When will we get a new fleet of Monorail?

Skyline is replying Buss. Not only replacing the bus, but doing better service. Replacing bus drivers with lower paying CM to board the SL. This will save money in the long run.
Because it saves money and fixing the long lines to get on a bus. Don’t think it’s totally dead. If Disney go back to getting people back in the parks and starts to make money. SL May be the first thing to start up.

After fixing Epcot somehow
Buses will never be fully replaced. Disney needs them as a back up. The Skyliner cannot run in storms.
 
Maybe just me but is the blog person who did the video posted by the OP always that giddy looking at a brochure? It looks mostly like a colorful history of Disney monorails. I think the reference at the end relates to some kind of new Epcot ride not a new monorail.

When we were at Disney last year, some of the existing monorail cars were in the process of being refurbished. Not surprising that something used that often would experience a lot of wear and tear over time.
 
Skyline is replying Buss. Not only replacing the bus, but doing better service. Replacing bus drivers with lower paying CM to board the SL. This will save money in the long run.
Because it saves money and fixing the long lines to get on a bus. Don’t think it’s totally dead. If Disney go back to getting people back in the parks and starts to make money. SL May be the first thing to start up.

After fixing Epcot somehow
And I don’t think any major construction, like a new skyliner track, will be built for many years at this point.
 
Buses will never be fully replaced. Disney needs them as a back up. The Skyliner cannot run in storms.

and Disney surely aren't keeping a bunch of buses and drivers on retainer for just in case the skyliner is down. I'm guessing they're thinning the fleet a little, but I always figured the skyliner was as much about road congestion as anything else.
 


Monorails were interesting when they first came out. Now, they seem pretty dated. Disney needs to showcase something more modern. If Walt was still around, I'd expect he would want to show off newer tech. Maybe Disney can have a hyperloop to the parks.

https://virginhyperloop.com/
 
https://blogmickey.com/2020/08/monorail-mark-x-attraction-coming-to-epcot/



Kind of a click-baity thread title but I’m surprised this story hasnt gotten much discussion in the 5 days since this leaked.

I have my doubts that this is an actual working monorail coming to the PLAY! Pavilion as theres just not enough space in that building, and we probably would have gotten leaks prior to this. In all likelihood, it’ll probably be either a background prop, or a standstill walkthrough interactive attraction. I remember Bob Gurr mentioning a year or two ago that there were new monorails being “imagined” due to the unreliability of the current fleet. But who knows if that was actually in Disney’s plans, or if its even in the cards anymore.

Could this new Mark X Monorail “attraction?” show us what the next fleet of the Monorail would possibly look like? What would you like to see in a new fleet of Monorail? Other than doors that close, and more reliability in general.
I wonder if the Body Wars attraction is still intact. They could convert it to the Mark-X attraction.
 
Maybe just me but is the blog person who did the video posted by the OP always that giddy looking at a brochure? It looks mostly like a colorful history of Disney monorails. I think the reference at the end relates to some kind of new Epcot ride not a new monorail.

When we were at Disney last year, some of the existing monorail cars were in the process of being refurbished. Not surprising that something used that often would experience a lot of wear and tear over time.

Its not a new Monorail, its an attraction in EPCOT. The question I posed was parallel to the article in that, eventually, whether its 5, 10, 20 years down the line, the monorail’s will likely need an aggressive update and whether this new attraction may give some sort of hint of what we could possibly see from the transit system in the future
 


I never say this about the monorails at WDW because I think Disney has run them well past the use by date, but at this point, they should definitely wait and see what happens with Bombardier and Alstrom. Bombardier is one step above bankruptcy. They have a terrible record of completing projects on time and on quality. Being on the razor's edge isn't going to help that. Other than owning the blueprints for what Disney needs, there is no way Disney should do long-term business with them right now. So this "refresh" that originally annoyed the crud out of me, now seems like a smart move. If they can get 5 more years out of these monorails and then deal with Alstrom to have a new fleet delivered over the next 5 years, they are going to be way better off than dealing with Bombardier, who would be 5 years overdue and garbage quality anyway.
 
Skyline is replying Buss. Not only replacing the bus, but doing better service. Replacing bus drivers with lower paying CM to board the SL. This will save money in the long run.
Because it saves money and fixing the long lines to get on a bus. Don’t think it’s totally dead. If Disney go back to getting people back in the parks and starts to make money. SL May be the first thing to start up.

After fixing Epcot somehow
Never going to happen. While in the future, I have no doubt that Disney will add Skyliner routes, they will never replace the bus system. Cutbacks on Skyliner routes, sure. Buses are flexible and cheap, more can be added as needed. Skyliner routes still need bus backup in inclement weather.
 
I never say this about the monorails at WDW because I think Disney has run them well past the use by date, but at this point, they should definitely wait and see what happens with Bombardier and Alstrom. Bombardier is one step above bankruptcy.

So how long should they wait? Waiting is what got them into this scenario.
 
So how long should they wait? Waiting is what got them into this scenario.
Given they are currently refurbing them, again, they are clearly planning to have the same ones running for a while. Let's face it, a replacement of the current trains would be a several year process anyway. I'd assume this refurb is to provide at least a 5 to 10yr lifespan for some of the current stock. Even if the contract were signed today, it would be a year or two, at least, before first delivery of a single train and then probably 6 months between each delivery at minimum. I'd assume they are trying to buy several years before having to sign that contract and then to cannibalize older trains to keep a few running over the long replacement process.

Of course, the options for replacement are interesting as well. Do they reuse the running gear and just replace the cabins, as they've done in the past, or do they go completely new trains bottom up? If completely new trains, do they shut down the system for a year or more and upspec the electrical to work with a more modern system, even if the beams are still a limiting factor? There are pluses and minuses to that idea for the long-term. Then there are amenities, such as do they build in onboard electrical storage for emergencies?

Who knows? But I suspect the ongoing refurb is designed to buy them 3-5 years before a contract needs to be signed, and 5-10 years before replacement is completed. In my opinion, part of the reason all this was so delayed was the automation upgrade. If they hadn't been so focused on having that much overdue project finished, tested, and ready to go for the next generation, I believe the contract would have been signed 5 years ago. However, that project, by all accounts, was late and not particularly smooth in implementation, so it pushed things back.

And now here we are with a whole new set of impediments to large infrastructure investment. Especially the kind of investment that isn't really going to drive much new revenue. A new ride has definite payback. While there is a subset of Disney folks who will come and spend money just to ride on "new" monorails, it's a lot smaller than the subset that will come and spend money to go on a new rollercoaster. It's just not as sexy, though very needed. And when all this COVID stuff ends, Disney is going to need sexy more than they need new monorails to get people visiting again in the numbers they had in 2019...
 
Interesting - we had no issues at all. Well, other than the TTT to Epcot monorails were not running. That was a bummer.
How often is the monorail actually evacuated? I honestly feel like people exaggerate the unreliability of the monorails. I hear a lot about it but it just hasn’t been our experience. People talk about the condition, but they’re in the process of updating them and the updates are nice 🤷🏻‍♀️

I think in the last 2-4 years, I can only think of about 3 times hearing or ready news that the monorail was evacuated. It is more the long delays that I do not like. My cousin was stuck for about an hour once in the last couple of years. I have been stuck for up to about 20 minutes once over the last few years. Every so often, we have sat unmoving for about 5 minutes or so.

It is funny, since I rode the monorails for the first time in 1985 and it was fun and a novelty, but not as magical as arriving at MK on the big ferries watching MK get closer and closer. I still enjoy the occasional monorail ride and treasure my memory of riding in front with my parents and sister, but I only ride now when I do not have a specific time to be somewhere.
 
Given they are currently refurbing them, again, they are clearly planning to have the same ones running for a while. Let's face it, a replacement of the current trains would be a several year process anyway. I'd assume this refurb is to provide at least a 5 to 10yr lifespan for some of the current stock. Even if the contract were signed today, it would be a year or two, at least, before first delivery of a single train and then probably 6 months between each delivery at minimum. I'd assume they are trying to buy several years before having to sign that contract and then to cannibalize older trains to keep a few running over the long replacement process.

Of course, the options for replacement are interesting as well. Do they reuse the running gear and just replace the cabins, as they've done in the past, or do they go completely new trains bottom up? If completely new trains, do they shut down the system for a year or more and upspec the electrical to work with a more modern system, even if the beams are still a limiting factor? There are pluses and minuses to that idea for the long-term. Then there are amenities, such as do they build in onboard electrical storage for emergencies?

Who knows? But I suspect the ongoing refurb is designed to buy them 3-5 years before a contract needs to be signed, and 5-10 years before replacement is completed. In my opinion, part of the reason all this was so delayed was the automation upgrade. If they hadn't been so focused on having that much overdue project finished, tested, and ready to go for the next generation, I believe the contract would have been signed 5 years ago. However, that project, by all accounts, was late and not particularly smooth in implementation, so it pushed things back.

And now here we are with a whole new set of impediments to large infrastructure investment. Especially the kind of investment that isn't really going to drive much new revenue. A new ride has definite payback. While there is a subset of Disney folks who will come and spend money just to ride on "new" monorails, it's a lot smaller than the subset that will come and spend money to go on a new rollercoaster. It's just not as sexy, though very needed. And when all this COVID stuff ends, Disney is going to need sexy more than they need new monorails to get people visiting again in the numbers they had in 2019...

I would like to think with the reduced capacity/usage at MK and EPCOT, the end of design life and even the refurbishments life just got further extended. But, in my mind this is the perfect time to execute that contract for a new monorail system. Given the lead-time to actual deliveries, this might line up well with a 3-5 years with the current state of WDW. Spending monies on R&D and technologies are best done during industry downturns to be positioned to capitalize when the market(s) return. However, the monorails are a transport system and I don't feel have the same draw from decades ago. But, perhaps merging an attraction with a new monorail system is an option (I'm looking at Hogwart's Express).

It's easy for me to spend that money, but I would like to think there had to be a coffer set-up for a replacement. I don't know what the beam's life expectancy is, but I am concerned about investing the monies onto the transport vehicle and then be in a closing window on the beams. Then again, maybe the plan is to drive the monorails into the financial ground in favor of another system.

So I guess I don't understand the trigger point or mechanism it is going to take to invest into a new monorail system or to try and piece mail it as the recent refurbishments suggest. That is why I question if waiting is really a viable option knowing of what lies down the road, or in this case, the monorail.
 
I would like to think with the reduced capacity/usage at MK and EPCOT, the end of design life and even the refurbishments life just got further extended. But, in my mind this is the perfect time to execute that contract for a new monorail system. Given the lead-time to actual deliveries, this might line up well with a 3-5 years with the current state of WDW. Spending monies on R&D and technologies are best done during industry downturns to be positioned to capitalize when the market(s) return. However, the monorails are a transport system and I don't feel have the same draw from decades ago. But, perhaps merging an attraction with a new monorail system is an option (I'm looking at Hogwart's Express).

It's easy for me to spend that money, but I would like to think there had to be a coffer set-up for a replacement. I don't know what the beam's life expectancy is, but I am concerned about investing the monies onto the transport vehicle and then be in a closing window on the beams. Then again, maybe the plan is to drive the monorails into the financial ground in favor of another system.

So I guess I don't understand the trigger point or mechanism it is going to take to invest into a new monorail system or to try and piece mail it as the recent refurbishments suggest. That is why I question if waiting is really a viable option knowing of what lies down the road, or in this case, the monorail.
I think concern about the beams is probably overstated to a large degree. Yes, the EPCOT ones are assumed to be more problematic based on what is known of their construction, but concrete is incredibly resilient. I think a lot of peoples' concern is based on surface markings because that's really all we have to go on. Disney isn't really going to come out and provide a lifespan or an analysis of the structural integrity of the system. But concrete can be awfully pitted and tarnished on the surface and still be structurally sound. Until you hear of chunks dropping off and netting being placed under the track and around the columns, something that is fairly common in parts of our disintegrating Interstate system that we continue to push millions of tons of traffic over annually, it's hard to point to anything visible that would tell you the beams are reaching the end of their functional life cycle.
 
Monorails were interesting when they first came out. Now, they seem pretty dated. Disney needs to showcase something more modern. If Walt was still around, I'd expect he would want to show off newer tech. Maybe Disney can have a hyperloop to the parks.

https://virginhyperloop.com/

A hyperloop would scarcely make sense. The resort loop would never have enough room to get up to speed (although it can go fast, it still has to keep a reasonable acceleration curve so it doesn't throw people around the cabin - especially kids who are standing). Even the epcot train would barely have the room it needed. They would be more likely to build a skyliner to epcot from TTC then replace the monorail with a hyperloop.

However, I always had this dream of system similar to the hyperloop pods since I was like 14 or so where they load you in and you can choose your destination on a big screen, then it displays information about the park / hotel while you go there. Each pod could fit up to a family. It's similar to the skyliner, but the critical difference would be that you could choose where you are going, and it would go directly there and not stop at intermediate destinations. Another critical difference is that additional pods could be stored in a holding area and brought very rapidly to places where there was increased need, so wait times would be minimum. Before you say this would be difficult, let me draw your attention to warehouse tracks and baggage systems in airports that have had similar systems for 50+ years.
 
A hyperloop would scarcely make sense. The resort loop would never have enough room to get up to speed (although it can go fast, it still has to keep a reasonable acceleration curve so it doesn't throw people around the cabin - especially kids who are standing). Even the epcot train would barely have the room it needed. They would be more likely to build a skyliner to epcot from TTC then replace the monorail with a hyperloop.

However, I always had this dream of system similar to the hyperloop pods since I was like 14 or so where they load you in and you can choose your destination on a big screen, then it displays information about the park / hotel while you go there. Each pod could fit up to a family. It's similar to the skyliner, but the critical difference would be that you could choose where you are going, and it would go directly there and not stop at intermediate destinations. Another critical difference is that additional pods could be stored in a holding area and brought very rapidly to places where there was increased need, so wait times would be minimum. Before you say this would be difficult, let me draw your attention to warehouse tracks and baggage systems in airports that have had similar systems for 50+ years.

Disney could build resort hotels farther away and use a hyper loop to get them to the park faster than the guest staying closer.

I’m thinking Walt would have wanted to keep up with the times.
 
Most delays I've faced recently have had more to do with the next station not being open so the train stalls between stops "waiting for traffic to clear."

What's the reason for a train to depart one station before the next station is clear? Why not just chill at the station until able to reach next one without stopping? I'd rather be stuck at a station with doors open and option to disembark if my anxiety kicks in than stuck between stations.
 
Most delays I've faced recently have had more to do with the next station not being open so the train stalls between stops "waiting for traffic to clear."

What's the reason for a train to depart one station before the next station is clear? Why not just chill at the station until able to reach next one without stopping? I'd rather be stuck at a station with doors open and option to disembark if my anxiety kicks in than stuck between stations.
The automation routine isn't written that way. It's done in blocks and the blocks are more frequent than just the hotels. To oversimplify, if block 1 is TTC and block 2 is the Poly but block 3 is halfway to the GF and block 4 is the GF. Then a monorail at the Poly may leave as soon as Block 3 is cleared but then get paused because Block 4 is not clear.
 

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