Stupid Guest Tricks

I like the PRT idea. On the note of the mass park exit, the trick would be to just enforce ride sharing during peak times, and maybe have some higher capacity trains available to service certain resorts. The trams could be completely trashed with the PRT directly servicing your row. I like the parking on the perimeter idea. No roads would ever be needed inside except for service vehicles. CMs could get to work using their own back stop, and could park wherever was closest to them. The PRT could even bypass the turnstiles with people scanning their tickets in on the way over, and then getting dropped off inside the park. Actually, to help with the mass exodus, the PRT can have multiple stops at one park. Then the main issue would be running out of vehicles.

I wasn't prepared for the sticker shock either. It's not like the stuff is over 50 years old! I guess someone bought out the Character Warehouse or Property Control (Is this like DL's Company D ?).
On a related note (in terms of models) does anyone remember the Magic Kingdom playset that Sears sold back in 1988? That set is amazing! It's the Magic Kingdom Main Street and there were several accessories available,including a train and a horse-drawn streetcar. I came across some listings on eBay and was surprised how much that set and the accessories were going for. Someone was even selling replacement lights and decals.

I bought one of those and tried to put it together with the little plastic clips until my fingers bled. I wish someone had recommended I use pliers to clamp them or anyone in my life would have been interested in helping me with it- but they were all too busy- with a little help I may have been able to complete it. It was really flimsy- and I ended up returning it in a plastic bag. I did buy (and keep) some of the vehicles like the streetcar though- for years I have no idea where they ended up eventually. It was very cool looking, but putting it together was a real biotch. . .fingers still hurt just thinking about it!

Bru

EeyoresButterfly wrote:The PRT sounds really neat, I think I would like to see that! I can pretty much take or leave the monorail. I only enjoy riding it if I can be in front and see the track. It's similar to my flying issue, the idea of lack of control. I don't like being in the regular cars and not being able to see the rail that is supporting me. I always have this vision in my head of guests deciding to all go to the same side at the same time and the monorail falling of the tracks. (I know it can't happen, but I still think of it).

I had a really bad monorail experience my first CP. I was by myself in a car and there were apparently some very unruly children upfront? How did I know this? The intercom was on the whole time. I could hear the kids screaming and the driver and mother trying to get them to sit down and behave. It was quite frightening. The worst was when I heard the driver say, "Don't touch that" and then the mother said, "Look, now you broke it." We stopped almost immediately after that exchange and sat there for five minutes with no reason given. I got off that monorail in tears and avoided them for a long time after that.

Wow that is a bad first experience! I hope that your experiences with them since then have been positive enough to let you relax and enjoy the ride a bit more. On the other hand, as a person with a long-time exposure to the monorails who is quite comfortable with them, I think that being in that precise situation, in a compartment by myself with no control, but yet being able to hear everything in the cab, I might have been quite amused by the whole situation (as long as I wasn't running late for something).

As for the overall "state of the monorials", monorail vs. PRT side of this thread. I would not mind PRT replacing monorail as long as it was done right.
I guess the key argument in a monorail vs. PRT debate might be the same crush times loading factor Zazu mentioned. Do we know the numbers for what the monorail system currently in place can do (I'm sure Disney does)?

Also at LEAST for the current monorail served route upgrading the monorails to maximize their capacity and minimize the man hours of labor required should be considered first, after all if they were to decide on PRT it probably would make sense to serve other areas first in conjunction with the monorail. One issue that MIGHT be much more expensive with PRT is the percentage of system cost need to be used to prepare for emergency system evacuations and power failures, since you would have a large number of individual units to "tow off" or evacuate in place, still even if they just did an expanded and improved monorail system many of those same changes would be needed too (more mule/tugs, stationed in more places for one thing) . If PRT can and is chosen to do it all that would be great too, but getting it done right is always the thing isn't it? Still I would be more hopeful than fearful once I see things moving forward, and the problems in the replacement process of the monorails at Disneyland just ***MIGHT*** make them a little more careful in planning some of those details that count in "doing it right".