people now days just have no respect? Who knows but they could defiantly use a little tlc

 

[MonorailMan]

I understand the entire system cannot be shut down, but why can't more trains be added to the system to allow more capacity during maintenance periods?

I would also refer you to the occasions when monorails have been out of service for weeks or even months for various issues, and have returned back to service with NOTHING being done to the interior condition. If there was any desire to improve things those downtimes could have been used to clean and refurb the interiors.

Simply, Disney does not care about the condition of the monorails. It is plain for all to see.

Disney cannot simply add monorails to the system because it is soooooo expensive and Disney has their money stuck in places like Avatarland, Downtown Disney, etc. right now. By adding more trains to the system, you have to build more monorail beams which cost roughly $1 million per mile and each monorail train costs millions as well.

 

[MonorailMan]

And if Disney was to add a 13th monorail, they would have to built another maintenance bay... So that would take easily about 2 years and by then, the entire system will be in such disrepair that they need an entirely new system.

 

[StageFrenzy]

Disney cannot simply add monorails to the system because it is soooooo expensive and Disney has their money stuck in places like Avatarland, Downtown Disney, etc. right now. By adding more trains to the system, you have to build more monorail beams which cost roughly $1 million per mile and each monorail train costs millions as well.

Disney has the money, stop quoting that stupid number.

 

[Kman101]

Maybe they shouldn't have let it get to where it is, and as you say, building another maintenance bay would take a few years, leaving the system even worse, so maybe it shouldn't have gotten so bad in the first place? I get that they are down monorails, and the long days of running them, but it's still pretty sad that they are in such rough shape. I get certain circumstances but when things don't change for years and they start to look worse, it's clear there's a problem. It's not just "let's bash on Disney". Is it the worst thing ever and going to ruin my day? No, but it doesn't mean lack of maintenance and upkeep shouldn't be pointed out.

 

[wdwmagic]

And if Disney was to add a 13th monorail, they would have to built another maintenance bay... So that would take easily about 2 years and by then, the entire system will be in such disrepair that they need an entirely new system.

There are currently 10 maintenance bays. So one bay per monorail is not required.

 

[MonorailMan]

My bad... Yes, there are only 10 monorail bays and 2 monorails get left outside at any station on any given night. Disney should build another smaller maintenance bay off of the Epcot beam that could hold maybe 4 or 5 monorails. Increase the fleet size to 16 or 17 and then they don't have to run every monorail every day.
At max capacity, the resort and express beans can run 5 monorails each at once due to the spacing required by the MAPO system. Especially during peak times, 10 monorails are running the Express and Resort beams. Problems occur when a monorail breaks down which then backs up every monorail behind it.