DeSantis moves to bring state safety oversight of the Walt Disney World Monorail including suspending the service for inspections

Apr 24, 2023 in "Walt Disney World Monorail System"

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Posted: Monday April 24, 2023 5:50pm ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

Acting on orders from Governor Ron DeSantis, Florida legislators have added an amendment to a Florida Department of Transportation bill to include state inspections of Walt Disney World's monorail system.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is now moving to target Disney's monorail system

Following the recent pattern of behavior by DeSantis, this latest bill attempts to cause further inconvenience to Disney's operations and increase the state's interference in as many aspects of Disney's business as possible.

The amendment targets Walt Disney World's monorail by referencing "any governmentally or privately owned fixed-guideway transportation systems operating in this state which are located within an independent special district created by local act which have boundaries within two contiguous counties"

The Walt Disney World monorail is located within a special district, and has boundaries in Orange and Osceola counties - fitting into the not-so-subtle specification in the amended bill.

Notably, the amendment includes the requirement that the monorail must be suspended during safety inspections.

The monorail is a critical part of Walt Disney World's daily operations, and although Disney has backup transportation in place, including buses and watercraft, an extended "safety inspection" could cause significant inconveniences to guests.

It isn't clear if this latest move will also impact Disney Skyliner, which by FDOT definition is also a "fixed guideway transportation system."

Here is the full text of the amended bill.

Section 13. Paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of section
373 341.061, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
374 341.061 Transit safety standards; inspections and system
375 safety reviews.—
376 (1)(a) The department shall adopt by rule minimum safety
377 standards for governmentally owned fixed-guideway transportation
378 systems, and privately owned or operated fixed-guideway
379 transportation systems operating in this state which are
380 financed wholly or partly by state funds, and any governmentally
381 or privately owned fixed-guideway transportation systems
382 operating in this state which are located within an independent
383 special district created by local act which have boundaries
384 within two contiguous counties. Standards must be site-specific
385 for fixed-guideway transportation systems and shall be developed
386 jointly by the department and representatives of the affected
387 systems, giving full consideration to nationwide industry safety
388 norms relating to the development and operation of fixed
389 guideway transportation systems. The department shall conduct
390 structural safety inspections in adherence with s. 335.074 for
391 any fixed-guideway transportation systems that are raised or
392 have bridges, as appropriate. Inspectors must follow
393 departmental safety protocols during safety inspections,
394 including requiring the suspension of system service to ensure
395 safety and welfare of inspectors and the traveling public during
396 such inspections.

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TrainsOfDisneyJan 13, 2024

Jacksonville is a monorail.

Rich BrownnJan 13, 2024

Jaxx isn't a monorail.. a monorail means a single beam, not a roadway.

JoeCamelJan 13, 2024

They got lots of backup too......

mktJan 13, 2024

Oh, for sure. The only time I can think of someone being cited for it was an acquaintance who took his catalytic converters off "for more power" and proceeded to annoy an officer who stopped him for speeding. What would've been simple speeding ticket ended up netting him 8 fines and a tow truck to impound. Pro tip: it doesn't matter how you feel about cops, but don't piss them off. They have guns, handcuffs, and just enough knowledge on the law to be dangerous. You can get your payback in court.

JoeCamelJan 13, 2024

Theoretically, in practice gross emitters are only cited if there are other violations

mktJan 13, 2024

It doesn't. Not for over 20 years, and even then only in some counties IIRC. However, your car is still required to comply with federal emissions regulations. So even though you can get away with registering a car without catalytic converters that spews black smoke in Florida, if a police officer wants to, FL Statute 316.610 lets them stop you and either cite you or order you to take the vehicle off the road for it to be repaired and brought back up to compliance.

celluloidJan 13, 2024

It does have FDOT standards though. Which many company vehicles are subject to.

JoeCamelJan 13, 2024

Florida doesn't have emissions inspections?

mktJan 13, 2024

Are those Florida license plates on the back? Then the passenger vehicles in their fleet would be subject to the same inspections. Busses and mass transit, I'm not sure about, since those lack seatbelts and other safety equipment that normal passenger vehicles have, but they'd at least have emissions inspections.

TrainsOfDisneyJan 12, 2024

I did not, I said the Jacksonville FL system is a monorail and I said the system at Orlando Airport has many similarities to the WDW monorail system (rubber tires, concrete guide, automatic doors, peoplemover system, electric powered).

Rich BrownnJan 12, 2024

you were the one that referred to them as monorails, which was incorrect. I'd hope the FDOT would know the difference, but it's not like there are monorails everywhere so it will be a unique experience for them.

Surferboy567Jan 11, 2024

Money? That probably can’t help all the damage they can wreak though.

mktJan 11, 2024

Same. This is what concerns me.

Disstevefan1Jan 11, 2024

In my opinion, the ruling you speak of is not the same as RCID changing to CFTOD. I am not a fan of you know who. In my opinion, RCID changing to CFTOD was done to obviously hurt TWDC, but I also think could hurt the state, local business and taxpayers, although its too early to tell. In my opinion, CFTOD will never revert back to RCID. We will have to live with CFTOD and hope it does not do too much damage to the state, local business and taxpayers.