Monorail to a 4 parks

[tiggerbuddy]

A friend of mine who lives in Fl told me this. Do you think it could true ?

Disney will NEVER extend the monorail to all 4 parks..
It doesn't have anything to do with "It costs to much per mile"


It is simply Disney's way of "Crowd Control"..

What are your thought ?

[DonaldDuck1117]

I think it has everything to do with the cost unfortunately. I love the monorail but the sheer cost of the system will likely mean we never see it expanded.

[ibelieveindisneymagic]

I agree - it costs too much, both to build and to maintain. As much as we all love to complain about the busses, Disney really does a decent job of moving people around the resort.

[baldburke]

Aside from AK, each park (or parks) has it's own special transportation to and from it's adjacent deluxe resorts which helps make them special. MK has the monorail and boats while BW / B&YC also have boats. And of course there are some that are in walking distance to the parks.

Had Walt still been alive there might have actually been monorails to all the parks. And then again with decisions like that Disney might have been part of Universal as opposed to it's own stand alone media conglomerate.

It's just a shame to me that AK never got the exclusive transportation like the others. Sure it's landlocked unlike the others and certainly another monorail wouldn't fit the motif, but perhaps a train would have fit the bill? Using the same engines that circle MK there could have been scenic ride along the Osceola Parkway to another station adjacent to the bus stops at AK.

[brad192]

If I remember correctly, somebody did a cost study as to what kind of cost would be involved in a monorail expansion to all the parks, using the original cost of the first monorail tracks laid down (up?) when WDW opened in 1971. This study was done in the early '00's, right after AK opened and I believe the cost, in adjusted dollars was around $10-$12 million dollars a mile just for the track. Add to that the monorails themselves, power, stations, etc. and the costs skyrocket. Quite an investment for what would essentially be a system with a zero ROI.

As stated earlier, Disney does a fantastic job with its current transportation system, so I doubt whether this will ever happen. Too bad though, it would be rather cool!

[DizneyRox]

As much as people hate them, busses are the most efficient way to transport guests...

Costs less, maintenance is less, they move more people, etc..

[Polynesian Dweller]

Aside from the cost, which is considerable, there are a couple of problems with monorails. If a monorail breaks down that track is shutdown including all other trains on that track. And it's hard to adjust capacity when required. You have to add another train to a track which means holding the others while you do it. It's just not that efficient in a setting like WDW.

Buses are much more flexible. One breaks down, send out another. Need more capacity, send out more buses.

And don't get me started with that statement of what Walt would've done. He died 50 years ago before the plans for the initial MK build were close to finalized. Roy did that. Nobody knows what he would have done about anything. What we do know is although he was a dreamer he was also a pragmatic and at times tough businessman. Whatever he would have done would have been based on those principles.

[RBrooksC]

Back when these were built, the only way to use them was to show a ticket to the parks or be a resort guest. After a while, that was changed and anybody who visits the parks can ride the monorail. Are you a local and make a reservation at the California Grill? Great, you can take the monorail around the park. There is no revenue stream for the monorail. They is one reason why they have truncated the operating hours for it. The monorails are a cost center and there is no direct profit center tied to them. So, if the monorails were pay to use or has some sort of direct monetary support, they may have been tied to the rest of the parks. As it is, I think we are lucky the monorails are still being used at the MK and to Epcot. Consider this, the trains have not been upgraded in many years.

[Speedy1998]

As much as people hate them, busses are the most efficient way to transport guests...

Costs less, maintenance is less, they move more people, etc..

All that and you can easily adjust the number of buses to the time of day and crowds at the parks. They can only put so many monorails on the track at once, and adding and removing a monorail from the track shuts the whole system down for 5-10 minutes or longer.

Also if a monorail breaks down the whole system shuts down until the train is towed from the track. If a bus breaks down only that one bus is stopped the rest keep moving.

[Speedy1998]

Honestly, if Disney was going to extend the monorail lines they would have done it back in 1988 or 1997 when they were building DHS and AK.

[mymickeymouse]

I KNOW will be the minority, but I LOVE the disney buses! They are such an integral part of the experience,I.e, getting to see the parks without having to drive, that I just could not imagine living without the experience!

[brad192]

I KNOW will be the minority, but I LOVE the disney buses! They are such an integral part of the experience,I.e, getting to see the parks without having to drive, that I just could not imagine living without the experience!


I agree with you in part - they are, for the most part, very convenient, and I really like not having to drive to the parks (although I kinda miss the tram ride).:blush: However, the one "experience" I COULD live without is the late night, park closing ride home in an SRO bus with a bunch of people who's deoderant wore off about 6 hours earlier (I include myself among them)! Air conditioned or not, the air in those busses makes one's eyes water! :faint:

[baldburke]

However, the one "experience" I COULD live without is the late night, park closing ride home in an SRO bus with a bunch of people who's deoderant wore off about 6 hours earlier (I include myself among them)! Air conditioned or not, the air in those busses makes one's eyes water! :faint:

It is indeed a dreadful ride with tired, cranky children out way past their bedtime. However which is worse? Running to a bus at your station only having it pull away? Or being in line when the bus pulls up and thinking your spot is secure only to have a scooter and a family of 12 pulls up to guarantee you wait for the next bus?

[Mad About Mickey]

I often wax nostalgic about our late night bus rides on the way back to our hotel. Yes we were tired and the wait and climate might not be the best but we enjoyed it. With our youngest children, either asleep or not, in our arms we would talk about what the best part of the day was and talk excited about what the next day would bring. Life is what you make of it, seize the bus experience for all it is worth! I also find the monorail has a smell that can be much worse than the buses.

PS. Stay away from the value accommodations and your bus lines will be shorter and your experiences a little more palatable.

[#1donaldfan]

I often wax nostalgic about our late night bus rides on the way back to our hotel. Yes we were tired and the wait and climate might not be the best but we enjoyed it. With our youngest children, either asleep or not, in our arms we would talk about what the best part of the day was and talk excited about what the next day would bring. Life is what you make of it, seize the bus experience for all it is worth! I also find the monorail has a smell that can be much worse than the buses.

PS. Stay away from the value accommodations and your bus lines will be shorter and your experiences a little more palatable.

Not so much. We typically stay at either Riverside or the FQ and the late night bus lines and busses are as crowded as can possibly be ... however ... I love them !! The busses are exactly as you say, an overly excited realm of conversation of today and what's on for tomorrow, not just for my few but those sitting around or over us. I love hearing a young family with little ones telling of the fun they had seeing "this and that". Yeah, the smells can sometimes irritate, or the ever many scooter loadings that sometimes take forever ... but Disney is all the experiences we have, to include those incredible busses and bus rides. Remember when the drivers used to tell us trivia or act silly on the way "home" every night !! That's my memory maker right there .....

[baldburke]

I also find the monorail has a smell that can be much worse than the buses.

I feel like the monorails usually smell moldy...

[Goodwife]

Not so much. We typically stay at either Riverside or the FQ and the late night bus lines and busses are as crowded as can possibly be ... however ... I love them !! The busses are exactly as you say, an overly excited realm of conversation of today and what's on for tomorrow, not just for my few but those sitting around or over us. I love hearing a young family with little ones telling of the fun they had seeing "this and that". Yeah, the smells can sometimes irritate, or the ever many scooter loadings that sometimes take forever ... but Disney is all the experiences we have, to include those incredible busses and bus rides. Remember when the drivers used to tell us trivia or act silly on the way "home" every night !! That's my memory maker right there .....

Agree!!!