Monorails to no longer operate during Evening Extra Magic Hours

[TDC Nala]

If you're at the Contemporary you can still walk back from MK.

 

[Stormin'theCastle]

Someone with photoshop skills should put together a preview photo of what the monorail resorts will look like with no monorail track going around the lake...

That's the first thing I thought too. Bye bye monorail. They're never going to extend it anywhere, it's expensive to maintain and operate, so why not just retire it and it can become a piece of treasured Disney history.

Okay, maybe I'm being dramatic, but this is crazy and sad.

 

[CindyIsMyFave]

So will EMH folks walk to and from BLT and CR and then Poly and GF get to ride a bus together?--the horrors of paying deluxe and sharing a bus. I can understand some things but that aggrevates the horns off a billy goat.

Well I guess Polys would take the boat and then GF guest could walk too.

I was mulling over these options too. CR has walking and bus. Poly has boat and bus. And GF has boat and bus too right? Not that this makes me feel any better, but I guess that's where Disney is coming from.

Oh - and sharing a bus? Yeah, personally I don't think deluxes should have to share a bus (and I very rarely stay at deluxes myself sadly). I can kinda understand it at nonpeak times, but in March, when we stayed at WL, we got picked up and then drove to GF to pick up guests there. It made us late for DHS' EMH. (Yes, yes, we could have been earlier.) But I was almost more annoyed for the GF people than I was for us!

So does this mean that the price of the monorail resorts will go down???

I thought of this too. They could at least decrease the price by $10 a night right?

 

[mainstreet1997]

Thats just silly! They built resorts ON the monorail. Disney resort guests stay in those hotels partially because they are ON the monorail. That means less people parking in the lots and more people can enjoy the parks. People who can easily get too and from the parks on the monorail are more likely to be happy (and theyll probably buy more stuff). Come on Disney get with it!

 

[doconeill]

Quote without comment. This is official from an internal source:

"From time to time, we make adjustments to our operations to accommodate for planned transportation maintenance. With that in mind, operating hours for the Epcot Monorail system will be modified to operate one hour after regular park close beginning July 11, 2011 and the Magic Kingdom Monorail system will also operate one hour after regular park close beginning August 1, 2011. At that time, watercraft (where applicable) and additional buses will be available to transport guests to their destination.
Return service from evening Extra Magic Hours in the parks will be supported by watercraft (where applicable) and bus transportation. "

Despite the language about maintenance, there is no indication of when it would return to "normal", and they are starting it at a peak time?

wdwmagic seems to think it looks permanent.

 

[daannzzz]

""Flush mechanisms on all Disney resort hotel toilets will now be deactivated between the hours of 11:00 P.M. and 6:00 A.M. For a small fee ($25 per night) the front desk can reactivate the flush action in your magical bathroom during this time period.""

 

[mainstreet1997]

Re reading the official statement could this be temporary? It sounds like they are going to be doing some maintenance on the monorail track and that's why they are doing this? Maybe it has something to do with the Grand Floridian expansion? Maybe it will return back to normal at some point?

 

[Disneyadore]

For us personal it will be no problem. The rail aces was really bad on EMH because it was loaded whit non resorts guests.
Waiting for an hour to get a rail was almost "normal".
On the other hand the signs on the docks at the GF stating :" transportation for registered guest only" will finally make sense.

 

[Brer Shay]

I wonder if this is an effect from the OSHA review of the monorail accident that killed a driver? Could be that the safety issues required by OSHA, likely additional personnel or limited driving hours, made running so late at night (3AM+ sometimes) cost prohibitive in comparison to adding busses.

 

[mainstreet1997]

This is really upsetting. Monorail access is one of the best reasons to stay Deluxe. Now, not so much. And I'm sure they'll raise Deluxe prices just as much!

I agree - we pay so much for DVC and yet Boardwalk, Yacht and Beach AND Swan and Dolphin share a bus? We dont even have a bus to 2 of the 4 parks!!!

 

[asianway]

The direction this all seems to be going is to slowly ratchet down pieces of evening EMH for their eventual elimination.

 

[GadgetRick]

If this was planned maintenance, well, it's pretty stupid to do it during prime time (i.e. the summer). But, then again, they don't seem to care much about this sort of thing. Look at everything boarded up for over a year now throughout WDW for planned maintenance.

If it was unplanned maintenance, not much anyone could do about it but it doesn't sound as if it was unplanned.

If it's not for maintenance, it's just another thing which is being taken away from guests. It's unfortunate about how much they've taken away over the years. I know, the, "Disney can do no wrong," people will be here soon to make excuses for this as well...

 

[asta]

I don't like this at all but, as a veteran of many stays at the GF over the last 20 years, I can tell you that the perk of the monorail has become less important over the last few stays. During our early trips CMs were stationed at the ramps at the TTC to direct only resort guests to that loop of the monorail. Once they stopped doing that, the monorail always seems to be packed by the time it gets to the GF. There are long lines at closing and many people get off at the TTC. The boat to the GF at closing has been more appealing lately.

 

[Ali]

Im inclined to think about the effects on non-resort guests trying to stay in the parks for EMH and how many people are going to be angry when this first starts. Perhaps requiring ID at the bottom of the resort monorail would have been a better way to go.

 

[Oglet]

I can confirm that this is NOT temporary.

 

[crostorfer]

We're Poly people. To be honest, no monorail from the MK doesn't bother me, as we always take the water launch across the lake anyway, because the line is always shorter there. Although, with no monorail running that is going to change...

What really upsets me is no monorail from Epcot. I would think it would have to be cheaper to run the monorail than gas up those busses. Our route is always monorail back to the TTC from Epcot, then walk back to the Poly. A bus is going to take longer and cause more frustration. That really stinks. Maybe I'll have to give the Epcot resorts a chance after all if I'm going to have to use a bus anyway. I'd rather have easier access to 2 parks than limited options from 3.

 

[doconeill]

I can confirm that this is NOT temporary.

Ah, but define "temporary" in this context. "Not temporary" as in "not short term but ill return when it's ready", or "Not temporary" as in "permanent operation change that we will claim to be for maintenance"

 

[SmallWorld71]

I may not be reading this right, but wouldn't it also affect those guests who are staying at a Disney resort that is not on the monorail line, but choose to use their own car or rent a car for whatever reason? If they are parked at the TTC (either because they are at EMH at MK or because they hopped from MK to Epcot for EMH) how do they get back? I am guessing that they will have to have buses shuttle them there, which I think is what a lot of people are trying to avoid by using a car in the first place.

 

[WEDWDW]

Am I correct in assuming that,in addition to the Epcot Monorail and Resort Monorail,this also includes the Express Monorail and there will be a bus provided from Magic Kingdom to TTC,in addition to the Ferry,for EEMH Guests who drive to EEMH?Thanks.

 

[Oglet]

Ah, but define "temporary" in this context. "Not temporary" as in "not short term but ill return when it's ready", or "Not temporary" as in "permanent operation change that we will claim to be for maintenance"

Exact wording from a internal memo posted.

Is this change permanent?

Yes, although we regularly evaluate and adjust our operations based on a variety of operational considerations.