Massive power outage effecting Magic Kingdom Resorts

[DisAl]

Just like an electrical system anywhere they can have an outage. Don't forget that some of the electrical infrastructure in the MK area is now over fifty years old.

 

[matt9112]

Just like an electrical system anywhere they can have an outage. Don't forget that some of the electrical infrastructure in the MK area is now over fifty years old.

Yeah wierd who would have thought a multi billion dollar company could afford a pro active repair and replace/upgrade program.

 

[John park hopper]

Just like an electrical system anywhere they can have an outage. Don't forget that some of the electrical infrastructure in the MK area is now over fifty years old.

we who are over 50 know things don't work like they used too Ha Ha

 

[Chip Chipperson]

Usually it’s been a gift card in the hundreds, plus a free park ticket or hotel stay

The power went out at OKW a few years ago while my wife and I were staying there. We received a

Spoiler

flashlight left in our room.

 

[HauntedPirate]

The power went out at OKW a few years ago while my wife and I were staying there. We received a

Spoiler

flashlight left in our room.

I honestly thought it was going to say “A FastPass” .

That’s beyond ridiculous. I understand that providing said object would likely satisfy some “guest safety” check box but that comes off as uncaring. Maybe I’d feel differently if I were there, I don’t know…

 

[donsullivan]

I'm sorry but the childish nature of some of these 'I paid this much, this should never happen', or the old standby 'If they only maintained things' or '<insert snarky pay attention to how whitty I am>' whines above achieve a new level of petty, even for this board. Sometimes a power outage is just a power outage and not caused by any negligence or cutback by anyone. Sometimes equipment just fails, even when it's brand new. Sometimes there is a lightning strike nearby that causes a power outage. Suggestions that this is part of some negligence or plot to inconvenience guests is just arrogant at this point.

It seems to be part of the escalation of the inability of a noisy group here who have a lot of time on their hands and have lost the ability to say anything but negative things about anything that has to do with WDW. If it brings that much angst into your life, perhaps it's time to choose something new to focus your interest (and money) on.

If you live in a magic world (guess what, Disney World is not magical) and have never once experienced a power outage at your home then that's awesome. That is not the normal, real world.

 

[LaughingGravy]

I'm surprised they haven't figured out a way to have an onboard battery. You'd think with all the battery technology we now have it would be possible to have enough onboard electric to ensure safe passage to the next station in the event of a loss of power on the line.

That doesn't sound like something which would return a dividend to the stockholders. Most on the monorail have already paid for their tickets, money is in pocket, they will stay and maybe even buy another beverage after the ordeal.

 

[LaughingGravy]

I honestly thought it was going to say “A FastPass” .

That’s beyond ridiculous. I understand that providing said object would likely satisfy some “guest safety” check box but that comes off as uncaring. Maybe I’d feel differently if I were there, I don’t know…

I'm just glad flashlight was properly spelled.

 

[donsullivan]

I'm surprised they haven't figured out a way to have an onboard battery. You'd think with all the battery technology we now have it would be possible to have enough onboard electric to ensure safe passage to the next station in the event of a loss of power on the line.

WDW monorail system requires a 600 volt power source to run. That isn't achievable in a practical way with batteries.

 

[Sparksfly]

Pins and a prewritten note.

"Pardon our pixi dust"

Try

"Sorry you paid 3 mortgage payments to be here and now you cant even use the restroom without stubbing your toe on the door, but heres a $12 pin (cost us .25 ) for your troubles.

Be sure to talk to guest services about booking your next trip during which well extract even more magical cash, sweat, and tears for you and your family (twice the amount to be exact!). Electricity optional. Have a magical day!"

 

[TimeTrip]

WDW monorail system requires a 600 volt power source to run. That isn't achievable in a practical way with batteries.

New electric cars from at least Porsche and Kia use 800v batteries, so it must be feasible soon enough if they really wanted to scale it up for emergency monorail use... right?

 

[Chip Chipperson]

New electric cars from at least Porsche and Kia use 800v batteries, so it must be feasible soon enough if they really wanted to scale it up fro emergency monorail use... right?

But what if it's cheaper to install foot pedals for the passengers?

 

[GimpYancIent]

But what if it's cheaper to install foot pedals for the passengers?

Yeah! Go full on Flintstones.

 

[GimpYancIent]

I am sorry, but has no one here ever "lived" through a power outage. Was the power outage determined by where you were living or
how much money you paid to live where you were? Power outages happen, not often, but they happen. I understand also that it is
inconvenient, but I really think some of these responses are a bit overboard. Was anyone here that responded actually at WDW and
effected by this?

Done been through a Disney power outage at a resort and even though the cause of the outage was an act of god (lightning strike on a transformer) some guests were absolutely brutal to the CM's even though the guests were not charged for that evenings stay and alternate accommodations were offered. Rude and offensive people are just going to be rude and offensive, sad.

 

[donsullivan]

New electric cars from at least Porsche and Kia use 800v batteries, so it must be feasible soon enough if they really wanted to scale it up fro emergency monorail use... right?

I chose the words ‘practical’ on purpose. Given the infrequency of such events, the investment is simply not warranted. And that has nothing to do with being ’cheap’ as the usual suspect will spin it. It has everything to do with whether the investment makes sense. The amount of batteries needed to move the monorail over any appreciable distance would likely require removing most if not all of one car from service just to fit the batteries and battery management systems in, resulting in a 20% capacity reduction 100% of the time vs. a delay when they need to bring out the diesel tug to move trains in an emergency.

Just because something is ’technically’ feasible doesn’t mean it makes economic or operational sense at all in this situation. Is it inconvenient to be impacted by a power outage, of course- it’s inconvenient when the power goes out in my home as well. I don’t demand the power company compensate me for my losses. But folks on here demanding compensation for a power outage are just ridiculous. And berating the CM’s because of a power loss is the absolute height of entitlement. Guess what, Disney World is in the real world, and sometimes things like this happen. All these demands for compensation every time things don’t go 100% perfectly the way you wanted it are also a contributor to all the price increases that everyone wants to relentlessly whine about.

 

[TimeTrip]

I chose the words ‘practical’ on purpose. Given the infrequency of such events, the investment is simply not warranted. And that has nothing to do with being ’cheap’ as the usual suspect will spin it. It has everything to do with whether the investment makes sense. The amount of batteries needed to move the monorail over any appreciable distance would likely require removing most if not all of one car from service just to fit the batteries and battery management systems in, resulting in a 20% capacity reduction 100% of the time vs. a delay when they need to bring out the diesel tug to move trains in an emergency.

Just because something is ’technically’ feasible doesn’t mean it makes economic or operational sense at all in this situation. Is it inconvenient to be impacted by a power outage, of course- it’s inconvenient when the power goes out in my home as well. I don’t demand the power company compensate me for my losses. But folks on here demanding compensation for a power outage are just ridiculous. And berating the CM’s because of a power loss is the absolute height of entitlement. Guess what, Disney World is in the real world, and sometimes things like this happen. All these demands for compensation every time things don’t go 100% perfectly the way you wanted it are also a contributor to all the price increases that everyone wants to relentlessly whine about.

Would you consider it any more feasible if the backup packs weren't on the train, but rather the system that feeds the power rail? Imagine a bank of large batteries, which has also been implemented in the real world AFAIK. Still probably cost prohibitive for an edge case. Also probably why they haven't put together a system for having a generator to power the line long enough to get to the destination.

 

[pdude81]

Would you consider it any more feasible if the backup packs weren't on the train, but rather the system that feeds the power rail? Imagine a bank of large batteries, which has also been implemented in the real world AFAIK. Still probably cost prohibitive for an edge case. Also probably why they haven't put together a system for having a generator to power the line long enough to get to the destination.

This would assume you know for sure what caused the power outage and could safely switch to this other system. It also would have to deliver the full amount of power that the grid would unless there was some soft of emergency signal to let trains know they had to possibly shut off A/C and operate at lower power to move forward to the next station.

And then there are the cases where there are trains parked on the line awaiting someone else to move. None of this is simple, and the vast majority of the time the power comes back rather quickly.

 

[Ayla]

I'm sorry but the childish nature of some of these 'I paid this much, this should never happen', or the old standby 'If they only maintained things' or '<insert snarky pay attention to how whitty I am>' whines above achieve a new level of petty, even for this board. Sometimes a power outage is just a power outage and not caused by any negligence or cutback by anyone. Sometimes equipment just fails, even when it's brand new. Sometimes there is a lightning strike nearby that causes a power outage. Suggestions that this is part of some negligence or plot to inconvenience guests is just arrogant at this point.

It seems to be part of the escalation of the inability of a noisy group here who have a lot of time on their hands and have lost the ability to say anything but negative things about anything that has to do with WDW. If it brings that much angst into your life, perhaps it's time to choose something new to focus your interest (and money) on.

If you live in a magic world (guess what, Disney World is not magical) and have never once experienced a power outage at your home then that's awesome. That is not the normal, real world.

You'd have a point if it happened infrequently.

 

[JoeCamel]

I chose the words ‘practical’ on purpose. Given the infrequency of such events, the investment is simply not warranted. And that has nothing to do with being ’cheap’ as the usual suspect will spin it. It has everything to do with whether the investment makes sense. The amount of batteries needed to move the monorail over any appreciable distance would likely require removing most if not all of one car from service just to fit the batteries and battery management systems in, resulting in a 20% capacity reduction 100% of the time vs. a delay when they need to bring out the diesel tug to move trains in an emergency.

Just because something is ’technically’ feasible doesn’t mean it makes economic or operational sense at all in this situation. Is it inconvenient to be impacted by a power outage, of course- it’s inconvenient when the power goes out in my home as well. I don’t demand the power company compensate me for my losses. But folks on here demanding compensation for a power outage are just ridiculous. And berating the CM’s because of a power loss is the absolute height of entitlement. Guess what, Disney World is in the real world, and sometimes things like this happen. All these demands for compensation every time things don’t go 100% perfectly the way you wanted it are also a contributor to all the price increases that everyone wants to relentlessly whine about.

Triple redundancy or don't bother. That's what Walt would do

 

[Bullseye1967]

I'm surprised they haven't figured out a way to have an onboard battery. You'd think with all the battery technology we now have it would be possible to have enough onboard electric to ensure safe passage to the next station in the event of a loss of power on the line.

They do have a 37 volt DC back up battery to run the PA system but that is a small fraction of what it would take to power the train.