Monorail Update January 2015

[hopemax]

To be completely honest, I don't think they could keep up with today's visitors. Even if the budget was perfect, it would take nothing short of reupholstering the trains every night to keep them looking new. I think the only way to prevent the stains is by prohibiting food and drink on the train. However there is no way to truly enforce it, so that will never happen.

At the D23 event in Nov, during the Magic Skyway presentation Bob Gurr said every night they had to refurb the entire fleet of cars because of the condition of the cars and anything that could be removed, including armrests would be gone at the end of the operating day. That was 1964-1965.

Once upon a time, that was the expectation Disney had for riders, and they prepared for it, and dealt with it. Now, it's a blame game.

 

[pug]

We spend a lot of time in WDW, most years 3 to 4 weeks and only on rare occasions is the monorail completely down. Only once during our trip last summer was the system down which is a huge problem for us as the Frienship boats do not accept wheelchairs.

As for their condition, the AC system is terrible depending on car and the carpet was badly worn but thankful it looks like they are upgrading the interiors to some degree.

The AC is cra*p

 

[hopemax]

As for what they could do...and this is just letting my imagination run wild. It's not at all tied to reality

Every couple hours, bring out a crew equal to the number of cabins. CP people who are in custodial but really want to be in Entertainment. Dress them up as chimney sweeps and Mary Poppins nannies. play Chim Chim Cheree and Spoonful of Sugar while the crew cleans a train. The waiting guests will probably think it's the craziest and most ridiculous thing they've ever seen, but that's the Disney Difference. And soon there will be posts asking when the monorail cleaning show is because they don't want to miss it.

 

[Figment2005]

As for what they could do...and this is just letting my imagination run wild. It's not at all tied to reality

Every couple hours, bring out a crew equal to the number of cabins. CP people who are in custodial but really want to be in Entertainment. Dress them up as chimney sweeps and Mary Poppins nannies. play Chim Chim Cheree and Spoonful of Sugar while the crew cleans a train. The waiting guests will probably think it's the craziest and ridiculous thing they've ever seen, but that the Disney Difference. And soon there will be posts asking when the monorail cleaning show is because they don't want to miss it.

I can't help but to like this.

 

[Grumpy1973]

A MAGICal moment for me?

A clean, well maintained and properly climate controlled monorail that doesn't sit on a beam for 10 minutes waiting for traffic clearance (something that almost NEVER happened in the 70s and 80s).

Asking too much?

There weren't nearly as many guests riding those monorails in the 70s and 80s.. And not as many strollers and ECVs where they have to take that extra time to drop that big ramp

 

[asianway]

There weren't nearly as many guests riding those monorails in the 70s and 80s.. And not as many strollers and ECVs where they have to take that extra time to drop that big ramp

Anyone else want to tell him?

 

[peachykeen]

I'd just like to say that years ago when I was in rails, I proposed to "management" that once every couple hours throughout the day, the CMs sweep out the trains real quickly as they came into MK or TTC. It would only take minutes. I was just asking that they enforce it as a policy that it be done. They said no.

 

[ParksAndPixels]

Monorail Orange is out on a test run on the express beam today.View attachment 85754

Idk why, but I've always favored monorail orange... When you have a monorail preference... you realize you have a problem.

 

[Rutt]

As for what they could do...and this is just letting my imagination run wild. It's not at all tied to reality

Every couple hours, bring out a crew equal to the number of cabins. CP people who are in custodial but really want to be in Entertainment. Dress them up as chimney sweeps and Mary Poppins nannies. play Chim Chim Cheree and Spoonful of Sugar while the crew cleans a train. The waiting guests will probably think it's the craziest and most ridiculous thing they've ever seen, but that's the Disney Difference. And soon there will be posts asking when the monorail cleaning show is because they don't want to miss it.

Is it bad that I would so plan around being able to catch this at least once?

Or worse that I suddenly want to go into custodial?

 

[Monorail_Red_77]

Not sure if it was in this monorail thread or not, but here goes. Seems like as good of a thread as any to post info on about monorails.

A while back someone posted that the Disney D with Globe logo was disappearing from the monorails.

I have quite a few pics to prove the opposite. However, I do not have a pic of every single one yet.
I think I have figured out why the poster was saying this. Though I'm not 100% on that.

It seems to me in all of the pics that I have in addition to my memory, this is how the logo positioning works.

The Logo is only placed on the left hand side of the monorails forward motion. It is not on the right hand side of forward motion. This means that the D is only on the opposite sides and opposite ends of the monorails. This way it appears to always be on the front of the monorail directly behind the pilot door and above the outside door control buttons as it glides past you into the specific station.

Also, another side note. I saw the video monitor in monorail Orange on Friday during the 24hr event. It is located on the left hand side of the pilot directly beside the pilots door, in the wall area where the large center tire is located, but hugging the outer wall area.

I will try to get a pic on my next trip as it was too crazy to snap a pic this past visit.

Also, there are some major renovations going on at the TTC monorail platforms. at both ends. Looks like they are pouring new concrete stairs for emergency exits as well as general use.

 

[Monorail_Red_77]

Here are the pics of the TTC Upgrades that area happening currently.

 

[Monorail_Red_77]

Here are a few more pics of the renovations being done. So any guesses? More OSHA requirements or just plan old upgrades?

 

[Monorail_Red_77]

Maybe another station being built for expanded monorail service to DHS and AK. LOL I kid! I Kid!
One can hope.

Let the rumors continue in 3. 2. 1. Go!

 

[P_Radden]

Maybe another station being built for expanded monorail service to DHS and AK. LOL I kid! I Kid!
One can hope.

Let the rumors continue in 3. 2. 1. Go!

Yeah right I wish!! BTW thanks for taking the time to post all the pics!!

 

[gsimpson]

Quite a few years ago I was staying at the Contemporary and at close of service they parked two monorails inside and they had a fairly large staff of what for all the world looked like house keeping folks go through and clean the two trains very thoroughly. I thought that was a great idea and a good use of resources but a few years later someone told me they had to stop doing that because the union that represented the transit folks didn't want people who weren't in their union "touching" any transit vehicles ever for any reason. > I obviously don't know if that was true of not <

 

[Monorail_Red_77]

I know I'm probably gonna catch some heat for this one but hear me out.

On my way into WDW on 417 They are building several bridges over the existing roadway that use precast concrete sections that appear to be post-tensioned with cables running through them. Over in my area of FL on the coast they were widening the interstate from four lanes to six through out the county with a about a four mile section, maybe more that had a concrete surface instead of asphalt. It was about a foot thick or more on top of a base of concrete of about a foot also. The remainder of the roadway had a base of concrete about a foot thick with about a foot thick of asphalt. Only guessing on the thickness but it looked thick driving by at 75 mph. So for this project that took upwards of several years they built a temporary concrete plant right off of a roadway near the construction zone. everything was setup on trailers that tilted up into position so the they had a complete concrete mixing yard that was close to the work being done.

In this day and age I don't see why they cannot build a concrete plant on WDW property that has the ability to prefab the beams and pylons that are made to WDW specifications with the tubing for the post tensioning cables and the foam inner core, etc.

This would reduce the cost of trucking the pieces across the country. I would think that they would want to have this capability on-site even if it were used during expansion and then shutdown until needed in the future to replace the beams that were originally built.

I assume that the original monorail beams constructed at MK have some type of lifespan and eventually would need to be replaced.

And, I get that TDO or who ever would need incentive to foot the massive cost. I just don't see how it costs billions of dollars when WDW already owns the property, etc.

I mean when you look around the country and the world at the different road construction happening it is not impossible.

I think that TDO and Disney upper management need to take on Imagineering again like they did in the past.

I know busses are cheaper and more flexible, blah blah. But I think the Disney beast needs to awaken again and take charge of the market that they created.

The system would not need to connect to every single resort, they could have monorail hub locations that would serve a section of resorts, etc.

Don't make me draw a map again.....

End of rant....

 

[Monorail_Red_77]

Quite a few years ago I was staying at the Contemporary and at close of service they parked two monorails inside and they had a fairly large staff of what for all the world looked like house keeping folks go through and clean the two trains very thoroughly. I thought that was a great idea and a good use of resources but a few years later someone told me they had to stop doing that because the union that represented the transit folks didn't want people who weren't in their union "touching" any transit vehicles ever for any reason. > I obviously don't know if that was true of not <

That would make sense but sounds like it was a good idea and use of resources. Leave it to the unions to muck things up.

 

[ford91exploder]

This is one of many good ideas, and ways they could EASILY keep the trains clean on an ongoing basis.

If they know they're going to be holding at a station for a few minutes, open one side's doors and let people off, but keep the "boarding" doors closed and let CMs run in and just pick up....maybe wipe up recent spills. Sure, not every guest will be off, but if they do this at stations like MK or TTC, the majority of guests will disembark.

Or, just before they put one away, have everyone working the last platform run into a car and do the same thing. In 2 minutes, they can pick up ALL the trash and wipe up minor spills.

The possibilities are endless, but they chose not to do it.

Exactly how long would it take for the CM's to run in grab the trash and perhaps give the floor a quick swipe with a Swiffer wet with 1 CM per car perhaps 30-45 seconds.

 

[marni1971]

In this day and age I don't see why they cannot build a concrete plant on WDW property that has the ability to prefab the beams and pylons that are made to WDW specifications with the tubing for the post tensioning cables and the foam inner core, etc.

Disney actually bought the plant that made the EPCOT Center line beams after the park opened. They intended to use it for the Lake Buena Vista line.

That didn't exactly go to plan.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Here are the pics of the TTC Upgrades that area happening currently.
View attachment 94446

There is something majestic about poured in place stairs. It is a shame this is not an element they desired to highlight, as I think they would have been a welcome improvement to the Transportation and Ticket Center.

On my way into WDW on 417 They are building several bridges over the existing roadway that use precast concrete sections that appear to be post-tensioned with cables running through them. Over in my area of FL on the coast they were widening the interstate from four lanes to six through out the county with a about a four mile section, maybe more that had a concrete surface instead of asphalt. It was about a foot thick or more on top of a base of concrete of about a foot also. The remainder of the roadway had a base of concrete about a foot thick with about a foot thick of asphalt. Only guessing on the thickness but it looked thick driving by at 75 mph. So for this project that took upwards of several years they built a temporary concrete plant right off of a roadway near the construction zone. everything was setup on trailers that tilted up into position so the they had a complete concrete mixing yard that was close to the work being done.

In this day and age I don't see why they cannot build a concrete plant on WDW property that has the ability to prefab the beams and pylons that are made to WDW specifications with the tubing for the post tensioning cables and the foam inner core, etc.

Concrete is the result of a chemical process that begins once the ingredients are mixed together, so temporary mixing facilities are quite common. Given the way there are different companies involved in specifying different mixtures, making the mixtures and then performing the building work is probably a big reason why Walt Disney World does not have its own permanent mixing facility with adjacent facilities for building precast pieces.