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The Monorails Must Roll

The monorail station could be looking like this a lot more when Disney institutes its new reduced hours for the trains.
The monorail station could be looking like this a lot more when Disney institutes its new reduced hours for the trains.

One of my favorite Robert Heinlein short stories is “The Roads Must Roll.” Written in 1940, it speculates about a rapid transit system that would move people across the country in speed and comfort. The high speed nature of the rolling roads meant that maintenance was a huge deal. When the employees decided to organize for better working conditions, well, the shit hits the fan. In some ways it foretold the air controller strike of the Reagan era. These days there is an odd tie-in to the Walt Disney World monorails system too.

Walt Disney World just announced they would be reducing the operating hours of their monorail fleet. They used to run 1.5 hours after the parks closed or after the last scheduled event (extra magic hours, christmas party, etc). Sometimes these hours were stretched even further on the EPCOT line. Now they will all shut down 1 hour after the posted closing time for the park with no allowance for extra magic hours or other events. Guests will be placed on buses or water craft to be returned to their hotels or the TTC and EPCOT parking lots.

Initially, there was a lot of outcry directed at Disney for reducing benefits to resort and park guests at the same time they are raising prices, but soon word leaked out that there was an important reason behind the shift. The reason? The monorail fleet is just breaking down under the strain.

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Happy Fourth of July from The Disney Blog

Last night we went to the beach at the Polynesian Resort for a wonderful view of the Magic Kingdom’s fourth of July Fireworks Spectacular. Disney previews it a day early to help alleviate the crowds on the 4th itself. They also do a special extra… Read More »Happy Fourth of July from The Disney Blog

Magic Kingdom Update – July 2nd, 2011

It’s the holiday weekend, but I have time for a quick update. Took a walk through the Magic Kingdom on July 2nd. Main Street was decorated for the Independence Day holiday. Although the banners may have been few in number, the spirit was there. View… Read More »Magic Kingdom Update – July 2nd, 2011

Candlelight Celebrity Narrator Lineup Revealed for EPCOT

As Disney expects you to make your travel arrangements, including dining reservations a full 6 months before the date, they’re actually a little late releasing this year’s line up celebrity narrators at the 2011 EPCOT Candlelight Processional. Even now, they still have a number of… Read More »Candlelight Celebrity Narrator Lineup Revealed for EPCOT

Disney World set for Fireworks Displays in Three of its Four Parks

Walt Disney World will illuminate the night on July 4 with special pyrotechnic shows, including a patriotic display at Magic Kingdom, a rock’n’roll spectacular at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and a laser light show at Epcot plus an Independence Day finale tag for IllumiNations. Here’s the… Read More »Disney World set for Fireworks Displays in Three of its Four Parks

Dan Wheldon 2011 Indianapolis 500 champion feted at Magic Kingdom

I’ve been a fan of Indy Car style racing since watching my first Indianapolis 500 on TV back in 1978. That race holds a special place in my heard and the hearts of millions. For race car drivers nothing matches the feeling of winning an… Read More »Dan Wheldon 2011 Indianapolis 500 champion feted at Magic Kingdom

State of the Magic Kingdom

I was talking with someone this weekend about the sad state of Splash Mountain, I’m sorry I can’t recall who, and the discussion turned to Magic Kingdom’s VP Phil Holmes. Apparently, Phil believes that the park has serious capacity issues to the point where only… Read More »State of the Magic Kingdom

Magic Kingdom Update – Part II

Tonight I’m continuing my walk through Magic Kingdom and a bit of Downtown Disney. Part One covered much of the Fantasyland Expansion, problems with Splash Mountain, Skyway Station Removal, and more. Part two looks at some of the details that Disney is getting right.

When the Fast Pass for Mickey & Minnie and The Princesses first opened there were signs over head indicating which of the four machines gave out tickets for which queue. However, the machines themselves had no signage. This led Disney to a very simple indicator. Just place a Princess Mickey Hat on the Princess machines and a regular black Mickey Mouse Ears on the Mickey & Minnie machines. While cute, that was probably not the most effective way to do it. They’ve finally added new permanent signs to the FastPass machines.

As nice as these signs are, they’re still not doing much for traffic to the Town Square theater. Both fastpasses were running barely 40 minutes into the future and the wait times for the Princesses were never longer than 35 minutes and Mickey never much longer than 15.  I’ve heard that they’re already considering adding a tent to Storybook Circus for Mickey and Minnie and returning Town Square theater to meeting space for special events.

A new food cart appeared in Fantasyland a bit ahead of schedule for its eventual location in the Beauty and the Beast section of the Fantasyland Expansion. Maurice’s Amazing Popping Machine is great because it tells the story of Maurice being an inventor. It also has a wonderful specially themed menu and other fun touches. If they have to have outdoor vending, I hope it looks like this instead of…

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