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Seeing as we are on the current popular theme of extension/refurbishment/general inprovement of the resort, I thought this would be a great time to bring up some of the ideas I had a few months ago when I was in Florida. I don't think for one minute this idea makes any major improvements, but certainly makes major changes.
Monorail
The monorail system currently exists on two loops and is headquartered in the Walt Disney World Railroad shops behind the Magic Kingdom. The monorail shops should be moved to the Resort administrative headquarters, where executives have a much easier access to the parks that they run. This way the entire resort can be much easier managed, and a Transportation Central hub of sorts can be built next to the headquarters with gift shops etc.
There will be five monorail loops, all leading the shops to;
Loop 1 - The first loop serves the stations that the monorail currently stops at on the Seven Seas Lagoon. This includes the Magic Kingdom, Contemporary, Polynesian and Grand Floridian. The Transportation and Ticket Center will be demolished (see further down).
Loop 2 - The second loop serves Epcot at two stations - World Showcase and Future World.
Loop 3 - The third loop serves Disney's Animal Kingdom and Animal Kingdom Lodge.
Loop 4 - The fourth loop serves Disney-MGM Studios, World Wide of Sports and Blizzard Beach.
Loop 5 - The fifth loop serves Downtown Disney, Disney's BoardWalk, and Port Orleans French Quarter & Riverside.
Cars and buses
Outside visitors to WDW will drive through one of the four entrances/exits to the resort (WDW North, WDW South, WDW East and WDW West, all other entrances/exits will be closed up) straight forward to the Transportation Central. Here, there will be huge mammoth parking lots where guests can leave their cars and travel by monorail or water launch (see below) to their chosen destination. Here, they can also purchase tickets, park hoppers and make resturaunt and hotel reservations with cast members.
If a guest would like to park hop between parks, the current Disney buses would be on hand. But if a guest decided to only go to WDW for a few hours, and say, later in the day to catch fireworks or something, the Transportation Central parking lots would close to all new arrivals at 4pm. They would remain open to guests who had arrived at the resort before 4pm. The guests who arrive after, and only plan to stay a few hours, drive to their chosen destination and park in a much smaller than current parking lot. This saves a lot of hassle from guests who cannot be bothered with parking in a big lot, catching a monorail/boat to say Epcot, watching IllumiNations and then catching a monorail/boat all the way back, and finding your car at 11pm. :botox: I don't think so.
Water launch/ferries
The water launches would be the same as the coaches; they will carry the same purpose in the re-organization that they do now. Guests staying at riverside hotels can still make their way to theme parks etc by launch, but for guests parking in Transportation Central who tire of constantly riding on a monorail, new waterways would be opened up to the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney-MGM Studios, Disney's Animal Kingdom and Downtown Disney. Epcot and MGM are already connected by waterways.
For all you folk who dismay at the thought of parking at MK, and catching the ferry from TTC to the park being demolished, well you cannot travel to MK by water launch only. At the old TTC site, the water launches would dock and the two ferries would be waiting to take guests across the lagoon. The monorail takes guests from Transportation Central to the MK directly though.
Notes
Of course, these changes may seem ridiculous. If I was Al Weiss, I would never pass the budget for these changes in a month of Sundays without guaranteed success and a much easier route of transportation around the resorts. But, I feel this hub of sorts is much closer to Walt Disney's vision of EPCOT, which included transport links with People Movers to the various parks the resort would have. Well anyway, I would love your thoughts, praises, critiscms, ideas and changes to my plans. Please.
Monorail
The monorail system currently exists on two loops and is headquartered in the Walt Disney World Railroad shops behind the Magic Kingdom. The monorail shops should be moved to the Resort administrative headquarters, where executives have a much easier access to the parks that they run. This way the entire resort can be much easier managed, and a Transportation Central hub of sorts can be built next to the headquarters with gift shops etc.
There will be five monorail loops, all leading the shops to;
Loop 1 - The first loop serves the stations that the monorail currently stops at on the Seven Seas Lagoon. This includes the Magic Kingdom, Contemporary, Polynesian and Grand Floridian. The Transportation and Ticket Center will be demolished (see further down).
Loop 2 - The second loop serves Epcot at two stations - World Showcase and Future World.
Loop 3 - The third loop serves Disney's Animal Kingdom and Animal Kingdom Lodge.
Loop 4 - The fourth loop serves Disney-MGM Studios, World Wide of Sports and Blizzard Beach.
Loop 5 - The fifth loop serves Downtown Disney, Disney's BoardWalk, and Port Orleans French Quarter & Riverside.
Cars and buses
Outside visitors to WDW will drive through one of the four entrances/exits to the resort (WDW North, WDW South, WDW East and WDW West, all other entrances/exits will be closed up) straight forward to the Transportation Central. Here, there will be huge mammoth parking lots where guests can leave their cars and travel by monorail or water launch (see below) to their chosen destination. Here, they can also purchase tickets, park hoppers and make resturaunt and hotel reservations with cast members.
If a guest would like to park hop between parks, the current Disney buses would be on hand. But if a guest decided to only go to WDW for a few hours, and say, later in the day to catch fireworks or something, the Transportation Central parking lots would close to all new arrivals at 4pm. They would remain open to guests who had arrived at the resort before 4pm. The guests who arrive after, and only plan to stay a few hours, drive to their chosen destination and park in a much smaller than current parking lot. This saves a lot of hassle from guests who cannot be bothered with parking in a big lot, catching a monorail/boat to say Epcot, watching IllumiNations and then catching a monorail/boat all the way back, and finding your car at 11pm. :botox: I don't think so.
Water launch/ferries
The water launches would be the same as the coaches; they will carry the same purpose in the re-organization that they do now. Guests staying at riverside hotels can still make their way to theme parks etc by launch, but for guests parking in Transportation Central who tire of constantly riding on a monorail, new waterways would be opened up to the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney-MGM Studios, Disney's Animal Kingdom and Downtown Disney. Epcot and MGM are already connected by waterways.
For all you folk who dismay at the thought of parking at MK, and catching the ferry from TTC to the park being demolished, well you cannot travel to MK by water launch only. At the old TTC site, the water launches would dock and the two ferries would be waiting to take guests across the lagoon. The monorail takes guests from Transportation Central to the MK directly though.
Notes
Of course, these changes may seem ridiculous. If I was Al Weiss, I would never pass the budget for these changes in a month of Sundays without guaranteed success and a much easier route of transportation around the resorts. But, I feel this hub of sorts is much closer to Walt Disney's vision of EPCOT, which included transport links with People Movers to the various parks the resort would have. Well anyway, I would love your thoughts, praises, critiscms, ideas and changes to my plans. Please.
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