News DeSantis moves to bring state safety oversight of the Walt Disney World Monorail including suspending the service for inspections

[Sir_Cliff]

Also, it seems some are confusing the benefit of the doubt being given to state inspectors with the support of the decisions that the gov has made. To agree with the former does not mean an automatic agreement to the latter.

Does it really matter if the inspectors are upstanding professionals if they only reason they are being sent in is to make life difficult for the company for expressing an opinion?

 

[Andrew C]

Does it really matter if the inspectors are upstanding professionals if they only reason they are being sent in is to make life difficult for the company for expressing an opinion?

To me yes...I don't like attacks on their character because people don't like the gov. I don't find it difficult to hold that position while at the same time being uncomfortable with the gov's recent decision making...

 

[Smiley/OCD]

And there AIN’T no hero…

 

[Touchdown]

Wouldn’t this not just include the monorail but include the skyway, the train, and potentially even any ride that has an entrance and exit platform (since it moved you from one place to another?

 

[esskay]

Its really interesting how this thread has spawned so many new members. Quite intriguing.

Think it's because there's a big reddit thread on it pointing to the article here.

 

[Sir_Cliff]

To me yes...I don't like attacks on their character because people don't like the gov. I don't find it difficult to hold that position while at the same time being uncomfortable with the gov's recent decision making...

We don't know who the inspectors are, so to talk about their integrity as individuals seems to me to be missing the point. What we do know is why they are being sent in to inspect Disney's monorails, so that seems a reasonable focus for the discussion.

 

[Patcheslee]

Did see one tiny part of the regulations that would be not so bad: reporting performance and productivity. Already a requirement for others.

 

[Andrew C]

We don't know who the inspectors are, so to talk about their integrity as individuals seems to me to be missing the point

I agree...which is why I didn't understand why some went down that road.

What we do know is why they are being sent in to inspect Disney's monorails, so that seems a reasonable focus for the discussion.

That is of course one topic for discussion...

 

[DisneyCane]

“Lifespan” is not some hard rule as it is always presented. The Disneyland monorails have not been 100% replaced since the 60s. The Walt Disney World Railroad locomotives are a century old.

Structures are designed with a design life after which they will likely require reinforcement, replacement of parts or both. Prior to computer aided design and ageing simulation things were, more often than not, overdesigned to have safety margin.

If the monorail was designed today with a planned life span of 30 years, it would be optimized to save cost and have minimal safety margin. It would likely need to be replaced in 2053.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

The Disneyland monorails have not been 100% replaced since the 60s.

The physical monorail trains were replaced in 2007.

The Walt Disney World Railroad locomotives are a century old.

And they have been completely rebuilt multiple times with the Roger currently being rebuilt at Strasburg and the Roy being next in line.

 

[Casper Gutman]

We don't know who the inspectors are, so to talk about their integrity as individuals seems to me to be missing the point. What we do know is why they are being sent in to inspect Disney's monorails, so that seems a reasonable focus for the discussion.

It is very, very silly, in an era in which previously broadly respected professionals like teachers and doctors are recklessly attacked and demonized (including, it must be said, by the very same Florida leadership we are discussing) to pretend safety inspectors are so inherently honest and free of political influence that tangentially impugning them is beyond the pale. I’m sure most inspectors are honest, upright individuals. I’m also sure a few are deeply dishonest and corrupt. I’m also sure none are able to fully escape the biases of their employers and that the second, dishonest contingent, however small, is far more likely to be favored by an administration bent on using safety inspections as punishment.

This is all an absurd attempt to distract focus from the governments outrageous actions.

 

[Kamikaze]

We don't know who the inspectors are, so to talk about their integrity as individuals seems to me to be missing the point. What we do know is why they are being sent in to inspect Disney's monorails, so that seems a reasonable focus for the discussion.

While this is very fair, every single other person appointed during this mess has been a straight up DeSantis crony. There's no reason to believe any newly appointed inspectors would be different. Obviously the state has inspectors that pre-date DeSantis taking office, but with the limited information we have, we don't know if this will be new inspectors or existing ones.

 

[Andrew C]

It is very, very silly, in an era in which previously broadly respected professionals like teachers and doctors are recklessly attacked and demonized (including, it must be said, by the very same Florida leadership we are discussing) to pretend safety inspectors are so inherently honest and free of political influence that tangentially impugning them is beyond the pale. I’m sure most inspectors are honest, upright individuals. I’m also sure a few are deeply dishonest and corrupt. I’m also sure none are able to fully escape the biases of their employers and that the second, dishonest contingent, however small, is far more likely to be favored by an administration bent on using safety inspections as punishment.

This is all an absurd attempt to distract focus from the governments outrageous actions.

You brought it up...a little self-awareness would be helpful.

This seems like it very well might result in the end of the monorail.

The inspectors will come in and cite numerous, costly violations. This will be done entirely in bad faith and will have NOTHING to do with guest safety - the state’s explicit intention is to punish and control Disney. Disney now has two choices:

1) Play along in a game they can’t win. No matter what they do, how much they spend, inspectors will demand more - again, it has nothing to do with safety, it’s punishment.

2) Close the monorails, a system that current management has never been wild about and which costs a lot of money. In doing so, they can put all the blame for something unpopular they wanted to do anyway on DeSantis. This not only yokes him to an unpopular development, it redefines that entire debate and expands the audience - no longer is DeSantis attacking a “special tax district,” a confusing conflict that he can easily spin in his favor even though he is entirely in the wrong; now he becomes the governor who closed the iconic, widely beloved monorail to spite a private company. That’s a lot less esoteric.

Honestly, why would they do 1?

 

[Casper Gutman]

You brought it up...a little self-awareness would be helpful

Yes, because based on all available evidence, that is what will happen. Do you dispute that this legislation is in explicitly bad faith? Or do you feel that an administration which, throughout this mess, has stocked every relevant post with unqualified cronies, will suddenly hand off this assignment to an incorruptible individual and make no attempt to influence them? Or are you arguing that the role of safety inspector is so sacred that an administration acting in aggressive bad faith will be unable to find even a single individual willing to act on that administrations demands?

 

[danlb_2000]

Imagine hour(s) long break downs and doors falling off monorails, cement chunks of track falling off and pieces of the monorail falling on guest areas below happening more frequently than they should in recent years, and not being for a third party inspection.


I don't think a department of agriculture type inspection situation is to the level of authoritarianism extremes that some are concerned with.

I would probably be ok with inspections if the purpose of them was to solve those problems, but we all know that is not the case.

 

[LAKid53]

Wouldn’t this not just include the monorail but include the skyway, the train, and potentially even any ride that has an entrance and exit platform (since it moved you from one place to another?

I would think so.

 

[danlb_2000]

I would normally be concerned about a company being allowed to do their own inspections, but Disney already has a very powerful form of oversite. If there is an accident at Disney, the worldwide media will be all over it within hours. Disney has a very strong incentive to not let that happen.

 

[lazyboy97o]

The physical monorail trains were replaced in 2007.

The Mark VII uses the Mark V bodies (sans nose) and Mark III chassis.

 

[Andrew C]

Yes, because based on all available evidence, that is what will happen

You have zero evidence though....that is the thing. You're basing it solely on the gov's actions rather than how these types of inspections work in practice today, which is just not evidence for what you are suggesting is going to occur. In actuality, what you proposed in that post is highly unlikely and really sounds like fear mongering. If the inspectors go in and continue to find all these costly violations as you suggest and continue to demand more, then that would show Disney maintenance is in shambles...

 

[lazyboy97o]

You have zero evidence though....that is the thing. You're basing it solely on the gov's actions rather than how these types of inspections work in practice today, which is just not evidence for what you are suggesting is going to occur. In actuality, what you proposed in that post is highly unlikely and really sounds like fear mongering. If the inspectors go in and continue to find all these costly violations as you suggest and continue to demand more, then that would show Disney maintenance is in shambles...

You are blindly hoping that an endeavor started with bad intentions will somehow stumble its way into good results. How does an honest inspector do an honest inspection without causing the desired harm if told to complete it during the course of a normal work day?