We’ve all heard about the problems with the monorails at Walt Disney World in recent years. From a piece falling off of the blue monorail, major issues leading to extended downtime for the teal monorail, and let’s not forget the doors opening while the red monorail was moving. Those are just a few of many that have occurred. So, is it time for an upgrade? According to Orlando Weekly, that might just be the case.
Disney has reportedly met with Bombardier, the world’s leading manufacturer of planes and trains, to discuss replacement of the 12 trains and numerous other upgrades to the system. The last upgrade to the transportation system was in 1989 when the Mark VI trains were introduced. Those trains are still in use today. The Mark VI is the predecessor of the INNOVIA 300, the rumored replacement for the current monorails.
The INNOVIA 300 are almost entirely automated. In addition to the automation, the new monorails will likely include updates to the cabin design like inter-car walkthroughs that would allow guests to access more than one cabin while the monorail is in motion. This design means enhanced safety as well as higher capacity monorails, which could prove beneficial in moving crowds to-and-from the parks.
As for the look of the rumored new monorails, they are pretty similar to the current trains at WDW, even featuring the color strip down the side. There is no doubt that Disney would make a few changes to ‘Disneyfy’ the look, but using the pre-existing design would mean a cutdown in production time, that according to Orlando Weekly, is ‘causing some to speculate that Disney World will see the first of the new trains operational by the 50th Anniversary, just three years away.’
Do you think the monorail system needs a revamp? What do you think of the look of the rumored new trains? Share your thoughts in the comments!
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12 new monorails opens up a new era for the monorail system and Disney, if they truly takes advantage of it.
With this new purchase disney needs to review a few infrastructure specs. If the track is capable of supporting higher loads the need to take advantage of it. Either way, there should be some weight savings since materials and designs have progressed a lot in 25+ years since the mark VI design. The Bombardier 300 series advances could be used to the capacity side of the system.
If the track is not capable of further weight then use the time between now and the new monorails delivery to repair the track and possible retrofit. This includes cutting the hurricane doors in the Contemporary. This was once done and could be done again. This would give the height and width to add the capacity these trains need to accommodate growth.
Now the biggest pain the Mark VI’s had was running with 10 trains so long after the accident. This had the trains run until they fell apart carrying the work of 12. This accident did have its own silver lining in the sense of realizing what Disney can do. Disney was able to actually prove to themselves that they can not only piece monorails back together(Teal) but can build them from scratch also (Peach). Why do I bring this point up?
The biggest issue with expanding the system is usually the cost. When the new Trains arrive. They can pull the old Mark VI’s from service and instead of trashing them, strip them down to the frames and rebuild them. This gives you, virtually new trains to back fill in case of problems or better yet use 10 of the 12 to open an new line.
You might say what about the track and station cost. The gondola stations can be extended to dual purpose them. This leaves mainly track cost. In the big picture this is a large savings overall. When thinking of a system expansion to a new hotel and another park at minimum.
I just hope disney does more than simply swap trains…contrary to what disney says…the monorail does make them money. Toys that are $10 being sold at $90. Hotel up charges being on the beam, other merchandise, etc… plus its the one extremely unique distinction Disney can claim it has vs common city transportation we all know and experienced at home already ….