Monorail Health?

[Jack Skellington]

How are the monorails doing these days?

JS:mickey:

[PlutoPlanet]

Just got back. Stayed at GF. Took the monorail to MK and EPCOT. Worked fine.

[faline]

We were there earlier this month and used the monorail system quite a lot without any issues.

[Ian]

Outside of one very odd and totally unexplained outage in the middle of a massive downpour, they seemed to be operating fine on our trip.

[steamboat willy]

So monorails run all day again?

[yankeesfan123]

There was never anything "wrong" with their health. The reason why they were shut down in the middle of the day occasionally was due to DVC construction, not monorail health.

[Goofy4TheWorld]

There was never anything "wrong" with their health. The reason why they were shut down in the middle of the day occasionally was due to DVC construction, not monorail health.

But maintenance issues was the reason they gave for halting the Monorails after only one hour past park closing REGULAR park closing. Monorails have become an old man, having to take a mid-day nap and having to be in bed early too. Oh, and stuck using technology from the 70s.

[mcjaco]

^ Really? What version are they on now???

[PlutoPlanet]

Hours may have been reduced. The MK was open until 2 am but the monorail stopped at 1 am last week.

[RBrooksC]

WDW switched to Mark VI trains in 1989. And from what I understand they are still using those trains.

I am surprised there hasn't been an upgrade since the late 1980s.

I can just imagine how much it would cost to upgrade those trains again.

[Goofy4TheWorld]

^ Really? What version are they on now???


WDW switched to Mark VI trains in 1989. And from what I understand they are still using those trains.

I am surprised there hasn't been an upgrade since the late 1980s.

I can just imagine how much it would cost to upgrade those trains again.

It's not the trains that I am referencing, it's the backbone systems that make them work.

By no means am I speaking with any authority on the issue, but a Monorail driver lost his life because, by intentional design of what I am sure has been in place since 10/01/1971, the collision avoidance system (MAPO) had to be disabled in order to drive any Monorail in reverse (a requirement to switch beams).

This flimsy design flaw was needless and lethal, and the Monorails continue to use collision avoidance techniques far inferior to what most passenger cars now come equiped with (reverse sensor, rear cameras, etc.). While there has been some upgrades done since the 2009 collision, what I have read looks to be a "patching of potholes" instead of "bringing to the 21st century" the Monorails deserve.

Now with the unpredictability of when exactly the Monorails run with the rolling shutdowns and early closings, I think the Monorails have fallen down to 3rd class transportation if you are judging by guest's ability to rely on them.

[baldburke]

Now with the unpredictability of when exactly the Monorails run with the rolling shutdowns and early closings, I think the Monorails have fallen down to 3rd class transportation if you are judging by guest's ability to rely on them.

Really? I've never in 35 years had a problem on the monorail. There is no better way to travel in WDW!

[SandmanGStefani24]

Really? I've never in 35 years had a problem on the monorail. There is no better way to travel in WDW!

i have to agree. other than a slight delay to let the other cars catch up, never once had a problem. clean cars, cool ac, and reliable performance.

[Melanie]

There definitely were issues a few years back with shortened hours, more than normal breakdowns, etc. In particular, I remember waiting a very long time on the ferry boat dock with thousands of my closest, sweatiest friends late one night after a MNSSHP a few years back. What a mess! That was during a period of early shutdown for the monorails, regardless if there were parties or late hours for the parks.