Monorail Lime returns from refurbishment completing the Walt Disney World monorail fleet refresh

wdwmagicDec 16, 2022

Yeah that is a nice change. Wonder what brought that on?

DisoneDec 16, 2022

I didn't know whether the bump this thread or to create a new one. I decided on the bump. It was interesting tonight that the Epcot line was running 3 monorails. Gold, teal and silver. It's been a long time since I've seen the Epcot line running 3 monorails. Nice to see that

Smiley/OCDAug 13, 2022

We were there in early December last year and was stuck for almost an hour because one of the doors wouldn’t close completely. I don’t know if the mechanic was working on another car or had to come in, but it was very frustrating considering they wouldn’t let us off… at least it was at night and the A/C was working. Absolutely NO communication from the CM’s on the platform either.

GoofyernmostAug 13, 2022

I have no problem if they were to make changes that made a difference and spend money on that instead of trivial things like replacing billions of dollars worth of trains instead of using a simple system to load them like the ramp. What a concept. A ramp! I don't care if it was 50 years ago or 1000 years ago, it is not worth the expense to make changes for that reason. Have we all got so snowflaky that we can't handle a four inch rise with a ramp. And take into consideration the rails themselves, what do you do to be sure that those 50 year old rails can handle the weight of more and more people on a train. Concrete is a strong but brittle substance. It has it's limitations. Another factor is that you seem to think that 50 years ago the trains weren't packed. You would be wrong, they were and just like today, it was only for brief periods of time. Opening and closing. Otherwise there really wasn't even a need for the trains to run constantly other than to make it convenient for the guests. Please let me point out that there is a lifespan of those things and when it runs out you can easily place bets on the fact that when they go the trains will no longer be at all. Monorails are hardly a new concept now. They will be replaced by ferry's and gondola's. Monorails are a large part of the Disney Park identity, but 10 years after they are gone, no one will care. Face recognition was a fairly new science and was stopped by the outcry from the paranoid crowd that thinks anything beyond a Kodak instamatic is an effort to control our lives. Society itself hasn't kept pace with technology and that is one of the reasons that it is hard to move forward when everyone insists on change and then decides they don't really want change if they perceive that some unknown 'evil' is watching them.

esskayAug 13, 2022

When we do get new trains it'll probably be (ok, might be my wishfull thinking a tad!) a variant of the Innovia series which traces it's herritage back to the current WDW Mark VI's. The newer ones like the Metro 300 do have full walkthrough cabins and were designed for mass transit so have way higher capacity. The problem is WDW can't use off the shelf vehicles as the beam isn't the same as the ones that ended up being more widely adopted, so they really would need to be custom made, which puts the cost of replacing the fleet into multiple billions of dollars. The full strip down and rebuild approach for the current fleet seems to have worked pretty well so is likely all we're going to get for a good 5, maybe even 10 years. Sure, theres massive capacity issues but the TTC => MK express and Epcot routes are not the main priority for the monorail - both have alternative transport options. The resort line is far more important to WDW, and whilst it gets busy it's a lot easier to manage for now. This all being said, give me some shiny new, fully automated (properly automated, not the half-arsed Thales thing we have now) monorail trains please!

UnPocoLocoAug 13, 2022

They could consider new trains that can open with different doors then...and fit more people. The monorails are packed now, wait til the Polynesian DVC expansion is done and it will be even worse. As far as park entry, fix that too. Disney wants higher attendance at the same parks, eventually these things need to be solved. Things aren’t the same that they were 50 years ago. They piloted the face recognition program and scrapped it. What’s the next idea? Some mornings are so crowded that people waiting to get into MK simply don’t know where to go.

Goofnut1980Aug 13, 2022

Lipstick. On. A. Pig. Hahahahhaha why buy new when we can use a bandaid and call it new.

esskayAug 12, 2022

If its anything like the others it was a pretty extensive refurb, not just the usual respray and reupholster. They had to, the whole fleet was in extremely bad condition a few years back when we had doors falling off, constant downtime, etc. It's running a lot smoother these days thankfully.

mikeymouseAug 12, 2022

Looks amazing, but wonder how it is "under the hood".

GoofyernmostAug 12, 2022

I haven't been on the monorail for years and I'm having a slight problem with what I see. Have they removed a section of seat or was the camera lens distorting the size of the cabin? Also, altering the entry level will never happen for two reasons, one is that the trains were designed in such a way that the door would hit the platform if it were even with the floor and second, they have a quick, effective ramp system that has been working for 50 years now there is no need for it. It allows all the access that is required. I'm not sure what higher capacity or numbers of trains would accomplish. The more that get to the parks at once the longer the lines to get in will be. For years it worked out fine that the frequency and quantity of drop offs enabled people to go through the turnstiles before the next train arrives. So it's a line waiting for the monorail or a line waiting to get in the park. There is just so much toothpaste that can be pushed out the end of the tube.

Disstevefan1Aug 12, 2022

I know they are old, but they are beautiful. I am sure they will screw this up when either stop the monorails completely or replace them with garbage...

wdwmagicAug 12, 2022

Lime pulling in to the TTC station

UnPocoLocoAug 12, 2022

This is nice and all, but WDW needs higher capacity trains, the ability to run more trains, and trains that are more flush with the ground for wheelchairs and strollers.

montyz81Aug 12, 2022

did the circle D return on all monorails? It's nice to see the old logo visible somewhere. Sorry, I haven't been paying attention to all the refreshes.