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Monorail Blues
Speaking of the Mark VII monorail, remember back in February when we
broke the news that it may be "many months" before the new trains
actually get put into revenue service? It's now four months later, and
there still is no solid date available for the Mark VII debut. All of
the problems with the chassis' that we told you back in February still
exist, although a few of the problems have been solved at least
temporarily. There's no telling how the fixes will behave once the
trains are put into continuous 16 hour per day use month after month.
But the WDI team continues to frantically try to fix a laundry list of
other issues not related to the chassis problems that are also
preventing the new trains from going into service.
Photo: David "Darkbeer" Michael
There are issues like LED lighting under the seats that can easily be
pulled on by little hands, or automatic door openers on the side of the
cars that can be punched open from inside the cabin that will eventually
be redesigned and fixed.
But then there are more serious concerns that
seem to be inherently flawed, like the new windows that are no longer
able to be pushed down to allow plenty of fresh air to flow in the
openings. Instead, the Mark VII windows are framed in place and can only
be popped out at the bottom by about two inches. The trains only have
air conditioning in the nose and tail cones, and the compressors tightly
wedged into the dead space between cars can barely keep those two small
cabins cool. There is simply no way to add more air conditioning
compressors to the new trains, and the windows are unable to be
redesigned without ripping the cabins apart and starting from scratch.
Photo: David "Darkbeer" Michael
Why would they take a design that worked well for 49 years and,
pardon the pun, throw it out the window? You can blame the humorless
bureaucrats in both the Disneyland Safety Department in TDA and the
Department of Safety and Health up in Sacramento for that one. A design
decree came from both of those groups, who were horrified to learn that
the windows on a current Disneyland monorail could be pushed down almost
completely, leaving a big two foot tall opening that anyone could put
their head and torso through.
In theory, a person could lean way out of
the monorail car while it zips down the beam and hit any
number of passing obstacles that get within inches of the trains. In
this age the concept of personal responsibility is no longer on the
table when it comes to preventing accidents from happening. Instead, the
bureaucrats answer was to hinge the windows at the top, and only allow
the window to pop out a couple of inches at the bottom, without even
enough room for an adult to squeeze a hand through.
The problem is that the tiny openings no longer allow fresh air to
flow into the cars, and the current Mark VII quickly becomes a sauna in
the sky on anything above a 70 degree day. There's no ability to pump
air conditioning into the cabins, and there's no way to open the
windows any wider. And the most troubling part is that while the
interior temperature of the Mark VII cabins has been soaring into
the 90 degree range while the train cycles around the track, Anaheim has
been enjoying a typically mild spring with temperatures only in
the 70's. Both WDI and Operations are terrified to think how hot those
cabins will get in July through September when the temperature climbs
into the 90's or above.
That's left the last Mark V monorail to shuttle
people around the beam all alone, and that worn out train is not getting any more reliable. In recent weeks there have been monorail
downtimes stretching for several hours as the Mark V train has to be
towed back into the shop for emergency repairs, leaving guests at the
Disneyland Hotel to schlep back to their rooms on foot wondering why they
didn't just save the cash and stay at the Howard Johnson's across the
street instead.
The short term fix for the poorly designed windows is likely going to involve
installing baffles into the sides of the openings that can scoop a little more air into the cabin while the train is in
motion. That should help a bit, but it's still not going to be
comfortable on summer afternoons. At this point everyone involved is
beginning an elaborate blame game, trying to decide who said what to
whom at which stage in the design process that caused these new trains
to show up in Anaheim with so many flaws.
The reality is that nearly
everyone is to blame, with WDI not giving much thought to the demands
from TDA, the bureaucrats not willing to budge on their self-imposed
rules, and the designers in WDI and at the contracted facility up in
Canada worrying more about deadlines and fanboy aesthetics than how the
product will actually work and how it will be used by the customer. This
story will likely end with lawyers involved on all sides, and it won't
be pretty.
But for now the new Mark VII fleet is still off limits to
Disneyland visitors with no ETA. As we wrote in February it would be
"many months," remember?
Round and round and round...
As if the delays with the monorail weren't enough, the revamp of
Innoventions next door has also been facing long delays and frantic
designers facing a looming deadline. The new "Dream Home" officially
debuts as you read this on Tuesday, although the reality of
this revolving exhibit is that it likely won't have all the kinks worked
out until closer to the 4th of July. Microsoft and HP have thrown big
bucks at this project, as we told you about in previous updates last
year.
The end result is less 1960's Monsanto Home of the Future and more
21st Century McMansion Model Home Tour. Almost all of the tech involved
is currently available, although only the most savvy suburbanite will
have used the last of their Home Equity Line of Credit to buy it all at
Best Buy. Still, it should prove to be a much needed update for
Innoventions and the last gasp of this under-utilized Pressler era
attraction before the big plans Tony Baxter has for Tomorrowland take
root early next decade. And they'll be crossing their fingers that it
all works for the media preview and visiting sponsors on Tuesday.
DVC-ya-later
And speaking of using up the last of your home equity, it seems an
increasing number of Southern Californians have done just that, right as
the Disney Vacation Club tries to get them to shell out big bucks for a
timeshare deal. DVC has seen record and undreamed of growth over the
last 10 years at their properties in Florida and South Carolina, with
many new DVC members back East using their home equity credit lines to
fork over the tens of thousands of dollars in dues and fees needed when
you sign the lifetime contract. While construction continues on the
first small batch of DVC units on the West Coast located in the new
Grand Californian expansion wing, the number of new accounts being
signed up by DVC representatives is falling short of internal goals.
There has also been a softening in the market out in Florida, but the
numbers here in California just can't get off the launching pad. They've
recently begun trying to offer big discounts to Anaheim Cast Members,
but with what Disneyland pays there are only a small handful of salaried
folks in TDA who could even begin to afford the big down payment and
recurring annual fees. Needless to say, the recent attempt by DVC to
drum up sales amongst Disneyland Cast Members wasn't a big success.
The
DVC units planned for the Grand are still on track, and there is enough
demand from DVC owners back East to likely fill the small collection of
units when they open in 2010. But the soft sales figures are making TDA take a second look at their long term plans for hotel and lodging
construction in Anaheim.
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