Guests Stuck on Monorail When Doors Fail to Open

[JaxDad]

I never said the fleet wasn’t past it’s prime. Obviously there was a CM error here though. It’s not distinctly on Disney and the trains.

The CM is employed, managed, and presumably trained by Disney though.

 

[mshanson3121]

I never said the fleet wasn’t past it’s prime. Obviously there was a CM error here though. It’s not distinctly on Disney and the trains.

It is distinctly on the train. The train malfunctioned. Fact. If that had not happened, the rest of it would be moot .

 

[rteetz]

It is distinctly on the train. The train malfunctioned. Fact. If that had not happened, the rest of it would be moot .

Agree to disagree then. There is error on both ends. Again yes the trains need to be replaced.

 

[mshanson3121]

You’re mistaken the door did not really fall off. The door was unhinged and then when the crew was there to remove the door that’s when it fell. The train was not in service at the time. I posted a full run down of exactly what happened with that story.

Right. Sorry, I should have said, "Don't forget doors coming unhinged"

 

[rteetz]

The CM is employed, managed, and presumably trained by Disney though.

Which is another issue. Either not proper training or they went against their training. It was said either the emergency phone wasn’t not answered or not working. If not answered a CM didn’t do their job on that aspect and if not working a CM didn’t do their job during inspection.

 

[mshanson3121]

Agree to disagree then. There is error on both ends. Again yes the trains need to be replaced.

There's nothing to disagree about. It is an undisputable FACT that the train malfunctioned .There is no way for you to argue that. I've already agreed the CMs screwed up, too. Big time. But your initial post was trying to down play the mechanical end of things, which you just can't, since it was at the heart of all of it.

 

[rteetz]

Right. Sorry, I should have said, "Don't forget doors coming unhinged"

Yep everything is 100% on Disney and guests and CMs never do anything wrong ever. Thanks got it.

 

[rteetz]

There's nothing to disagree about. It is an undisputable FACT that the train malfunctioned .There is no way for you to argue that. I've already agreed the CMs screwed up too. But you can't just try and downplay the mechanical end of things .

I’m not downplaying. I specifically have said several times now that the trains do need to be replaced. We shouldn’t just forget that CMs didnt do what is right either. Had CMs done something right away things likely wouldn’t have even been a story.

This stuff gets overplayed so much in social media. I guarantee there were monorail issues since the beginning in 1971 we just didn’t hear about it because there was no social media and phones for everything to get shared. Sure it’s probably happening more frequently but it’s not unlike any other transportation system. Buses, planes, trains, cars, etc. they all have issues at times.

 

[umichigan10]

Yep everything is 100% on Disney and guests and CMs never do anything wrong ever. Thanks got it.

I understand your sentiment and that people like to pile on Disney because they’re a big company and such. However, anything monorail related I have very little sympathy toward them for. There’s been clear neglect from the highest level to invest money into new trains. So whenever something like this happens, even if there was a breakdown in the process by staff, it annoys me because they haven’t addressed the main problem yet

 

[mshanson3121]

This seems more a CM error than anything.

I’m not downplaying.

This little back and forth all started because of your initial comment, which yes, was downplaying the mechanical .In fact all your initial comments were solely about the CMs, how this was a CM issue more than anything else and you said not a word about the mechanical or the fleet needing to be replaced until much later, after I "called you out" on it.

I get it. Like the word or not, you do tend to be a bit of an apologist sometimes. You're young and in love and it's hard to see or admit the flaws in your beloved. Its normal.

At any rate, at the end of the day, we both agree that the CMs screwed up. And I agree that needs to be addressed. However, the continuing mechanical failures is a problem that needs to be addressed, and shouldn't be hidden behind CM failure.

As for "media overblown", when cars and planes fail - it gets talked about just as much, indeed far more, in the news. Why do you expect anything less from Disney? One of these days that "merely unhinged" door *is* going to fall off and kill someone if Disney doesn't get their act together.

 

[rteetz]

I understand your sentiment and that people like to pile on Disney because they’re a big company and such. However, anything monorail related I have very little sympathy toward them for. There’s been clear neglect from the highest level to invest money into new trains. So whenever something like this happens, even if there was a breakdown in the process by staff, it annoys me because they haven’t addressed the main problem yet

I understand. I disagree there is clear neglect. Disney has in fact been working on such but these investments take time and when working with a third party some aspects are not in their control. In this instance Bombardier is not the easiest company to work this.

Disney is still investing in these existing trains. Most of them have gotten refurbishments over the last few years and the ones which haven’t will be getting them soon. Anytime there is an issue that monorail is immediately taken out of service and inspected and fixed. If Disney didn’t care at all they wouldn’t fix them or refurb them.

I am completely with everyone here saying they need to be replaced because they do. These trains are past their life span but it’s not too much different from any other mode of transportation. The older something gets the more issues it has and you fix them until you can replace it.

 

[rteetz]

This little back and forth all started because of your initial comment, which yes, was downplaying the mechanical .In fact all your initial comments were solely about the CMs, how this was a CM issue more than anything else and you said not a word about the mechanical or the fleet needing to be replaced until much later, after I "called you out" on it.

I get it. Like the word or not, you do tend to be a bit of an apologist sometimes. You're young and in love and it's hard to see or admit the flaws in your beloved. Its normal.

At any rate, at the end of the day, we both agree that the CMs screwed up. And I agree that needs to be addressed. However, the continuing mechanical failures is a problem that needs to be addressed, and shouldn't be hidden behind CM failure.

As for "media overblown", when cars and planes fail - it gets talked about just as much, indeed far more, in the news. Why do you expect anything less from Disney? One of these days that "merely unhinged" door *is* going to fall off and kill someone if Disney doesn't get their act together.

And there it is...

Go ahead and believe what you want. I’m staying what I know about the system. My initial comment still stands. Had a CM noticed the issue immediately we likely wouldn’t even be here talking about this right now.

Disney needs to replace the trains. They are past their lifetime. I’m not sure what more you want from me so I’m done here.

 

[mshanson3121]

And there it is...

Go ahead and believe what you want. I’m staying what I know about the system. My initial comment still stands. Had a CM noticed the issue immediately we likely wouldn’t even be here talking about this right now.

Disney needs to replace the trains. They are past their lifetime. I’m not sure what more you want from me so I’m done here.

Mostly for you to have just admitted that from the start instead of putting it all on the CMs Lol. But yes, let's let that lie.

Ultimately, the bigger issue mechanically speaking, is that while sure, Disney has something in the works now, they've shot themselves because of their short sightedness. This should have been in the works years ago. We should have had new monorails, now. Not in a few/several years from now. But they acted like every other dollar, not people, first company...

The reason this grieves so many people when malfunctions keep coming up is because a) this is a matter of "public" safety b) the monorail was one of their biggest icons and it's sad they let it get to this point c) it's hard to cite the monorail as a perk of the resorts when it's frequently malfunctioning d) malfunctions only serve to increase demand on the oft-overloaded bus system.

 

[rteetz]

putting it all on the CMs

I never did that.

The reason this grieves so many people when malfunctions keep coming up is because a) this is a matter of "public" safety b) the monorail was one of their biggest icons and it's sad they let it get to this point c) it's hard to cite the monorail as a perk of the resorts when it's frequently malfunctioning d) malfunctions only serve to increase demand on the oft-overloaded bus system.

If the monorail were truly unsafe they wouldn't run them. Malfunctions and safety concerns can and will happen with any mode of transportation brand new or decades old. Just the other day a brand new gondola system malfunctioned should Disney stop construction of theirs? Nothing is perfect.

 

[Happyinwonerland]

I understand. I disagree there is clear neglect. Disney has in fact been working on such but these investments take time and when working with a third party some aspects are not in their control. In this instance Bombardier is not the easiest company to work this.

Disney is still investing in these existing trains. Most of them have gotten refurbishments over the last few years and the ones which haven’t will be getting them soon. Anytime there is an issue that monorail is immediately taken out of service and inspected and fixed. If Disney didn’t care at all they wouldn’t fix them or refurb them.

I am completely with everyone here saying they need to be replaced because they do. These trains are past their life span but it’s not too much different from any other mode of transportation. The older something gets the more issues it has and you fix them until you can replace it.

The thing is, Disney has known since the day they bought the trains that they would need replacing. They knew the lifespan, ignored it, and attempted to keep "refurbishing" them. If the estimated lifespan is, say, 15 years (I have no idea- just throwing a # out there)and it is known that it takes 3 years to fill the order (again, just a # for arguments sake), then they should have placed that order 3 years prior to when the fleet needed to retire. The bottom line is they waited a long as possible, in order to save money, at the risk of guest safety and experience. Now they've waited too long and even if they placed the order today, it will be years before the situation is fixed.

 

[rteetz]

The thing is, Disney has known since the day they bought the trains that they would need replacing. They knew the lifespan, ignored it, and attempted to keep "refurbishing" them. If the estimated lifespan is, say, 15 years (I have no idea- just throwing a # out there)and it is known that it takes 3 years to fill the order (again, just a # for arguments sake), then they should have placed that order 3 years prior to when the fleet needed to retire. The bottom line is they waited a long as possible, in order to save money, at the risk of guest safety and experience. Now they've waited too long and even if they placed the order today, it will be years before the situation is fixed.

There is no set lifespan. There is an expected lifespan. It's like a car. A car could run for decades if up kept. I can almost guarantee any company would wait as long as possible to replace a major expense like monorails. They are one of the most expensive modes of transportation there is. I stand by my statement that if they were truly unsafe they wouldn't run them.

I am not trying to be a so called "Disney apologist". I am trying to use facts and what I know.

 

[mshanson3121]

I never did that.



If the monorail were truly unsafe they wouldn't run them. Malfunctions and safety concerns can and will happen with any mode of transportation brand new or decades old. Just the other day a brand new gondola system malfunctioned should Disney stop construction of theirs? Nothing is perfect.

So.... Because everything else malfunctions, it makes it okay? That may be the worst excuse anyone has ever used.

 

[rteetz]

So.... Because everything else malfunctions, it makes it okay? That may be the worst excuse anyone has ever used.

That’s not what I said. I’m also not making excuses.

 

[mshanson3121]

That’s not what I said. I’m also not making excuses.

It is and you are.

Let's change the scenario:

Your child dies in a plane crash because the plane was aging and had not been well maintained. The company knew the fleet was aging, that it needed to be replaced, but it just kept trying to patch things up for the sake of the almighty dollar.

You think you'll still be saying: "If the planes were truly unsafe they wouldn't run them. Malfunctions and safety concerns can and will happen with any mode of transportation brand." Insert a careless shoulder shrug here.

No. You're going to be angry as heck at a company that was arguably criminally negligent.

Extreme? Perhaps. But Disney has known the system is aging for a long time and has done nothing but try and patch things up enough to get by. In recent years they have had malfunctions that could have resulted in serious or death. They've thankfully gotten lucky. Just because everything malfunctions, doesn't make this okay. Which yes, is what your comment comes across as implying.

 

[Farro]

So.... Because everything else malfunctions, it makes it okay? That may be the worst excuse anyone has ever used.

Why are you being so aggressive? He has his opinion and you have yours.

The monorails need replacing and the CM(s) hold some responsibility in this incident.

And let's be honest, a stuck door is not exactly extreme malfunctioning. Happens every single day on the El lines in Chicago.