Monorail Expansion

[Boardwalk Joe's]

Everytime we're in WDW I hear someone asking "why didn't they build monorails all around?". I think if they did build another it should be to the Wilderness Lodge and MGM and AK. Sometimes I wonder if they could save money having monorails all around instead of busses.

I'd like them to build a new resort on the current Epcot line and add a platform there. Then I think it would be neat if they add a third track from TTC to AK & AKL. Then basically the whole world will be interconnected, except ofcourse MGM but you can get there from Epcot easily.

As for the 5th gate, I'd rather have them wait til Im working for them so I can suggest my idea. :king:

 

[Boardwalk Joe's]

The #1 reason why the monorail has not been expanded ids due to it's extremely high cost. Busses are much more efficient from both a cost and operation standpoint. If a bus breaks down just send another bus if a monorail breaks down the whole line stops.

I agree with you, but this is something that every train line in the world has to deal with, and they do a pretty good job with that. I think with gas prices going up and busses being dated it'll eventually fall close to the costing of a complete monorail system. Well, not so much, but with having to work on busses, gas, maintaining...it could very well get to that point. Especially with all the busses and resorts.

Though, I think it would be pretty sweet if they built a people-mover type rail between the Epcot monorail train station that goes along to the Epcot resorts and over to MGM. Interconnecting that whole area to the monorail so it'll be easier to get to MK without having to take the bus.

 

[thedisneyfan]

I think that the lack of some sort of planning for monorail or transit expansions on WDW will prove to be shortsightedness by Disney, if they are not planning to do something within the next decade.

 

[slowbee]

The biggest problem Disney will always have is ROI... How long and how much before they start seeing a return on their investment. Walt did things because he wanted to. The trains.. Disneyland, etc. Once Walt passed on, you will never have that single vision of the park. Would Walt have ever had buses out number the monorail cars?

 

[celticdog]

Would Walt have ever had buses out number the monorail cars?

Yes, because monorails are limited to the available track. Buses can use the existing roads. Plus busses can cross each others paths without problems. Try building a tee or cross intersections for monorails.

 

[Master Yoda]

There is no question that there are transportation woes at WDW but the monorails in there present form are not the answer. There are simply to many destinations and far to many people for it to work. At present the busses are the best solution. While gas prices are a big deal the monorails are no more efficient. They use a huge amount of electricity the cost of which, from my understanding, makes them less efficient than the busses. Also there is the issue of flexibility. The monorails are the least flexible mode of transportation by far. You can't simply pull around one when it breaks down or add more due to capacity issues. At WDW the monorail is more of an attraction than it is an efficient form of transportation.

 

[Boardwalk Joe's]

At WDW the monorail is more of an attraction than it is an efficient form of transportation.

Only because of how they laid it out. If they were to lay out some more concise plans then I think it would be possible to out weigh the present usage of the busses. I dont think its necessary for a line to goto EVERY single resort, but just close to major points and then busses can take you between the resort and the monorail platform. Places like OKW, All Star Resorts, CBR, and CSR can still use a bus system but instead of taking you all the way to teh park they can take you to a nearby monorail station. This would make the turn around time of busses much smaller and EVERYONE will get to enjoy a piece of WDW history.

One argument I don't get is how people say the monorail is so expensive to run, besides maintainence fees and the like, I dont see how its really THAT much different from a subway station in NYC, or the RER and Metro lines in Paris. Well then again, the fact that they don't make money off the monorail by charging people to use it, so I guess that argument is out the window.

Anyway, it'd be neat to see some sort of expansion, but I highly doubt it'll happen. Though, it would be neat if they installed some sort of People Mover for inside the resorts and such. I think CBR, CSR, POR, and OKW would make great use of this.

 

[garyhoov]

Here's one of a thousand possible ideas:

On the outskirts of EPCOT, set up a biomass plant that generates hydrogen from the tons of Disney garbage being generated every day (being mindful to keep CO2 emissions as low as possible - if a combustion process is used, for example, route the waste CO2 into a carbon sink).

Add a ride through tour as a new EPCOT exhibit. Additionally host energy symposiums etc. at the facility charging conference fees to help with costs. Sell the technology and data for an additional revenue stream. Obtain government grants etc.

They will probably still spend more than they actually bring in, but the image of being a forward thinking environmental leader will provide benefits that can't be easily quantified (as with the monorail).

Now take the hydrogen generated and use it for fuel cell buses (or internal combustion hydrogen burners until fuel cells drop in cost) like this:

http://www.greencarcongress.com/2006/07/toyota_and_hino.html

Something like this would re-capture the idea that Disney is a technological visionary and leader as people saw them when the Monorail first came out, while providing a transportation system that is clean, efficient and able to handle the kind of crowds Disney deals with.

 

[Boardwalk Joe's]

That's pretty brilliant. It would be a massive project but it would definitely be forward thinking, beneficial, and just plain cool all together. Though, couldn't they use some sort of gear system (ala nuke plans) to generate electricity? With that they could power monorails as well...I'd have to look more into it.

 

[thedisneyfan]

Yes, because monorails are limited to the available track. Buses can use the existing roads. Plus busses can cross each others paths without problems. Try building a tee or cross intersections for monorails.

Wouldn't this be known as track switches? What about the ever increasing amount of traffic, stop signs, and stop lights that busses have to compete with? And I suppose you've never been stopped on a road due to accidents in which no traffic moves?

 

[NeedABreak]

I'll take the removal of it as good news. River Country was dead many years ago, it's just depressing to see what it looks like now.

Yeah it needed to go. Its like having a pet die and just leaving it in the yard.

It would be so funny if one of these days Disney did decide to expand the monorail and some new member found out while they were keeping it secret. We would all flame the poor guy then 6 months later we see construction workers out there putting it together.

We'd all be like "Sorry new guy, my bad.":lol:

 

[Original19]

The only other resorts I remember having a Monorail platform included during construction were the Swan and Dolphin,not sure about WL.

I'm new here, so correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that just a popular myth about the Swan and Dolphin?

The way I've heard it is that those huge black glass squares on the outside of the buildings were originally supposed be the areas the monorail would pass through (along with the Epcot line).

The Swan & Dolphin were disigned by Michael Graves and in the 90s this large black square can be found in a LOT of his buildings. Right? Isn't this just an architectural detail of his?

Also, consider the fact that these "glass squares" are too high in the air in comparison to the other rails.. making it an uphill climb for the monorail.

 

[nutjb18]

Yeah, I've been hearing on the news lately about how great your transportation systems are in Boston...:animwink:

Our transportation systems are fine. It's our tunnels... Seems with all the Sports Championship parades we've been having the past few years, the floats keep hitting the ceilings causing all kinds of grief... :wave:

The only transportation issues we're having is the transporting of blame amongst officials and politicians... Be thankful your not dealing with this nightmare up close on a daily basis...:brick:

all of those liberals up on beacon hill are more corrupt than when michael eisner was running disney.
Just kidding mass. liberals are 10 times worse...

 

[Skippy]

We'd all be like "Sorry new guy, my bad.":lol:

New guy? Add an 's' to the end and start compiling a list. We'll have to do it public apology style :lol:

 

[Scar Junior]

New guy? Add an 's' to the end and start compiling a list. We'll have to do it public apology style :lol:

1. Haha. So true. My friend just joined and I warned him that there is a certian level of politics to these boards and chances are his info will either be ignored or heavily challenged. Luckily, he is looking forward to being challenged but he is heeding the advice not to start out "too strong." I also gave him a list of people who will be the most likely to challenge him and whether or not they know what they are talking about.

2. I had not heard about Swan and Dolphin's architect (sp?) using the black square as an auteur aesthetic. That's interesting...

 

[Original19]

If there were to be a monorail extension (meaning an entirely new section of monorail track added -- not a new resort added to existing monorail track), wouldn't it make sense to run a line to Downtown Disney?

There were plans to put a second monorail station at Epcot (featured in an early 80's park map) so guests could transfer to the Downtown Disney line. I can only imagine cost was the reason this was never built (read: Eisner).

 

[marni1971]

There were plans to put a second monorail station at Epcot (featured in an early 80's park map) so guests could transfer to the Downtown Disney line. I can only imagine cost was the reason this was never built (read: Eisner).

You don`t have that plan do you? I have seen the route but not the station location. A while ago there was discussion about the long exit ramp at Epcots station being part of the 3rd platform but it was discounted as part of the crowd management system for the plaza.

There were also rumours of foundations laid between Imagination and The Land in 1982, but this was never proven. There were also plans on paper for a spur line shooting off between Energy and Horizons. However, the Swan and Dolphin were never built to have a line running through them; this is a bit of fokelore.

 

[imagineer99]

I'm new here, so correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that just a popular myth about the Swan and Dolphin?

The way I've heard it is that those huge black glass squares on the outside of the buildings were originally supposed be the areas the monorail would pass through (along with the Epcot line).

The Swan & Dolphin were disigned by Michael Graves and in the 90s this large black square can be found in a LOT of his buildings. Right? Isn't this just an architectural detail of his?

Also, consider the fact that these "glass squares" are too high in the air in comparison to the other rails.. making it an uphill climb for the monorail.

You're absolutely correct. The "squares" are aesthetic choices and nothing more. The entire "monorail" myth is fun to tell people (and is common Bus Driver and Boat fodder), but it ain't true.

As you said, the the monorail, would have quite a climb to get up there.

 

[mayoki]

If there were to be a monorail extension (meaning an entirely new section of monorail track added -- not a new resort added to existing monorail track), wouldn't it make sense to run a line to Downtown Disney?

There were plans to put a second monorail station at Epcot (featured in an early 80's park map) so guests could transfer to the Downtown Disney line. I can only imagine cost was the reason this was never built (read: Eisner).

Where did this picture come from, it clearly shoes a monorail going through Downtown Disney which is really cool to imagine. Are there more like this?

If I get a laundry list of prior posts, I'll know I'm the only one who hasn't seen this picture.

 

[metscool]

If the monorail went to Downtown Disney it would take a very log time for that. Maybe as long as it takes to go from Epcot to TTC and back to Epcot to just to get the Downtown Disney area.