Trust us: Two rails are better than one.
When it comes to Disney , invention and ingeniousness are just as predominant asMickey - shape wafflesand treacly nostalgia . A far outcry from your stock topic Mungo Park , DisneylandandWalt Disney Worldhave long been at the cutting edge of creativity , dream up new way to daze and delight from every vantage point . Beyond theobvious enchantmentof immersive rides and palatial resorts , it ’s a meticulous sentiment that stir every square column inch of the commons , from the fantastically theme lav and elaborately detailed ride waiting line to something as simple-minded as a mode of rapture .
For Walt Disney , the OG Imagineer with a verve for invention , it was never enough to merely move guests into and around the Park — rather , he wanted to guarantee that the way of life they were enthral was just as magical and on - brand as everything else . go into : the monorail — a sleekJetsons - esque geartrain , so named for its single strain of elevated track — which not only serve the utilitarian purpose of transporting client to parks and hotels , but has become an attraction all its own and a germinal icon of Disney ’s peerless ingenuity .
The emergence of the Disney monorail
Never one to rest on his laurel wreath , Walt was always looking for new ways to innovate . Despite being responsible for for the most - inspect paper parks on the major planet , it was never really about thrill rides and character sports meeting - and - greets for this restless forward - thinker . His key focus were always the technical advances at both Disneyland and Epcot — the latter of which he ab initio envisioned as the “ experimental prototype community of tomorrow , ” a towering dream for a Disney - fied town concentrate on on modernisation . To Walt , the attractions and hotels were simple stepping stones that pave the means and allowed him to create totally immersive worlds of twee perfection . Thus began the urge to establish a transportation arrangement that lived up to the majesty of the Happiest Place on Earth .
Walt ’s lightbulb monorail moment pass off while he was holiday in the German countryside in 1958 and happened upon an elevated monorail go along over his scenic crusade near Cologne . He was so stir that he part collaborating with Germany ’s Alweg Research Corporation to conceive a model he could take back to Disneyland , which had open a few years prior in 1955 . After swift oeuvre to reduplicate the German monorail model , the Disneyland - Alweg Monorail System debuted in 1959 and ran until 1969 , engage ab initio as a sightseeing attraction over Tomorrowland . Described as a “ highway in the sky , ” Disney ’s monorail ran 41 ft above earth , glide along a two - and - a - one-half - mile track at speeds up to 30 mph . As the first operating monorail system in the United States , its debut was such a splashy sentiency that its ribbon - cutting was attended by then - Vice President Richard Nixon .
It was n’t until 1961 , when a 2nd program was built at the Disneyland Hotel and a new fleet of gear was add up , that the monorail evolved into its original intention : a modality of transport . From there , the sky was the limit for this high - flying runway , visualize as an awe - urge train that would keep invitee immersed in Disney themes en route to the commons . New advancements and evolution egress in subsequent decades , including more streamlined monorail models designed by Walt Disney Imagineering that ran from 1969 to 2008 and a new station at Downtown Disney . The current monorail organisation , which debuted in 2008 and travels over Fantasyland and Tomorrowland as well as Grizzly Peak and Hollywood Land in Disney ’s California Adventure , boasts a sleek sci - fi motive that simultaneously harkens to the vintage early days of Disney innovation while offering a transportation experience that feel advanced and futurist . That said , if you ’re looking to ride the monorail , you ’ll want to pretend fast ; the system isclosing for renovationson July 5 , and there ’s no date for reopening on the calendar just yet .
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Forget Texas ; everything isreallybigger in Florida . As Walt was initially dreaming up his 2nd theme park near Orlando — a monumental tract of land he vaguely referred to as the “ Florida Project , ” the monorail play a key function not just as a mean of getting guests into the park but as the ground for what he image as full - blown mass transportation system . It was to be a convenient , reliable , and forward - thinking transfer system for his challenging plans at Epcot , where guest and occupant would be able to press buttons at stations to summon streamlined trains . For better or bad , we ’ll never do it what it would have been like to literallylivein a world designed by Walt Disney . He died in 1966 before his namesake Walt Disney World open in 1971 with Magic Kingdom .
Rather than manoeuver as mass transit , the Disney World monorail became an opening - Clarence Shepard Day Jr. route that simply whisk off visitant from the Transportation and Ticket Station to the front Bill Gates of the park — with extra station at Disney ’s Polynesian Village Resort and Disney ’s Contemporary Resort . expand caterpillar track connected Magic Kingdom to Epcot when the ballpark open up in 1982 , and another station at Disney ’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa was add in 1988 . Far grander than Disneyland ’s monorail , Florida ’s version boasts nearly 15 miles of runway traversed by 12 colorful trains that can each accommodate 364 rider at a time . On an ordinary sidereal day , Disney World ’s monorail carry around 150,000 guests , making it one of the most used monorail organisation around the globe .
now , the Disney World monorail is as iconic as the most nostalgic Magic Kingdom attractions . Although people have the option of ferrying to the park across the Seven Seas Lagoon or even walking along a newly contribute track that start out at the Grand Floridian , the monorail remains a rite of passage for enter “ the Most Magical Place on Earth . ” It transports rider along a placid track that coil around the lagoon and go directly through the Contemporary , offering glimpses of Mickey and Co. schmoozing with client at breakfast down below .
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The mass transit of tomorrow? Not so much
For something as witching , silken , and forward-looking as the monorail , you might be wonder why Walt ’s grand paradigm - shifting plan for America ’s aggregative theodolite system of rules did n’t take off beyond Disney property . Even though monorails are a thriving and renowned attraction in Disneyland and Disney World , along with Tokyo Disney Resort , their flaw inhibit expanding upon in passably much any other setting .
As raft of Walter Elias Disney - leaver can attest , especially those who endure the hordes at Magic Kingdom ’s Transportation and Ticket Center , the monorail is far from perfect . Yes , it ’s got nerveless Tomorrowland vibraharp that verbalize to a would - be future of shiny perfection , but when thing go wrong with monorails , thing gowrong . Passengers are sometimes left waiting long stretches for trains to arrive because if one breaks down , it can take a while to reroute cars . Those are the natural limitations of mesh on a single track , and there ’s no technology that exists to make a higher - fastness permutation .
In cosmopolitan , it ’s a want of technology and a surplusage of disbursement that make monorails badly - suit for transit on a beyond - Disney graduated table . Building rarified tracks is pricier than building ground - horizontal surface track , and when coupled with the cephalalgia that add up with single - runway operation , they ’re just not a viable or reliable option for cities , many of which already have long - found base that would be tedious to replace . So the next time you ’re stuck on the L in Chicago , just be thankful you ’re not mired in a sea of go-cart , roasting under the Florida sun .
From Disneyland to Disney World , Walt ’s highfaluting ambitions to innovate have reshape how the world hear theme parks . monorail , despite their want of actual - globe practicality , have earned their rightful sovereignty as a symbol of that sorcerous ambitiousness . Just do n’t expect them to pop up in cities — even in the future .
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