Monorail Expansion: Who is in favor, who isn't?

What do you think?

  • In favor of an expansion.

    Votes: 128 81.0%
  • Not in favor of an expansion.

    Votes: 21 13.3%
  • In favor but only to Studios.

    Votes: 9 5.7%

  • Total voters
    158

matthope03

New Member
Here is the situation, although it might be nice and cool to have the monorail go everywhere, it would cost a lot of money. Which rises this question, would you rather be able to take the monorail all the way around the resort, or would you prefer to see the parks upgrading? Quite simply expanding the monorail would drain the funds for WDW for quite a while due to the enormous cost, leaving no refurbs, new rides, new shows, etc. for the quite a while.
 

doctorcfjh

New Member
I think complexity is not an issue. Anything the size of WDW will have a complex transportation system whatever you do. In the end I suspect that the monorail expansion will not happen. You will still have to get transport from your hotel to the monorail (unless in one of the hotels already integrated into the highway in the sky). This will mean the monorail would mostly be used for park hopping. Hence the expansion will be busiest during the middle and end of the day. This seems to be an inefficient use of funds. Why not try something new for that side if the property. Something without an elevated track but done elegantly could work very well.
 

WDFAN1977

New Member
I don't think that it would be that confusing if you just ran a direct line from EPCOT to MGM and a direct line from MGM to AK. I could see it getting confusing when you have mutiple lines running from one park to the other three. It would be like the subway systems in the major cities with tourist gathered around the map trying to figure out which line goes to what place:brick:.
 

cameraguy

New Member
I personally think the WDW transperation system is fine as is. It's very simple. Bus or monorail, not very hard to figure out which one you need to use to get to where you need to go. I think they should expand it ONLY if they believe it is absolutley necissary not just for the sake of having an monorail go to every park. Because like I said before it's fine and simple as is and their no need to complicate things. And yes I think they should that money on better attractions in the park person
 

Connor002

Active Member
Taken logistical and economic factors into concern... I voted against it. Reasons have been explained time and time again...
 

cameraguy

New Member
Even though I voted agenst it because I think it would be an eye soure I though I would state this. People keep bring up the financial aspect of it as if they know how much money Disney has in the bank to spend on their theme park. Unless your a disney accountant you don't know if Disney can afford it at this time or not.
 

Pongo

New Member
I've come to the point where I'm apathetic about it all.

I mean... it's not going to happen, so what does it matter what we would prefer? :wave:
 

cameraguy

New Member
I've come to the point where I'm apathetic about it all.

I mean... it's not going to happen, so what does it matter what we would prefer? :wave:

Pongo has a point, can't argue with that. A monorail won't attract more guests like bigger and better rides will.
 

Mick G.

New Member
First, I'm no fan of the busses, and I really like the monorail. It's like an attraction in itself for me, mostly for nostalgia. I also remember WDW when you could go almost anywhere and never have to ride on a bus. It was really cool, a much more immersive experience. So if it's just a yes/no question, I would be for more monorails.

But, you have to recognize the reality of the situation, and realize that money spent somewhere is money that won't be spent somewhere else. Big bucks spent on the monorail system are bucks that can't be spent elsewhere. And I think that in order to answer the question of whether I support expansion of the system, I have to ask what the consequences would be. More monorails = fewer new attractions.

In regard to complexity, I've spent many hours working turnstiles at TTC and EPCOT, and the idea of transferring at TTC confused lots of people. More monorail lines = more transfers = more guest confusion. Most people can handle waiting for a bus that has their destination on the front. It's simple. The experience is nowhere near as "magical" as the monorail, but it's not confusing.

And I like the idea of a different form of transit. I recently rode the DART system in Dallas, and it's pretty cool. I kept thinking that this sort of light rail would be great at WDW, and would probably be cheaper in most spots than monorail beams, since you aren't trying to build a heavy concrete and steel beamway on swampland. But with another transporation system, you get into the issue of transfers. Now that I think about it, transfers also take time, to get off one vehicle, find the right ramp, wait for the next vehicle to arrive, and load. More transfers = less time in the parks.

Finally, a story. A couple of years back we stayed at the Contemporary, in the now-doomed North Garden Wing. What a great location. One morning we were headed to the MK, and it's so close and it was such a pretty morning, we decided to take the 10 minute walk. On our way there, we were passed by a monorail guy, walking along the path to the MK. He had the costume, and the radio that leads wear. When I said, "Why are you walking?" he replied, "Fastest way to get there." And when I thought about it, he was right. The walk was probably twice as fast as the resorts monorail. Moral of the story: Even if you like the monorail, it's not always the answer.
 

LudwigVonDrake

Well-Known Member
A Monorail expansion would be great but Disney isn't going to do it based on two factors: Cost and the fact that the Buses have more capacity. Also remember they'll need multiple tracks since the Monorails couldn't be going in the opposite direction on the same track :eek: Cost just about kills the concept, unfortunately.
 

scottnj1966

Well-Known Member
Monorails.....no way.. more busses. i want to see so many busses driving on wdw property that it will look like nyc.
hopefully some graffiti can be added to all the buildings too.
 

rcapolete

Active Member
First off like others have said, unless you work in the Disney accountant office we have no idea whether it is cost prohibitive or not.
I would like to see a loop the runs from epcot to mgm to ak and then back to epcot. As for the resort since each resort is attach to a park they can build a TTC by each area to allow the resort guest to get onto the monorail without having to take a bus to the park
 
I cant help but think it would be pretty jarring to get off a Monorail at the entrance to DAK. The two just do not seem to fit thematically, and aesthetically it could be quite a ugly site.


And a Monorail in front of a turn of the century railroad and a Fantasy Castle does? These are the things that make Disney so unique and cool---it would work for them. Although the outer design of an AK monorail expansion could be made to fit in to the Ak with really unique theming.
 

Fievel

RunDisney Addict
I don't need the monorail. All the transfer points you'd have to have would make it just as time consuming as the bus rides. I really don't mind the bus rides at all. The monorail is really only convenient for those staying in monorail resorts, and even they have to jump trains to get to epcot. I know I wouldn't want monorail track running pretty much everywhere on grounds.

I'd rather see that HUGE amount of money put into the parks and finishing projects already underway (like pop century).
 

Lee

Adventurer
No real need for monorail expansion.
I'd be kinda nice...but it's just not practical and the money would be better spent elsewhere.
 

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