• Rail freight service to Disney World

  • Discussion relating to the FEC operations, past and present. Includes Brightline. Official web site can be found here: FECRWY.COM.
Discussion relating to the FEC operations, past and present. Includes Brightline. Official web site can be found here: FECRWY.COM.

Moderator: GOLDEN-ARM

  by Legio X
 
Does Disney receive rail freight service from any Class 1's, regionals or shortlines? I could picture them receiving building materials, food, machinery, stone, etc., because it is just such a huge enterprise. There is so much building going on, so much consumption of food, etc. You really don't see (at least I did'nt notice) trucks coming in making deliveries from outside the park. So do they have a spur and transloading facilities? Too bad Amtrak (to my knowledge), does'nt directly serve Disney also. I wonder if the possibility of building a line to the park to make this possible has ever been explored?

  by Noel Weaver
 
Disney World does not get anything direct from the Florida East Coast,
they do not go through or really near Orlando.
I defer to Nip or others who would know more about the situation in the
Orlando area.
Noel Weaver

  by Sir Ray
 
Well, you don't see the trucks, as they are hidden underneath for both internal and external deliveries... http://www.hiddenmickeys.org/WDW/MagicK ... round.html
The park was built over a huge underground complex. Disney did not dig tunnels under the Magic Kingdom. The corridors were built at ground level. The tunnel complex consists of 15 foot high walkways, meeting rooms, computer rooms, etc. with all having exposed utilities (it somewhat resembled a parking garage). The tunnel complex originates from the castle and spreads out like spokes from a wheel to the other lands. In fact, the bottom two floors of the castle consists of the tunnel complex

But, the tunnel system is considered by Cast Members as the 1st floor, and not really a tunnel system. The entire Magic Kingdom is technically on the second and third floors. While most areas are on the 2nd floor, Fantasyland is on the 3rd floor. If you notice while in the park you will see how Fantasyland and the castle are higher.
You have never seen a delivery truck at Disney - have you? Magic Kingdom's first floor has all the access roads for the Cast Members (employees) and service vehicles, the "tunnels" or Utilidors, the AVAC, service rooms, wardrobe and costuming, male and female locker rooms, offices, storage, kitchens, break rooms, two employee cafeterias, including the Fantasyland Dining Room, Kingdom Kutters, a Fire Prevention Center, Studio "D" and many of the support departments for the Magic Kingdom.
According to the above linked page (which goes into a lot of detail and maps - oh, and hidden Mickeys), gas powered vehicles are not allowed in the tunnel-corridor system EXCEPT for ambulances and armor trucks to take out the cash :P

As for passenger service, in several iterations of the Florida High Speed Rail system (when is Jeb! Bush out of office again?) there was a Disney stop - and I think in other iterations a Universal stop...

  by crazy_nip
 
the CSX ex-ACL mainline from orlando to tampa comes the closest to the Disney World compound about 8 miles southwest "as the crow flies" at a place called "loughman, fl". One of those one stoplight types of towns west of kissimmee, FL off of US 92. Disney world never had a rail spur or any direct rail service.

There was plans for an Amtrak "disney world" stop in the 1970's at a place called "Poinciana", likely near where I am describing. Aledgedly even a platform was built, but it was stillborn and to my knowledge no evidence exists to this day.

  by miamicanes
 
The silly thing is, even if Disney's dream came true and they got their own station at Celebration, visitors would still have to board buses, because Disney's current management is too cheap to extend the monorail.

Orlando's a tough call when it comes to inter-city/cross-state passenger rail, because every location not requiring massive new ROW has some kind of fatal flaw. MCO seems sensible on the surface... until you realize that the CSX tracks are really a 10-minute shuttle ride from the terminal. Kissimmee's station is almost as geographically far from Disney as a brand new station in Downtown Orlando near Church Street would be. The existing Amtrak station in Orlando isn't that far from downtown, but it's about as pedestrian-hostile of a walk as you could get.

IMHO, the ideal Orlando scenario would be for them to start at the spur south of MCO, veering northeast at the point where the spur turns southeast and continuing to the edge of the non-secured passenger councourse, becoming elevated as it approached so the station could go above everything (since it would only be for passenger trains, they could get away with grades that freight trains could never handle). Then, from there, they'd backtrack to the mainline, and continue north to downtown, skipping what's now the Amtrak station, and stopping at a brand new station a mile or two north, near or at Church Street Station, with the tracks themselves depressed into a trench through the area so cars exiting I-4 wouldn't have to contend with busy grade crossings or stopped trains.

Really, though, if the new Downtown Orlando station had rental cars, secure overnight garage parking, and was served by the future light rail line to International Drive, they could just skip the new airport station and stay with the shuttles since 99% of the reason for taking a train to the airport -- abundant rental cars, safe overnight parking, and ground transportation to area attractions -- would be available at the main station downtown anyway.

  by ACLfan2
 
Disney does receive some materials and supplies by rail at some warehouses in the Central Florida Industrial Park. From the warehouses, trucks transport the materials and supplies to warehouses located to the north of the Magic Kingdom theme park.

Disney's internal conveyance system then distributes the materials and supplies to the individual local storage areas, which are under the Magic Kingdom theme park area, for subsequent distribution to local usage locations throughout the property.

I would expect that if high speed rail became a reality in the Orlando area, then Disney would extend the monorail system (or an improved system) to the transfer station location(s). They definitely do not want to be left out of any major form of public transportation system

Disney is not going to be stupid enough to build an extension of their monorail system to someplace where the expected high speed rail station was not built, because the planned high speed rail system didn't happen!

When something is REALLY going to happen, watch Disney jump into the action to guarantee that they are not left outside of the action!

ACLfan2