Just my 2 cents.
The monorails are 1 of the major plusses of staying close to the MK and Epcot. It influenced our decision on the purchase of BLT for our DVC. We like to plan our trips well in advance so the 11 month window and being on a monorail resort worked well for us.
The problem is once again, we pay more and get less. The price goes up and the level of service declines. This has gone on now for many years. Little things, the loss of fireworks, decreased hours, the loss of fantasmic on a nightly basis, now the loss of easy refills on cups at the value resorts. I could list things on and on for hours. I dont want to bring up a debate on any 1 thing but simply illustrate the cuts that seem to never end.
We pay more every year and get less. On our recent trip, July 14-23, 2011 I talked to a coordinator at the MK bus area. We had an incident where a bus missed the Contemporary going to DHS. We asked 4 bus drivers where the bus was and it still managed to be over an hour to get there. Even after a driver asked the question and we heard the answer, 5 minutes.
I was also told that currently they are using contract busses and drivers. I actually saw a few of them. They DONT have enough to handle the current passenger load. How can we expect busses to handle extra passengers if they dont have enough to have the loads with a Monorail.
I also found out that they have 50 new busses coming this fall. THey also plan to hire some new drivers. If they can afford 50 busses, why not get 2 new monorails too. Certainly 1 monorail is cheaper to operate that the equivalent amount of busses. Cleaner for the environment too. If they were to purchase 2 new monorails, they could take the oldest out of service and overhaul it. "Give it a facelift". That certainly makes sense to me. With that they could complete update the entire fleet and never really upset the status quo.
I dont know what the answer is but I suspect the are considering their current decisions. With all the issues with transportation lately, they definately need to get back to what made Disney Parks what they are.
I am afraid that if they cut much more from their day to day operations, they will become just an average place, a fleeting memory of the more than exceptional powerhouse that it once was.
I am starting to get concerned with the direction of management on the level of service or apparent lack thereof.
Just my 2 cents. Not trying to upset anyone, just my POV
