Disney World Rumors: New Monorail Fleet, Magic Kingdom Theater Canceled, Etc.
We’re back with another round-up of the latest Walt Disney World rumors, mostly concerning Magic Kingdom. In this post, we’ll do a quick round-up of these rumors, plus our commentary on their likelihood and whether we’re hopeful that they come to fruition.
A couple of these rumors aren’t exactly hot off the presses. With our recent time at Tokyo Disneyland for the Happiest Celebration, we’ve been slow to stay on top of everything, so we’re going to round up the most interesting stories of the last couple of weeks here. (If you want to be notified of all the latest Walt Disney World news and rumors, sign up here for our FREE Disney newsletter. We email our weekly with updates on what’s happening around the Disneyverse!)
We’ll start with one rumor that is new, which is that Walt Disney World has ordered a new fleet of monorails from Bombardier, the world’s leading manufacturer of trains and planes. This Canadian company has previously manufactured monorail trains for the Disney Parks, so it’s plausible they’d be the source for a new fleet.
This rumor is being reported by WDWNT, which stated that it was being reported by internal sources at Walt Disney World. As much as we want to view anything “new monorail” related with skepticism, WDWNT has a strong recent track record with transportation-related Walt Disney World rumors, being first to break both the gondola and Minnie Van stories.
We also are inclined to give this rumor the benefit of the doubt because at some point Walt Disney World either must replace the current monorail fleet (in use since 1989!) or retire the monorails. Running this fleet indefinitely risks further safety-related incidents, which could expose the company to both negative PR and legal liability. Already, it would appear to us that Disney is taking a calculated risk in continuing to run this fleet of monorails in its current age and condition.
Retiring the monorails completely does not seem like a reasonable option. Not because Walt Disney World would not want empty monorail beams to serve as reminder of them, but because alternative transportation infrastructure (roads and waterways) is insufficient to service Magic Kingdom and Epcot.
Moreover, the monorail is a significant selling point for a number of Deluxe Resorts, and selling out those rooms at $600+ per night would be a tougher task without the monorail. Perhaps not in the immediate future with occupancy at sky-high levels and Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge about to elevate that even further, but at some point down the road they will “need” the monorail as a perk.
It should go without saying, but we’re incredibly hopeful that this rumor ends up being true. While spending ~$100 million on monorails is not as exciting as a new attraction, the monorails are a defining feature of Walt Disney World. They’re also a feature that has become increasingly unreliable in recent years, to the point that if we have an ADR and are tight on time, we typically avoid them due to fears of a breakdown or delay.
After a week of using Tokyo’s exceptional monorails, we’re reminded of just how pleasant the experience can be. Walt Disney World’s monorail system has the potential of being significantly better than that, as the path through the Contemporary, around Epcot, and over expanses of undeveloped nature is awesome.
Though not officially regarded as such, the monorail is one of our favorite attractions at Walt Disney World, and we love taking the long, relaxing ride from Epcot to Magic Kingdom via the TTC, or even from the park around the Resort Loop. We are always in favor of the monorails receiving TLC, and think this investment would be money very well spent. Not everything can be an E-Ticket.
This monorail rumor provides the perfect segue into the next rumor, which is that the Main Street Theater project announced for Magic Kingdom at the D23 Expo has been cancelled. While numerous insiders have been reporting on this for some time, WDWNT is attributing the cancellation of that project to the monorails, indicating that the theater funds have been reallocated to the monorail fleet (in the same article linked to above).
We have no clue whether there’s any veracity to the claim regarding the allocation of funds, but we do know that the Main Street Theater project has been “delayed indefinitely.” Ostensibly, this is the same as the project being canceled, and it’s fine by us. The scale of the theater looked way too large for Main Street, the appearance was starkly utilitarian, and the placement would’ve been poor unless Walt Disney World invested significantly in design for side streets off of Main Street.
Magic Kingdom could certainly use a stage show, but we’d rather see a venue that does justice to Main Street in a thematic sense, or an alternative location used for a utilitarian design. A few castle parks have boring theaters/amphitheaters that work perfectly fine, but they’re out of the way and their design is more or less hidden. That’s a better approach than a prominent but poorly-themed show building.
We also wouldn’t be surprised if this is not the last project from the barrage of D23 Expo announcements to be cancelled. As we’ve previously noted, the Parks & Resorts panel there gave the vibe of a “Disney Decade 2.0” with plenty of announcements that were sufficiently vague so they could be canceled or significantly altered down the road with little fanfare.
It’s incredibly unlikely that any of the major projects, especially those on which construction has already started, would be canceled, but it would not be surprising to see the plans for Epcot’s Future World Reimagining changed dramatically (there’s probably a reason concept art was only shown on a video screen and never released via the Disney Parks Blog), as could other smaller projects planned for Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary.
This is not necessarily a good or bad thing. A significant amount of capital has been allocated to Walt Disney World projects between now and 2021, and our understanding is that this investment is going to be made regardless–it’s simply a matter of on what?
Without going into depth on them, here are links to other pieces of moderately-interesting news and rumors from the last couple weeks:
- Up! A Great Bird Adventure soft opened today at Disney’s Animal Kingdom (expect more previews before the official April 22, 2018 debut if you’re visiting in the next few days)
- Test footage has leaked from the Millennium Falcon attraction in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge (we’re not down with spoilers, so we didn’t watch).
- Multiple Skyliner gondola towers have gone up at Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood Studios (2019 debut of the system seems pretty likely)
- A walking mech suit character is coming to Pandora – World of Avatar (this is being mocked by many fans, but we think it looks neat and is a nice addition to Pandora)
That covers it for the recent Walt Disney World news and rumors, but we have one more thing…
Finally, not Walt Disney World news per se, but rumors of a Universal Orlando Resort opening sometime in 2022 or 2023 are gaining steam. Universal has been repurchasing property it previously owned in Orlando, along with deed restrictions (that Universal placed on the land before selling it to prevent a competitor from building on the land), that certainly suggest it intends to build a new park.
We know not everyone who reads this blog cares about Universal, but everyone (reading this) benefits from increased competition. Moreover, we do enjoy the Universal parks, and find them to offer complementary experiences to one another. No word on whether Super Nintendo World is still slated for Universal Studios Florida, or if it might anchor this third gate.
Although Universal has demonstrated that it can build projects much quicker than Disney, we are a bit relieved to hear the 2022/2023 timeframe. Some of Universal’s recent rush-jobs have not exactly been the paramount of thematic excellence; we’d hope that this entire third gate would be done at the level of the Wizarding Worlds of Harry Potter. Super Nintendo World definitely is deserving of the “Potter treatment,” and Universal has the rights to plenty of other franchises that could benefit from thematically-rich environments, too.
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YOUR THOUGHTS
What do you think of these news & rumors? Are you ready for new monorails at Walt Disney World? Would you rather have a new monorail fleet or Magic Kingdom theater (assuming it’s even an either/or thing)? Any thoughts on other recent Disney news or rumors? Do you have any interest in Universal Orlando’s third gate, or Super Nintendo World? We love hearing from readers, so please share any other thoughts or questions you have in the comments!
I would be sad if the canceled theater was going to have the character shows similar to Tokyo Disneyland. If it was another Frozen/Pixar type show, good riddance to the plans.
Can any Disney resort customer ride the monorail even if their resort doesn’t have it? In other words if we are staying at a Disney budget resort that doesn’t have access to the monorail can we board it anywhere somewhere? Next question, where could we board it and where does it go?
Yes, anyone can ride the monorail, regardless of what resort you are staying at. It travels between Magic Kingdom, Grand Floridian Resort, Contemporary Resort, Polynesian Resort, and the MK parking lot, and another loop goes to Epcot.
YES. ANYBODY can ride the monorails, with or without a Disney ticket! One of the last few perks at Disney World.
@Nina, any person can ride the monorail, period. No park ticket or hotel reservation or anything is required, it’s completely free and unrestricted.
There are two monorail loops. One runs a big circle with stops at the Ticket & Transportation Center (i.e. the Magic Kingdom’s parking lot), Polynesian hotel, Grand Floridian hotel, Magic Kingdom park entrance, and Contemporary hotel. The second loop runs from the TTC to the Epcot main entrance (and back).
The monorail purchase is probably just for upgrading the old system, but I can’t help but hope there is a chance that the new Star Wars hotel will be connected to the park via monorail. Remember that previous vague promise of them being “seamlessly connected”? They are certain to be charging top dollar for that new hotel, so a monorail seems like an appropriate luxury add-on.
Have you been on the Hogwart’s Express at Universal? My guess is it will be something like that, that blocks your view to the outside world so that you never feel like you’re leaving the Star Wars universe.
Good points about the possibility of other D23 announcements not happening. I’m nervous about the China film and space restaurant at Epcot, which excited me at the time because they seemed to fit within the park’s actual theme. We’ve heard so little since that point (especially about the China film), so I wonder if those are still happening.
Well, changes will always happen. I just need to figure out how to extend my life (family as well) so that I (we) can enjoy the changes. I have been in the front of the monorail and doubt passengers will ever ride there again. I cherish my Pilots license. The planned theater was too large and needed to be scaled back. Can’t wait for our June, Sept and Nov. trips!
Well I hope they put their order in early, as Bombardier as the WORST record for delivering on their orders. Example, Toronto Transit Commission (TTC), subways in Toronto, Canada is still waiting on delivery of trains and street cars that were supposed to be delivered inn 2014 and 2015.
Disney put their order in now for maybe 2025 delivery. lol.
I wish Universal would construct a HP hotel! Take my money!
I gave Disney the benefit of the doubt in terms of monorail uptime because of the hurricane (Oct ’16) but if the downtime is becoming the norm, I wouldn’t oay the premium for a loop resort. I would much prefer a pool at a non-monorail deluxe or moderate resort as an amenity, and put the money back in my pocket for Uber. I am guessing I’m not alone in that. IMO the monorail’s reliability is going to quickly become a liability.
The gondola story was uncovered by forum members on WDWMagic, not WDWNT.
I may be only one but I am very sad about the new theatre plans being cancelled. I love Disney shows and think it would have been a great asset to have a theater. I like to think we could have had shows like the cruise and it would have been a great place to debut movies or soecial events. I hope it is truly cancelled but just put on the back burner.
Also, I really hope the monorail rumors are true! It would be very exciting and it’s much needed to have new cars.
Wish they would extend the monorail to other parks at WDW.
I think the gondola will be like the “monorail” of Epcot and Hollywood Studios. A different experience but still unique and fun.
Gondola will be cool, the trick will be the hub /transfer at Caribbean
Some sort of themed light rail (maybe elevated) between Animal Kingdom, AKL, and possibly Coronado Springs and DHS could do the same for the southeast corner of WDW.
(Oops, southwest corner)
I figure they want to change the monorail to look more like Star Wars style vehicles.
“Not everything can be an E-Ticket.“. The Monorail was an e-ticket attraction at Disneyland.
In theory, what would the new WDW monorails be? Mark VIII, or possibly reconfigured Mark VII types? I’m hoping for the former.
Coming in to Magic Kingdom, don’t you have to park then take the monorail into entrance of park?
If you are driving to the Magic Kingdom park, you can also take a boat from the TTC.
If you are staying at a Disney resort, monorail or the Disney Transportation buses.
Ok thanks, we’re not staying at the resort so what is recommended the monorail. Approx. How long does monorail take.
That or the ferry boat
Ken,
The monorail takes about 6-7 minutes via the Express loop from TTC to Magic Kingdom. It takes about 12 minutes to go via the Resort Loop from TTC to Magic Kingdom (due to stops at the Polynesian Village and the Grand Floridian). It takes about 8 minutes to go from TTC to EPCOT. Many guests park at the TTC when going to EPCOT because they plan to park hop back to Magic Kingdom, which is often open later.
Brent
Great update…I believe the upgrading the monorail is a great idea. They are fun to ride. Back in the day, the best was riding up front with the pilot. That would be cool to bring that back…The theater seemed like good idea, but layout and space kind of killed that…I too, will not view test footage, hate spoilers!!
I really hope that the monorail rumor is correct, and, considering that it’s been almost 30 years since this fleet has been in service, it’d actually be surprising if it wasn’t. The fleet is long past the point of diminishing returns, and it’s only going to get worse with the passage of time. Having the new fleet in place prior to 2021 and the 50th anniversary makes astonishing sense, as it would avoid the jokes, and bad PR, about which is older, WDW or the monorail fleet. But looking at the math, the 1st gen-fleet was around for 18 years. The 2nd gen-fleet is at 29 and counting.
I also don’t see WDW ditching the monorails, as they’re such an integral part of the parks, for transportation and as a deluxe resort selling point. Not only that, the monorail actively promotes the deluxe resorts as it passes by and through them. Besides, you’re not the only person who looks on them as an unbilled attraction. We’ve always loved them! They also really make the Park Hopper work; we’ve started at MK and then hopped on the monorail to Epcot, and then taken it back to MK (or vice versa), multiple times every time we’ve been to WDW since Epcot opened. I just don’t see Disney taking the hit for corporate weakness that would happen with an increase in breakdowns for the big 5-0, or an outright abandonment of the monorails.
I hope the monorail rumor is true. I have always enjoyed the monorails at Disney and agree that they are an attraction unto themselves to an extent. The newer monorail designs could probably hold more people with most passengers standing and also make loading the ever increasing numbers of scooters and double strollers easier. I hope they still have the front car with the futuristic, slanted nose but mostly hope they keep the famous “please stand clear of the doors…..” message.
The utility suite is a “miss”. Doesn’t look anything like the movie suite, or the one on display outside pongu pongu
Thanks for the news! Always love all your emails. We look for yours first. Have you heard or do you have any news on the free dining plan for Nov/Dec? Anxiously waiting to see if we booked the right dates. If not, we may cancel and join AAA to get their discounts and then buy the dining plan. Any thoughts?
Expect an email on that tomorrow morning. I have a busy day tomorrow, but an update on that via the newsletter is my top priority! 🙂