Why The Monorail Time Change?

[Lou... 3,118]

For all you monorcraft lovers, Disney announced that beginning on July 11 2011, the Epcot monorail will stop operation 1 hour after Epcot closes, it's currently 1-1/2 hours. Also on August 1, the Magic Kingdom monorail will do the same. The MK MR operates for 2 hours after MK closes.

The monorail will not return guests back to their resorts after evening EMH as well, buses and boats will be used instead.

[mouseketab.....Carol 1,261]

Wow!

[doodlebug....Cherie 461]

Ya, Wow!

[MandMandMandMandM 31]

That sucks!

[Lou... 3,118]

That sucks!

How come?

[MandMandMandMandM 31]

How come?

I enjoy stopping off at one of the resorts on the line after closing to shop or grab a snack before heading out to my car which is usually parked at Epcot (sometimes at TTC). Now I won't have time to play on the way.

[Lil Lisa 53]

Budget cuts??

[Lou... 3,118]

Budget cuts??

I don't think so.

But because of the national economy, that's what people think when something changes at WDW, but I haven't seen evidence that something was changed at WDW because they didn't have the money, however I have seen the contrary. Hiring and expansion has continued during the economic slowdown. I'm not aware of significant layoffs of hourly CMs. As you all know, there are new resorts and new attractions in the works.

In bus transportation they've increased the department in manpower & buses by over 25%.

Yes, attendance has been down the last few years but as compared to what, they still make a profit.

If something gets cut or reduced, it's because it makes business sense or that there is a more efficient way of doing it and I believe that's the case with the MR hours change.

I have no inside knowledge if this is why they did it or not, but after the first hour after the park closes, ridership drops to the point where it's probably not efficient to keep the entire MR system operating for so few riders. And because ridership is low and the same thing is also true for the buses & boats, why not shut down the MR and put the stragglers on the boats and buses which have to operate no matter what. They cost a fraction of what the MR costs to operate, and the numbers can be adjusted to meet the demand. But you can't operate just half a MR train.

Industry numbers show that it takes 5 times as many people to maintain a MR system when compared to most other means of mass transit.

If you believe the hype, the MRs transport the majority of guests at WDW. It's not even close to being true. One monorail train is equivalent to about 3.5 buses.

I can envision the day when the MR will be an attraction and not a means of transporting guests, much like the MK railroad.

Monorails have never been and never will be an economical or efficient method of mass transit, but they do look real cool.

[mouseketab.....Carol 1,261]

So I'm guessing they are going to start a MK/TTC/MK and an Epcot/TTC/Epcot bus late at night?? Cause don't the buses to Studios and Animal Kingdom run to/from TTC until the last park is clear in case somebody at a later closing park left there car in one of the other lots?

[Lou... 3,118]

So I'm guessing they are going to start a MK/TTC/MK and an Epcot/TTC/Epcot bus late at night??

My guess is that they'll put the Gold and Red Line routes into effect, which is what they normally do when the the resort, express, or Epcot MR go down.

In effect it's a substitute for the 3 MRs and does include TTC.

It's MK,TTC,Poly,GF, & back to MK the back way.

Cause don't the buses to Studios and Animal Kingdom run to/from TTC until the last park is clear in case somebody at a later closing park left there car in one of the other lots?

Only you would know that.

Buses actually continue to operate from TTC for a certain time after AK & HS are clear. They make any odd runs that may pop up at TTC.

So, if you find yourself stranded at TTC, all the parks are closed & clear and a WDW bus is still running from TTC, go over and ask the driver to take you to wherever you need to go on property.

[mouseketab.....Carol 1,261]

My guess is that they'll put the Gold and Red Line routes into effect, which is what they normally do when the the resort, express, or Epcot MR go down.

In effect it's a substitute for the 3 MRs and does include TTC.

It's MK,TTC,Poly,GF, & back to MK the back way.

Only you would know that.

Buses actually continue to operate from TTC for a certain time after AK & HS are clear. They make any odd runs that may pop up at TTC.

So, if you find yourself stranded at TTC, all the parks are closed & clear and a WDW bus is still running from TTC, go over and ask the driver to take you to wherever you need to go on property.

I found out through personal experience. Cause one time I did actually drive over to Animal Kingdom cause I was running late for an event one afternoon, then ended my day at MK and stayed till closing. (About 1am), was about to take a bus back to the resort and get my car the next day. I asked a bus driver if that was OK, and he told me to take the monorail to TTC, and a bus would take me to AK to pick up my car.

[BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023]

Here's how they're spinning this in the Orlando Sentinel...

Disney to cut monorail hours

July 11, 2011|By Jason Garcia, Orlando SentinelWalt Disney World is cutting operating hours for its monorail, a move designed to give maintenance crews more time to work on the aging transportation system.

Disney plans to begin shutting down monorail service one hour after regularly scheduled park closings in the Magic Kingdom and Epcot, the two theme parks served by the resort's trains. In addition, Disney will no longer run the trains during evening "Extra Magic Hours," the late-night period during which only guests staying in Disney hotels are allowed in the parks.

Disney had previously kept its trains running until at least one-and-a-half hours after park closing or through any extended hours. The changes are effective beginning today at Epcot and Aug. 1 for the Magic Kingdom.

Disney World spokeswoman Zoraya Suarez said Monday the reduced hours are "to accommodate for planned maintenance" on the trains, which are approximately 20 years old. Exiting theme-park guests will instead be transported to their cars or hotels via buses or boats.

The move, which is certain to anger some Disney guests who pay a premium to stay in hotels built along the monorail, illustrate the pressure Disney World's monorail has come under as the giant resort has expanded park hours and hosted ever-larger crowds.

Because of "Extra Magic Hours" — a key perk that Disney has used to drive occupancy in its roughly two-dozen hotels — the Magic Kingdom will on some nights not close until 3 a.m. and will then reopen again at 7 a.m. Disney says it takes 90 minutes for its monorail trains to cycle down at the end of the night and another 90 minutes to restart at the beginning of the day. The result: As little as one hour of downtime for some trains.

Disney said the Magic Kingdom had extended hours for 26 of the 30 days in April.

Company followers say the monorail's reliability has suffered in recent years. In one particularly embarrassing example in late 2009, the system lost power following a computer hard-drive failure at about 1 a.m. It took Disney and emergency-response crews nearly three hours to unload every passenger.

"There are definitely more monorails going down" because of service interruptions, said John Frost, publisher of the Disney Blog, a popular website. "I think it's been pretty obvious that [transportation maintenance] is one of the areas they cut back on during the recession."

In addition, Disney World's monorail fleet has been operating shorthanded — with 11 trains instead of 12 —since a July 5, 2009, train collision that killed a 21-year-old monorail driver. Disney salvaged one train using cars from each of the two involved in the crash, but it has not replaced the second train.

Frost predicted Disney will face a backlash from guests staying at the three Disney hotels on the monorail route: Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, Disney's Polynesian Resort and Disney's Contemporary Resort.

"Those are the most-expensive hotels on the property, and those are your clientele who expect the most preferred treatment," Frost said.

Some others say they suspect Disney's real motivation for shutting down the monorails early is cost savings. "One hopes they aren't masking budget cuts behind illusory repairs," said Kevin Yee, an author who writes for the Disney news site MiceAge.com.

[MandMandMandMandM 31]

We were at MK Wednesday night until midnight. Some people seemed upset they'd have to catch a bus from TTC to EC to get cars, but most didn't care. We'd parked @MK, upon driving toward I4 we noticed large machinery working on the actual train lines & one tower. Looked like they were even cutting into the concrete.