*Photo courtesy of mouseplanet.com
Okay, so here’s the low down on the beloved Monorails at Walt Disney World.
Walt Disney World has been using the Monorail System since Magic Kingdom opened in 1971. What started out as just two lines to and from the Magic Kingdom, has expanded into three lines with transportation to EPCOT in 1982.
The two Magic Kingdom route consist of Express and Resort. The Express route goes straight to Magic Kingdom without any other stops. The Resort route stops at the Polynesian Resort, the Grand Floridian Resort and Spa, the Contemporary Resort, then on to the Magic Kingdom. You can catch the EPCOT and Express monorails at the TTC (Transportation and Ticket Center).
The Monorail System follows a concrete beam filled with polystyrene to make the structures lighter. These beams were shipped in from Washington. The way the system is laid out, guests can “ride high in the sky” to their destination on property. Every year, about 50 million Disney Resort guests use the monorails as a mode of transportation while visiting.
Each monorail is identified by the color of the stripe that wraps around each of them. The colors of the monorails are: Black, Blue, Coral, Gold, Green, Lime, Orange, Peach, Red, Silver, Teal, and Yellow. Sometimes, you may notice that a color isn’t present on the track but in its place is a “decorated” monorail. To promote new movies, Disney has been known to convert the outsides of certain monorails to look like it is from the new movie. In 2012, Monorail Red was converted to The Avengers and before that, a monorail was transformed into a promotion for Tron: Legacy. In March 2013, Monorail Black promoted Iron Man 3 and then in April, Monorail Teal was converted to Monsters University.
One of the most popular phrases on Disney property comes from the prerecorded spiel on the monorail. “Please stand clear of the doors. Por favor manténganse alejado de las puertas.” can be heard every time guests have boarded a monorail and are about to leave the station. This phrase can also be found on T-shirts throughout the resort. If ever in a situation where everyone around you speaks Spanish, all of us crazy Disney fanatics will be able to tell everyone to “please stand clear of the doors” if need be.
The monorail cars also seem to have a distinct smell to them when you enter them. To me, they smell like a barn, but that’s just me. Growing up out in the country, that’s what I associate it with. Even though the smell isn’t too pleasant, there is this joy and excitement that comes with riding in a Disney monorail. For me, boarding a monorail means that I’m really close to being back home. There’s just that extra little magic that fills you up when looking out the window and seeing Cinderella Castle growing closer.
Now, Woody and I are notorious for trying to board an empty car and “monorail surf.” This means that for the entire ride we stand in the middle of the car and try to stay standing the entire time without holding on to anything. I must say, we go pretty good at this in the months we have spent at Disney. We can also recite the entire boarding spiel which always seems to get us crazy looks from normal guests.
Well there ya have it! Some basics on the Monorail System at Disney World.
-Buzz
Disney to Infinity and Beyond 