WDW - Monorail System

Well, it's cheaper to use buses. However, expanding the monorail system and using less buses cuts down on the cost of fuel.

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YOUNGSTOWN 2010

Cheaper in the short run (which all too many companies do these days). Probably much more cost efficient in the long run than busses.
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Is that a Q-bot in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?

Not to bring this back from the dead, but thought it would be appropriate to discuss another monorail topic here. Does anyone think the aging fleet will get replaced like its sister resort in California?

Eventually. ;)

Some day. ;)

General thumb, Monorail 1 million per mile. Rail 2 million per mile. Theres tons of variables but Monorail wins honestly as its already a bridged system. Where as Rail bridges and Crossings add significantly to the cost.

I guess I forgot, The elevated stations can add tto the cost of Monorail. However when built into existing infrastructure. This becomes less

How expensive are those Aerial Tramway type systems? I always thought connecting those to Monorail hubs from the hotels would be pretty cool. I assume they must cost as much if not more than the monorail..? No concrete though...

Considering they removed the sky rides from the Magic Kingdom and Disneyland several years ago (reportedly due to concerns about evacuating riders in an emergency), I don't think they will ever put a new one in, which is too bad. They are a nifty way to travel and look cool from the ground as well.

The only way I see upgrade to the monorail is if the High speed rail connection makes it necessary .If the high speed rail gets built and no more buses are needed to go from airport to park .It is possible they could build a loop onto the system To go to parks ,hotels,and the new high speed rail station.

It would be the closed loop that Disney has wanted Airport to high speed train to resort monorail through most of resort ..Of course it would also give access to Tampa and downtown through train. (assuming I drive station)

But as mentioned above it is a very large outlay with no added headcount to resort but if the monorail loop was built to expand to another park that would add to reason to return(kinda like WWoHP)

There is also the safety issue the last few accidents have involved buses.

Kevin38

I believe I had read somewhere a little while back that Disney was softening on the idea of allowing a stop on the high speed rail at the convention center. They had previously stated they would only allow a rail station on their property if they were the only stop between the airport and Disney.

I don't know why they have reason to be worried. No matter where the new rail would stop, the reason tourists go to Orlando is for a visit to Disney. Everywhere else is a secondary afterthought.

I understand why they don't want to "allow" it to stop anywhere else, but are they really lacking that much confidence? Not "allowing" the rail to stop in other locations can only limit how many people use it. The more people who use it, the better off it is financially.

LostKause said:
No matter where the new rail would stop, the reason tourists go to Orlando is for a visit to Disney.

The 1 million or more annual visitors to events at the convention center might have something to say about that.

Okay, but if it stopped at the convention center, for example, would Disney lose any business?

The trouble is the relative locations of the airport, the convention center, and the Disney Compound.

There is really no routing from the airport to any part of the WDW property to either half of the convention center that actually makes sense, because the convention center is right in between the airport and WDW.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

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I don't see the Convention Center taking ANY business from Disney. It's a different audience. Who's gonna say, "Gee let's go to a trade show instead of taking the train the rest of the way to see Mickey"? The only people that might do that are not the customers Disney cares much about anyway, aka not families.

Could be that Disney would want the appeal of a direct, non-stop trip straight from the airport to their property sort of the way Magical Express does.

Speaking of that, I wonder what would happen to the Magical Express if the train comes to fruition. Where exactly is the train supposed to drop people off at? I assume they will still need to then take a bus to their hotel from where ever the drop-off area is. In that case, they may want to just take the Magical Express anyway and avoid the train all together.

Am I missing the appeal of light rail from the airport to the Disney complex? Either way, we're still talking about being dropped off at a station/terminal where folks will have to roll off their luggage and lug it onto a bus system to take them to the individual properties. The ride on the bus may be shorter, but the light rail departures will probably be spread out longer than Magical Express.

If there was a direct line from MCO to Disney (with a stop at the convention center), I'd imagine DIsney would come up with something to still transport your luggage to your room. They want to get you to the parks as soon as possible to spend money.

Do they have the checkin at the airport option? I was thinking they did. All they'd need to do is get people to check in at the rail station and ship them out to the resort, then they could get on a monorail or bus and go to the parks, getting to the room(s) later with their luggage waiting.