It is not. It's gondolas.
Is that confirmed or just speculation?
It is not. It's gondolas.
Putting aside the fact the people have said it's a gondola, the station shape any layout makes much more sense for a gondola then a pod system.
The Sentinel confirmed it with Reedy Creek.Is that confirmed or just speculation?
Looks remarkably similar to what UltraPRT were doing in India http://www.ultraglobalprt.com/wheres-it-used/amritsar-india/
It is the only modern PRT system in operation with more than 2 stations, and it has a simple layout and a small number of vehicles. The manufacturer has not convinced anyone else to install a system in the past 5 years, and the proposed expansion at Heathrow is currently on hold (not due to operational problems, just a lack of capital.)It's been in use at Heathrow since 2011.
There is also the Morgantown PTR at university in the US.It is the only modern PRT system in operation with more than 2 stations, and it has a simple layout and a small number of vehicles. The manufacturer has not convinced anyone else to install a system in the past 5 years, and the proposed expansion at Heathrow is currently on hold (not due to operational problems, just a lack of capital.)
Yes, but it's not a modern PRT; it uses 70's technology very different from what's being promoted now.There is also the Morgantown PTR at university in the US.
Alright, because I was curious. The people mover has 32 vehicles each seating 20 people. Those vehicles fit, almost continuously, on a 5484 foot track. So each vehicle takes up about 172 feet of track and carries 20 people. That's about 8.6 horizontal feet per person. It travels at 6.84mph on average.
Let's apply this information to the resort loop. The resort loop is roughly 3.5 miles long, or 18480 feet. You could convert this using the 8.6 horizontal feet per person of the people mover and get 2149 people, at a time, on the loop. Given an average speed of 10 mph, slightly faster for relatively long and gentle curved segments even supposing extra loading points at 2 mph, it would take around 21 minutes to go around the full loop (another benefit of using 10 mph is simple math!). So roughly 3 full loops an hour is an hourly capacity of 6447 people. Now, it's important to remember the people mover is only half as wide as a monorail, so using wider cars you could probably double that capacity to around 12,000 people an hour. Could you load that many per car given the length of the resort platforms? I would think it wouldn't be a problem at 2 mph.
So, at 12,000 people per hour, with the monorails running about 14.5 hours a day (30 minutes before park opening to 1 hour after) on a 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Magic Kingdom day, that is a daily capacity of 174,000 people. Total ridership of all 3 lines of the WDW monorail is 150,000, meaning this is more than enough capacity to replace both the resort and express loops. If you figure the Contemporary has 655 rooms, BLT 295 rooms, GF 867 rooms, Poly 864 rooms including DVC, and assume an average occupancy of 4 people, you get 10,724 people at those resorts. You could shift them all to MK within 2 hours (full capacity would suppose an equal number leaving the park, an unreasonable assumption in the morning).
For comparison purposes, the WDW monorail trains, are 203 feet long and carry 360 passengers maximum. So you get .56 horizontal feet per person. The PeopleMover cars are luxuriously spacious by comparison and could provide significantly more capacity. Now, is the PeopleMover the right choice? Probably not. I can imagine the maintenance requirements would be a bear with all those tires and engines. But it is interesting the capacity a system like the PeopleMover could provide over a long closed loop like the resort loop.
And with that, I'll close out this exercise in fantasy. I think we will see the next generation of WDW monorails within a few years with all the automation they have tested and incorporated, with such difficulty, into the current version. Although I also agree at some point they are going to have to do some serious beam maintenance.
Thank you for doing the math and examining this
One question from me is cost ... would a People Mover type replacement for the monorail be cheaper than just redoing the monorails? Is there something unique/specific to the monorails that makes them so darn expensive vs other options? because isn't the issue with Disney not wanting to redo the monorails the cost and not because they don't like the monorail concept?
I'll be honest. I have no idea. I suspect that neither system is cheap. Disney built a bespoke monorail system at the beginning, so now the trains they buy and any repairs they do are custom as well. That's always expensive. I'm guessing the gondola system was extensively vetted and found to be a cheaper alternative than anything else they could have done in that area. But it also is a much lower capacity area than the resort loop and TTC express monorails, even after SWE opens. DHS is not going to double in attendance, there simply isn't enough to do in that park they way MK can gobble up people. And let's not forget you can't actually park at MK...
I imagine that if they had to do it all over again, a monorail would not be the choice. Or at the very least, a more off the shelf monorail system would be a better choice. But at this point, it probably is very difficult to get rid of something that is symbolic of your parks, though I bet the lifespan of the beams will be the deciding factor for when the end comes. Rolling stock can be replaced with money, replacing beams means closing the system down.
I think they definitely need to look into replacing the monorail, and perhaps they are. They need to find something where the cars/trains look similar enough that people won't have real legitimate complaints. People won't like it for sure, but it needs to happen. Changing over the Epcot line is probably the smartest thing to do. Put bus service in for the resorts that don't have it right now. Get it done right, and people will want that on the Resort/Express Loop too.
The resort/express loop is in better structural shape. They cut corners on the build for the Epcot line that is literally leading to them crumbling. They will eventually have to shut that line down and rebuild. It's not really a matter of if, but when. And I still say the company making the gondola system also makes transport systems similar to the monorail. I would not be surprised if something is in the works.
How does the People Mover option compare to the Monorail @ peak times? You mention that mornings have increased demand, closing right after the fireworks does as well & I'm curious whether either system has an advantage in moving a mass of people in a short amount of time v. the even flow the models predict.Alright, because I was curious. The people mover has 32 vehicles each seating 20 people. Those vehicles fit, almost continuously, on a 5484 foot track. So each vehicle takes up about 172 feet of track and carries 20 people. That's about 8.6 horizontal feet per person. It travels at 6.84mph on average.
Let's apply this information to the resort loop. The resort loop is roughly 3.5 miles long, or 18480 feet. You could convert this using the 8.6 horizontal feet per person of the people mover and get 2149 people, at a time, on the loop. Given an average speed of 10 mph, slightly faster for relatively long and gentle curved segments even supposing extra loading points at 2 mph, it would take around 21 minutes to go around the full loop (another benefit of using 10 mph is simple math!). So roughly 3 full loops an hour is an hourly capacity of 6447 people. Now, it's important to remember the people mover is only half as wide as a monorail, so using wider cars you could probably double that capacity to around 12,000 people an hour. Could you load that many per car given the length of the resort platforms? I would think it wouldn't be a problem at 2 mph.
So, at 12,000 people per hour, with the monorails running about 14.5 hours a day (30 minutes before park opening to 1 hour after) on a 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Magic Kingdom day, that is a daily capacity of 174,000 people. Total ridership of all 3 lines of the WDW monorail is 150,000, meaning this is more than enough capacity to replace both the resort and express loops. If you figure the Contemporary has 655 rooms, BLT 295 rooms, GF 867 rooms, Poly 864 rooms including DVC, and assume an average occupancy of 4 people, you get 10,724 people at those resorts. You could shift them all to MK within 2 hours (full capacity would suppose an equal number leaving the park, an unreasonable assumption in the morning).
For comparison purposes, the WDW monorail trains, are 203 feet long and carry 360 passengers maximum. So you get .56 horizontal feet per person. The PeopleMover cars are luxuriously spacious by comparison and could provide significantly more capacity. Now, is the PeopleMover the right choice? Probably not. I can imagine the maintenance requirements would be a bear with all those tires and engines. But it is interesting the capacity a system like the PeopleMover could provide over a long closed loop like the resort loop.
And with that, I'll close out this exercise in fantasy. I think we will see the next generation of WDW monorails within a few years with all the automation they have tested and incorporated, with such difficulty, into the current version. Although I also agree at some point they are going to have to do some serious beam maintenance.
How does the People Mover option compare to the Monorail @ peak times? You mention that mornings have increased demand, closing right after the fireworks does as well & I'm curious whether either system has an advantage in moving a mass of people in a short amount of time v. the even flow the models predict.
Of course if the People mover replacement for the resort monorail loop did not stop at the TTC all those day visitors wouldn't be jamming the cars so that people staying at a monorail loop resort could actually ride the vehicles back to their resort at closing w/out having to share w/ the TTC bound people then I'd be 1000% for it, ah well, that's what boats are for, right?