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View Full Version : Near Riot at the TL Monorail Station Last Wednesday



trainorders
12-09-2002, 11:18 AM
Last Wednesday I took my family to Disneyland to watch the evening fireworks show. Following the show the park was gridlock. Since we had planned to do some shopping at the Lego store we decided to take the monorail. What an ordeal.

When we arrived at the Tomarrowland monorail station just before closing. There was a cast member letting people through the turnstyle preparing to shut down the entrance. On the platform there were already about 100 or so visitors waiting for the train.

Monorail Purple arrived and the announcement was made that this would be the last monorail of the evening and that everyone would not fit and some would have to walk out. My wife holding our newborn infant was practically plowed over by people struggling to get in front of us. They ushered people into the monorail cars, jamming as many strollers as they could up front with the driver. In all there was probably about a hundred or so people who were not going to get on.

The cast members continued to make announcements that not everyone was going to get on. People were swearing and yelling that they were not going to leave. We were ushered to a few seats in the last compartment, but the atmosphere on the platform was getting quite heated. What got people angry was the fact that they had an operating monorail and they were choosing not to run it. Had the train broke down I think people would have understood.

The cast members did their best to fill every seat. Just when we were filled up monorail blue passed by. The annoucement was made that this was the last monorail and those who did not make it on should start their way towards Main Street. People did not budge and shortly thereafter the accouncement was made that another train would run to Downtown Disney. The doors were closed and the train departed. The most hysterical announcement was made by the driver who said "We would like to thank you for choosing Monorail Purple," as if we had a choice.

In conclusion I must admit this had to have been the most uncompassionate show of Disney management I have ever seen. The cast members were doing their best to service the customers. It appeared to me these employees would have rather serviced the guests by simply letting the second train run rather than dealing with stress of shooing people off the platform. However, I think it was management that was holding back. I thik the only reason they ran it was to avoid having to call security to drag these angry people out of the park.

I would also like to give my two cents here about the whole Disneyland Transportation System. It stinks. Anyone who has ever left the park at closing knows the system is inadequate. The trams cannot handle the capacity. It took 10 minutes in line just to get inside the elevator at the Mickey and Friends Parking Structure.

It seems to me they could do a lot by putting in a tram from Downtown Disney to the parking structure to encourage people to walk through this area while taking some of the load off of the main trams. How about some sections of moving sidewalk to the Mickey & Friends Structure to encourage people to walk? How about reworking the monorail system so it could be used more like a transport than just a ride?

Todd Clark
Annual Passholder (last time for at least a few years)

Durliin
12-09-2002, 11:38 AM
well they used to have a Double Decker bus that ran from the structure to DTD.. I always took it in instead of the tram but after 9/11 they stoped running them and now uses the busses as baracades at all backstage vehical entrances...

RStar
12-09-2002, 02:51 PM
This is why I don't use the Monorail as transportation. In fact I havn't been on it but once sence they started building DCA. It's faster to walk. And I don't rcomend the elevator at closing time in the M7F structure. If you have a stroller it's hard not to. It's like they didn't think many people would have strollers. To quote another thread here, "Earth to Disneyland"! Almost ALL of the guests will be bringing children, alot of which will be stroller age, and will be bringing strollers with them. So why only 2 elevators? Money, that's why.

Just avoid closing time at the structure if you can. Go to DtD for a while, let the trams clear everyone, and the parking empty.

MonorailMan
12-09-2002, 02:54 PM
I've seen guests get very mad, when they can't fit in the last train of the day. I'll never forget the time that a lady had yelled, "Darn Annual Passholders, they ruin it for everyone!", while she was an APer herself (it was hanging off of her lanyard). :rolleyes:

People will be people, I'm just glad that the situation didn't get any worse. :)

Mad Hatter
12-09-2002, 07:08 PM
Trainorders, you didn't say if you were at the Tl monorail station after park hours,If the park closes at 10 pm , we make a spiel that the last train will leave Tl at 10.Since I work monorail, my guess is that you were there after park hours and it was the last train of the night,As for seeing blue,it was on its way to the shop(which is Northeast of IASW in the back)Blue would not be going back to Tl sta.BTW thats why we spiel to be back at a 1/4 til so we don't get hammered by a ton of guests.Hpoe this explains what happened :o

trainorders
12-09-2002, 07:17 PM
Originally posted by Mad Hatter
Trainorders, you didn't say if you were at the Tl monorail station after park hours,If the park closes at 10 pm , we make a spiel that the last train will leave Tl at 10.Since I work monorail, my guess is that you were there after park hours and it was the last train of the night,As for seeing blue,it was on its way to the shop(which is Northeast of IASW in the back)Blue would not be going back to Tl sta.BTW thats why we spiel to be back at a 1/4 til so we don't get hammered by a ton of guests.Hpoe this explains what happened :o

The park closed at 8:00 PM that night. We got there a few minutes before 8 and there was a cast member at the turnstyle preparing to close it up. The monorail blue may have been on its way to the shops that night, but it did arrive at about 10 after 8 and took everyone who was remaining to Downtown Disney.

Why not run the monorail a half an hour after the park closes? Either that or service whoever gets through the turnstyles before the park closes like other attractions?

Is this situation common where people on the platform are told to leave?

Todd

Baloo
12-09-2002, 07:31 PM
I have been on the monorail many times instead of walking and everytime i have ridden it the operator announces that it is reccomended that you arrive at the station before park closure to be able to catch the monorail back to DTD.

What they should do is actually close the line at least 30 minutes before park closing but leave a Hotel guest line open for whom wever is staying at the resorts hotels. A room key would be needed to board through this line.

I have stayed several times at the Disneyland hotel and it is actually fustrating that i have to wait up to an hour just to catch the monorail back to DTD so i could go rest a couple of hours at my Disneyland Hotel room before coming back. I really feel that at the prices they charge for the rooms that at least guest should get that one extra inexpensive and very easy to manage benefit

Mad Hatter
12-09-2002, 10:04 PM
I was using 10 pm as a referance point.we do speil to be back 15 mins. before closing so you can catch the last one,monorail has to stay open during park hours,but once they announce that Dl has ended is normal operating hours we can put the trains away, BTW, the longer it takes, the likelier it is that they will have to pay us OT. and you know how they dont like to spend $.Hope this helps there are at least a dozen people that are there for closing, DTD,TL,trains,leads,electricians,mechanics,ticket takers,security.Plus the cleaning crew in the shop are waiting to clean the trains.:~)

Morrigoon
12-09-2002, 10:42 PM
What they SHOULD do is run a Peoplemover from M&F to DLH/DTD (preferably letting off closer to DLH than the freakin' monorail does), then continuing on to PPH, and perhaps looping over to GCH. Since the hotel dining options are now spread out amongst the hotels, the least they could do is make it easier to hop from hotel to hotel. You shouldn't have to walk a mile to eat dinner.

Or they could build a new monorail cafe. Hook's is great but too fancy for everyday dining (and too expensive for families especially!)

But the Pplmover thing would be cool. ;)

ldsguy
12-09-2002, 10:47 PM
They do have a hotel line, most days it'snot busy enough to even matter anymore, but when it is, it's there, you need a hotel key and you get put in certain cars, indicationg that you are taking a one way trip to DtD and are told to disembark there.

As for closing the line early, sorry, the lines close at park closing, not the individual attractions, basically if you are in line before park closing, Disneyland policy is to let you go on the attraction, assuming it is not one of the attractins that are scheduled to close early, such as innoventions.

Basically from what I have read, the incident should never have happened, they should have run the second one anyway from the begining, everyone on the platform should have been given the option for a complete round trip, unless the monorails were running one way only service at that point, some nights they do after a certian time, but otherwaise they should have gotten everyone taken care of, not ask them to leave. If this happened to me, city hall would get a visit and it's taking a lot these days for me to do that.

Rallymonkey23
12-09-2002, 11:28 PM
Originally posted by Morrigoon
What they SHOULD do is run a Peoplemover from M&F to DLH/DTD (preferably letting off closer to DLH than the freakin' monorail does), then continuing on to PPH, and perhaps looping over to GCH. Since the hotel dining options are now spread out amongst the hotels, the least they could do is make it easier to hop from hotel to hotel. You shouldn't have to walk a mile to eat dinner.

Or they could build a new monorail cafe. Hook's is great but too fancy for everyday dining (and too expensive for families especially!)

But the Pplmover thing would be cool. ;)

My vote goes for this idea. Any idea that brings the Peoplemover back is a good idea in my book! ;)

BJW
12-10-2002, 12:04 AM
I was there a few weeks ago and there was a crowd on the TL Monorail station platform at closing and they were trying to get as many people on the monorails as they can. It was a weekday and they were only running 1 monorail. The CM working the station was actually encouraging people to cut in front of others to get to the front of the line. I remember him ask people to push in front of others to fill all available spaces. He said if people weren't paying attention get in front of them. People listened to him because they didn't want to wait another 10 minutes for the next station (I had already been there 40 minutes.) Many people were close to getting hurt. I think they should think about ditching the open platform for a "maze style" single-file line. At least there would be less pushing.

ldsguy
12-10-2002, 08:07 AM
I do agree, but then you would also have to build an alternative que for those that can not take the maze style ques, due to disablities, wouldn't be that hard though.


Or they could build a new monorail cafe. Hook's is great but too fancy for everyday dining (and too expensive for families especially!)
We essentially have this, the White Water snack bar in the Grand Californian Hotel, it's not quite the same, but it's fairly cheap (relatively speaking to the rest of the resort), they give Annual Pass discounts as well, and good for everday casual dining. The only problem is it's far away from the other hotels and monorail station, but if in DCA, you can use the Hotel exit and yes, Annual Pass holder can use that entrance, despite what the sign says.

stitcher
12-22-2002, 10:12 PM
Let's see,....The way I see it,

1. DL Park admission is required to ride the monorail

2. The monorail is staffed by Attractions

That makes it an attraction and subject to the same closing guidelines as all other attractions. Unless there is a downtime, or other viable reason, no guest will be turned away once they are in line, and that line will not close until park closing unless, it can be assumed that exiting guests will take an excessive amount of time, such as Innoventions.

If there is going to be a "last train" at closing, they need to close the line early, with the exception of DLR Hotel guests. As long as they know, most non-hotel guests will probably not have a problem with this. However, there are some that will notice at some point that the trains are only going out half-filled and try to argue that there is plenty of room for them. This may cause a problem.

Also, since the monorail is one way to leave the park, the line should actually be open till about 15-30 minutes after closing, to allow guest coming from fireworks, a parade or even Fantasmic(more if these events start at closing, which often happens), to get there. The remaining queue would then be serviced until depleted.

Please do not try to give the argument that if they want take the monorail out of the park so much, they should forgo the show, because you know it will not fly. The shows are placed at closing for a reason. To keep guests until the bitter end, and it works much of the time.


BTW, the longer it takes, the likelier it is that they will have to pay us OT

This would be alleviated by scheduling according to the almighty estimate. Management would have a good idea how many guests will cram their turnstiles at closing, and hence be able to staff according to that. Any over or under estimate would be dealt with on an individual basis.

HeeHeeHeeHoHoHo
12-22-2002, 10:40 PM
This wouldn't work - as it would take forever

Getting on the Monorail at peak time .... a mere taste of New York and much of Europe this train scrambling business.