Goodbye, monorail drivers.......? Sorry if already posted.

[Scooter]

I'm wondering why they still let guests ride in the front of the monorail at Disneyland but not at Disney World. It seems to me that a monorail is a monorail no matter where it's at. It's a double standard is it not? Either let people ride in the front or don't let people ride in the front but it shouldn't be ok in one park but not the other.

 

[Californian Elitist]

I'm wondering why they still let guests ride in the front of the monorail at Disneyland but not at Disney World. It seems to me that a monorail is a monorail no matter where it's at. It's a double standard is it not? Either let people ride in the front or don't let people ride in the front but it shouldn't be ok in one park but not the other.

You can eat a Dole Whip and watch the Tiki Room show at DL but you can't do that in MK. Stuff like this happens sometimes.

 

[Tom Morrow]

I don't understand... are the Mark VI's even capable of this?

 

[menamechris]

You can eat a Dole Whip and watch the Tiki Room show at DL but you can't do that in MK. Stuff like this happens sometimes.

Why can't you?

 

[Californian Elitist]

Why can't you?

I have no idea. I just know it's not allowed for some reason:/

 

[Bolna]

Actually I think the good news from this article is that they hired someone who knows stuff about public transportation to oversee the transportation at WDW. It is a very specialized area and pretty different from running a theme park (or closing down clubs - which seemed to have been the qualification of the previous VP).

And making the monorails automatic has long been overdue and will certainly help speeding things up. It's a tiny step towards bringing those monorails up to current standards (they still have a long way to go as they need to get rid of those individual compartments and they need to find a solution to not having to open all those gates on the platform manually - adressing both these issues would speed up the uload/load process significantly!).

 

[StageFrenzy]

Not likely. I wish, but it will not happen again. They are just too gun shy. I know that it was bad enough with the driver dying that night, but could you imagine the nightmare for TDO if a family was even just injured, let alone killed? Wow. I am actually quite stunned that Disneyland is still allowing it. But I suppose their system is a shadow of the WDW one.

The NTSB recommended people stop riding up front as a driver distraction; no driver, no distraction.

 

[captainkidd]

If they go automatic people could ride up front again.

1 + 1 = 3

 

[Harvey1977]

We have had a similar automated transport system for years. Its called the DLR (Docklands light Railway).

Check out a small section from the wiki page;

"The DLR is operated by high-floor bi-directional single-articulated electric multiple units. Each car has four doors on each side, and two or three cars make up a train.[56] There are no driver's cabs because normal operations are automated. Cars have a small driver's console concealed behind a locked panel at each car end, from which the PSA (Passenger Service Agent) can drive the car.[57] Consoles at each door opening allow the PSA to control door closure and make announcements whilst patrolling the train. Because of the absence of a driver's position, the fully glazed car ends provide a forward (or rear) view for passengers. The top speed is 100 kilometres per hour (62 mph)."

As you can see there is no front or rear cab just a front screen. There is an operator on board who can take control of the train if needed but its all automated. Simple Folks!

 

[RalphinSC]

I blame this all on that squirrel that got on the beam this year. An automated train would of just squished the creature and then quickly and happily deposited the children at the gates of the Magic Kingdom.

That squirrel's blood will be on your hands, Disney.

 

[asianway]

I have no idea. I just know it's not allowed for some reason:/

Food service permits apparently. The Liberty Belle is the only attraction in the MK you can bring food on<--thanks to FoxyHooves for that nugget of info I never knew

 

[lazyboy97o]

I don't understand... are the Mark VI's even capable of this?

Very much so. It is not a stock feature currently sitting idle, but it can be added. The M VI monorails in Las Vegas are based on the Mark VI monorail and are automated.

 

[danlb_2000]

I know the monorail system is super expensive to expand. But wouldn't it be cheaper in the long run than all of the diesel they use for the buses? I am also surprised they do not have the hybrid buses yet. We have them for city transportation here in Columbus.

The article talks about this...

"Sam said they’ve looked into electric and hybrid buses but haven’t found any that are applicable for them right now. “Those types of buses work better in an urban environment with stop and go traffic,” said Sam."

 

[DisneyCane]

I know the monorail system is super expensive to expand. But wouldn't it be cheaper in the long run than all of the diesel they use for the buses? I am also surprised they do not have the hybrid buses yet. We have them for city transportation here in Columbus.

Monorails use electricity which also costs money. Even if it's only $1 million per mile of track that buys 200,000 gallons of diesel and at 10 mpg is enough for a bus to drive 2 million miles. I'm pretty sure monorail track is a lot more expensive than $1 million a mile and there is still a per mile cost in electicity to run them. Monorails (and trains in general) are only efficient when a large number of people need to get from point a to point b at roughly the same time. A 3/4 empty monorail will not be efficient at all when compared to a 3/4 full bus.

As far as hybrid busses, they probably don't have them becauase they have done the analysis and the additional cost of the hybrid bus doesn't get offset by the fuel savings. Bus manufacturers don't sell hybrids at a loss like the automakers do. The automakers do it because the hybrid sales help their CAFE numbers. Cities (governement) buy hybrid busses so that they can tout how "green" they are being and how much CO2 emissions have been lowered. The cost doesn't matter because they subsidize bus service anyway and they are spending taxpayer money. A private company makes sound financial decisions.

 

[OKWBamaJim]

The talk of the rails has been going automated even before I started in 88. I have two gripes. One, the condition of the current rails which have exceeded their time on that already historical beam, and then the current attitude of the monorail cast. Rails had several guest interaction areas. Places where you could make or break a guest Disney experience, i.e.:turnstiles...I hated the place.
Now, when you board the train, you will notice, the gates have finally been automated. Have you seen the cast members attitude working those areas? Dont expect them to speak or greet you-they act like they could be somewhere else. Also, in the past month, I have been stuck on the train three times while at the park, each time for a minimum of 15 to thirty minutes while they recycle power, and try to clear errors. Eventually twice I had to disembark and take a bus. This happened twice on the resort rail at Poly And GF.

Automation was bound to happen anyway. But, and I might sound like an old codger here, if they continue to allow guest interaction to slip with meeting and greeting the guests, giving them a "futuristic" ride in the front of a monorail, or simply speaking to them when they are in a DOWN situation, Walt is truly gone and forgotten.

(BTW, there was no driver distraction on the night of the incident. Those drivers are screened and they are not gonna pass the test if they get distracted by something as simple as a guest. They all drive their own car to work and have probably got kids or a pet. Yes, they are THAT good...LOL!)

 

[PirateFrank]

AFAIK, The air-train at JFK Airport is driverless. Given modern technology, they could very well go driverless.

However, I also believe that people are generally more comfortable with a driver in some level of control. While I'm sure a central control and software could simply shut down things in an emergency, there *has* to be unforeseen issues that could be addressed by a real human in the cab.

and then, of course, there's this:

 

[RunnerEd]

I blame this all on that squirrel that got on the beam this year. An automated train would of just squished the creature and then quickly and happily deposited the children at the gates of the Magic Kingdom.

That squirrel's blood will be on your hands, Disney.

If I had been driving, the same thing would have happened

 

[flynnibus]

Sounds like they haven't even purchased their new control system yet. Sounds like a lot further off then Sid was leading onto .. More like his plan vs what he's implemented so far

 

[flynnibus]

I'm wondering why they still let guests ride in the front of the monorail at Disneyland but not at Disney World.

Opartionly they are very different. In the most simple terms... There isn't as much traffic on the Dl beam. It's not uncommon for only one train to be on the beam.

 

[psukardi]

The only downside I see is the continued removal of guests from the cockpit with the driver. At least we got to do this with our children before it went the way of the Dodo.

This is the first I'm hearing of all of this (still somewhat new to the site). I'm actually sad over this. One of my earliest childhood memories that I really cherish is when I was really young going to Disney and my dad asking if I could sit up front with the driver.

It blew my freaking mind