Does the MK seem different without the railroad?

[yulilin3]

I will definitely miss it! My oldest son has always been obsessed with trains and I was looking forward to him getting to ride it - but since it's his first time at Disney and doesn't even know it's there I think he'll be ok without it.

With the train not operating they have it parked at the train station and you can get a picture with the engine and also go inside and blow the whistle, something you don't get to do if it was operating

 

[Blarnson]

With the train not operating they have it parked at the train station and you can get a picture with the engine and also go inside and blow the whistle, something you don't get to do if it was operating

You can't go into the engine cab, it's blocked off. Also, you can't blow the whistle - but you can ring the bell; a rope is extended outside of the engine to allow you to ring the bell.

 

[yulilin3]

You can't go into the engine cab, it's blocked off. Also, you can't blow the whistle - but you can ring the bell; a rope is extended outside of the engine to allow you to ring the bell.

You're right it's the bell. I saw young kid inside the engineer booth (don't know the lingo) when I was there, a cm was with him making sure he didn't touch anything, maybe it was a magical moment?

 

[Cinderumbrella]

I was there last week and completely forgot it was closed.

However, I suspect I will miss it way more once the heat & humidity arrives as we use it mostly to avoid a hot walk across the park (and to avoid a crowded Hub area).

 

[momma2ethan]

I have always read about how Walt himself loved trains. I wonder what he would think of the parks today-what he would approve of and what he would shake his head over.

I don't think Walt would disapprove of the temporary closure of the railroad. It's not closed "just because", it's closed so that expansions can be made to the park. He himself is quoted as saying "Disneyland will never be completed. It will continue to grow as long as there is imagination left in the world." I know he was specifically speaking about Disneyland but there's no reason he would have felt any different about WDW's continued growth

 

[marcyleecorgan]

walt would have been horrified that they push the maintenance on the trains as long as possible these days...

 

[BK2014]

walt would have been horrified that they push the maintenance on the trains as long as possible these days...

Walt died before construction on Disney World even began. He very well may have disliked a lot about how things actually turned out. Or not. To make definitive statements one way or the other is impossible.

 

[FCDub]

Gotta love a good "What would Walt say?" thread divergence.

 

[dolewhipdreams]

You're right it's the bell. I saw young kid inside the engineer booth (don't know the lingo) when I was there, a cm was with him making sure he didn't touch anything, maybe it was a magical moment?

Regardless, I found it really neat to go and take an up-close look at the engine and ask the engineers questions. They also seemed really excited to have someone talk to them about it, since many people probably just leave the station once they hear that the train is down. If you've got folks in your party that love trains, it's a special thing to do that isn't always available

 

[Minnesota!]

It didn't feel any different to me, but I really don't pay attention to it.

 

[ForMyBoys]

For our first few trips it was too hard to ride with strollers. I was so excited the first trip we went w/o strollers and we just had the worst luck catching the train and it was long and we ended up using it twice maybe? i think what Universal has done w/ their HP train is so fun and it works as a ride and transportation.

 

[HMANSION LOVER]

Yes the Hogwarts Express is a very cool indeed but, it is not so much a method of transportation as it is a way to make you pay up for a park hopper pass. You can go to Universal and enjoy Hogwarts one day, then the next day go to Islands of Adventure and do Diagon Alley. But if you do hogwarts and then take the express to Diagon you need a hopper. Not complaining at all just hope the exec that came up with that idea got a nice bonus because they are most likely selling a butt load more hoppers because of it.

 

[epcotty]

It was closed when we were there in December, we didn't miss it that much and it didn't seem different. And we went on it every time before

 

[ChimneyJim]

I’m actually still salty about the welcome show moving from the train to the castle. I loved, loved, loved the train welcome show. The new one is cute, but I just adored the train show.

Total agreement. I hate the new system. DLR does it this way and I thought it was one of the few ways WDW did it better.