Please fix the monorail!

[lazyboy97o]

Not sure if there is actual data on a specific lifetime on them. I would think they could get at least another ten years out of them if they continue to refurbish them. When it gets to a point where it’s cheaper to get new trains then to continue to repair them that’s when their life will be over.

ETA that people are quick to blame the monorail being down is because of the trains age, when there’s other factors that can also cause downtime, like the kid that threw a basketball over the railing at GF the other day and proceeded to hop the railing to try to get it triggering an e-stop

This. The chassis of the Disneyland Monorail trains date to the 60s and most of the bodies are from the 80s. The Magic Kingdom just reopened the Walt Disney World Railroad with its 100 year old locomotives.

 

[Lilofan]

They won't fix it, if enough people hassel them they will just delete it. They will replace them with more gondolas. It isn't the monorail trains anyway. It is a flaw showing up after 50 years of service appearing to be someplace in the track itself that is the current problem and it doesn't sound like it can be fixed completely in just a day or two. So buckle up, it may take some time.

Fix it or not fix , the exec who ran the maintenance dept of WDW for many years recently had been promoted to WDW President.

 

[Minthorne]

Leave Brittany alone.

 

[NickMaio]

CAN WDW PLEASE FIX THE MONORAILS!!!!!!!!!

When is WDW going to upgrade the dated and troublesome Monorail system?

The cars are decades beyond their original service life. The problems are endless (doors falling off, breakdowns, filthy, etc)

This is one of the signature experiences that people associate their trips to Disney with.

Look how successful the Skyliner has been and the demand for people wanting to stay at a Skyliner resort because of it.

This is a major problem and part of the recent issues that people have with the company.........

It needs to be repaired/replaced.........The company looks cheap by band aiding the problem

Please fix it properly.........Its in everyone's best interest

Can I get a hell YES.
It's so WDW, it deserves an update.
It did 10+ years ago

 

[Goofyernmost]

Can I get a hell YES.
It's so WDW, it deserves an update.
It did 10+ years ago

I agree that this was something that should have happened a decade ago. However, this thread is acting like the problem is the trains and that isn't likely because not all the trains are broken down at the same time. This one seems to be connected with the track or electrical system, but since they are talking about the trains going slower in one area I would think leans toward the track.

 

[TQQQ]

Not sure if there is actual data on a specific lifetime on them. I would think they could get at least another ten years out of them if they continue to refurbish them. When it gets to a point where it’s cheaper to get new trains then to continue to repair them that’s when their life will be over.

ETA that people are quick to blame the monorail being down is because of the trains age, when there’s other factors that can also cause downtime, like the kid that threw a basketball over the railing at GF the other day and proceeded to hop the railing to try to get it triggering an e-stop

Yes there is a time line to them and they are well over their use life

 

[TQQQ]

Did it work? Did they fix it?

Yes! Just announced!

 

[JoeCamel]

Yes! Just announced!

Dandy! Ordering my annual pass now........

 

[castlecake2.0]

Yes there is a time line to them and they are well over their use life

Says who?

 

[ohioguy]

Replace the monorails with Skyliners....

 

[JoeCamel]

Replace the monorails with Skyliners....

PTVs
Car to tapstyle in comfort

 

[TQQQ]

The Mark IV fleet trains logged almost a million miles each during their 18-20 year service life. Beginning in 1989, the Mark IV trains were slowly replaced by a set of new Mark VI trains over about two years. These new Mark VI trains were manufactured by TGI (Transportation Group Inc.), a subsidiary of Montreal-based Bombardier.

The last of the trains came online in 1991, “completing the modernization of the Walt Disney World Monorail System,” as the announcer tells you as you ride from Epcot towards the Transportation and Ticket Center. I think calling the introduction of the Mark VI trains a “modernization” was probably accurate in the 90’s, but at this point these trains are approaching 30 years of service, so I’d hardly call them modern any longer.

So, with the current fleet approaching 30 years old, we seem to be about 10 years past the expected lifetime of our beloved monorails.

 

[TQQQ]

Says who?

They have replaced them in the past at the 18-20 year mark....

they are just being cheap now

my guess is they would love to replace it with something else so they keep kicking the can down the road instead of replacing them


Only problem is, WDW Monorail is as much of an icon of the parks as Cinderella's Castle

 

[TalkToEthan]

Do you really need any proof other than just looking at the service record the last 10 years to know they are beyond their service life?

That rhetorical question should be enough to satisfy any doubters.

Statistically every single one of us who is or has been a regular monorail user has encountered off-line/down/significant delays with the transportation. It's old and unreliable.

 

[wendysue]

They won't fix it, if enough people hassel them they will just delete it. They will replace them with more gondolas. It isn't the monorail trains anyway. It is a flaw showing up after 50 years of service appearing to be someplace in the track itself that is the current problem and it doesn't sound like it can be fixed completely in just a day or two. So buckle up, it may take some time.

I agree. I see them removing it completely at some point. My sister and I just got back home from WDW. She asked about riding the Monorail last week, but luckily it was down. I told her she didn't miss much as the last time I rode it, ( a couple years ago) it smelled like a urinal.

 

[Smiley/OCD]

Ok, I have a 2003 Chevy Suburban with 407k miles…past it’s life? NOPE, because with proper preventative maintenance, and replacing parts, ANY mechanical device can last indefinitely…why haven’t I replaced it? Because I’m NOT spending 80k for transportation.
Ever see the vehicles that are being driven in Cuba? If not, they’re 40’s, 50’s and 60’s American cars. Because of politics, the Cuban people can’t get replacement parts…they create their own and make them work…past their usefulness? Maybe, but their ingenuity proves otherwise.
Yes, let’s replace the monorails with skyliners…so every time there’s a threat of lightning, they get shut down…high winds? Shut down…there are SO MANY other things to spend $$ on at WDW. They’re falling off the beams, they’re being evacuated everyday…NO & NO.
The smell excuse I’ve heard for 20+ years…just like the parks being filthy, the parks aren’t, the monorails aren’t falling apart or smell bad…trust me, you want smells? Try a NYC subway car…

 

[lazyboy97o]

Great, where are you buying new trains and how would they differ from what is in service?

This. The Mark VIs are larger than the Mark IVs. Two of the Mark IVs continued to operate in Las Vegas. They weren’t replaced because they were going to stop working, they also lacked the capacity that was desired.

 

[Goofyernmost]

Ok, I have a 2003 Chevy Suburban with 407k miles…past it’s life? NOPE, because with proper preventative maintenance, and replacing parts, ANY mechanical device can last indefinitely…why haven’t I replaced it? Because I’m NOT spending 80k for transportation.
Ever see the vehicles that are being driven in Cuba? If not, they’re 40’s, 50’s and 60’s American cars. Because of politics, the Cuban people can’t get replacement parts…they create their own and make them work…past their usefulness? Maybe, but their ingenuity proves otherwise.
Yes, let’s replace the monorails with skyliners…so every time there’s a threat of lightning, they get shut down…high winds? Shut down…there are SO MANY other things to spend $$ on at WDW. They’re falling off the beams, they’re being evacuated everyday…NO & NO.
The smell excuse I’ve heard for 20+ years…just like the parks being filthy, the parks aren’t, the monorails aren’t falling apart or smell bad…trust me, you want smells? Try a NYC subway car…

That is the argument that I have been saying for years now. The argument that they don't do maintenance on the fleet is ridiculous at best, uniformed at the worst. Someone had mentioned earlier that trains run 1 million miles per year that a total of 32 million miles since the current fleet was put in place in 1989. If anyone can tell me how much pixie dust it takes to make machines operate that long and that many miles with little or shoddy maintenance then I will eat my Mickey Crocs.

I've been riding those rails for almost 40 years now and have been hearing the complaints of falling apart and smell bad. They have always had a peculiar odor that people who obviously haven't smelled fermented pee call urine. That has been answered for years, yes they don't smell like fresh air what they do smell of is the disinfectant cleaning solvent that they are cleaned with practically daily and they are only filthy after carrying thousands of people that were never taught to respect the property of others and leave things behind before a CM even knows it is there. The other complaint is that they are falling apart expressed by people that don't or can't appreciate the wear and tear that those vehicles go through day after day, mile after mile. People that can't understand that even brand new things break down, we don't live in a perfect world and even the best of maintenance people cannot always see a broken object until it breaks. They're people that are lucky that their bosses don't put those same unattainable goals on them.

 

[thomas998]

Someone fact check me please, but aren’t the current WDW monorail like 20 years past the time they should have been replaced?

Given the current monorail is the Mark VI which was completely implemented in 1991... It is highly unlikely they were only supposed to last 11 years. These are the same series that is still in use in Las Vegas, the problems with them are not related to the technology bur with the lack of proper maintenance. If you don't take good care of something it will start to look like crap way before it will if you had looked after it properly. Disney simply doesn't put enough into their maintenance budget to keep things looking good and working properly. With the monorails they probably should have invested in 1 or 2 more car than they did so they could spend more time doing maintenance on them when it was needed. I wonder if they even replaced the ones involved in the accident or if they just cobbled the two broken ones into one working train.

 

[JoeCamel]

Given the current monorail is the Mark VI which was completely implemented in 1991... It is highly unlikely they were only supposed to last 11 years. These are the same series that is still in use in Las Vegas, the problems with them are not related to the technology bur with the lack of proper maintenance. If you don't take good care of something it will start to look like crap way before it will if you had looked after it properly. Disney simply doesn't put enough into their maintenance budget to keep things looking good and working properly. With the monorails they probably should have invested in 1 or 2 more car than they did so they could spend more time doing maintenance on them when it was needed. I wonder if they even replaced the ones involved in the accident or if they just cobbled the two broken ones into one working train.

Plus it is a lack of parts. Not like they can call Bombardier and order a new door assembly or drive motor. Those are inhouse, scavenged or specialty manufacturer so more likely to "let it go until it gets worse" because like the entire vehicle no one is selling what you need for like new operation so good enough is good enough.
That should be on a wall somewhere