Any kind of rail lacks the number one attribute of buses; flexibility. In other words, rail needs RAILS. You can pick any "Point A" and "Point B" on a map and a bus can get from one to the other on existing roadways. Rail needs stations and tracks to get from Point A to Point B. So while a bus can get you to an infinite number of destinations, a train can only carry you on a predetermined line with some stops along the way.
But those examples aren't applicable to Walt Disney World. A traditional mass transit system operates on a commuter schedule with heavy volume coming from the suburbs into the downtown area (pretty much) all at once and then leaving the downtown area back out to the suburbs (pretty much) all at once. There is no "high load fixed route traffic" at WDW because people are coming and going from every which way at all times of day. That's why the monorail loop works as a circle. It's only five stops and they're fairly close together so the circle works. But a giant round trip loop connecting every park and resort at WDW would take far too long, and a hub-and-spoke model wouldn't work either because there are simply too many spokes.
Maybe his subdivision?
I felt the same way about its fortunes until I finally watched the Old Man pitch it himself. By the end you're pretty much sold. Makes you realize what type of person he was. I'd watch this before passing judgement:
I would argue that guest satisfaction would improve more with monorail expansion than with Next Gen.
I would disagree. The novelty of the monorail would wear off quickly if it wasn't something you did only those two days you were at the Magic Kingdom. Having monorails everywhere would lead to them becoming just as pedestrian (no pun intended) and ordinary as the buses are. Further, any comprehensive monorail system would need to have some kind of central hub where you'd connect to your final destination because direct routes everywhere would be impossible. Waiting for the monorail at Animal Kingdom Lodge, sitting through a stop at Animal Kingdom, getting off the monorail at the new TTC, waiting in a different line for the Hollywood Studios monorail, then finally making it to Hollywood Studios would take way longer and be much more frustrating than simply getting on a bus direct from Animal Kingdom Lodge to Hollywood Studios.
The benefit would be ease of transport between parks. In theory that can be achieved by other metrics as well.
But it wouldn't be easier. It would be more difficult. You'd have to transfer and transfers are annoying/difficult. Example: People think it's the greatest thing to be able to get to Epcot from a Magic Kingdom monorail resort but it actually takes much longer to monorail over to the TTC, get off, walk down the ramp, walk back up the next ramp, wait for the Epcot train, then monorail over to Epcot than it does to just take the bus straight from the Contemporary or whatever.
As posed before, how much need is there for this?
Agreed. If it was a system of transfer after transfer than it wouldn't be easier. I should have specified that more direct links on transportation that isn't busses would improve guest satisfaction. The realty is, any improvement to the transportation system would improve guest satisfaction.
Just a small point, I know, but, all this road construction does not have the people staying on property in mind. A project the size of Disney Springs would need a lot of outside, non-tourist trade to be solvent. It is to make it easier for people that are not on site to come onto the property. No one stays on I-4, just on branches off it. Let's face it, the place is destined to be a shopping/partying mecca. It will make Pleasure Island look like a corner pub if they play it right. And they must be pretty sure that they are or they wouldn't be spending the dollars they are on it.I love when you post all these permits, btw! Thanks!
It would be an interesting study to see how much money they're spending on road and parking infrastructure upgrades right now and compare it to what could have been done with the same amount of money for mass transit projects other than bus upgrades. I don't know the results, just saying it would be an interesting study.
The road network at Disney has expanded and changed exponentially since the park opened in 1971, but the mass transit system has unfortunately stayed basically the same (with the exception of the Epcot monorail link). I'm also not counting buses because up until the current bus lane addition by Disney Springs, they've shared the same roads as all the cars.
It's probably the dreamer in me talking, but I was always intrigued by the idea of a high-speed rail link from the airport to Disney and an expanded monorail, light rail, people mover network on property that reduced majorly the reliance on cars on property. It could have been a good model for the US, actually. But, I digress.
Cool highway interchange expansion, though!