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Temporary Further Reduction of Monorail Hours
- Thread starter zulemara
- Start date
one day people are going to have to learn that you have to pick...shut something down to build something new, or never get anything new.
Unless of course it's PI...shut something down for absolutely nothing, but that's another thread:ROFLOL:
Unless of course it's PI...shut something down for absolutely nothing, but that's another thread:ROFLOL:
skifreak76
Member
Yes we found in our room the paper informing us of the monorail closure is only during "non peak times"
According to the weekly WDW update today on MP, the reductions will only last until March 17:
"Beginning last Friday on March 2, Disney is suspending monorail service on the Magic Kingdom Resort and Express lines during the middle of the day, from 11:30 a.m. and 6 p.m. through March 17, to accommodate construction of the new Disney Vacation Club villas near the Grand Floridian, so that the construction vehicles couldsafely work without to the monorail track for safe operation of the trains. In addition, we are hearing that Disney will also take advantage of the suspension to address the weather damage to the beams between the Grand Floridian and Magic Kingdom stations. The Epcot monorail will be unaffected. Until service resumes on Saturday, March 17, Disney is providing additional watercraft and buses to help guests get to the Magic Kingdom."
http://www.mouseplanet.com/9907/Walt_Disney_World_Resort_Update
"Beginning last Friday on March 2, Disney is suspending monorail service on the Magic Kingdom Resort and Express lines during the middle of the day, from 11:30 a.m. and 6 p.m. through March 17, to accommodate construction of the new Disney Vacation Club villas near the Grand Floridian, so that the construction vehicles couldsafely work without to the monorail track for safe operation of the trains. In addition, we are hearing that Disney will also take advantage of the suspension to address the weather damage to the beams between the Grand Floridian and Magic Kingdom stations. The Epcot monorail will be unaffected. Until service resumes on Saturday, March 17, Disney is providing additional watercraft and buses to help guests get to the Magic Kingdom."
http://www.mouseplanet.com/9907/Walt_Disney_World_Resort_Update
Disney have a schedule until March 17, but that doesn't mean that is when it ends. They have left it open-ended.
PeterMarcus
Active Member
For what it's worth, yesterday (3/4), we arrived at TTC at 2pm, went to MK, then came back to TTC at 5:30 PM and both monorails were running. At 5:30, the crane at GF was folded up (didn't see it on the way in).
We did have high winds all day and a pretty strong rain front come through in the early morning. And, it was Sunday. So, even with the damage inspection, it seems like it's not a sure-thing that it'll be down.
We did have high winds all day and a pretty strong rain front come through in the early morning. And, it was Sunday. So, even with the damage inspection, it seems like it's not a sure-thing that it'll be down.
forevermickey
Well-Known Member
This is so cool!
yeah the reason rails didn't shut down was because of the weather. The winds were very strong. Although Ferries/gold ran all day, the Bay Lake routes were shut down most of the day. The red(WL), green(FW), and blue(CR, WL, FW) routes were all shut down until later in the day. I was lucky to be stationed at FW doing AC. The guests there are so much more understanding than certain other resorts.
Anyway, that was not the norm, they are supposed to be down everyday between those hours. Although the schedule says until March 17, the writing on the schedule posted internally says "we expect to have this completed, weather permitting, by the end of the month"
PeterMarcus
Active Member
I honestly feel for the guests who made reservations months ago and didn't expect losing the monorail this month.... But, I also think there's a weird irony that if you hope for bad weather, you'll probably get the monorails back.
obviously they're going to have alternate transportation..
btw there's no restaurant called flavors of the world at the contemporary...or anywhere in disney..
MissM
Well-Known Member
So...just saw this: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=1342583&l=92dceeb49b&id=219245901432846
And it looks miserable! Any plans on how they're going to deal with Spring Break crowds and no monorails given how absurd the ferry line looks today?? I mean, wow...I've been there 4th of July and NYE and that looks worse than I can ever remember seeing it.
And it looks miserable! Any plans on how they're going to deal with Spring Break crowds and no monorails given how absurd the ferry line looks today?? I mean, wow...I've been there 4th of July and NYE and that looks worse than I can ever remember seeing it.
GrumpyFan
Well-Known Member
We were there from 3/9-3/12 and crowds were outrageous! I think they may have decided to postpone some construction work and keep the monorails open to handle crowds. I would expect that after Spring Break crowds drop, we could see more temporary closures.
Here's what I don't understand in all this though. They could easily operate the monorails in a shuttle mode from TTC to MK and back on the eastern side only, then the resorts on the monorail line would just have to use the boats to handle the capacity issues. This would reduce capacity only slightly, but keep them operating safely and help handle the crowds.
Here's what I don't understand in all this though. They could easily operate the monorails in a shuttle mode from TTC to MK and back on the eastern side only, then the resorts on the monorail line would just have to use the boats to handle the capacity issues. This would reduce capacity only slightly, but keep them operating safely and help handle the crowds.
peachykeen
Well-Known Member
It would be a lot easier to operate them in shuttle mode pre-July 2009, but since then there are so many policies that have to be followed to reverse the trains, I am sure they decided against that.
They could switch the operating direction of the trains at each stop, but then they could only run one train on Express, and turning the trains off/on to "switch" operating cabs from one to the other takes about 2-3 minutes, and it sort of es the trains off when you do that to them too often, then they decide to break :lookaroun
csm
Well-Known Member
Well not now that the monorails aren't running!
Didn't you read the post? Their ENTIRE TRIP is RUINED! :fork:
nace888
Well-Known Member
It also depends on how the route would be set up, right?
They could run shuttle mode between Magic Kingdom and the Polynesian excluding the Grand Floridian... With switching ends, it would be at Magic Kingdom and Poly, and it could be done during loading and unloading... Right?
Or they could use 6 trains, 3 on either side, and shuttle from station to station...
Like this, A-->B, A<--B, A-->B... B-->C, B<--C, B-->C... and C-->D, C<--D, C-->D... It would be complicated, though I think the first option would work better...
Thoughts?
way too much work for too little guest flow in the end. Plus if you give people the option of the monorail, many will take it despite the fact that alternate transportation, especially in that kind of operating mode, would be quicker even with the long lines.
GrumpyFan
Well-Known Member
Way too complicated, and dangerous!
The thought I had was to run one train on each track.
Express would shuttle back and forth between TTC and MK.
Resort could function just like express and run TTC <--> MK or it could actually run in shuttle mode from Poly --> TTC --> Contemp --> MK --> Grand Flo, then reverse the trip back to Poly stopping at each location along the way.
Mind you, it wouldn't be near as efficient, but it would help relieve some of the strain and reduce pesky guest complaints who insist their entire vacation is ruined because of this.
nace888
Well-Known Member
It would exclude the Grand Flo though, but one train per beam shuttling back and forth might work. AND if there were only 5-6 trains running a day (the other 3-4 would be on EPCOT) the other 6-7 trains could get their needed maintenance...