proposed Disney Transit Line

WDW1974

WDW1974

Well-Known Member
Not again ... Please, not again.

~We're Americans ... we DRIVE! That's what makes us better than everyone ... well, that and the NFL!~
 
toolsnspools

toolsnspools

Well-Known Member
Here's the line item from the budget -


1918 FIXED CAPITAL OUTLAY
PUBLIC TRANSIT DEVELOPMENT/GRANTS
FROM STATE TRANSPORTATION
(PRIMARY) TRUST FUND . . . . . . . 206,688,731
From the funds in Specific Appropriation 1918, $1,200,000 shall be
used by the Central Florida Regional Transportation Authority for a LYNX
route serving the area between Orlando International Airport and Lake
Buena Vista

$1.2M must be an upgrade to something already in place. That's not enough money to build a new bike trail over that distance.
 
kylewr86

kylewr86

Active Member
Even if the budget gets passed this will never be constructed.Over the years funding for passenger trains has been cut to nothing because there is not enough customers for trains to make a profit and it is too expensive to build and maintain the rails.

Plus Disney has a bus system that i feel has to be cheaper than a train would ever be to run.No way people would be paying for the train with Magical Express set up as a free system.Everyone would expect the train to also be free.

Lastly people will still vacation at Disney,the train system is a large investment that would not draw more people to the area. The only real positive i see is less buses crowding the highway, that is it.:hammer:


Just thought about this but if a rail system is to be built to WDW then follow in Walt's vision and build a monorail
 
PlaneJane

PlaneJane

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
No
Found this in the comments on that link. It would be nice however I don't think it would happen in this day. Perhaps back in the 70's it would have been feasible to do such a thing and link it up to the "city center" of Lake Buena Vista where you could take the monorail to the city of tomorrow, but that's just what some old plans say..
The Disney Transit Line makes sense in many ways. First, 1.2 million probably covers the engineering studies and perhaps right-of-ways, so Disney must be funding the rest of this project, which must be in the 10s of millions to actually build. Disney provides many jobs not only in the park but in all of the service areas. Not to mention the big taxes paid to Florida. And a transit line will help relieve vehicle traffic.
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jt04

jt04

Well-Known Member
This could easily be built by the private sector as it would be a cash cow and securing financing would not be an issue. The state could lease out the right-of-way for 1 dollar a year to ensure the project gets accomplished. The state would get revenue from a tax on the tickets and also save money by not having to continually widen I-4 also less wear and tear means lower maintenance costs.

This is just too easy a problem to solve not to. And by keeping government involvement at a minimum it could happen very quickly. And think of all those new jobs.
 
Texas84

Texas84

Well-Known Member
Sounds like an extension to SunRail which already been approved. More like a money pit. Sorry, these things don't make money. I wish they did because I love trains. SunRail will be heavily subsidized just like rail is around the world. It's a welfare program and I see an increased hotel tax in our future.
 
jt04

jt04

Well-Known Member
Mouse Detective said:
That is correct:
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/busi...ney-worker-bus-route-20120307,0,2060438.story
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The better increase funding to cover the cost of Alan Grayson's out of control Mercedes Benz. Those "one percenters" can be a menace. :rolleyes:

Texas84 said:
Sounds like an extension to SunRail which already been approved. More like a money pit. Sorry, these things don't make money. I wish they did because I love trains. SunRail will be heavily subsidized just like rail is around the world. It's a welfare program and I see an increased hotel tax in our future.
Click to expand...

Ugh. I am convinced allowing the market to decide the price of a ticket, automation and private sector ownership could make rail profitable in many cases. Maybe someone should just try it. This would be the perfect testing ground.
 
CaptJapan

CaptJapan

Member
WDW1974 said:
Not again ... Please, not again.

~We're Americans ... we DRIVE! That's what makes us better than everyone ... well, that and the NFL!~
Click to expand...

But I hate driving...
It's long, boring, and when idiots are involved, you get stuck in jams.
I'd gladly play to skip all that.
 
SobchakSecurity

SobchakSecurity

Member
jt04 said:
Ugh. I am convinced allowing the market to decide the price of a ticket, automation and private sector ownership could make rail profitable in many cases. Maybe someone should just try it. This would be the perfect testing ground.
Click to expand...

Rail would make money, like it did 100 years ago, if the government got out of subsidizing highways, or if highway users paid the true costs of building and maintaining roads. But this is probably not a discussion for a Disney board.
 
jt04

jt04

Well-Known Member
SobchakSecurity said:
Rail would make money, like it did 100 years ago, if the government got out of subsidizing highways, or if highway users paid the true costs of building and maintaining roads. But this is probably not a discussion for a Disney board.
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It is here because the issue is so deeply itegrated with the operations at WDW including the "I-4 experience" :lookaroun:lol:. Transportation has always been integral to the WDW experience.

I am all for privatizing the interstate system. Where it has been tried it has been very successful. The roads get maintained properly, they are safer, and those using the system pay for it and not those who do not. No-brainer 101. Best thing that could happen for rail travel too. I like the idea.
 
harryk

harryk

Well-Known Member
When Disney looked into this and sent up a balloon to test the wind many years ago (Maglev was the topic - MCO to WDW) it was shot down by all the other transportation people in the Orlando area. They claimed it would cost too many jobs in the bus, taxi and limo businesses.
 
saxamoophone

saxamoophone

Active Member
If you guys check out the Sunrail website they actually have a few links about the North-South light rail and OIA light rail lines.

The North South would do along I-4 and connect Altomonte to Downtown, down to I-Drive outlets, and Universal. It would pass down Lockheed, and then connect to the Convention Center (and the OIA Line) and down to Sea World.

The OIA line would start at the Convention Center, and head east past Florida Mall to OIA. It would then turn South and connect to the Medical City.

There is actually a private company (Maglev inc?) from Georgia that is talking about building the OIA connector line.

The biggest reason Disney is not on "the list" of stops, and the N-S ends at Sea World is due to Disney not wanting *any* stop that connects to Universal (or Sea World I guess).

If a line ever goes to Disney I'm guessing they would have to work out a deal where it uses a route along 417 and where Disney can run their own trains (replacing the Magical Express).

It could be a cool concept. Imagine a special "disney resort only" station where every 30-min to an hour a train comes. They could do a Party-Jam to entertain the guests, and maybe some character meet and greets. They could have the train look old school, and maybe even have conductor mickey.

Heck, you could even go all out and use projectors along the windows (like what Universal is doing for the Harry Potter expansion train) and really tell a story...and better yet, hide the non-disney-orlando, from guests.

Anyways, Light-rail lines in orlando (unless the private sector really takes ownership of this) is still 15 years away (at best) since FDOT and the state are busy with SR 429 & the Ultimate I-4 build out (which would rebuild I-4 from the Beachline/SR 528 all the way to Seminole County.
 
D

DisneyJoe

Well-Known Member
saxamoophone said:
If you guys check out the Sunrail website they actually have a few links about the North-South light rail and OIA light rail lines.

The North South would do along I-4 and connect Altomonte to Downtown, down to I-Drive outlets, and Universal. It would pass down Lockheed, and then connect to the Convention Center (and the OIA Line) and down to Sea World.

The OIA line would start at the Convention Center, and head east past Florida Mall to OIA. It would then turn South and connect to the Medical City.

There is actually a private company (Maglev inc?) from Georgia that is talking about building the OIA connector line.

The biggest reason Disney is not on "the list" of stops, and the N-S ends at Sea World is due to Disney not wanting *any* stop that connects to Universal (or Sea World I guess).

If a line ever goes to Disney I'm guessing they would have to work out a deal where it uses a route along 417 and where Disney can run their own trains (replacing the Magical Express).

It could be a cool concept. Imagine a special "disney resort only" station where every 30-min to an hour a train comes. They could do a Party-Jam to entertain the guests, and maybe some character meet and greets. They could have the train look old school, and maybe even have conductor mickey.

Heck, you could even go all out and use projectors along the windows (like what Universal is doing for the Harry Potter expansion train) and really tell a story...and better yet, hide the non-disney-orlando, from guests.

Anyways, Light-rail lines in orlando (unless the private sector really takes ownership of this) is still 15 years away (at best) since FDOT and the state are busy with SR 429 & the Ultimate I-4 build out (which would rebuild I-4 from the Beachline/SR 528 all the way to Seminole County.
Click to expand...

This is a great idea, but I see one problem with it - once the train gets on Disney property, all of the guests would still need to get off the train and then be taken to their resort - some with their luggage. Right now, DME takes them right to the resort from OIA.
 
saxamoophone

saxamoophone

Active Member
DisneyJoe said:
This is a great idea, but I see one problem with it - once the train gets on Disney property, all of the guests would still need to get off the train and then be taken to their resort - some with their luggage. Right now, DME takes them right to the resort from OIA.
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Totally Agree, although (I've never had to use this) doesn't the Magical Express take the bags from OIA for you already? If so, I guess they could do the same (or have a check bag area at the station).

There was an interesting article a few years back when gas prices were above $5 that Disney would be well served to develop a light-rail-based system around WDW. If gas prices stay high, this is something that would pay for itself easily in 10-15 years!

Also, I'm thinking that this could be a good thing too for disney since it would require "stops" between point A and B. For example: A stop at the boardwalk might make guests decide to have dinner at ESPN ZONE. A stop at Downtown Disney may entice guests to do some shopping they wouldn't have otherwise. In fact, you could really make Downtown Disney the main "Hub" for WDW if you use mass transit.

With Universal stepping up their game these past few years, and several new attractions being planned along I-Drive (a coaster-park, eye on the world, and other random things ), I think anything Disney can do to keep guests "in" WDW is key to future success.

Could be some exciting stuff!
 

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