Has the monorail been behaving lately???

kandb · May 24, 2015

I like the monorail but I don't want to get caught stuck on it. :headache:

My children like to ride it and I don't mind but if it got stuck it would not sit well with me. I can bring a valium with me on on it in case it gets stuck but sometimes you are in there like sardines. I remember reading on here that it got stuck for over 2 hours once. Is it breaking down a lot still? Have they addressed the issues with it breaking down? :worship:

rlovew · May 24, 2015

I don't know about breaking down a lot or for a long time but when we were there last week we saw some trains stopped on the tracks between the Contemporary and MK- they stopped for a couple of minutes and then moved on. 1 was stopped while we were walking to the Contemporary for dinner and it was moving again and a new one stopped by the time we reached the building- so I don't know if it is a new "planned" stop or just was happening that day.

Saimaeve · May 24, 2015

Well it broke curfew one night and totally didn't do it's chores today . . . :sad2:

lauradis · May 24, 2015

Saimaeve said:
Well it broke curfew one night and totally didn't do it's chores today . . .

haha good one.

http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/rehab.htm

Monorail- through December 2015. The monorail is under refurbishment and may have modified service or routes. You should check on the day of travel the best option to use. Alternative transportation options may be available.

itchin2go · May 24, 2015

rlovew said:
I don't know about breaking down a lot or for a long time but when we were there last week we saw some trains stopped on the tracks between the Contemporary and MK- they stopped for a couple of minutes and then moved on. 1 was stopped while we were walking to the Contemporary for dinner and it was moving again and a new one stopped by the time we reached the building- so I don't know if it is a new "planned" stop or just was happening that day.

Last November, we got stopped just outside of the Contemporary for a few minutes. I was searching my purse for Xanax just as it started up. LOL. Anyway, I asked a CM about it, and she said it's normal. She named the point where it stopped (it's a number). I gathered that they're making sure their "spot" is cleared in the Contemporary, and it doesn't start up again until the spot is clear. She also told me about the phone in the car, which helped with my anxiety some. I didn't realize the phone was there, so I felt really trapped in that car!

Polydweller · May 24, 2015

rlovew said:
I don't know about breaking down a lot or for a long time but when we were there last week we saw some trains stopped on the tracks between the Contemporary and MK- they stopped for a couple of minutes and then moved on. 1 was stopped while we were walking to the Contemporary for dinner and it was moving again and a new one stopped by the time we reached the building- so I don't know if it is a new "planned" stop or just was happening that day.

Happens like that all the time. Just like all trains the monorail trains have to stop and wait until the train ahead of them has cleared the next section of track. You see them stop between any two stations all the time. Stopping in between lets the train following pull into the station they left while they wait a minute or two for the train ahead clear the station they are going to. Just standard operating procedure.

EastYorkDisneyFan · May 24, 2015

Polydweller said:
Happens like that all the time. Just like all trains the monorail trains have to stop and wait until the train ahead of them has cleared the next section of track. You see them stop between any two stations all the time. Stopping in between lets the train following pull into the station they left while they wait a minute or two for the train ahead clear the station they are going to. Just standard operating procedure.

exactly and like any transit system in a major city they need to do periodic maintenance that they can't normally do during the hours where the parks are closed. Keep in mind the monorail system dates from the 70's and 80's well that may not seem that old but for public transit it is. The average life span of a bus ins anywhere from 25 to 30 years, depending on how well maintained it is. For example here in Toronto we just finished replacing 30 and 40 year old subway trains and they are currently working on upgrading a signaling system that was first instated in some pats of the line in the 60's

Parker Clan · May 24, 2015

I exclusively take the ferry boat lol I haven't been on the monorail in two years now.. One time stuck on that thing for hours (I'm afraid of heights) & no Xanax for me lol I know it's not like that all the time and that was a rare occasion but one time for me was all it took !

maryj11 · May 24, 2015

Parker Clan said:
I exclusively take the ferry boat lol I haven't been on the monorail in two years now.. One time stuck on that thing for hours (I'm afraid of heights) & no Xanax for me lol I know it's not like that all the time and that was a rare occasion but one time for me was all it took !

Oh now I'm having second thoughts on riding the monorail ! I hate heights and that would be awful.

Parker Clan · May 24, 2015

maryj11 said:
Oh now I'm having second thoughts on riding the monorail ! I hate heights and that would be awful.

Well I haven't been on it in two years so I'd be curious to hear from the people who have been on it recently!! That was just a freaky one time thing I hope

and I'm sure it has improved!

goofyernmost · May 24, 2015

Please, the reports of Monorail stranded breakdowns are exaggerated to the point of ridiculous. It does often stop on the track as it approaches a stop waiting for the previous train to move out of the way, but, that is for a very brief time and is something that happens almost every trip. The highest part of the track is just as you leave or enter the Contemporary. Routine stops do not happen there and I have never seen it stop in those areas yet after riding them for 32 years. As with any piece of mechanical equipment they can break down, but, the odds are pretty small.

kandb · May 24, 2015

PP, tell that to the woman who was stuck on it for "hours". That would be horrendous to me. OK, will stick with the buses.

ParkHoppers · May 24, 2015

goofyernmost said:
Please, the reports of Monorail stranded breakdowns are exaggerated to the point of ridiculous. It does often stop on the track as it approaches a stop waiting for the previous train to move out of the way, but, that is for a very brief time and is something that happens almost every trip. The highest part of the track is just as you leave or enter the Contemporary. Routine stops do not happen there and I have never seen it stop in those areas yet after riding them for 32 years. As with any piece of mechanical equipment they can break down, but, the odds are pretty small.

Agreed. Though there are some incidents with the monorail I must just be very lucky cause I have yet to have an issue riding on it every day when on vacation at DW the last 5 years straight.

Parker Clan · May 24, 2015

Just to clarify - this happened ONE time to me and we used to ride it all the time over the last couple years. But I was not exaggerating - it wasn't a routine stop. It was the monorail in front of us broke down. Our monorail eventually had to be backed up to the Contemporary after an hour because the one in front wasn't moving. Okay so it's a rare occasion. But if you're terrified of heights sitting there freaked me out. It's high to me, yeah I'm a baby. Personal choice I don't want to ride it anymore. I also read it broke down last year - it was in the news .http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/07/14/lightning-strike-halts-disney-world-monorail-train/
Glad it doesn't happen often/at all, to all of you though. Certainly didn't mean to offend anyone or "exaggerate to the point of ridiculous ". Yikes

Networth · May 25, 2015

Was just down their three days ago for a quick 2 day trip. I have ridden the monorail at WDW since its construction without ever once having a major issue and I'm a FL resident who is on property maybe 20+ times a year. The longest I have ever sat is about 20 minutes. Yes your stuck but Disney is aware if it's serious and I would much rather be stuck a few stories above ground than a few stories below like most metro subways.

That said they need to update the trains IMO they are really starting to show their wear and tear along with their age.

Planogirl · May 25, 2015

One day this past March we arrived at the Ticket and Transportation Center to make rope drop and we were all herded to the ferries. The CM's said that the monorails were down and that they didn't know when they would be running again. We left early in the afternoon to take a break and they were still down at that time. I prefer the ferries but partially because they don't get as crowded. Needless to say it took awhile to get on one that morning even though they had at least three running.

itchin2go · May 25, 2015

goofyernmost said:
Please, the reports of Monorail stranded breakdowns are exaggerated to the point of ridiculous. It does often stop on the track as it approaches a stop waiting for the previous train to move out of the way, but, that is for a very brief time and is something that happens almost every trip. The highest part of the track is just as you leave or enter the Contemporary. Routine stops do not happen there and I have never seen it stop in those areas yet after riding them for 32 years. As with any piece of mechanical equipment they can break down, but, the odds are pretty small.

kandb said:
PP, tell that to the woman who was stuck on it for "hours". That would be horrendous to me. OK, will stick with the buses.

Parker Clan said:
Just to clarify - this happened ONE time to me and we used to ride it all the time over the last couple years. But I was not exaggerating - it wasn't a routine stop. It was the monorail in front of us broke down. Our monorail eventually had to be backed up to the Contemporary after an hour because the one in front wasn't moving. Okay so it's a rare occasion. But if you're terrified of heights sitting there freaked me out. It's high to me, yeah I'm a baby. Personal choice I don't want to ride it anymore. I also read it broke down last year - it was in the news .http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/07/14/lightning-strike-halts-disney-world-monorail-train/
Glad it doesn't happen often/at all, to all of you though. Certainly didn't mean to offend anyone or "exaggerate to the point of ridiculous ". Yikes

I have actually not seen a lot of reports of breakdowns, exaggerated or otherwise.

It's easy to discount the issue when it's not a big deal to to you, but it is a seriously anxiety producing event for me, and there are others I gather. I was happy to get the information that there are routine brief stops for routine reasons. It helps me to know that, and not jump to the conclusion that it's something more serious.

If I went through what Parker Clan went through - :scared1:

.

And I guess the easy thing to say is - just don't ride the monorail. The problem is sometimes it's the easiest way between point a and point b and I don't want to be THAT person in my family making everything more difficult for everyone else - so I suck it up and hope for the best.

Lisa loves Pooh · May 25, 2015

kandb said:
I like the monorail but I don't want to get caught stuck on it. My children like to ride it and I don't mind but if it got stuck it would not sit well with me. I can bring a valium with me on on it in case it gets stuck but sometimes you are in there like sardines. I remember reading on here that it got stuck for over 2 hours once. Is it breaking down a lot still? Have they addressed the issues with it breaking down?

No!

Thursday night it took us maybe an hour and a half to go from Contemporary to MK be use I had the bright idea to take the monorail instead of walk. At GF, we were invited to take other forms because one train was stuck at MK and one was on the beam ahead of us and no ETA. (And this was not routine!!) So we opted for the boat and beat the crowd making the same decision. The boats got overwhelmed and the monorails best us by a good 20 minutes or so. (So net travel Time if we stayed on was about an hour.)

The problem, we found out from a guest on the boat, was a door would not stay shut. At Gf, they got it to stay after multiple tries. At MK, the door did the same thing, but came off the hinges.

So the train was fine. It was the door. We overheard about some issues the next day. But I don't know what they were. We decided to make proper use of our BLT proximity and walk.

Lisa loves Pooh · May 25, 2015

rlovew said:
I don't know about breaking down a lot or for a long time but when we were there last week we saw some trains stopped on the tracks between the Contemporary and MK- they stopped for a couple of minutes and then moved on. 1 was stopped while we were walking to the Contemporary for dinner and it was moving again and a new one stopped by the time we reached the building- so I don't know if it is a new "planned" stop or just was happening that day.

We saw this as well. Wednesday? And I still got on only for monorail yellow to have a door issue.

Lisa loves Pooh · May 25, 2015

goofyernmost said:
Please, the reports of Monorail stranded breakdowns are exaggerated to the point of ridiculous. It does often stop on the track as it approaches a stop waiting for the previous train to move out of the way, but, that is for a very brief time and is something that happens almost every trip. The highest part of the track is just as you leave or enter the Contemporary. Routine stops do not happen there and I have never seen it stop in those areas yet after riding them for 32 years. As with any piece of mechanical equipment they can break down, but, the odds are pretty small.

May be exaggerated for you, but we saw one hanging half in the hotel and half out. Wish I took a photo. First and only time I saw that happen.

This was the one waiting on the beam for monorail yellow's door to be repaired at MK. It finally did get to MK, but they held orange (the one we were on) until this one left MK as well.

Has the monorail been behaving lately???

DIS Veteran

DIS Veteran

DIS Veteran

DIS Veteran

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade!

DIS Veteran

DIS Veteran

Is it December yet?!

DIS Veteran

Is it December yet?!

Aged to Perfection

DIS Veteran

DIS Veteran

Is it December yet?!

DIS Veteran

I feel the nerd in me stirring

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade!

DIS Veteran

DIS Veteran

DIS Veteran

Share this page