More Monrails

[TheRustyScupper]

1) I like all the monorail talk.
2) But, I doubt it will ever come to be.
3) There is no cost-justification for more monorail.
4) And Disney does NOTHING with cost justification.
5) More monorail
. . . would not add more guests to the parks
. . . would promote more park-hopping *
. . . reduces crowd flow control flexibility
. . . not easily adjusted for increases attendance
. . . not easily adjusted for decreased flexibility

* Park hopping is not a good thing for Disney. That is why the extra charges for Hopping. It means adding staff for short periods of time, which is inefficient.

[battlefield2freak]

currently there is no plans on replacing the existing monorails with new models, at WDW that is.

last fall they replaced the carpet with hard laminate floors, they also installed new handrails and leanrails. new bright white LED's are replacing the yellow LED's. they also replace the center fold down seats with four thin floor- to-ceiling posts as well. all of that has been done on momorail lime.

they are also finsihing the installation of the new touch screen driving consoles on monorail blue. i suspect what they did on lime will carry on into the other trains.

[Monorail_Red]

last fall they replaced the carpet with hard laminate floors, they also installed new handrails and leanrails. new bright white LED's are replacing the yellow LED's. they also replace the center fold down seats with four thin floor- to-ceiling posts as well. all of that has been done on momorail lime.

they are also finsihing the installation of the new touch screen driving consoles on monorail blue. i suspect what they did on lime will carry on into the other trains.

Yes, to increase monorail capacity, Monorail Lime is testing a new compartment arrangement. There was a two week trial. During that period, Monorail Lime was operating on the Express Beam.

I believe all the monorail trains have been upgraded to the touchscreen controls execpt for Orange. I'm assuning that they upgraded Monorail Lime when they worked on the new compartment arrangement.

[sly1]

I seriously doubt there will be a monorail expansion anytime in the near future due to the reasons given previously. I would like to mention though if Walt were still with us the monorail would go to every park. He wouldn't have it any other way.

[Monorail_Red]

I seriously doubt there will be a monorail expansion anytime in the near future due to the reasons given previously. I would like to mention though if Walt were still with us the monorail would go to every park. He wouldn't have it any other way.

I agree, Walt was all for the monorail.

[joelkfla]

I agree, Walt was all for the monorail.

I think Walt was more of a transportation nut than specifically a monorail fan. He saw monorails as the future of transportation, so he was excited to install the "first daily operating monorail system in America."

I think if Walt were alive today, we would likely see some other futuristic form of fixed guideway transit linking the remaining parks -- perhaps PRT, which is, after all, the evolution of the People Mover.

[joelkfla]

I wish they would expand the monorail to include DTD (and I have no problem with using a guest key/pass to access it) and AK. Bus service seems bery spotty, and that IS NOT a complaint about the drivers in any way shape or form, they are doing the best they can with what they have got to work with. Light rail has a big problem, it is at grade so it has to compete with and cross roads and traffic ways.

WDW has a severe shortage of bus drivers, which may be one reason service is spotty.

I understand that a new GPS-based bus dispatch system is currently in the process of implementation. Hopefully that will help to get buses where they are needed more reliably. I believe the system is being phased in with completion planned for this fall.

As for light rail, while it is technically feasible to elevate stretches, I hope Disney would never do that due the negative aesthetics. A monorail beam is nearly invisible compared to a structure supporting two full-width railroad tracks.

[MickeyDreamer]

Well you never know what will happen at WDW until it happens, but if fuel prices continue the way they are it may some day make the monorail more cost friendly. I am sure
WDW has a contract for fuel and they get a really good price even for the natural gas, but eventually those contract prices will continue to rise as the fuel continues to be in short supplies as they say at the rate we use fuel there is only enough left on the planet for about the next 50 years or so depending on what they continue to find. So eventually maybe not in our day but in our childrens days WDW will have or need to expand its tranportation options.