Originally Posted By Mr X ***The idea of automated monorails doesn't particularly sound too nice to me.. I feel that there has to be a pilot of some sort on the monorail, even if they are doing nothing to control the monorail. Walt believed in showmanship, and the pilots are part of the show.*** I disagree. It's pretty neat "show" to have a monorail that drives itself after all. And besides, a great advantage in Tokyo is that far more people can get a nice view out the front window, not just the lucky "four" that either get picked or have to ask for special treatment. It works at Tokyo Disneyland, it would be fine at WDW as well (assuming they would take on the expense...my feeling is that they'd just scrap the whole thing and run more buses if it becomes too much of a hassle for them).
Originally Posted By Mr X ***Or maybe they're just giving the drivers the opportunity to focus on the driving without any distractions, particularly at such a short time after the accident. Can you imagine being the monorail driver the days/weeks after this and have to answer all the questions from guests over and over again each trip about what happened on the morning of July 5th?*** That's a reasonable point. I wonder if that's really what went into the decision making though. My feeling is that particular memo came straight from Disney legal.
Originally Posted By wahooskipper If I'm a driver I don't know how often I would be able to listen to the, "did you know the guy who was killed" questions. The monorail crew is pretty tight knit. I suspect everyone knew him. I agree this is the right decision. If they make it a permanent situation I'm not going to lose sleep over it.
Originally Posted By -em I *think* I'm caught up- As for policy- I don't know currently but when I was in 'rails we backed up through the switches without anyone in the back cab. As for the no-one in the front cab- That was also "policy" after 9/11. Personally I think its a great idea right now as the 'rail pilots need their space to deal with what happened without every single person sharing their thoughts/feelings and theories on the accident... The more I think of it the more I realize that had it been me in either pink or purple or even the station I'm not sure I would've responded any different knowing how many times when I was the one stuck in station I wasn't watching the track ahead because quite frankly I didn't *have* to. It was time to fix the speels, tie the shoes, stretch and all those other things that happen. Had I been on the platform- I would've prob noticed pink but not sure how fast I would've comprehend it was on the wrong track etc... You didn't think of the what ifs because you didn't know they even existed.
Originally Posted By sharpc I'll lose sleep over it if they make it a permanent decision.. I really feel that having that time in the cabin with the pilot is one of those things that makes Disney World special. All the little things are what makes (or made if you're feeling Spirited) Disney a great place. Please don't let this be a permanent situation.
Originally Posted By barboy Reason #87 why Tokyo Disney pound for pound is far supreme to any other Disney destination is shown in trekkerus's picture of the TDR monorail. Notice the monorail's cool Mickey hand rings and windows as well as how immaculate the trains are.
Originally Posted By sharpc <<Reason #87 why Tokyo Disney pound for pound is far supreme to any other Disney destination is shown in trekkerus's picture of the TDR monorail. Notice the monorail's cool Mickey hand rings and windows as well as how immaculate the trains are.>> I was thinking the same thing. Plus, they have a really really beautiful new hotel.
Originally Posted By ChiMike >>As for policy- I don't know currently but when I was in 'rails we backed up through the switches without anyone in the back cab. << I'm talking mid to late 80's. Thanks for the input. I don't agree with it being SOP, but I guess they have been doing it for several years.
Originally Posted By SpokkerJones "Notice the monorail's cool Mickey hand rings and windows as well as how immaculate the trains are." To be fair, the monorail at Tokyo Disney was built as part of the TDS expansion. The Walt Disney World monorail was very modern in its heyday.
Originally Posted By ImaginingDisney001 >>>>>> The automated "ugly ones" appear to work wonderfully. They also seem to run at a considerably higher speed than the Disney monorails. It cost a fortune, but Las Vegas has one slick monorail system. <<<<<<< Yes they are running nicely now. But they were falling apart when delivered. The manufacturer was called in and held responsible and they could not keep them running. It became so bad that that they were concerned about the parts falling off the monorails and killing someone below or hitting a car where it crossed the roadway. They were rebuilt many times to try to get them to run without falling apart. It cost a fortune to get them running and if I remember right, the delays and cost ran rampant. All these problems caused the city to not want to invest in any expansion and required the monorail system to run without incedent before they wanted to be talked to about any expansion. These are supposed to be the updated MK VI but the MK VI at WDW were built much better and had no concerns of falling apart while in operation. They are running ok now but the city and press crucified the transit co during the times they kept falling apart. I'm sure the articals are still on the net, you can search them out and read them. ID
Originally Posted By beamerdog >>As for the no-one in the front cab- That was also "policy" after 9/11.<< That must have been only in effect for a short time as I have a picture of us in the front in November.
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Originally Posted By mperry After the terrible event this weekend at WDW and watching the news coverage seems that the news people and non-disney fans seems to not understand just how much we all love Disney. Austin Wuennenberg was doing what he loved to do; He loved Disney and the monorail. I pray for the family and friends that remain here on earth. I am also happy that the Disney fan community came out and made # Austin a twitter trend. What a wonderful extended family to be a part of you have all made me proud. Michael J Perry Videographer/editor Raycom media
Originally Posted By leobloom I agree with much of what's being said here about management and safety. A seemingly-knowledgable poster on another forum mentioned that Central didn't have to be present at the station to visually verify that the switch occurs. Central is also an upper-level position, evidently. He said you have to be made trainer, then coordinator, then can serve as Central. In other words, it sounds like the faulty "all-clear" that was sent to Pink may have been sent by Central when Central wasn't even present. Pretty incredible, if you ask me. Especially given how safety is supposed to be such an overriding concern at WDW. I also can't help but wonder if this accident had resulted in the death of guests, if Disney would have re-opened the Monorail this quickly.
Originally Posted By dshyates "And I could barely find a spot at the Crossroads McD's at 11 to every live truck in town was ready to lead their news..." I wish I had known you were over there. I was manning the CFNews13 Live Truck. But I was in the Pizzaria Uno parking lot across the crossroads entrance from the McD's. I would have popped over to say Hi!.
Originally Posted By Sport Goofy << Pretty incredible, if you ask me. Especially given how safety is supposed to be such an overriding concern at WDW. >> Not that incredible. I've been a safety program manager before. It requires constant energy and dogged attention to keep these programs running. You can go and do a safety inspection in the morning, correct areas of concern, and then come back in the evening and find people making the same mistakes that were corrected hours before. Then you correct then again the next day, and the day after that, and the day after that. You have to have a very Draconian sense of rules enforcement to get your point across, and you have to repeat that process constantly. If you turn your head for an instant, it's likely that people will relax their standards. Sometimes, it's really incredible how persistent people can be at ignoring safety regulations -- and it extends throughout a workforce. You can be flippant and say just fire those that don't comply, but you would be out of people to work by the end of a week or two. Safety is hard work, and a thankless task for those who have to do it. I have no idea how well (or not well) the WDW safety organization is maintained, but you will have accidents even in the best safety organizations. They are inevitable.
Originally Posted By -em >>I wish I had known you were over there. I was manning the CFNews13 Live Truck. But I was in the Pizzaria Uno parking lot across the crossroads entrance from the McD's. I would have popped over to say Hi!.<< Geez we could've had a LP meet in the parking lot
Originally Posted By ChiMike >>These are supposed to be the updated MK VI but the MK VI at WDW were built much better and had no concerns of falling apart while in operation.<< The Mark VI's were also a disaster when they came online to replace the Mark IV's.
Originally Posted By ChiMike >>A seemingly-knowledgable poster on another forum mentioned that Central didn't have to be present at the station to visually verify that the switch occurs. Central is also an upper-level position, evidently. He said you have to be made trainer, then coordinator, then can serve as Central. In other words, it sounds like the faulty "all-clear" that was sent to Pink may have been sent by Central when Central wasn't even present.>> My information is probably outdated. In the past Central could only confirm/verify switch status by a check in the tower.
