monorail troubles at mk tonight

[Patrick_Ears]

Maybe a new monorail is coming?????

 

[jedonat]

Monorail manufacturer

Believe it or not, they're available from Bombardier..

The ones on the websites are completely automated, but use the same guideway, etc as the WDW ones. In fact, for a while, the model of the monorails sold by them was DM5 (Disney Mark V). So, getting new ones could be done... its just the cost issue, I'm going to bet.

 

[marni1971]

I think it is time to start running the parking lot trams all the way to the front gate of the Magic Kingdom. Monorails are great and all, but with my four children, they become more of an annoyance than anything having to transfer from the parking lot tram to the monorail just to get to the front gate.

Magic Kingdom is the hardest park to get to, and it takes the longest just to get out to your car after a long day in the park.

Whilst the current tram fleet are designed to handle the incline under the aqauduct, the expanded MK bus station removed the possibility of a regular tram transfer direct from gate to T&TC.

The T&TC does still have its 1971 tram to park station though.

 

[Polyman]

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 are correct. They do have knowledge of the problem and they DO have a plan for it. Recall that almost every month here on the forum we get announcements of extended park hours at MK. Obviously, extended park hours means less time in a 24 hour day for monorail maintenance. To help alleviate this situation, beginning Monday, July 11 the monorail to and from Epcot will stop running at 10:00pm every night, no matter how late MK is open. After 10pm, buses will be provided. This is a fact. For all you sceptics - Source: Epcot Park Operations Management.

 

[BrittanyRose428]

I was there from June 26th-29th (and stayed on the monorail at the Contemporary) and did not really have many problems. There was one night where they said there was a monorail ahead of us that was switching tracks so we had to wait, and they told us that it may be easier to take a bus or ferry, and they mentioned that its a quick walk to the Magic Kingdom from the Contemporary. I believe it was stopped for about 5 minutes before I got there, and I waited for about 10 minutes before we actually left. Considering all the problems I've heard on here about the monorails me waiting 10 minutes once during my trip doesn't seem all too bad :shrug: But in all fairness, I was only there for 3 days, and I only really took the resort monorails.

 

[menamechris]

As many others have said, its not a new issue - I think it is just becoming more obvious to those of us who follow these things. Years ago, I was stuck on a broken down monorail. My assumption was that it was a completely isolated event. This is probably the assumption of most people today. Management will most likely put it off as long as they can. Are the monorails we have now the same ones that were introduced in 1991 - or have they been switched out since? If they are - 20 years seems like it must be getting close to an expiration date...

 

[Gringrinngghost]

I think that the MARK VIII should be debuting in the next few years

 

[MonorailCentral]

Loves it.

I love the fact that everyone here (or most of you...) are bashing the heck out of rails...AND YET...you'll wait 90 minutes to ride Peter Pan's Flight...a ride that lasts no longer than 2 minutes. It's hilarious.

As someone that's spent more time on those things than some of you have been alive...you have to remember that all sorts of things happen as temperature increases.

Think about your car and how it's put under stress when it's 99 degrees out. Now imagine running that car for 12 hours a day EVERYDAY of the summer with maximum load weight and an A/C unit running the whole time. Do you think things are going to happen? Uh...yeah.

Does the train run on electricity? Yes. What happens when temperatures rise? Electricity demand rises as well. And what happens when electrical demand cannot be met...problems. Seeing as most of you northern types can't handle a temp of 75 or greate the electrical drain that the park must under go during the summer must be enormous. Whether or not rails are on the same grid, I'm not privy to, but that seems like it could be the most logical explanation as to why there are potential problems, especially if trains are dying all over the place.

If trains are switching beams to meet rider demand than that can take time to resolve as well...especially if they're shuffling trains out of a 4,4,3 rotation to a 5,4,2 or 4,5,2. Moving from EPCOT to Lagoon (resort) involves switching all over the place and if you're on the Lagoon/Exterior those switches bite it all the time...ask a maintenance guy about how many times he's hand cranked the switch into place between Lagoon/Exterior (resort/express).

Unfortunately, since you can't sit up front and you're not privy to radio convo's between base, central, any of the numbered monorails, maintenance, and shop it's hard to nail down what the root cause of any of this is.

In the meantime...go wait for Space Mountain...it's a 120 minute wait!

 

[kylewr86]

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.

And you can argue it with WDW,Its straight from a tv show about the parks that gets redone every few years or so and it always says 99.9%.If its false thats on them, I have no inside knowledge since im not a bus driver at WDW.

 

[ScoutN]

Think about your car and how it's put under stress when it's 99 degrees out. Now imagine running that car for 12 hours a day EVERYDAY of the summer with maximum load weight and an A/C unit running the whole time. Do you think things are going to happen? Uh...yeah.

People do not even begin to realize how heat affects electric motors. Heat outside plus the weight of the people (average weight per person increased from when they were originally load designed). I would hate to even know how often the pickups for power have to be replaced by the mass power consumption from the trains. I am willing to bet a good amount of the stopping or running slow is to let the motors cool down so as the spool coiling does not fry. I would rather them stop for a bit to cool than push it to the limits and fry a motor(s) and then have real problems.

 

[COProgressFan]

People do not even begin to realize how heat affects electric motors. Heat outside plus the weight of the people (average weight per person increased from when they were originally load designed). I would hate to even know how often the pickups for power have to be replaced by the mass power consumption from the trains. I am willing to bet a good amount of the stopping or running slow is to let the motors cool down so as the spool coiling does not fry. I would rather them stop for a bit to cool than push it to the limits and fry a motor(s) and then have real problems.

I'm sure the monorails, and any other machinery undergo plenty of stress in high heat and humidity.

Of course, there was high heat and humidity in Florida in the 70s, 80s, 90s, and early 2000's as well, and the monorail problems weren't occurring as regularly. So what changed exactly?

 

[ScoutN]

I'm sure the monorails, and any other machinery undergo plenty of stress in high heat and humidity.

Of course, there was high heat and humidity in Florida in the 70s, 80s, 90s, and early 2000's as well, and the monorail problems weren't occurring as regularly. So what changed exactly?

Attendance has increased through the 70s, 80s, 90s, and early 2000s as well. The load weight per person average has also increased. Attendance would attribute the largest requiring more units in regular operation for longer durations.

 

[monothingie]

Attendance has increased through the 70s, 80s, 90s, and early 2000s as well. The load weight per person average has also increased. Attendance would attribute the largest requiring more units in regular operation for longer durations.

DAMN YOU DISNEY DINING PLAN and your numerous choices for delicious foods!

 

[Chrim]

I'm sure the monorails, and any other machinery undergo plenty of stress in high heat and humidity.

Of course, there was high heat and humidity in Florida in the 70s, 80s, 90s, and early 2000's as well, and the monorail problems weren't occurring as regularly. So what changed exactly?

One major difference between the current WDW Mark VI monorails and their older Mark IV counterparts is that the new trains have fewer seats and more standing area in order to hold more people per train.

Plus, within about the past year or so, the lean rails in the middle of each seating section was removed (from the Mark VI's) in order to allow more people (and electric carts) to fit in each car, meaning more weight per train for the motors to pull.

Plus, in previous years, I don't think there were generally more than 3 monorail trains used on a single beam at one time, with 3 beams, that meant that 3 trains could be in a full day of maintenance at any given time. Now, The Epcot beam gets 3 trains and both 7 Seas Lagoon beams regularly hold 4 trains for a total of 11. And there are only 11 operable trains, thus no opportunity for routine maintenance (replace break pads, lube all the parts, clean the a/c ducts, etc.). Plus, with more trains on the beam there is more electricity being drawn and I am not sure the distribution system was really designed to provide that much power, thus the system does not run very smoothly.

 

[Chrim]

I understand why many people are hoping for new trains, but compared with subway trains in major US cities (like Washington DC or Boston), the WDW monorails are young. I would think the trains could last longer as long as they were getting proper maintenance. Or maybe that is the problem.

Also, does it really increase passenger flow all that much having 4 trains on each Lagoon beam vs only 3? It seems like trains spend a much longer % of their operating time sitting at hold points (not sitting in a station and not moving) with so many trains running at once. I wonder if cutting back to 3 trains per beam, even at peak times, could allow for needed maintenance to happen while total trip times for guests (trip time = wait time at origination + travel time in monorail + cumulative hold time waiting to enter their desired station) might stay about the same???

 

[RunnerEd]

To me, the recurring theme is a lack of maintenance. With the 12th train taking seemingly forever to come back online, it has to put a lot of stress on the 11 that are operating. Getting Monorail (insert color here) on the beam and systematically taking the rest down one by one to get a good tune up so to speak seems like the ticket before buying all new trains at $20 million + per copy. Management needs to devote the necessary funds to getting 12 on the beam sooner rather than later.

 

[Gringrinngghost]

To me, the recurring theme is a lack of maintenance. With the 12th train taking seemingly forever to come back online, it has to put a lot of stress on the 11 that are operating. Getting Monorail (insert color here) on the beam and systematically taking the rest down one by one to get a good tune up so to speak seems like the ticket before buying all new trains at $20 million + per copy. Management needs to devote the necessary funds to getting 12 on the beam sooner rather than later.

Maybe they said Screw it and started designing the MARK VIII Monorail... One can only hope.....

 

[MonorailCentral]

Couple of things...

1) If you think these problems are something that all of a sudden just happened w/in the last 5 years you are seriously kidding yourselves AND it truly proves that a vast majority of the stuff on here is opinion and speculation by folks who don't even live in Central Florida.

2) Most of you apparently have never ridden the IV's ever and have never had to have tow initiated on a VI .

3) 5,5,2 could be done very easily if there were still 12 trains w/1:30 load times, minimal holding, and 10-12 minute laps.

4) Stop complaining...ride a bus back to your hotel...Buses will love ya for it.

 

[Gringrinngghost]

Monorail Length of Service

DISNEYLAND RESORT
Mark I : 1959 - 1961 (3 Years)
Mark II - 1961 - 1969 (8 Years) [266.667% Life Span Increase]
Mark III : 1969 - 1987 (18 Years) [225% Life Span Increase]
Mark V : 1987 - 2008 (21 Years) [116.667% Life Span Increase]
Mark VII : 2008 – Present (3 Years old and Counting)

WALT DISNEY WORLD RESORT
Mark IV: 1971 - 1991 [Last Train of the Mark IV Fleet] (20 Years)
Mark VI: 1989 [First Train of the Mark VI Fleet] - Present (22 Years and Counting) [110% Life Span Increase and Counting / 5% Every Year]


Average Lifespan of a Disneyland Monorail
10.6 Years [With Mark VII Added]
12.5 Years [Without Mark VII Added]

Average Lifespan of Walt Disney World Monorail
21 Years [Added with the Three Years Between the Introduction of the Mark VI Fleet on the Beams and the Last ride of the Mark IV Fleet]
20 Years [NOT added with the Three Years Between the Introduction of the Mark VI Fleet on the Beams and the Last ride of the Mark IV Fleet]

 

[ChrisFL]

1) If you think these problems are something that all of a sudden just happened w/in the last 5 years you are seriously kidding yourselves AND it truly proves that a vast majority of the stuff on here is opinion and speculation by folks who don't even live in Central Florida.

2) Most of you apparently have never ridden the IV's ever and have never had to have tow initiated on a VI .

3) 5,5,2 could be done very easily if there were still 12 trains w/1:30 load times, minimal holding, and 10-12 minute laps.

4) Stop complaining...ride a bus back to your hotel...Buses will love ya for it.

Ok, so what ARE the statistics on the percentage of downtimes if you're such an expert?