Rumor New Monorails Coming Soon?

[MisterPenguin]

Why do color-blind people need to tell them apart?

I don't know. Ask them...

Seeing color is (or at least was) a requirement for working in Monorails.

If knowing the differences between monorails by sight is important, it'll take one small ADA suit to fix that since the employer can very easily use some other form of visual distinction that isn't based on color.

Aside: Has anyone heard about the special glasses that they've come up with recently that let color blind people distinguish between the colors to which they are blind?

It's real science! But, they only work for certain types of color blindness. The glasses block out a certain wavelength band which causes confusion for a particular type of colorblindness allowing those folk to tell one color apart from another more easily.

 

[Goofyernmost]

Why do color-blind people need to tell them apart?

Aside: Has anyone heard about the special glasses that they've come up with recently that let color blind people distinguish between the colors to which they are blind?


At this point, I'm not sure what your original point was. I don't think anyone was saying that people were visiting WDW solely to ride the monorail. I think someone was just saying that they thought that the monorail was part of what made WDW special to them and it is a shame that Disney stopped expanding the monorail system a long time ago. I also don't think that anyone is saying that the monorail trains don't need to have their interiors refurbished or be replaced. I mean isn't that the whole point to this thread is the exciting prospect that we'll get a new trainset?

Not criticizing, just hoping to focus and get clarity on your thoughts.

Go back a few pages and you will find it stated that the Monorail is the reason the people go there. It is, possibly the reason that they stay at the MK resorts, but, not MK in general. It seems to me to be a very unwise financial decision to spend that kind of money just to ride the Monorail when they can do that anytime they want to and can only use it to go to MK/Epcot the same way that I do without staying at an MK resort. But, it was made to sound like if they were to get rid of trains no one would show up at the parks. I personally have gone to MK many, many times and I didn't ride the Monorail, I prefer the ferry ride across the Lagoon. However, lets not spend to much time twisting words around to make things sound like evil intent. We all are guilty of reading the printed word in different unintended ways, so no biggy.

 

[s8film40]

If knowing the differences between monorails by sight is important, it'll take one small ADA suit to fix that since the employer can very easily use some other form of visual distinction that isn't based on color.

It's not just the trains but also the Red, Green and Yellow block lights.

Honestly though distinguishing the color of a 200 foot long stripe from half a mile a way can be a little difficult even for those with no color sight issues, I can't imagine what other form of visual distinction they could use. Again it's all probably irrelevant now anyway. To my knowledge though it never even came up. I think people who couldn't see color never even made it into the job in the first place.

 

[Goofyernmost]

I never knew that they had different colors until the first time it appeared on a discussion board. To me the Monorail I rode was the one that was sitting there ready to go when I was. I still don't see any significance to the Guest. It is prettier then just having huge numbers painted on the side of it, but even that would be for internal needs of identification with totally no significance to anyone, but a CM, other then making it more aesthetically attractive. I don't recall ever saying... listen if I can't ride on Red, I will just walk. So there! To me it was always decoration, but, leave it to the fans to put some type of important, to us, reason for them being different color stripes. They haven't done a real good job though because I still don't know why or see any importance to it other then aesthetics, like I said.

I also don't see any problem with people putting some significance on it, if it makes them happy. It does no harm and makes for a colorful fleet.

 

[rsm]

To me it was always closer to Yellow.

Those deltas really helped a bit from a safety standpoint. Also Peach should have had a more contrasting color. Of course none of it really matters anymore since they're all automated.

I agree about peach. Coral was already a misfire - too close to orange and pink. I undersand that they wanted to retire pink and purple, but peach just made things worse. Magenta and lavender would have been my vote.

 

[MisterPenguin]

Well, see, they could avoid confusion with including shapes along with colors such as having yellow moons, orange stars, green clovers, and pink hearts.

 

[crxbrett]

Well, see, they could avoid confusion with including shapes along with colors such as having yellow moons, orange stars, green clovers, and pink hearts.

Wha? No love for purple horseshoes?

 

[Disone]

Lime is the only train that had/will have alternate deltas.

Clarification please. Are you saying Coral's delta's will stay white or are you saying Coral will no longer have Delta's?

 

[Figment2005]

Clarification please. Are you saying Coral's delta's will stay white or are you saying Coral will no longer have Delta's?

Coral and Teal will keep the white deltas. Lime will be coming out with blue deltas. They were originally a tribute to the original costume that cast wore, and will be a throwback to that time.

 

[Brad Bishop]

Ideally everything would be available within 1 or 2 changes right? But the first thing you need to do is build the area hubs.

MK's is complete - it has the 3 resort monorail connection, 5 resort ferry connection, plus connections to the TTC
DHS/Epcot expansion is underway - it has has a 4 resort ferry connection and soon 8 resorts via gondola, plus connections to the TTC though you have to go through Epcot
Disney Springs - it has a 4 resort ferry connection but it is isolated otherwise
Typhoon Lagoon - close to the Disney Springs hub but isolated
Animal Kingdom and nearby resorts and Blizzard Beach - all isolated

Riding the Monorail is (or at least was) an experience. As they expand the transportation I think that they risk making it less of an "experience" and more of "something to deal with".

If, in order to get from AK to MK I had to:
- board a gondola at AK, take it to some hub
- switch to another gondola for hub-hopping (heading to DHS)
- switch from DHS to Epcot (shooting for hitting the Monorail at the front of Epcot) still on a gondola here.
- switch from the godola to the Epcot Monorail
- switch from the Epcot Monorail to the MK Express line
... finally arrive in the MK.

Well, I think that most people, if presented with that, would just drive. Right now the buses do a better job. You get on a bus at AK and get off at MK. Part of the above problem could be fixed if they'd just finish crossing the Epcot/Express lines so, while there may be a stop at the TTC, you could just stay on board to the MK. Still, it'd be a heck of a journey.

I think even the current SkyLiner swapping is pushing it.

 

[Nextinline]

It is a shame that WDW abandoned the notion of "city planning" sometime in the 1980's. Looking back at literature from when WDW first opened, you get a better sense that this is a massive resort property- one stop shop for convenient vacationing and entertainment. Everything was interconnected in a coherent way that improved guest experience. Why did this change?

 

[Movielover]

It is a shame that WDW abandoned the notion of "city planning" sometime in the 1980's. Looking back at literature from when WDW first opened, you get a better sense that this is a massive resort property- one stop shop for convenient vacationing and entertainment. Everything was interconnected in a coherent way that improved guest experience. Why did this change?

Walt died and Hack #1 took over.

 

[lazyboy97o]

It is a shame that WDW abandoned the notion of "city planning" sometime in the 1980's. Looking back at literature from when WDW first opened, you get a better sense that this is a massive resort property- one stop shop for convenient vacationing and entertainment. Everything was interconnected in a coherent way that improved guest experience. Why did this change?

Sid Bass.

 

[ChrisFL]

It is a shame that WDW abandoned the notion of "city planning" sometime in the 1980's. Looking back at literature from when WDW first opened, you get a better sense that this is a massive resort property- one stop shop for convenient vacationing and entertainment. Everything was interconnected in a coherent way that improved guest experience. Why did this change?

too expensive to put monorails and people movers to the other parks/guest areas?

 

[imarc]

Did Walt's original plan have this many different resorts spread out?

It seems like he basically had the Magic Kingdom hub, the Epcot area and an airport and an entrance that would all be fed by a single transportation loop.

He didn't envision multiple theme parks or themed resorts.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Did Walt's original plan have this many different resorts spread out?

It seems like he basically had the Magic Kingdom hub, the Epcot area and an airport and an entrance that would all be fed by a single transportation loop.

He didn't envision multiple theme parks or themed resorts.

So? Walt’s master plan not accounting for multiple parks had no bearing on Disney deciding to simply sprawl because that is a cheaper development pattern.

 

[Nextinline]

Sid Bass.

Walt died and Hack #1 took over.

Apparently I need to read more than 1970's/80's brochures and magazines to get my answer!

too expensive to put monorails and people movers to the other parks/guest areas?

The problem is the distribution of the parks and resorts. If designed properly, it could still be cost effective to have connected transportation routes of various means (walking, boat, people mover, monorail, etc.). The TTC could have been a large hub for multiple transportation options, or 1 of multiple hubs capable of distributing guests to all of the parks and resorts.

 

[s8film40]

So? Walt’s master plan not accounting for multiple parks had no bearing on Disney deciding to simply sprawl because that is a cheaper development pattern.

I think things would've turned out a lot better had they not built Epcot so far away. Ideally they could've built everything in that MK area and had a really nice self contained resort and just sold off all the remaining land.

 

[lazyboy97o]

I think things would've turned out a lot better had they not built Epcot so far away. Ideally they could've built everything in that MK area and had a really nice self contained resort and just sold off all the remaining land.

EPCOT Center was built on the site of EPCOT, so that made some sense.

 

[JoeCamel]

The problem is the distribution of the parks and resorts. If designed properly, it could still be cost effective to have connected transportation routes of various means (walking, boat, people mover, monorail, etc.). The TTC could have been a large hub for multiple transportation options, or 1 of multiple hubs capable of distributing guests to all of the parks and resorts.

Mother nature had a hand in where things ended up. Massive land projects like SSL to mine enough fill for a park took forever and cost a bunch. Much easier to put the parks on the high ground.