State of Transportation

[Captain_Nemo]

First of all the word "Light" in Light rail refers to capacity, not price. The Monorail is very efficient for moving large numbers of guest for moderately long distances. A light rail system would be intended for a moderate number of guest traveling shorter distances.

I don't think the Monorail was ever expected to be a big money maker any more than other pieces of the WDW infrastructure. I think Disney's original plan assumed one huge parking lot would be cheaper to maintain than several smaller lots, so they needed a mass transit system to make the concept work. Since then someone ran the numbers and realized that busses and drivers are cheaper and more flexible than a fixed rail system (the roads have already been built so they don't count).

All that being said, the least they could do is switch to busses that run on propane, or natural gas, or even…dare I say it…electricity!

By the way, the DL monorail used to require an E-ticket to ride. So there was a fee to "use" it once upon a time.

Captain Nemo

 

[seashoreCM]

>>> The 'bus' that I've seen for the All-Stars that I think you are referring to is the converted Semi-Trailer ...

On one of my Disney trips, I chose a busy time of year to be sure the semitrailer buses would be running in guest service, most of the time they carried CM's only.

Tandem semitrailer buses running between MK and a new station in the vicinity of Blizzard Beach would save greatly on labor costs. Guests would transfer to regular buses to All Star, Caribbean Beach, etc. at that south end station, you could call it TTC II.

The problem with tandem trailers (anywhere in the world) is that they cannot be merged or lane changed safely in heavy traffic. So the only way to run this kind of Disney transportation would be to have the trucks descend a ramp from TTC direc5tly into the left lane of World Drive Freeway without merging, cruise there, and exit from the left lane to the south end TTC II.

Alas I am told that the semitrailer buses have been converted into mobile home style office space.

 

[ztbz]

"Magical" modes of transportation is the Magic on Demand Bus System which is still being used or Tested in the morning hours at WDW.

The Magic of Demand System is still alive but the Computer Dispatch system has been trashed due to many problems with the system. Disney has been Testing various forms of Magic on Demand for the past couple of months. But the Buses work the best when they go back to the old Count Sheet system in the afternoons, Disney considers the Count sheet system to Labor costly which is why they are pushing magic on demand system where they feel they will save money on costs and have less Bus drivers on staff.

If you plan to go to Downtown Disney by Disney Bus allow a lot of time to do it. Because the Roads in around the Downtown Disney area is under Major Construction right at the moment and the buses go right through it.

 

[tater bug]

I don't post here because most of your conversations are WAY more info than I could ever get my hands on but I was wondering something...

could they use something similar to Wedway? My SO and I have often talked about how cool it would be utilize this. It would need to be enclosed somehow but we think the loading areas would move slow enough that just like Wedway, they would not need to stop for people to board (even the ones with strollers and the kitchen sink)

I hope this doesn't sound extremely stupid....

 

[Bstanley]

A WEDWay - oops sorry - TomorrowLand Transportation Authority - People Mover would be a seriously kewl way to get around WDW, but basically it would cost at least as much as a monorail line so I don't imagine it would ever come to pass.

Hmmm, unless the vehicles would be so much lighter than a monorail that the track would be a lot cheaper than the $Million(s?) a mile that an elevated train track/monorail track costs...

 

[DVCDAVE]

????????

Why does a monorail have to be elevated ?????

Seems to me it would be cheaper to build if it was at ground level like light rail, YET be far more magical then ANY light rail system.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[Bstanley]

i suspect the monorail is elevated because:

* it runs along a center beam (4 feet high?) rather than tracks on the ground,
* it gives people a nice view,
* it doesn't interfere with roads,
* it doesn't have to have a fence around it to keep critters or people from being run over,
* and it is elevated high in the air (out of reach of people and critters) because the voltage that the monorail is powered by is VERY dangerous. No need to get into Watts, Amps and Volts, but suffice it to say that if it was close to the ground it would kill anything that touched it.

Several of these reasons are also probably why there aren't any light rail lines on property either. Even though I personally think it would be kewl to take a Steam Train from AKL to AK

 

[DVCDAVE]

Wouldn't electrified light rail have the same problems and issues ?

 

[Bstanley]

Yes sir - if the wires were low enough to touch.

I imagine if they built an electric rail system they would buy Trolley or "Euro" style trains which use overhead electrical connections.

Give me a good old-fashioned smoke belching Steam Train! Even if it is really a diesel loco with steam faked somehow!

 

[Captain_Nemo]

DVCDAVE, your right the monorail doesn't have to be elevated, but for the reasons Bstanley mentioned, it is a good idea. I will only add that the added cost of raising the beam is not that much more in the overall cost of the system, and you would probably still want the beam to rise up at the stations so that you can clear cars and pedestrians.

Without going into excruciating detail, many forms of light rail use high voltage safely. You may have seen light rail cars that use only one power cable 20 feet in the air (the hot), while the rails in the ground provide the other side of the connection. Another option is to semi-enclose the hot cable, and give the rail cars a special brush armature that fits the enclosure like a sliding key. I know that the former is used all over the world, I am not sure if the later has been used in light rail. But given the number of cities in America, Europe, Asia, etc. that have electric light rail, I think that safety isn't an obstacle.

Bottom line though, Light rail is too light for park to park transportaion (my opinion).

Want a wild idea? How about a cable car system like the ones in San Francisco. Or how about a steam train that burns natural gas to boil the water? All the romance without the pollution.

Couldn't see a People mover for going park to park though. Imagine sitting there for hours as it plods along.

 

[Tik Tok]

You know where I'd really like to see a PeopleMover...

Downtown Disney! Walking from the Westside to the Marketplace side can be a major pain. How about a PeopleMover system with three stops - one by Cirque du Soliel, one at the entrance to Pleasure Island, and one somewhere on the Marketplace side.

And heck, if they really get ambitious, they could even build a PeopleMover loop for the Village hotels to a Downtown Disney monorail station - hence linking up that entire side of the property to the monorail transportation system. Now as to where the monorail goes from there, I'll leave that up to Disney to decide!!

 

[PKS44]

A nice, efficient and correctly themed mode of transportation would be to have a little tram running around the Boardwalk, like they have in Atlantic City--this would take folks from the Epcot resorts to and from Epcot more quickly than waiting for the boats and around from resort to resort...certainly an electric car should be able to circle around in either direction on the Boardwalk...quiet, quick and in theme...can't be beat...

Paul

 

[barreloflaughs]

Paul wrote:

A nice, efficient and correctly themed mode of transportation would be to have a little tram running around the Boardwalk, like they have in Atlantic City <snip> quiet, quick and in theme

Actually a nice idea, Paul....to complete the theming, however, you would need to add that annoying prerecorded woman's voice which repeats (ad nauseum): "Watch the tramcar,please".

Oh, and the Boardwalk shops would need to sell those t-shirts which read "#%&* the Tramcar".

carl
barrel of laughs

 

[seashoreCM]

>>> Why does a monorail have to be elevated ?????

Primary reason, to not have intersections with automobile clogged roads and therefore the accident hazard because of bad motorists.