Guests Stuck on Monorail When Doors Fail to Open

Oh, I'm well aware. But in the meantime, what will the payout be on a lawsuit when someone gets injured the next time a chunk falls off? Or a door gets stuck open again and someone falls out? Or a door comes unhinged and actually falls off this time? A lot of ifs, sure, ones that I hope never come to fruition. But also very possible scenarios given circumstances. As rteez keeps saying, we're stuck with this system for several more years.

Fatality rate for the WDW monorail is 1 over almost 50 years. A single employee riding in the front car during a failure. Is there a risk of an accident to a guest? Yes. Have the odds gone up as the fleet ages? Yes. Is it anything close to a certainty that it happens? No. It is still incredibly unlikely. A part falling on a guest? What percentage of the track goes over people's heads? 10-20%, maybe? Probably not that much given how much track crosses the nothing land between TTC and EPCOT. If a door pops open and someone falls out, well, that's different from what happened in the last 2 door episodes. One where they were rammed by an inexperienced ECV driver, something Disney is much more likely to get sued over in the parks where you can hardly avoid getting tagged by a stroller or an ECV, and one where the door didn't close all the way, but wasn't exactly gaping open sucking people out.

I think you are over exaggerating the danger. It exists, but it's still extremely unlikely. New trains, or what passes for new trains, will come over the next decade. I expect the reliability of the current fleet to continue to sink, but I find it unlikely that a system of mass transit that has been one of the safest ever invented and run over the last 50 years is suddenly going to turn into a death trap...
 
Oh, I'm well aware. Essentially, it was a gamble. Because in the meantime, what will the payout be on a lawsuit when someone gets injured the next time a chunk falls off? Or a door gets stuck open again and someone falls out? Or a door comes unhinged and actually falls off this time? A lot of ifs, sure, ones that I hope never come to fruition. But also very possible scenarios given circumstances. As rteez keeps saying, we're stuck with this system for several more years.
We aren't at that point and we don't know if we will get to that point. Obviously nobody wants that.

And the least you could do is get my name right.
 
If there's any chance they put off the monorails (in part) for D Springs/NFL/Pandora/Toy Story Land/Galaxy's Edge/Rat/Tron/Guardians/AKV/BLT/POLY DVC/GF DVC/Riviera and Skyliner, I'm OK with waiting and riding the current ones for a while longer.
 
Whether this problem happened because of lack of maintenance or poor performance of multiple Cast Members is pretty irrelevant when it comes to the perspective of the guest. Neither reason is okay. Neither reasons absolves Disney from responsibility.
 




Does anyone know what the payout was to the family of the monorail operator who died in the crash?
As far as I know, the settlement was never publicly released though one happened because the civil lawsuit was dismissed due to outside settlement. I know Disney was fined about $35,000 and the damage to the train was estimated at $24 million. Of course, the accident was also primarily determined to be the fault of the employees, though not the one that was tragically killed. The train operator of the train that backed down the track did so from the front of the train rather than the back and the supervisor for the switch that did not switch, was not in the tower to supervise the procedure. He was miles away in a bloody IHOP eating and relaying information via his phone. Disney was cited primarily for not having written Operating Procedures for the switch procedure.
 
As far as I know, the settlement was never publicly released though one happened because the civil lawsuit was dismissed due to outside settlement. I know Disney was fined about $35,000 and the damage to the train was estimated at $24 million. Of course, the accident was also primarily determined to be the fault of the employees, though not the one that was tragically killed. The train operator of the train that backed down the track did so from the front of the train rather than the back and the supervisor for the switch that did not switch, was not in the tower to supervise the procedure. He was miles away in a bloody IHOP eating and relaying information via his phone. Disney was cited primarily for not having written Operating Procedures for the switch procedure.

I asked because you're right, this accident involved 1 death and was operator error and not due to greed and negligence on disney's part, yet we know it cost them at least $24million. How much more will it be if a train car full of people end up in a position to sue, primarily because the bean crunchers were being cheap?
 
I asked because you're right, this accident involved 1 death and was operator error and not due to greed and negligence on disney's part, yet we know it cost them at least $24million. How much more will it be if a train car full of people end up in a position to sue, primarily because the bean crunchers were being cheap?

It didn't really. The trains are insured and the scrapping of the damaged monorail allowed them to use the parts to keep the current fleet running. People seem to think Bean Counters are simple minded morons out to ruin their enjoyment. They aren't. They are much smarter than people give them credit for and generally have a darn good idea of not just what they can do to increase revenue, but what effect it will have.

If there were really problems with the monorail resorts because of the monorails, we'd have had new trains. There aren't, and there won't be. So there were good reasons to keep the current fleet running as long as possible and I expect we will see the bones of this current fleet incorporated into a new fleet, one train at a time, starting in 2 or 3 years with one or two trains a year for a few years.

I expect new cabins, but the running gear will remain. People will be excited to ride "new" trains, the monorail resorts will stay jammed full and bringing in buckets of money, and delays will increase in the short term and decrease in the long term. Most people will never notice.
 
If there were really problems with the monorail resorts because of the monorails, we'd have had new trains. There aren't, and there won't be. So there were good reasons to keep the current fleet running as long as possible and I expect we will see the bones of this current fleet incorporated into a new fleet, one train at a time, starting in 2 or 3 years with one or two trains a year for a few years.
This is the only part I disagree with you on. If they were to do this for a “new fleet” I think they would’ve have started this already. From what I know and have heard they have and are exploring all options on brand new trains and have been in talks with Bombardier.
 
This is the only part I disagree with you on. If they were to do this for a “new fleet” I think they would’ve have started this already. From what I know and have heard they have and are exploring all options on brand new trains and have been in talks with Bombardier.

I can see that happening depending on the state of the running gear. I obviously have no idea what that really looks like. I suspect though, that a custom build to fit the beams, is going to be a shocker of a sticker and if it can be avoided, it will be. The easiest way to avoid it is to reuse the running gear as they have a Disneyland, which is even more of a custom problem.
 
I can see that happening depending on the state of the running gear. I obviously have no idea what that really looks like. I suspect though, that a custom build to fit the beams, is going to be a shocker of a sticker and if it can be avoided, it will be. The easiest way to avoid it is to reuse the running gear as they have a Disneyland, which is even more of a custom problem.
I agree but Disney as far as I know has explored upgrading the power system as well during a new train upgrade. There are rumors they want new trains to be flush with the stations as well to remove the need for ramps with strollers and wheelchairs.
 
This is anecdotal. I rode in the front of the monorail this summer at DL (so not totally applicable.) During our ride, my friend was asking the driver some questions to make conversation, ie where are you from, how do you like working for Disney, etc.

Anyways, I was surprised when the driver offhandedly mentioned that the pay driving the monorail was quite literally what they'd be making working fast food. I would think it would be bit more of an established position to create a seasoned, well-trained team of CMs. When I hear about monorail CMs not responding quickly/correctly, I think it suggests inexperience.
 
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This is anecdotal. I rode in the front of the monorail this summer at DL (so not totally applicable.) During our ride, my friend was asking the driver some questions to make conversation, ie where are you from, how do you like working for Disney, etc.

Anyways, I was surprised when the driver offhandedly mentioned that the pay driving the monorail was quite literally what they'd be making working fast food. I would think it would be bit more of an established position to create a seasoned, well-trained team of CMs. When I hear about monorail CMs not responding quickly/correctly, I think it suggests inexperience.
To build on that, you can work the monorail in the college program. So you’ve got potentially turnover every 6 months or so, which could easily lead to a breakdown in protocol
 

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