Why are the monorails shut down?
I asked. They are running fiber optics for manless monorails. because normal maintenance is done at night, there are running these cables during the day.
All guests are getting screwed over. The off site and day guests are just getting it a bit worse. I wish someone could explain how TDO allowed this transportation nightmare to occur.
Poor planning at its finest.
yes, it was
I'm a little skeptical about the times taken, but, assuming they are correct with a little thought, there was a way to avoid all that. If you plan on ending your day at Epcot, park at Epcot. Take the Monorail to MK then in the evening, or whenever, take the Monorail back to Epcot go to Illuminations and in a few minutes you are in the Epcot Parking lot and headed home.
I have done the MK parking at least 43 times and have never had any delays like that. I walk into TTC and if the line is exceptionally long at the Monorail I simply hit the ferry's. I have always gotten on those the first docking after I get there. (Those puppies hold a lot of people. Returning if the Express Monorail has a long line, I either go to the Resort Monorail or the ferry. Again I always, even at closing have been able to get on the first docking after I arrive. One of the frustrating delays that I have encountered is sitting there in the trams for 5 minutes listening to the safety spiel in two languages because of problems caused by people with the common sense of a gnat.
If one goes at an exceptionally busy time, delays are expected (even Walt would have been able to deal with that). Again, like the other post with a like name, spending a few seconds thinking out, internal planning, if you will, can make the day go a lot smoother. The argument can be made that going to a Theme Park should not require the same planning as the Normandy Invasion, but, that is the fact. The lagoon is not going to part to allow individuals to pass through to the exclusion of others. Also, as with life, timing is everything.
Skeptical? Are you calling me a liar? Obviously, you missed the entire post. First off, the monorails running to MK and resorts were down. From the TTC, the ferry was the only option. That's A LOT of traffic. There was no "first docking." There was a massive line weaving back and forth and across in front of the monorails ramps, as described in my post. "Planning ahead" would not have helped the amount of people needing to be moved from point A to point B. The parting of the lagoon is not necessary, thank you. As also stated, I didn't intend to end my day anywhere but MK, but I allowed my kids to decide how our day was going as it was my son's birthday. They discussed it among themselves and chose to go to EP. That is how we ended up heading over there. I guess we should all vacation with you since you have never encountered a transportation or parking snafu and, therefore, can't believe it was possible.
Oh, I don't know, perhaps a desire to not strand guests on an elevated rail due to equipment malfunctions. When do you propose that the do this stuff. It cannot be all done at night, the staging alone would take most of the night. Some things need daylight to fix or inspect properly.
All I have read on these pages for the past couple of years is how awful the condition of WDW has gotten. Whine, and complaining no end. Now it appears that they or someone has been listening and they are at least making an attempt to bring things back to A-1 condition, and what are we reading? Whining, and complaining about how they are doing it and most likely intentionally timing it with everyone's trip.
I went there at the end of January this year from offsite and never once felt "screwed over". In fact, I was very happy about the renewed interest in maintenance once again.
Again, reading works just as well as planning. I did not feel "screwed over." I actually enjoyed my day with my kids and just adjusted our timing and expectations for the day. As I said, though, I could see how a first timer could have had a "bad trip" due to this transportation nightmare that I, apparently, exaggerated on. I also overheard many unhappy guests talking about it.
We went to the park around 6:00 yesterday, so the monorail was still down. There was a lengthy line for the ferry at the TTC, but not a soul waiting for the bus, which we opted to take. Our bus had 5 people on it. The bus was fast and efficient- we were disembarking about 3 minutes after it pulled it away, and I noticed as soon as we pulled away, another bus pulled right in to take its place. I wonder if many guests are unaware the bus is an option when the monorail is down? There were very large signs out (that in my opinion couldn't be missed), but I noticed most people headed right to the ferry dock.
That could be some issue. We we were there Wed, I didn't see any signs about the bus option, but, honestly, didn't think to look for a bus on the way in. Usually, there isn't a bus going from TTC to MK so I didn't even think it could have been an option. As we were leaving MK, I did, briefly, skim over the bus board to see if there was a bus to EP which is how I saw the bus to TTC. I opted against it as I assumed it would be packed with people trying to avoid the ferry. I didn't walk over there. I regret that. I also noticed, right as we were about to board the ferry, that they began allowing passengers on the monorails 20min early. Oh, well. lol.
To clarify, since apparently I need to, I did not consider my day ruined. I didn't consider my day horrible. Was I surprised? Yes. Do I think it could have been done better? Yes. Do I think Disney is perfect? No. Do I think WDW is awesome? Obviously, as I just paid out the butt for APs. While I did do some reading before we went, I didn't know about the monorail down times. Honestly, I didn't even think taking them down in the middle of the day was something that would have even been considered. I have friends that are CMs at MK. Even they didn't mention the monorails being down. There was no way to anticipate how bad the ticket windows would be in the middle of the day. They were as packed as they would be in the mornings with only half as many windows open. Yes, I do think the monorail upgrading was poorly timed. The south has already started doing their spring breaks. My friend's kids were last week. North Florida is this week. Central FL is next week with the north following that. The monorails are down all week from 11-7 for the next couple of weeks. It's high season. Yes, it was poorly timed which is going to lead to some "whining, , and complaining." Yes, it's great the work is being done. It can be timed better. Also, the compensation options could be better. Since the extra docks for the ferries aren't 100% completed, they could have started the monorails after that was done. Then the ferries could have handled the load. For the buses running as an option, that could have been advertised more. Even the CM at the window said nothing about what I was about to see walking away from the window. When it comes to FP, I'm not a huge fan. We actually only used FP once that day. Other than that, we just waited and chilled out. At the end of the day, though, I did want to get out of there as I had a 2.5hr drive back home. When I left that morning, I left with the plan of leaving the park at about 6 so I wasn't driving in the middle of the night. Instead, we stayed later to make up for time lost in transportation. This caused us to not get home til 0130. At one point, I had to pull over for espresso shots and a coke as I was tired. Again, this didn't make for a horrible trip. Honestly, I wasn't even annoyed. I could, though, see how this could have been an issue for others.
