Monorail Blue evacuated due to piece falling off

Why not? I see the monorail from TTC to MK being ferry only and then just gondolas around the resorts. If they're making them between AOA and CBR, then why not GF, Poly, CR?
Gondolas are best going in straight lines, you can't really have them curve around a lake in a circle like a monorail.
 
No alarmist.
It's a problem.
It's not going away.
Older they get, more often it will happen.
It's something they don't do well.
No one should be trapped for hours on these things while they discuss.
Only to start the slow process to evacuate.
Evacuation of a gondola would take even longer since there will be many.

Thank you for your response.... I agree 100%. I guess I just do not understand why evacuating a monorail should take hours. You'd think they'd have a plan in place... we are going in August and I'm kind of afraid to ride the darn thing. I can't imagine being stuck on that thing without power for more than 10 minutes in 95 degree heat with my infant.

It's very disappointing. I expect better from Disney.
 
Thank you for your response.... I agree 100%. I guess I just do not understand why evacuating a monorail should take hours. You'd think they'd have a plan in place... we are going in August and I'm kind of afraid to ride the darn thing. I can't imagine being stuck on that thing without power for more than 10 minutes in 95 degree heat with my infant.

It's very disappointing. I expect better from Disney.


They do have a plan in place. You can read about it here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walt_Disney_World_Monorail_System#Emergency_evacuation

The reason no one was evacuated was because it wasn't an emergency. Removing people from a beam roughly 40 feet in the air is a last resort. Lots can go wrong when you slap a ladder up that high and ask all manner of physically fit (and unfit) people to climb down. The safest option in the event of a non-life threatening stoppage is to keep people in the monorail until the problem can be resolved or the monorail towed to a station. But to claim they don't have a "plan", or that it is preferable to climb down an open ladder 4 stories, or to hike a few miles along the exposed beam 40 feet in the air to the next station, as opposed to waiting in the cars for assistance stretches belief.

The Mark VI cars have ventilation slots that run a significant length of the car. While they will get hot if you are stuck inside them, it's not like being in a car with sealed windows on a hot day. It's not going to be comfortable, but it's still safer than the alternatives. Especially since to get to the beam you have to go out the roof of the monorail, climb or crawl along to the front or back, and then shimmy down a rope draped off the front or back cab to GET to the beam. You can't exactly go out the doors and step on the beam, it's underneath you!

Honestly people. Unless your monorail car is on fire, you are way safer waiting aboard for a few hours than any other option available.
 


They do have a plan in place. You can read about it here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walt_Disney_World_Monorail_System#Emergency_evacuation

The reason no one was evacuated was because it wasn't an emergency. Removing people from a beam roughly 40 feet in the air is a last resort. Lots can go wrong when you slap a ladder up that high and ask all manner of physically fit (and unfit) people to climb down. The safest option in the event of a non-life threatening stoppage is to keep people in the monorail until the problem can be resolved or the monorail towed to a station. But to claim they don't have a "plan", or that it is preferable to climb down an open ladder 4 stories, or to hike a few miles along the exposed beam 40 feet in the air to the next station, as opposed to waiting in the cars for assistance stretches belief.

The Mark VI cars have ventilation slots that run a significant length of the car. While they will get hot if you are stuck inside them, it's not like being in a car with sealed windows on a hot day. It's not going to be comfortable, but it's still safer than the alternatives. Especially since to get to the beam you have to go out the roof of the monorail, climb or crawl along to the front or back, and then shimmy down a rope draped off the front or back cab to GET to the beam. You can't exactly go out the doors and step on the beam, it's underneath you!

Honestly people. Unless your monorail car is on fire, you are way safer waiting aboard for a few hours than any other option available.

We got stuck inside one with no AC for 45 minutes back in 2007 in August and it was absolutely miserable. I stand by my belief that a situation like that could be very dangerous for the elderly and very small children if it was for an extended period of time.

So they have a plan, but it's a crappy situation all around. In my opinion.
 
They do have a plan in place. You can read about it here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walt_Disney_World_Monorail_System#Emergency_evacuation

The reason no one was evacuated was because it wasn't an emergency. Removing people from a beam roughly 40 feet in the air is a last resort. Lots can go wrong when you slap a ladder up that high and ask all manner of physically fit (and unfit) people to climb down. The safest option in the event of a non-life threatening stoppage is to keep people in the monorail until the problem can be resolved or the monorail towed to a station. But to claim they don't have a "plan", or that it is preferable to climb down an open ladder 4 stories, or to hike a few miles along the exposed beam 40 feet in the air to the next station, as opposed to waiting in the cars for assistance stretches belief.

The Mark VI cars have ventilation slots that run a significant length of the car. While they will get hot if you are stuck inside them, it's not like being in a car with sealed windows on a hot day. It's not going to be comfortable, but it's still safer than the alternatives. Especially since to get to the beam you have to go out the roof of the monorail, climb or crawl along to the front or back, and then shimmy down a rope draped off the front or back cab to GET to the beam. You can't exactly go out the doors and step on the beam, it's underneath you!

Honestly people. Unless your monorail car is on fire, you are way safer waiting aboard for a few hours than any other option available.

The wikipedia section you reference has no citations. Do you have reason to believe that it is completely accurate?

To me, that reads like manufacturer's instructions, well before current audiences and ADA/safety regulations.

I do agree with you though, if climbing over the cars is the only evacuation option it is probably safer to keep passengers inside while the train is pulled to the nearest station. Four hours seems like a very long response time though. Again, because of the lack of verified public information it is impossible to know what the average response time is. One can only hope that experience was very unusual.

I understand your frustration with what is so obvious to you, but I can also understand the posters who cannot so quickly disregard the possibility of a disaster should someone with special needs or medical conditions be caught in such circumstances.

Let's hope that you are right about their plans to replace them soon.
 
The wikipedia section you reference has no citations. Do you have reason to believe that it is completely accurate?

To me, that reads like manufacturer's instructions, well before current audiences and ADA/safety regulations.


It's Wikipedia. Citations are what they are. But you can find the same information on old themeparktourists posts and other places. So who copied who or where the original came from I couldn't tell you. But I do know the possibility of evacuating through the roof was added after the 1980s EPCOT fire.
 


Everyone has to decide for themselves what risks they are willing to take. The Zika virus saw many thousands of families cancel FL vacations a few years ago. Stuff happens, people assess and change plans. But I tend to agree with the PP in that I don't allow statistical outliers to influence my decisions. I try to really weigh the risks based on the information that I have. IMO, there is, statistically speaking, no risk associated with riding on the monorail. None. Not if you are very old, or very young, or infirm. But that is just my take.
 
We got stuck inside one with no AC for 45 minutes back in 2007 in August and it was absolutely miserable. I stand by my belief that a situation like that could be very dangerous for the elderly and very small children if it was for an extended period of time.

So they have a plan, but it's a crappy situation all around. In my opinion.

I take it that you don't stand in any queues for a long time in the summer in FL? Or maybe you don't go to FL when the temp is forecast to be over 95?

If the train is mobile, there are a couple of tugs that can be deployed to pull a train into a station. one of them is staged on the EPCOT line and one is at the monorail maintenance barn behind MK. Reedy Creek also has a 4x4 aerial truck bought to access monorail lines that may be out of reach for standard fire apparatus.

I am in agreement that the trains need to be replaced and are actually overdue for replacement. That blame is squarely on WDW, WDP&R and WDCo management.
 
Gondolas are best going in straight lines, you can't really have them curve around a lake in a circle like a monorail.
They wouldn't have to curve; they would travel in a straight line between each pair of stations, forming a pentagon. There's nothing to stop them passing overwater where necessary.
 
Back to the people who were stuck for 4 hours without AC. How is that even allowed in Florida? I live in Texas and children have died because their idiotic or evil parents left them in hot cars- even at night. You'd think getting people out would be the number one priority so no one DIES. I have a one year old, and I'd be freaking panicking.

Sorry, I'm just flipping flabbergasted. We may not be riding the monorail at all when we go in August.

...I'm gonna officially say I bet you ride the monorail In august :wizard:
 
They wouldn't have to curve; they would travel in a straight line between each pair of stations, forming a pentagon. There's nothing to stop them passing overwater where necessary.

My guess it that they won't be crossing crescent lake except where absolutely necessary.

I don't think it has anything to do with "danger"...I think it's all sight lines.

I expect it to hug victory way and buena drive as closely as possible to not interfere witn resort sight lines...particularly S&D, boardwalk, and Y & D.
 
They wouldn't have to curve; they would travel in a straight line between each pair of stations, forming a pentagon. There's nothing to stop them passing overwater where necessary.
I just don't see gondolas coming to the MK resort area. They need high capacity transportation in this area.
 
My guess it that they won't be crossing crescent lake except where absolutely necessary.

I don't think it has anything to do with "danger"...I think it's all sight lines.

I expect it to hug victory way and buena drive as closely as possible to not interfere witn resort sight lines...particularly S&D, boardwalk, and Y & D.
It won't cross the lake at all. Only point it will cross a lake is at Pop and AoA.
 
It won't cross the lake at all. Only point it will cross a lake is at Pop and AoA.

If the dump station is on the Gateway side of the back door...it would technically have too...

Boardwalk side then no...

They could squeeze it through a pretty tight window as well.
 
I just don't see gondolas coming to the MK resort area. They need high capacity transportation in this area.

The more i think about it...I think that some type of cheaper, lighter, elevated rail will eventually take the place of the monorail at the current positions (boy...that would be a fun couple years at GF guest services ;) ), the ttc removed, and the Epcot spur eliminated...just a theory though.
 
If the dump station is on the Gateway side of the back door...it would technically have too...

Boardwalk side then no...

They could squeeze it through a pretty tight window as well.
Only piece it goes across is the small river way to the boat dock of International Gateway. It doesn't cross any portion of the lake proper.
 
Only piece it goes across is the small river way to the boat dock of International Gateway. It doesn't cross any portion of the lake proper.

Yeah...that's what I was thinking...didn't mean actual "lake"...cause it's really a dredged channel anyway. Probably just to the Epcot side of the boardwalk bridge if I'm guessing right. Haven't seen the layout...sorry..."hypothetical layout"
 
I just don't see gondolas coming to the MK resort area. They need high capacity transportation in this area.
I don't disagree; just pointing out that they wouldn't need to curve.
The more i think about it...I think that some type of cheaper, lighter, elevated rail will eventually take the place of the monorail at the current positions (boy...that would be a fun couple years at GF guest services ;) ), the ttc removed, and the Epcot spur eliminated...just a theory though.
That's my feeling, too. I'm thinking an off-the-shelf airport style people mover -- not very magical, but a well-tested reliable technology.

I would love to see a PRT system, but that's probably way too cutting edge for today's bottom line-oriented Disney Corp. I don't think a full-blown multi-destination system has yet been implemented anywhere.
 

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