Rumor New Monorails Coming Soon?

[s8film40]

That’s flat out false. Disney isn’t “notoriously” bad to work with whatsoever. They’re just as hard, complicated, and filled with as many legal roadblocks as every massive, global entity. Maybe certain business segments or individuals within the company, but in my experience they’re no different than any other entertainment conglomerate. I’d much rather have Disney at the table than Comcast any day.

Yeah it’s definitely true that a lot of large companies probably have the same issues that Disney does. As a local in the area you hear lots of stories of companies that have found themselves on the losing side of a Disney contract. Some of which even went out of business due to it. Bombardier was one of those companies.

The point is though a large company like this doesn’t do stuff without contracts especially not multi-million dollar deals.

My close friend owns a company that is a primary supplier of materials to costuming for parks and resorts. The initial setup to become a vendor is very involved, however he said their system for invoicing and ordering is very straightforward and they always pay their bills on time.

I do some work for a company that’s a vendor for Disney and the impression I’ve gotten from them has been pretty good. I think as long as you know what to expect the relationship is generally pretty good. I think a lot of companies run into trouble when Disney holds them accountable to every little detail of their contract and issues arise out of that and also when companies don’t account for the timing of their payment terms.

As a funny side story I was working Monorail’s once and closing the MK station. A painter showed up and was looking at emergency lights and comparing them to photos. I asked him if he needed any help finding something. He explained he was given photos of the lights to paint by Disney and had to determine which ones to paint. They had just replaced the roof and installed the new lights which were white and they all needed to be painted green. They provided him with a photo of the type of light that was in the center as well as two other photos of the lights on the load sides. It was obvious that they were pointing out each type of light that needed to be painted and the platform they were on. He explained to me that they had had issues with Disney before and if they didn’t paint EXACTLY what Disney said to they wouldn’t pay them. So although it was fairly ridiculous he had to match the exact lights photographed and paint them. So he painstakingly looked at each light comparing pipes and trees in the background of the photo to ensure only those three individual lights were painted.

 

[s8film40]

I highly doubt Disney would be late on their bills ever

It happens, there are tons of stories like this you can easily find:

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/tourism/os-disney-lawsuit-subcontractor-20171012-story.html

 

[Mouse Trap]

Yeah it’s definitely true that a lot of large companies probably have the same issues that Disney does. As a local in the area you hear lots of stories of companies that have found themselves on the losing side of a Disney contract. Some of which even went out of business due to it. Bombardier was one of those companies.

The point is though a large company like this doesn’t do stuff without contracts especially not multi-million dollar deals.

I do some work for a company that’s a vendor for Disney and the impression I’ve gotten from them has been pretty good. I think as long as you know what to expect the relationship is generally pretty good. I think a lot of companies run into trouble when Disney holds them accountable to every little detail of their contract and issues arise out of that and also when companies don’t account for the timing of their payment terms.

As a funny side story I was working Monorail’s once and closing the MK station. A painter showed up and was looking at emergency lights and comparing them to photos. I asked him if he needed any help finding something. He explained he was given photos of the lights to paint by Disney and had to determine which ones to paint. They had just replaced the roof and installed the new lights which were white and they all needed to be painted green. They provided him with a photo of the type of light that was in the center as well as two other photos of the lights on the load sides. It was obvious that they were pointing out each type of light that needed to be painted and the platform they were on. He explained to me that they had had issues with Disney before and if they didn’t paint EXACTLY what Disney said to they wouldn’t pay them. So although it was fairly ridiculous he had to match the exact lights photographed and paint them. So he painstakingly looked at each light comparing pipes and trees in the background of the photo to ensure only those three individual lights were painted.

This is called business as usual. Know your contracts and get them reviewed/written properly. Any company that fails to do so shouldn’t be in business anyways.

 

[s8film40]

This is called business as usual. Know your contracts and get them reviewed/written properly. Any company that fails to do so shouldn’t be in business anyways.

Yep, and that’s my point and why I don’t think Disney is just going to hand out millions of dollars on a verbal aggreeemant.

 

[GCTales]

"Calm down" I think not The job opening is gone so either he got someone for the job or he was forced to take it down. It was up when he Tweeted it.




I wish I could be modern day Howard Hughes.

Almost looks like a Monty Python holy grail reference

 

[danlb_2000]

It happens, there are tons of stories like this you can easily find:

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/tourism/os-disney-lawsuit-subcontractor-20171012-story.html

Liens for un-paid construction costs are quite common for Disney. They are in the public records and are usually a couple per month. I think a lot of these are between a small contractor, a general contractor and Disney.

 

[larryz]

Liens for un-paid construction costs are quite common for Disney. They are in the public records and are usually a couple per month. I think a lot of these are between a small contractor, a general contractor and Disney.

Yeah, but is it usually Disney not paying the general, or the general not paying the subs?

 

[ChrisFL]

Almost looks like a Monty Python holy grail reference

I'm sure it is

 

[Rodan75]

It happens, there are tons of stories like this you can easily find:

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/tourism/os-disney-lawsuit-subcontractor-20171012-story.html

In a large organization there are bound to be managers who fail to get things processed in a timely manner. At my current gig we have an organization that works with the managers who are using vendor resources to ensure bills are received and paid in a timely manner. And there are plenty of managers who have to be chased every month to ensure they are submitting or approving invoices.

 

[peter11435]

In a large organization there are bound to be managers who fail to get things processed in a timely manner. At my current gig we have an organization that works with the managers who are using vendor resources to ensure bills are received and paid in a timely manner. And there are plenty of managers who have to be chased every month to ensure they are submitting or approving invoices.

And often there are reasons why the company didn’t pay. If the contractor didnt meet expectations based on the contract then they are right to refuse payment until the job is properly completed. The article linked to is vague and provides little details.

 

[Incomudro]

I order office supplies (among other duties) for a living, and I am not permitted to pay partial invoices.
I do not submit payment until the entire order is received.

 

[nace888]

Has there been any updates on this? I've been out for a while.

 

[MisterPenguin]

Has there been any updates on this? I've been out for a while.

Got a whole thread that will catch you up on most things...

Monorail

• still going with Bombadier, still in the works [here]
• if still happening, still a few years away and will be incremental changes [here]

 

[Goofyernmost]

Has there been any updates on this? I've been out for a while.

No one has come forth with a purchase order yet, if that is what you mean! So, no... nothing other then speculation.

 

[gsimpson]

This is called business as usual. Know your contracts and get them reviewed/written properly. Any company that fails to do so shouldn’t be in business anyways.

Often not quite that simple. The majority of these are liens filed by subs, they have to file against Disney instead of the general contractor because Disney owns the property/machine/item they performed work on. Fairly often these are "defensive" filings where the sub files after the work is done but before the retainage (typically 10 - 15%) that is held back is paid by Disney to the GC so that the GC has incentive to get the sub paid even though they have left the project. (if the sub doesn't get paid, Disney has a lien on their property, and you can be sure the GC will be taken to court). Another occurrence is the GC doesn't pay the final payments to any of the subs until all of the subs have finished because typically Disney (by example) won't pay the GC until everything is done and the sub is in the dark and doesn't understand why their final payment is not forth coming, one of the other subs might have had a viable reason for being late and that can cause the other subs to not get paid in a timely manner. In this industry a single "attraction" level project will have a GC and sometimes dozens of subs, many of whom are small specialized shops that do not have a large legal staff to make sure the contract are written "properly". I have worked on the construction/contracts side of many industries and more than any other industry I have been in this industry makes massive changes between the preliminary design documents (which are often used as the basis for bids) and the issue for construction documents (which is what has to be built to) that often cause one of more of the subs to have to go back to their engineering team (quite often a third party) that has to re-check and/or redo the calculations for part of the project and change the materials manifest, meanwhile a sub that is not affected by the change is in the predicament of having their work and invoicing slowed down which can tear up their cashflow. I apologize for being way toooo long winded, but I thought some folks might be interested in the more boring side of attractions.

 

[AndyWDW]

On our trip this last week our Minnie Van driver told us they were definitely ordering a new fleet of monorails from a Japanese company...not sure if there is any validity to this but just throwing it out there.

 

[Voxel]

On our trip this last week our Minnie Van driver told us they were definitely ordering a new fleet of monorails from a Japanese company...not sure if there is any validity to this but just throwing it out there.

If I’m not mistaken the Tokyo Disneyland Monorail is built by Hitachi..

 

[halltd]

On our trip this last week our Minnie Van driver told us they were definitely ordering a new fleet of monorails from a Japanese company...not sure if there is any validity to this but just throwing it out there.

Minnie Van drivers....the new bus drivers.

 

[s8film40]

Minnie Van drivers....the new bus drivers.

The irony is Minnie Van drivers, bus drivers, or any other front line CM usually when they offer information like this to a guest it’s coming from them reading forums like this and other online sources. So the information has made a full circle trip.

 

[Obobru]

When eventually something new is built I do hope it's like the Tokyo monorail in its internal layout as the Orlando one is awfully designed and a large amount of space is wasted. The Tokyo one isn't so sleek on the outside through but it's functional.