monorail troubles at mk tonight

[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.

20 Million per train is off. Disney paid 3.575 million per train to Bombardier Mass Transit Division of Canada to Produce the Mark VI Monrail. For the Fleet of 12 it cost 42.9 Million. At an interest rate of 3.6 using the latest US government CPI data that was released on June 15, 2011. The Monorail per train now would be $6,514,687.90, a Price increase of 82.2% At an estimated $6,514,687.90 per train, a new fleet of 12 from Bombardier Mass Transit Division of Canada would cost 78,176,254.80, not the 240 Million you are estimating.

 

[ADP2]

I've been frequenting Walt Disney World for several years and I've witnessed more monorail problems around the Magic Kingdom loop than ever before in the past 18 months. They may not be frequent, but the problems have noticably increased.

I still can't say enough how hard Disney Transporation works to keep it running as smoothly as it does. They do a great job considering the amount of guests it moves on a daily basis. It's simply impressive!

 

[isman250]

Ive gone quite a few times and never really experience to many issues, but thats my experience. The truth of the matter is, their pretty old and they are run harder then most trains ever get ran. City trains are alot more abundant and have time to switch to another one, when one is broken.

I think disney is doing the best they can, but I am sure its time for new ones, if these are having issues. I would say that, their are just alot of good ways of transportation for disney and I am on vacation so waiting when their is an issue never bothers me. I am in disney world, pretty ridiculous to get mad, when your there instead of being stuck in an office working

 

[officeboy]

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.

The ostrich position? I assume this happens from time to time.
Fire breaks are cut often for a reason.

 

[officeboy]

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.

Funny, I said basically the same thing a while ago. I wonder if we have the same sources?

 

[zulemara]

The ostrich position? I assume this happens from time to time.
Fire breaks are cut often for a reason.

a couple weeks ago a part fell out of monorail green over the lightshow channel and started a fire on the ground, which happened to be right next to some big power boxes for the monorail system. Rails shut down to make sure that if the boxes were damaged prior to the fire getting under control, they wouldn't be left powerless on the beams. So when I say parts fall out of the monorails and start a fire on the ground, I mean it...literally.

 

[officeboy]

a couple weeks ago a part fell out of monorail green over the lightshow channel and started a fire on the ground, which happened to be right next to some big power boxes for the monorail system. Rails shut down to make sure that if the boxes were damaged prior to the fire getting under control, they wouldn't be left powerless on the beams. So when I say parts fall out of the monorails and start a fire on the ground, I mean it...literally.

Yep. I am aware of the state of repair of the system including parts literally falling off. If they had bumpers somebody might put a sticker on one.

"Honk if parts fall off".

The situation is unfortunate. I am surprised the rectifier buildings don't catch fire more often than we hear about. The fact is with limited resources, which I understand Rails is saddled with, you can only do so much.

If you start taking on water I assume that gets fixed pretty quick or at least the boat is taken out of service. When a monorail breaks they patch it up and send it back out as best they can. Is it safe? If it passes the MAPO checks and maintenance sends it out we have to assume so. (MonoRailCentral can correct me if wrong) If it break again with the same problem 10 minutes later nobody drowned.

 

[devoy1701]

Yep. I am aware of the state of repair of the system including parts literally falling off. If they had bumpers somebody might put a sticker on one.

"Honk if parts fall off".

The situation is unfortunate. I am surprised the rectifier buildings don't catch fire more often than we hear about. The fact is with limited resources, which I understand Rails is saddled with, you can only do so much.

If you start taking on water I assume that gets fixed pretty quick or at least the boat is taken out of service. When a monorail breaks they patch it up and send it back out as best they can. Is it safe? If it passes the MAPO checks and maintenance sends it out we have to assume so. (MonoRailCentral can correct me if wrong) If it break again with the same problem 10 minutes later nobody drowned.

the current state of everything at WDW is falling apart it seems. 'tis sad...

 

[officeboy]

the current state of everything at WDW is falling apart it seems. 'tis sad...

Tis indeed. Curiosity compels me to inquire. Besides a certain disco yeti what in the 'World' = everything to you?

 

[Chrim]

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.

I am not sure what you are bringing up with the Mark IV's. Did they spend lots of time at holds (now that I think about it, it does seem like they did)? Did they break down more or less? Did they load faster or slower, etc.?

I take it part of the slow load/unload times and slower laps deals with lack of staffing in the stations and perhaps management going easy on current staff in light of the 2009 accident (they don't want to be singled out for causing a second fatal accident)? Or do you think it is something else (besides lack of maintenance, of course)?

BTW, I do not live in Central Florida, nor have I even been a monorail cast member, so I do not claim any insider knowledge. I'm just a tourist who started visiting WDW around the time of the Tencentennial.

 

[COProgressFan]

Tis indeed. Curiosity compels me to inquire. Besides a certain disco yeti what in the 'World' = everything to you?

Just to name a few:
- BTMRR had a black tarp for months (finally repaired), and the earthquake scene hasn't worked in at least 6+ months, as well as the geysers
- Country Bears has horrible audio and animatronic movement
- On and off audio and effects issues in Pirates
- Peter Pan attraction is in rough shape and badly needs a refurb
- Carousel of Progress has seen much better days (The father's freaking hand fell off last week!)
- Countless effects were broken on Splash for months, many still are
- Buzz Lightyear vehicles are beat up and badly need repainting (as did the queue, which I believe is now just solid purple)
- Significant monorail downtimes
- Dinosaur at AK has had broken effects for years
- Test Track is showing its age in many spots with broken effects
- Audio on ToT has been spotty
- Fantasmic badly needs a refresh of effects

And I could go on ....

WDW is a great place, but they sure don't clean, maintain, or update things like they used to.

 

[talonstruck]

The ostrich position? I assume this happens from time to time.
Fire breaks are cut often for a reason.

Why hate on the monorails for starting fires? Locomotive trains start more fires from sparks where the wheels hit the rails, especially in dry conditions.

 

[marni1971]

Why hate on the monorails for starting fires? Locomotive trains start more fires from sparks where the wheels hit the rails, especially in dry conditions.

Because bits arn`t meant to fall off monorails.

 

[ECU_PIRATE]

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.

With the way Disney is always trying to save money I'm surprised they don't see these completely automated models as a way to save money in the long run by cutting out having to pay operators.

It's a shame that one of the oldest monorail systems in the country has become so troublesome. Monorails are used with great success in airports all around the country now. Would be nice to see the Disney system back up to the level it once was.

 

[talonstruck]

Because bits arn`t meant to fall off monorails.

Bits and pieces aren't suppose to fall of any vehicle. It happens it and generally doesnt get bad press unless someone dies. I am sure pits and pieces have fallen off the busses, the boats, the rides, vending carts etc. but lets face it, it's a machine, its going to have problems.

 

[ScoutN]

Why hate on the monorails for starting fires? Locomotive trains start more fires from sparks where the wheels hit the rails, especially in dry conditions.

You can say that again. The interstates around Suffolk and Portsmouth here in VA and regularly backed up with the new Midway rain line that runs between the North and South lanes. New terminals have screwed us and helped us here.

 

[EvilQueen-T]

I read somewhere that they're getting ready to eliminate using the monorail for emh? What I read said, and I'm so sorry I can't remember where I saw it, that the monorail from epcot will run 1 hour after regular park closing and the same for mk. I can't imagine staying at one of the monorail resorts and having to wait for that little 20-some odd seat boat to make the trip like a million times before you get back to the resort. I also cannot imagine taking the tons of people who already use the monorail and trying to stuff them on those slow ferry's back and forth from the transportation/ticket center. sounds like a nightmare to me. Any new news?

 

[828tnt]

Monorail up time seems pretty good to me. Considering the age of the fleet, being down 1 train, and the need to maximize cost versus maintenance I think the maintenance folks do a wonderful job.

It is unfortunate such a well used and loved form of transportation occasionally experiences trouble of some kind.

i agree with the last statement wholeheartedly. sometimes standards are too high for this icon. things happen. breakdowns will occur. buses suck.

but, wdw has been down a train for 2 years. maintenance has been an issue for some time. it's not a people problem, it's a decision making problem. sometimes money needs to be spent to fix a problem.

that makes this more of a money problem, or even a cost cutting issue. and a "good show" is (imo, and likely most others) important to the value of going to a disney park vs another (cheaper) amusement park.

anything else becomes excuse making. (or "survey fixing")