Monorail rumor

[RRB]

Well, as a DVC member, as I see you are, I can tell you that my dues at at BWV, BCV, AKV, and SSR do not help pay for the monorail.....

How do you know that the Cost Component listed as "Transportation" in the Operating Budget for each DVC Resort doesn't include costs for the monorail?

 

[umichigan10]

I think this concept of whether each person pays Upkeep the monorail is a moot point. The money all goes into the big pot one way or another, so in essence we pay for the monorail, the janitorial, and ride upkeep whenever we purchase a pretzel

 

[sachilles]

When you say "thing of the past", do you mean any new monorails or do are your referring to changes to the existing monorail?

I mean, any new train like conveyance at the wdw, will not be a mono....rail. They are likely to be two rails. No more, no less. I'm not saying the current monorail is dead, but when replacement is desired, I think we'll see a more traditional train being selected to replace it.
So by saying it's dead....I mean we are not likely to see any new "mono"rail lines. The existing line will stay as long as it makes sense, but when the fleet has to be replaced, I feel they will opt for a different type of train system. It'll look sleek just like the current monorail, but be more like other elevated trains seen around the country.

 

[rowrbazzle]

I disagree that the monorail justifies the high cost of those rooms. It is part of the reason the rooms cost so much but I would never pay full price for those rooms simply because they are on the monorail.

True, but if the monorail was gone without a suitable replacement, then I imagine far far fewer people would willing to pay full price for those rooms either. I can't justify the full price of the rooms either way, but having stayed at the Polynesian before, the convenience of the monorail pretty much ruined me for other locations.

 

[Lee Matthews]

Could a gondola extention not replace the monorail? They can move with a lot of precision so probably could still go through the contemporary

 

[rteetz]

Could a gondola extention not replace the monorail? They can move with a lot of precision so probably could still go through the contemporary

A lot of work would need to be done. I think they’d be better off with a monorail replacement.

 

[sachilles]

Could a gondola extentionnot replace the monorail? They can move with a lot of precision so probably could still go through the contemporary

It's certainly feasible. That being said, if you replaced the monorail with gondolas, my thought is you build the gondola before you decommission the monorail. Therefore, you wouldn't likely have the gondola go in the same spots including into the contemporary. I would envision the MK terminal to be just south of the current MK bus terminals as that would be the shortest route. If you did that, I wouldn't see much of an advantage for Contemporary guests to use it the the first place. If you want to build into the contemporary, I think you build another bay lake tower to include it, but I still don't think that makes a lot of sense.
I think your investment is in the Wilderness lodge DVC and Poly DVC guest, while adding value for GF guests. Contemporary guests have a huge advantage in walking distance, no transport will really beat that aside from issuing guest a segway at the desk, or a special entrance for CR guests.

Aside from sentimental and public relations reasons, I don't see any real reason why the monorail couldn't be replaced by gondolas, with the perk of adding Wilderness lodge into the loop. I would think it would be the smarter financial move.

 

[rteetz]

Aside from sentimental and public relations reasons, I don't see any real reason why the monorail couldn't be replaced by gondolas, with the perk of adding Wilderness lodge into the loop. I would think it would be the smarter financial move.

Would it though?

A lot of modifications would have to be made to the contemporary and all the resorts for that matter. These resorts were built with the monorail in mind not a gondola system.

 

[sachilles]

Would it though?

A lot of modifications would have to be made to the contemporary and all the resorts for that matter. These resorts were built with the monorail in mind not a gondola system.

It's not a hard retrofit if the soil can support it. You build stand alone stations just as they are doing now at IG, boardwalk parking lot, riviera, pop and DHS. Notice I omitted the cbr station which is a bit of junction and more complex.
Gondola stations are not that big.
hourly capacity of the gondolas is 5000/hour. Only published thing on the monorail I see is 10k per hour, but I'm not sure the current math supports it.
I think you build a gondola system to make the monorail redundant. You then reduce monorail service, to preserve it's life span. Use it up until it's not long feasible to run it....then eliminate it entirely.

To be clear, I am no way suggesting putting a gondola through the contemporary building. Makes no sense to do it. It is possible, but makes no sense to do it for many reasons.

 

[rteetz]

It's not a hard retrofit if the soil can support it. You build stand alone stations just as they are doing now at IG, boardwalk parking lot, riviera, pop and DHS. Notice I omitted the cbr station which is a bit of junction and more complex.
Gondola stations are not that big.
hourly capacity of the gondolas is 5000/hour. Only published thing on the monorail I see is 10k per hour, but I'm not sure the current math supports it.
I think you build a gondola system to make the monorail redundant. You then reduce monorail service, to preserve it's life span. Use it up until it's not long feasible to run it....then eliminate it entirely.

To be clear, I am no way suggesting putting a gondola through the contemporary building. Makes no sense to do it. It is possible, but makes no sense to do it for many reasons.

I definitely think capacity wise it would work but would it be that much cheaper? You have to build new stations and then retro fit the resorts since they are built around the monorail. You’d have to redesign the TTC, inside of the contemporary and demolish stations at the poly and grand.

As far as I’m aware the beams are still suitable for now so Disney really only needs new trains.

 

[jade1]

To be clear, I am no way suggesting putting a gondola through the contemporary building. Makes no sense to do it. It is possible, but makes no sense to do it for many reasons.

Yea I was surprised last week to see the monorail has virtually "inches" of clearance on top coming into the CR. So no way would a skyliner fit, so that leaves opening the "middle" of CR but not sure how the get on and off. Agreed-very doubtful.

I suppose it could unload in the BLT parking lot, then go around (even through the middle of CR) CR.

I do think TTC, GF and POLY could be modified to drop off with a skyliner, but that's a lot of down time during construction.

Then maybe just keep the monorail back and forth from MK to CR (possibly to TTC to get on an EPCOT Skyliner) for nostalgia.

 

[umichigan10]

I definitely think capacity wise it would work but would it be that much cheaper? You have to build new stations and then retro fit the resorts since they are built around the monorail. You’d have to redesign the TTC, inside of the contemporary and demolish stations at the poly and grand.

As far as I’m aware the beams are still suitable for now so Disney really only needs new trains.

Not to mention you have to do the demo work on the existing beams

 

[sachilles]

The natural sway of the cars would require a bit larger opening. I don't think it would make sense in anyway to go into any building though(aside from their terminal).

I guess the numbers to crunch are the cost of replacement trains for the MK loop vs the cost to build the current skyliner project. I think that would give you a ball park comparison.

If anything though, I'd think the Epcot monorail spur is the one at greater risk, as I think it isn't utilized nearly as much as the MK loop. However, I don't see a gondola being a good replacement for that due to the distance, but maybe if it link other things in it would make more sense.

 

[sachilles]

Not to mention you have to do the demo work on the existing beams

You don't have to demo the beams, and disney has made a habit of not demolishing stuff.

 

[rteetz]

You don't have to demo the beams, and disney has made a habit of not demolishing stuff.

If they got rid of the monorails I can’t see them leaving the beams all over property. This isn’t River Countey which is hidden and in one location.

 

[sachilles]

No, it's a bit more like Epcot future world

 

[rowrbazzle]

The natural sway of the cars would require a bit larger opening. I don't think it would make sense in anyway to go into any building though(aside from their terminal).

I guess the numbers to crunch are the cost of replacement trains for the MK loop vs the cost to build the current skyliner project. I think that would give you a ball park comparison.

If anything though, I'd think the Epcot monorail spur is the one at greater risk, as I think it isn't utilized nearly as much as the MK loop. However, I don't see a gondola being a good replacement for that due to the distance, but maybe if it link other things in it would make more sense.

Beyond the cost, I think you'd have to consider the downtime and guest impact. Adding gondolas hasn't really "reduced" anyone's transportation. Replacing the monorail with gondolas very well could unless they're not using any of the same locations. Of course, if you start using different locations, then you're reducing the convenience (a big selling point of those resorts). I dunno.

No, it's a bit more like Epcot future world

 

[Princess_Lisa]

I mean, any new train like conveyance at the wdw, will not be a mono....rail. They are likely to be two rails. No more, no less. I'm not saying the current monorail is dead, but when replacement is desired, I think we'll see a more traditional train being selected to replace it.
So by saying it's dead....I mean we are not likely to see any new "mono"rail lines. The existing line will stay as long as it makes sense, but when the fleet has to be replaced, I feel they will opt for a different type of train system. It'll look sleek just like the current monorail, but be more like other elevated trains seen around the country.

A traditional train would certainly make sense for any new builds, but they would have to modify the monorail beams (if that is even possible) or build entirely new tracks to do a traditional train. Monorails may be expensive to build, but they already have the beams, so the question is would there be enough savings to justify the cost of modifying the monorail beams or building entirely new tracks.

 

[umichigan10]

You don't have to demo the beams, and disney has made a habit of not demolishing stuff.

Well how would you get in/out of the contemporary then? Unless you built a station outside the hotel and just plugged the hole through the hotel? I think they’d get in the way of a potential skyliner

 

[Q-man]

If the theatre in Magic Kingdom was also scrapped to move th money towards new monorails then I’d be happy with that although I can see a new fleet of monorails costing a lot more than a theatre.

I believe they really need replacing before the 50th otherwise they are going to look dire compared to the skyliner

I suspect they are trying to nurse the monorail along to see how the gondolas/skyliner is received as replacing the monorail with a gondola system would be a major savings over replacing the monorail.