Originally Posted By TDLFAN G-Fan and I went to the MK yesterday to check out the new talkie rubber heads at the castle stage. Left the park at around 5pm.. as as we are walking towards the ferry boat...it departs.. so we decided to take the monorail to the TTC. Well.. the mono was arriving as we entered the station. A brief delay occured prior to boarding since they had to do some quick inspection. Finally, after waiting approximately 5 minutes, we were let on the monorail. There, once everyone was boarded and the doors closed.. we sat motionless an additional 10 minutes, with NO explanation of what was occurring at all. Other guests were beginning to look around wondering what was going on... Finally, we start moving forward, the came to a stop at the highest point of the track, next to the electrical water pageant storage area. Again. we sat there like another 5 minutes with NO explanation as to what was going on. My educated guess was that possibly another monorail was being taken out of or brought into the express lane. So whatever. In the meantime, both G-Fan and I were spying the ferry boats, and the one ferry boat we missed, was already making it's trip BACK to the MK from TTC. Finally again, we started to ove forward but didn't get that far. We came to a stop yet once again by the area next to the wedding pavillion. There we sat for a few moments, then out of the blue, the "welcome to the highway in the sky (yeah right) wdw monorail system..." pa came on, much to the WTF reaction from the crowd. Then after a minute or so.. our monorail driver finally comes on the PA to explain that a monorail ahead of us at the TTC was experiencing technical difficulties and it was causing an extended delay on the track... but (quote) as soon as that monorail problems were taken cared of, we would move forward and arrive there.. but still had another monorail ahead of us. 5 some minutes pass on again, and the driver comes on yet again... apologizing for the "extended" delay jada jada jada... then adds that it was caused by problems "out of our control" in regards to the monorail ahead of us. Now.. mind you. I am all for safety first and that is fine, but there is one such thing called "preventive maintenance" of which the current aging monorail fleet doesn't seem to receive much of. To tell us guests that the problem is "out of our control" is ludicrous. Weather is out of their control. Maintenance issues with monorail could be prevented to avoid problems. I wonder if that is happening... and I find WDW as offensive for taking the same route of the airlines and procrastinating the same way to justify the lack of maintenance practices in regards to their fleets. Lovely. By this time, we had been on the monorail close to 25 mins and had moved up less than a mile. Anyways... to conclude, the problems with monorail red were taken cared off some 5 mins later and we finally moved up to the Polynauseaus Hotel area and waited yet again another 4 mins while the monorail ahead of us was at TTC. Finally.. after close to 40 minutes since we boarded monorail orange at the MK Station, we made it to the TTC. If we had waited for the ferry boat, it would have taken about 12 mins to get to the other side of the Seven Seas Lagoons, and trust me, if they had built the Walk around the World like the had intended to some years ago (yet another procrastinating effort from the management folks at WDW) G-Fan and I would have walked, which I would honestly do more often if the option was there to skip the horrendous monorail service. All in all... the point of this rant is to bring home the fact that monorail problems continue at WDW on a very recurrent basis and NO one seems to give a darn about providing reliable transportation service. WDW needs to stop treating the monorails as if it was another D-ticket ride and be awared of it's operational demands and customer needs it provides. Not until they fully assess the merits of this service, will they ever be able to operate it in a reliable way. Furthermore.. since I know there will be your usual pollyannas defending the monorail service, I will finish this post by saying there isn't much some of you will say that will convince me otherwise about the monorail service. It simply sucks. From the lack of urgency in the operation, to the constant assault of loud advertizement PAs we have to endure, since it no longer offers a travelodge tour of the surrounding areas around the lagoon for the most part. ..and I am not even commenting on the body language and professional demeanor of some of those CMs working in that area... as that is totally another sore topic with me. WDW folks: you should be ashamed for the lousy monorail service.
Originally Posted By SingleParkPassholder We were at WDW for seven days after Thanksgiving. The monorail had delays such as you describe four of the six days we rode on it.
Originally Posted By SingleParkPassholder We were at WDW for seven days after Thanksgiving. The monorail had delays such as you describe four of the six days we rode on it.
Originally Posted By MPierce Problems will always occur with an older fleet of anything, no mater how well it was maintained. That is not being a pollyanna just a statement. That being said what is the underlying reason for lack of preventive maintaince certainly not a money issue, is it. What is the real problem here with the Monorail service, and function. Now you've got me curious about the body language of the CM also, what did it suggest. Just call me very perceptive, but by your tone in this thread, and past threads, you are not going to change your name to MONORAILFAN anytime soon. I am waiting for everyones opinions to come rolling in, since my experiences are limited to just a few trips each year, and have never had a problem on a monorail.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 What won't happen and should at today's media whorefest at WDW: a local reporter should ask InoverherheadMeg about all those maintainance issues (that could easily result in tragedy)on the fleet. I must be lucky because I have never had one of those horrific delays TDLFAN seems to get all the time, but I do know what's going on (or not) behind the scenes and it is scary. Anyone want a Dream Lanyard?
Originally Posted By trekkeruss My only question is: if you had already been experiencing massive delays, why in the heck didn't you get off the monorail at the Poly and walk to the TTC? That's what I would have done.
Originally Posted By Nobody "In the meantime, both G-Fan and I were spying the ferry boats, and the one ferry boat we missed, was already making it's trip BACK to the MK from TTC." One time, I was at the supermarket. I got out of one line that looked like it was going to take a long time to go through to get into another line that I thought would go more quickly. Then the shopper in front of me had an item that required a price check. I noticed that had I stayed in the original line, I would have already have been checked out. Then this other time, I was on the freeway in traffic. The lane next to me seemed to be moving faster, so I switched into that lane. then, wouldn't you know it, my new current lane slowed down and my original lane sped up. It may be hard to believe, but these are TRUE STORIES. ;-)
Originally Posted By plpeters70 "if you had already been experiencing massive delays, why in the heck didn't you get off the monorail at the Poly and walk to the TTC?" They were probably on the Express line - which doesn't stop at the Poly to let people out.
Originally Posted By CTXRover I've experienced "traffic clearance delays" many times on the monorails, but luckily nothing that took more than a few minutes. What you describe is quite unfortunate and no doubt frustrating. The monorail fleet is aging and with each passing year its relability will likely continue to decrease, even with "preventative maintenance". A new monorail fleet might not be a bad idea sometime in the future, but I don't see that happening anytime soon. In general, the monorails are still in pretty good condition. So, what did you think of the new Dream Along with Mickey characters?
Originally Posted By FerretAfros "Problems will always occur with an older fleet of anything, no mater how well it was maintained." Well, the DL Momorail fleet seems to be doing alright. They got new bodies in the late 80's, but they are the exact same chasies and motors that were installed when the track was extended to the DLH in the early 60's. They're even working on putting new bodies on again, but the stuff that makes them actually move will all pretty much stay original, and well maintained. As for them saying that they couldn't do anything about it, perhaps they meant the people on your monorail couldn't really do anything to speed up the progress ahead of them. Although they could have done something, for all intensive purposes, they really had no options at that point other than to sit and wait.
Originally Posted By gurgitoy2 ...I don't know, Disneyland's monorails weren't in such hot shape either. There were times when only one was operational, and others cannibalized for parts. WDW should be better about maintenance though, since theirs is used as real transportation to and from the parks. You would think you want to make a great first impression on your guests on arrival at the MK, and not have long delays and dirty monorails.
Originally Posted By DAR Hey it could have been worse, you could have been stuck with Blaine the Mono and his riddles.
Originally Posted By Witches of Morva ORGOCH: Ain't I been tellin' ya's all along it ain't safe ta ride them dang Monster-rails?! Take the boat! It's worth the wait! ORDDU: My sisters and I are right behind TDLFAN and support him all the way on this issue because we've noticed that the Walt Disney World monorails aren't as efficient as they used to be, either. We hardly ever ride them any more. The one recent time we did we rode in the front with the driver--that is Orwen and I did--Orgoch refused to get on. ORWEN: We asked the Monorail driver what had been happening to make the monorails break down so much more over the past two years. But he denied that they've been breaking down at all!! ORDDU: We decided not to argue with him. Obviously he was in denial. But we've seen more monorails stranded on the tracks for longer periods of time, lately, than ever. Regardless of what Cast members are willing to admit, there IS an on-going problem with them. ORWEN: You should hear some of the horror stories we get to listen to from other guests--while waiting in line for other attractions at the park--while they repeat their awful experiences being stranded on one of those fiendish metal contraptions. If you're claustrophobic or really need to use a restroom sooner than the monorail is willing to move, well, you'd just better take sister Orgoch's advice and take the Ferry Boat. The air's certainly a lot fresher there, anyway.
Originally Posted By vbdad55 <Anyone want a Dream Lanyard? < Can I get a stalled monorail pin with that ?
Originally Posted By jaycub <<ORGOCH: Ain't I been tellin' ya's all along it ain't safe ta ride them dang Monster-rails?! Take the boat! It's worth the wait!>> Maybe it's the pirate in me witches, but I would rather take the boats than any other form of transportation at WDW
Originally Posted By Witches of Morva ORGOCH: Hey! Ain't nothin' wrong with bein' a pirate! Some a my best buds is pirates! They sure likes it when I shares my brew with 'em, too!
Originally Posted By GalDisney This happened to me a couple of months ago. was on the express monorail to the MK and almost to the MK, near the bus stops area, the moniorail stopped. The CM came over the PA and said there was technical difficulties with a monorail ahead of us. In the meantime it is hot, kids inside are bored and crying, etc Not to mention the fact i had to use the bathroom :0..so 25 minutes later the train starts to move again. That is one reason i kind of am leary of the monorail, it is above ground, and if it gets stuck or something happens, you are stuck and cant get off the darned thing.
