captainkidd
Well-Known Member
Sorry, but no way in H.E. double hockey sticks is that accurate. We spend 2 weeks there every summer, and there is always something wrong at some point with the monorails.
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monorail troubles at mk tonight
- Thread starter cindy_k
- Start date
Sorry, but no way in H.E. double hockey sticks is that accurate. We spend 2 weeks there every summer, and there is always something wrong at some point with the monorails.
mickey2008.1
Well-Known Member
We have been there 6 times in the past 3 years, and never had a problem with the monorails. I guess were just lucky, or its a reliable system. Like Steve said, maybe its just more awareness due to sites like this that show how much they are or are not down.
Yeah, I drive the boats, and when rails goes down, it affects us in a large way(as it does buses) When parts are literally falling out of monorails and starting fires on the ground, when trains can't get up a hill because of lack of power, etc, it's time to evaluate the situation. Unfortunately management does what they do best, ignores it. I can only hope that the fact that they have gone down on 2 consecutive major holidays will generate enough complaints that they do something about it.
originally this was done, but the trams had a hard time getting up the waterbridge hill, and that was back shortly after the resort opened. In today's world, with overweight people, there's no way those trams would make it up the hill. Not trying to offend anyone, but it's true.
Disneydreamer23
Well-Known Member
musta been horrible when we went there the ferrys were down and we waited for the monorail for 1 hr eeek, to remind me i always take a rent a car or bus so i forget .. do u get on the monorail if you DRIVE or take a bus
officeboy
Active Member
A litttle perspective maybe? (sans facts)
Agreed. I see broken monorails most every time I visit the world. However I implore you to have perspective.
I have been a fan of the system for longer than I care to admit. Certainly before the days of the analog UHF trunked comm. sys. Its seeming degradation over the last few months (or years) since Austin's incident has brought its plight into the light. Growing number of monorail incidences? Unavoidable in my opinion. It will likely stay that way, or get worse, for the foreseeable future, me thinks... I am positive it will turn around in time if they can retain most of the rails group that cares....
However, I am curious. If 12 buses with the same capacity replaced the monorails for your 2 week visit every summer, instead of the countless (faceless) buses would you feel the same way? If everybody got to use the same 12 buses between the resorts, TTC, and EPCOT would you expect the same service? Wait, make that 11. Hmmm? Yes? No? Disney navy? Yeah, they have not sunk anything, lately. If the boats sank as often as the monorails 'broke' would your perspective be the same?
I do not mean to be cruel, but your perspective seem to be a bit out of alignment from where I sit............
Do not misunderstand me.
The Monorail system at the World needs help.
But so does your expectation. Maybe even your perspective.
Agreed. I see broken monorails most every time I visit the world. However I implore you to have perspective.
I have been a fan of the system for longer than I care to admit. Certainly before the days of the analog UHF trunked comm. sys. Its seeming degradation over the last few months (or years) since Austin's incident has brought its plight into the light. Growing number of monorail incidences? Unavoidable in my opinion. It will likely stay that way, or get worse, for the foreseeable future, me thinks... I am positive it will turn around in time if they can retain most of the rails group that cares....
However, I am curious. If 12 buses with the same capacity replaced the monorails for your 2 week visit every summer, instead of the countless (faceless) buses would you feel the same way? If everybody got to use the same 12 buses between the resorts, TTC, and EPCOT would you expect the same service? Wait, make that 11. Hmmm? Yes? No? Disney navy? Yeah, they have not sunk anything, lately. If the boats sank as often as the monorails 'broke' would your perspective be the same?
I do not mean to be cruel, but your perspective seem to be a bit out of alignment from where I sit............
Do not misunderstand me.
The Monorail system at the World needs help.
But so does your expectation. Maybe even your perspective.
officeboy
Active Member
Agreed. And then some....
Management that understands the situation does care, at least from what I can see. Fires? Why do you think they cut the fire breaks on the monorail routes and MAINTAIN them?
If the navy sank or took on water in noticeable amounts do you think folks would complain? Yep, me too.
valenrandy
Active Member
Currently on resort monorail. lots of delays. Driver stated monorail was being moved from resort to express line.
cheezbat
Well-Known Member
With friends that work at WDW, and being a frequent enough attender, I know that weekly, there are MULTIPLE breakdowns...at least there have been this year. I hear new stories every week. It's sad. I love the monorail and was praising Disneyland's until I got stuck on one of theirs for an hour...in the scorching heat. We lost all power so it got hot in there fast. I said right away, This never happens at WDW... I became a bigger fan of WDW's and praised their system after that incident...Go figure, my first trip back to WDW after Disneyland this very same thing happens on my way to the Magic Kingdom. Lucky for me our breakdown was only about 25 minutes then...but now I'm hearing more and more about WDW monorail troubles.
JimboJones123
Well-Known Member
We had two monorail issues a few days ago on the 2nd of July.
1. They were transfering trains on or off the line. We were stuck in station for almost an hour. I popped my head out and checked several times on the clock.
2. When leaving at 11:15, Lime broke down at the TTC, stopping us in Orange, 3 trains back, before the GF for 15+ minutes.
That's a blunder each way.
Didn't help that it took us 6 trains just to get on that night either. I couldn't imagine being the people after us.
1. They were transfering trains on or off the line. We were stuck in station for almost an hour. I popped my head out and checked several times on the clock.
2. When leaving at 11:15, Lime broke down at the TTC, stopping us in Orange, 3 trains back, before the GF for 15+ minutes.
That's a blunder each way.
Didn't help that it took us 6 trains just to get on that night either. I couldn't imagine being the people after us.
Monorail Lime
Well-Known Member
A decade ago perhaps. Not anymore.
rct247
Well-Known Member
I agree with everyone else noting that the Walt Disney World Monorail system is having much more issues than I remember it having when I visited as a kid in the late 1990s.
Since the unfortunate accident, further traffic clearance for new safety procedures are the most common thing that actually drives me nuts. I know it's for safety, but having your monorail stop on the beam from 1-4 minutes when you just want to get where you are going is a bit annoying.
On other numerous occasions there have been other issues with monorails experience downtime. I've been the MK and Epcot when the entire service has been down on different visits. There have been a few times where we sit at a resort for a good 5-10 minutes while they have to reboot the computer system on board. I've even seen the monorail tug come out once to two a monorail.
The monorails are getting old and need to be replaced/updated. They are not fun to take anymore because there is too much waiting involved on a transportation system that used to run so quickly and efficiently.
On a side note, Epcot is my favorite parking lot because of how quick and easy it is to get into the park. Magic Kingdom takes FOREVER to get from your car to Main Street USA. Hollywood Studios is inconvenient for walking, but quick for tram ride. Animal Kingdom just has a very ugly parking lot.
Since the unfortunate accident, further traffic clearance for new safety procedures are the most common thing that actually drives me nuts. I know it's for safety, but having your monorail stop on the beam from 1-4 minutes when you just want to get where you are going is a bit annoying.
On other numerous occasions there have been other issues with monorails experience downtime. I've been the MK and Epcot when the entire service has been down on different visits. There have been a few times where we sit at a resort for a good 5-10 minutes while they have to reboot the computer system on board. I've even seen the monorail tug come out once to two a monorail.
The monorails are getting old and need to be replaced/updated. They are not fun to take anymore because there is too much waiting involved on a transportation system that used to run so quickly and efficiently.
On a side note, Epcot is my favorite parking lot because of how quick and easy it is to get into the park. Magic Kingdom takes FOREVER to get from your car to Main Street USA. Hollywood Studios is inconvenient for walking, but quick for tram ride. Animal Kingdom just has a very ugly parking lot.
holding for traffic clearance is not a new procedure from the accident. That's based on the MAPO system and has been that way for quite a while.
What IS new are the procedures required when they do switches because trains are not allowed to drive in reverse without either someone in the rear cab or another monorail acting as the rear eyes and/or ground observers. That does make things take longer when they do switches(or need to reverse a train on a beam for mechanical reasons) but for right now, I'm ok with that as it usually isn't longer than 20 minutes.
FYI to everyone on here, express went down tonight again after fireworks. Ferryboat line went from being quite manageable to all the way down the hill towards security entrance very very quickly(within 10 minutes) I don't know why it went down, but I can say it wasn't a planned switch. Just another example....
scottnj1966
Well-Known Member
When was the monorail's having problem on July 4th?
I was at the Contemporary for a few hours and watched them come thru the whole time.
Yes they stopped many times but that's because the park was filling up fast for the holiday.
The reason for delays most of the time is because the parks are packed.
Disney does not have an issues with getting people to come.
I was at the Contemporary for a few hours and watched them come thru the whole time.
Yes they stopped many times but that's because the park was filling up fast for the holiday.
The reason for delays most of the time is because the parks are packed.
Disney does not have an issues with getting people to come.
xsupaxmanxsfnex
Well-Known Member
I'm sorry but I don't think this is as big as a deal as people are making it. I guess, I don't know, management is a little pre occupied with I don't know possibly a HUGE expansion of the Magic Kingdom. I am sure that once this is almost ready to be open to the public that they will fix the bugs in the monorail system when crowds start to increase due to the expansion. I am not worried about the monorails personally. I think after the accident they are trying to make the system safer and better than ever, it is just going to take some time.
COProgressFan
Well-Known Member
I'm not looking to start an argument, but your explanation comes up from time to time -- that something is lacking in maintenance or upkeep and it is somehow excusable because management's attention is focused on some other new project instead.
It is not excusable at all. ALL of WDW is supposed to be show ready ALL the time. And the operation and maintenance of the monorail system has essentially absolutely nothing to do with the subcontractors who are working up in FL. The monorail is the primary means of transport for the tens of thousands of MK guests every day as well as thousands of resort guests. It serves as the first and last thing many guests see on their visit. It needs to be maintained and updated to keep the system functioning and able to efficiently move guests in a safe, comfortable, clean manner.
In the past several years, this has not been happening and management is the only group that can resolve it. One would think, given the massive about of negative publicity from the accident two years ago, that the powers that be (all the way up to Iger) would pour money into improving the system. From the guest's perspective, it appears that has not happened.
xsupaxmanxsfnex
Well-Known Member
I'm not looking to start an argument either. I just hate to see all of this negativity. I am just saying that I have faith that they have knowledge about this problem and have plans for it. That is all.
you put way more trust in mgmt than you should. This is not a case of "working out the bugs" nor does it have anything to do with other projects going on at WDW. The trains are old and falling apart.
For the other poster, I don't remember exactly what time it was, I think 10:30ish. There was an all call to watercraft that express was 101. Trust me, they went down.
PalisadesPkteer
Active Member
On my last trip (December 7 - 15 2010) the monorail was down at least twice.
Got to EPCOT when I thought it was an early entry day (it was the day before!) and was going to take monorail to resort or MK but it was down.
One other day going to MK it was down and took the ferry in. (First time doing this ever! Was a nice different perspective though.)
By the Way. I FROZE on this trip.
Got to EPCOT when I thought it was an early entry day (it was the day before!) and was going to take monorail to resort or MK but it was down.
One other day going to MK it was down and took the ferry in. (First time doing this ever! Was a nice different perspective though.)
By the Way. I FROZE on this trip.
Steeldarklaw
New Member
I understand that the monorail system is old and something needs to be done. Keep in mind that each individual train costs an estimated $1,000,000. That was back when they were initially built. This was information I was given by one of the monorail pilots when you were still allowed to ride in the font. I am sure that at this point it is more cost efficient to try to keep what they have running as opposed to ordering a brand new fleet. Besides does anyone have a clue where you could order a brand new monorail. It is not like you can find them on ebay.