New Monorail Operation Hours Announced During Updates

The Williams Men on a Disney Bus.

Walt Disney World announced changes in monorail schedules beginning June 22, 2014, and until further notice to allow for maintenance as the monorail moves more to automation.

The monorail operation schedule is below:

• Magic Kingdom Resort beam - 8:30am to midnight
• Magic Kingdom Express beam - 9:30am to 11:30pm
• Epcot beam - 9am to 11pm

What does all of this mean?  Well, personally, it means that we are going to have to go to Plan B when it comes to getting to Ohana’s for an 8:00 am breakfast reservation.  The original plan, and one we have relied on multiple times, is to take the bus from our home resort—which this trip happens to be Port Orleans French Quarter—to the Magic Kingdom and then take the monorail to the Polynesian which is where Ohana’s is located.  We aren’t going to make it if the monorail doesn’t start running until 8:30 am!

So, we’ll have to make a different plan.  We can either take a boat launch from the Magic Kingdom to the Poly OR switch buses at the Magic Kingdom—locate the bus to Polynesian.  The weather will help determine our plan as the boats do not run when there are storms in the area.

The other thing is that guests staying at Deluxe Resorts on the monorail line, and who are paying mightily for that privilege, are not going to make it EPCOT prior to park opening.  I guess with the onset of FastPass+ reservations being made ahead of time, there is less of a need to rush to Soarin’ but I would be frustrated with this setup.  And, on the days Magic Kingdom opens early for Extra Magic Hours, monorail resort guests will have to take buses or boats to get to the park.

And, what about off site guests?  If they want to arrive at the Magic Kingdom at or prior to a 9:00 am opening, the Ferry is the only option.  Good thing there are two ferries transporting guests from the Ticket and Transportation Center to and from Magic Kingdom.

Of course, guests have to sometimes be inconvenienced in order for updates to take place at the most magical place on earth.  It is just unfortunate that the upgrade to monorail system is happening during peak travel times.