This sounds almost like Amtrak in the early 70s (albeit without the trains being deliberately re-routed...at least, on Amtrak's end).Every single train route would have totally different, unique equipment captive to the route, including totally unique tracks. And each train would have a totally different decor and theme. (Ever looked at the status of the transportation rides at Disney?) They'd also deliberately reroute trains on the slowest, most curvy routes.
Great find! Thanks for posting it....it sure didn't resemble the ICRR in any shape or form...Disney wouldn't touch anything like Amtrak with a 10 foot pole. There would be too much that would be out of their control so I doubt there would be spectacular on time performance and I'd doubt they want to liability.
I've heard this is the training video their monorail operators watch:
Well said. In fact the only thing I would disagree with is your description of My Disney Experience as a billion dollar program. From everything I've heard, that number is much too low.As someone who has used them both on a regular basis... the Amtrak app /e-ticketing works better, more consistently and had a MUCH smoother roll out then Disney's Billion Dollar (yes B) "my disney experience" system which is so bad that Disney STILL employs extra guest services employees to stand at EACH turnstile to help guests that have problems. (This would be the equivalent of Amtrak hiring a customer service employee to be on every train and follow the conductor to deal with ticketing issues that came up.)
On the flip side, Disney still does a very good job of providing consistently good to great customer service for their customers, aka "guests."
You notice the lack of maintenance too. The shirking food, and the poor quality of what food is available. Had a bus driver get lost last time I was there. Ok by me I was use the bus to transfer to my hotel. (Hotel to Park to Hotel). However the bus was filled with people try to get in the AK for a last spin on Avatar. Those passengers were not happy campers.What many people probably do not realize is that Amtrak - the long-distance trains in particular - and Disney's Parks & Resorts division have some things in common: For years there was a notable lack of capital investment, combined with a constant increase in prices with a continuous decrease in amenities and service quality (with sharp drops in food quality, variety, and portions). Anything remind you of a passenger rail carrier we're all familiar with?
There is also a passenger railroad and a theme park operator who are both running high-mileage, under maintained, and generally worn out rolling stock. Want to take a guess who that might be?
Finally, while Amtrak pinches pennies from chronic lack of funding, Disney in a quest to support executive bonuses and prop up the stock price is even more notoriously tight with a dollar - to the point maintenance of flagship resorts and parks was lacking - and takes unsustainable actions which undermine future growth.
Indeed, clearly they'd make a perfect fit for Amtrak management.