No More Monorail Extra Magic Hours

[ransam]

not sure i have a vote here because i've never stayed at a Deluxe. for those of you who are staying at a deluxe for the sole purpose of the monoral, i am sorry that does stink.

but i have ridden the monorail during Magic hours to get to Downtown Disney or back to the transportation center, and most of the time after an hour or so when the park closes the monorail is pretty empty.
so there may be a differnce between cost cutting, and not worth the cost.

[gerald72]

Isn't the monorail cheaper to operate than buses?
Sure, they might save money, but it's stuff like this that will keep people out of Deluxes, and maybe just keep them from coming at all.

[AntMagsMom]

I wonder about MNSSHP!

We're staying at Bay Lake and hitting none of the EMH times but would use it definitely for the Party coming home......

[WDWdriver]

The negative comments here may be a bit premature. According to the Cast Member information web site the reduced monorail hours are due to "planned transportation maintenance". This implies that the reduced hours are temporary and necessary for safety. There is no indication that the new hours are permanent.

[waymickey]

Is it possible that it is for safety reasons and not a cost cutting procedure. I don't like it but I if it is for safety reasons I understand. They should up the buses and boats otherwise things may become very chaotic with some very unhappy deluxe guests.

[mariak]

The negative comments here may be a bit premature. According to the Cast Member information web site the reduced monorail hours are due to "planned transportation maintenance". This implies that the reduced hours are temporary and necessary for safety. There is no indication that the new hours are permanent.

But there is no date given as to when the maintence will end? Or is there? I would have assumed that they would give a date as they do when an attraction is scheduled for maintenance. What web-site is that?

I'm now wondering whether or not to try switching to The Contemporary for our Sept. trip. We're planning on hitting late EMHs in MK and at Epcot plus MNSSHP. At least, if we were at the Contemporary, we could walk back from our late nights at MK. Hmmmm......

[MrPeetrie]

Is it possible that only the monorails to the Ticket & Transportation Center are being stopped after 1 hour after closing. Maybe resort monorails are continuing.

I'm thinking this because if that were the case it would only be a negative for non-resort guests. It could actually benefit resort guests. I guess we'll have to find out .

[MNNHFLTX]

The negative comments here may be a bit premature. According to the Cast Member information web site the reduced monorail hours are due to "planned transportation maintenance". This implies that the reduced hours are temporary and necessary for safety. There is no indication that the new hours are permanent.

Thank you for your insight, Ron.

I can understand why this may not be welcome news to some folks who had booked deluxe resorts in part because they could use the monorail on their evening EMH. But I doubt that it will keep people from staying at the deluxes.

[Twinsowner]

Sorry..but I disagree. We always stay at the moderates but have many times considered trying one of the deluxes just due to the ease of getting home from the parks via the monorail. Without the monorail option...I wouldnt even give it another thought. I have almost stopped reading these boards because every week Disney announces something else they are cutting. While at the same time they post how many billions of dollars the company made. I am starting to think like a lot of others and I would rather remember Disneyworld in a positive light.

[MNNHFLTX]

Sorry..but I disagree. We always stay at the moderates but have many times considered trying one of the deluxes just due to the ease of getting home from the parks via the monorail. Without the monorail option...I wouldnt even give it another thought.

But they are not doing away with the monorail altogether, just cutting service back by a couple of hours 1-2 times a week during EMH. I understand it will create some inconvenience for some people, but it sounds like it is only temporary.

[AmandaChan]

But they are not doing away with the monorail altogether, just cutting service back by a couple of hours 1-2 times a week during EMH. I understand it will create some inconvenience for some people, but it sounds like it is only temporary.

Yeah, even if you stayed the full EMH hours you would just have to take the bus that one time. I would still consider a deluxe for aforementioned reasons because with a small kid we probably won't be staying much later than park closing anymore any time soon.

[WDWdriver]

But there is no date given as to when the maintence will end? Or is there? I would have assumed that they would give a date as they do when an attraction is scheduled for maintenance. What web-site is that?

The web site is available only to Cast Members, and provides updated information on park hours, scheduled operations, down times and other issues that might impact guest satisfaction. They have not announced a date when normal monorail operations will resume.

[mariak]

The web site is available only to Cast Members, and provides updated information on park hours, scheduled operations, down times and other issues that might impact guest satisfaction. They have not announced a date when normal monorail operations will resume.

Thank you for keeping us informed! It helps to keep rumors in check.

[Mickey91]

I wonder about MNSSHP!

We're staying at Bay Lake and hitting none of the EMH times but would use it definitely for the Party coming home......

BLT is honestly not much farther to walk to than the monorail is to get to from the MK... especially when you consider that the station is in the main CR tower. This is the one resort on the line that is the least affected by this.

[gerald72]

Is it possible that only the monorails to the Ticket & Transportation Center are being stopped after 1 hour after closing. Maybe resort monorails are continuing.

I'm thinking this because if that were the case it would only be a negative for non-resort guests. It could actually benefit resort guests. I guess we'll have to find out .

And a negative to resort guests who drove to the park

[hokies4life]

And a negative to resort guests who drove to the park

So I understand the people that are saying this is temporary. But like people have said for those of us resort guests that drive to the parks and choose not to take the buses, I'm assuming they will still have the ferry running to the TTC?

Otherwise I'm not quite sure we'll be going to MK EMH if this is going on while we're there.

[WDWdriver]

But like people have said for those of us resort guests that drive to the parks and choose not to take the buses, I'm assuming they will still have the ferry running to the TTC?

Yes, the ferry will continue to operate during EMH.

[kakn7294]

Here's my problem with this - I booked my stay months ago, paying big bucks because we were originally going to stay at Pop Century, with the idea in mind that I can use the monorail to travel back and forth from both MK and Epcot. Now, suddenly, 1 week before my trip, I find out that monorail service will be suspended for the evening Epcot EMHs. We usually attend the evening EMHs nearly every day that a park is having one so, yes, we would have been riding that monorail back to the resort at night, after the EMHs end. Now I understand cost-cutting and I understand maintenance needs done, but really, they announce it Friday and it takes effect Monday?!? It seriously annoys me... Will it ruin my trip - no, because I won't let it but it does take just a bit of the magic away.

[Tekneek]

At least 1 time during a previous trip, we had driven to the TTC and ended our evening at Epcot EMH. We took the monorail back to TTC to get our vehicle, at a mostly empty lot naturally, but we weren't the only ones coming back to the TTC for vehicles that night at midnight. If they don't make this change very clear and obvious, they are going to have a few guests wondering how to get to their vehicle, very late at night, using resort transportation. The scenario may only impact a few families on any given night, but I hope they have a plan for when it does.

The problem this poses for deluxe resort guests is an obvious one though. Being packed onto buses is hardly the same. Since they are only going to offer bus service, suppose they should lower the rates (since the presumption had always been that you were paying a little extra for being a monorail resort, right?). Is this another example of paying more for less, or am I missing the brilliance of this idea?

[BugeyedMuggy]

When we rode the monirail today 7-10-11 we asked a CM at the station what was going on and we were told the Epcot monorail was going to stop at 10 pm as of 7-11-11. After 10 pm you would have to ride a bus back to the resort. Hopefully it won't spread to the MK EMH. I guess if Disney gets cancellations dueto the cuts they may take another look at it. If everyone continues to book they may just not see the need.