The Disneyland Monorail (originally named the Disneyland Alweg Monorail System) is an attraction and transportation line at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California, United States. It was the first daily operating monorail in the country.
History
Walt Disney originally envisioned the monorail as a practical form of public transport for the future. However, the technology never became widespread in the United States beyond a select few novelty installations. The monorail came about during a time when America's—and particularly Los Angeles'—obsession with the automobile was increasing, and monorails in the United States were mostly only located in Disney's theme parks.
The job of building the monorail was originally assigned to the Standard Carriage Works of East Los Angeles, but in late 1958, Walt Disney, pressured for time, moved it to his Burbank studios. Disney designer Bob Gurr then headed a Disney team that designed and manufactured the cars, chassis, suspension and propulsion systems. Gurr and Disney were assisted by Alweg, the German company that pioneered straddle beam monorails.
The Disneyland Alweg Monorail System opened on June 14, 1959, just in time for the re-dedication of Tomorrowland and a broader expansion of Disneyland which included the Matterhorn Bobsleds, the Submarine Voyage, the expanded version of Autopia, and the Motor Boat Cruise. The Mark I trains (Red and Blue) consisted of three cars each. The opening ceremony was attended by then-Vice President Richard Nixon and his family.
Expansion At opening, the monorail was merely an attraction, taking people on a scenic trip around Disneyland before returning to its only station. In 1961 it became a true transportation system when the track was extended 2 miles outside the park to a second station near the Disneyland Hotel. As part of this project, the Tomorrowland station was lengthened to accommodate four-car Mark II trains and a third Yellow train was added.
From Hotel Station there were two trips above Disneyland available aboard the monorail—a quick tour and general admission. Guests wishing to embark upon a vista-dome view of the park, including a leisurely layover in Tomorrowland within the tail-cone could purchase an exclusive round-trip tour ticket at Hotel Station and save the expense of general admission to Disneyland. Nose and tail-cone door latches were independent of the main door release button. A simple dial indicator above the tail-cone compartment door could be turned to one of three positions—General admission guests, round-trip only guests, and mixed. Cast members at Tomorrowland Station would check the dial position and open the door for general admission guests, who could proceed into the park, while ensuring that round-trip guests, who did not have full park tickets, remained aboard. If guests already in the park boarded one of these sections in Tomorrowland, the dial would be set to mixed, then all mixed tail-cone guests disembarked at the hotel.
Both platforms were lengthened in 1968 for the new five-car Mark III trains, which added a fourth Green train.
Mark V (Mk5) trains By the early 1980s, the Mark III trains were showing their age and the wear of years. In 1985, Disneyland began phasing out the Mark III trains one by one. The older trains were stripped to the chassis and rebuilt as Mark V trains. The Mark III Green went first, to become the Mark V Purple followed by the Mark III Yellow becoming the Mark V Orange. The Mark III Blue remained blue (albeit a lighter shade) and the last was Red, remaining Red. The notable difference was the loss of the bubble-top driver's area in favor of a streamlined "Learjet" look similar to the Mark IV trains at the Walt Disney World Resort. The new trains also sported closed passenger compartments (with windows that could be opened) and pneumatic doors. Following the 1985 Disney World monorail fire, a safety handrail was added along the top of the train, as well as emergency fire exit hatches leading to the roof. The attraction's name remained the "Disneyland Monorail System", as it had been painted on the Mark III trains' skirts. The Mark V trains were built by Ride & Show Engineering, Inc., incorporating bodies that were produced by Messerschmitt-Bolkow-Blohm of Germany (now Airbus). Purple first made its appearance for testing in Autumn of 1986 and began regular operations a few months later. Orange was delivered in late Summer of 1987, followed by Blue in early 1988. The oldest train, Red, was also the last to be removed from the line for refurbishment in early 1988.
The beamway path was re-aligned into the Eeyore section of the parking lot in 1994 to accommodate the construction of the Indiana Jones Adventure show building. The trains were fitted with new electrical pick-up shoes and tail view cameras, enabling two-train point-to-point shuttle service where the first arriving train was disembarked, moved along empty to just beyond the station, the second train arrived, disembarked, embarked and dispatched so the first train could be loaded and dispatched for the return. In 1999, the monorail began lengthy periods of closures due to construction of the Disney California Adventure theme park where the monorail beamway passed through what had formerly been the parking lot. Although the beamway's route was not altered, a significant amount of construction was done around the existing beamway, and much of the terrain under the beamway's support columns were regraded, necessitating the closures. Additionally, the Disneyland Hotel Station and all of its nearby hotel structures were completely demolished and a new station built in the same location. Downtown Disney Station is treated as a second gate into Disneyland Park, so a general admission passport or valid annual pass must be presented to ride the monorail and the tail-cone tour is no longer offered.
The system resumed limited shuttle operations in 2000 when the Downtown Disney Station became operational, but a significant portion of the beamway was still unusable due to construction. In 2001 the monorail resumed full capacity forward direction circuit operations, passing through Disney's Grand Californian Hotel & Spa, as well as showcasing the new park.
In 2004, Monorail Orange was removed from the line and taken to Walt Disney Imagineering in Glendale to be reverse engineered. Monorail Blue was removed in September 2006 for rebuilding. The Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage show building was extended into the lagoon beneath the monorail, which closed from August 21 through December 14, 2006 to prepare for the 2007 opening of Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage.
Mark VII (Mk7) monorail Like the Mark III to Mark V conversion, the refurbishment from Mark V to Mark VII was done one train at a time. The entire Mark VII Monorail fleet consists of three trains—Red, Blue, and Orange. The first Mark VII train, Monorail Red, arrived at Disneyland on December 20, 2007. It was originally expected to be in service by the end of February 2008, but due to design change issues, it did not begin serving park guests until July 3, 2008. Mark VII Blue arrived on-site on April 10, 2008, began daytime riderless testing on August 1, 2008, and began guest service on September 16, 2008. Monorail Mark VII Orange arrived on-site on August 14, 2008, began riderless testing in March 2009 and began guest service on April 7, 2009.
Operations
The Disneyland Monorail has two stations: one in Tomorrowland, and another in the Downtown Disney District. The original Monorail was a round trip ride with no stops. In 1961, the track was expanded to connect to a station at the Disneyland Hotel, making it an actual transportation system. The original Hotel station was torn down in 1999 and a new station, now called the Downtown Disney Station, was built in the same place. All riders must disembark at Tomorrowland Station, and during peak traffic periods, the monorail offers only one-way trips where all passengers must also disembark at the Downtown Disney Station and re-board for the return trip to Tomorrowland. Admission to Disneyland Park must be purchased to ride the monorail.
In the fall of 2006, the Tomorrowland Station was remodeled due to the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage construction. The original speed ramps were removed, and a new concrete ramp was added on the east end of the station to handle the queue and access to the station, with concrete stairs on the west end to handle the exiting Monorail passengers.
The monorail travels in one direction only. All passengers board at a single platform. Leaving Tomorrowland station, the monorail crosses the Disneyland Railroad and continues along Harbor Boulevard on the eastern edge of the park. Turning to enter Disney California Adventure, it passes Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue! and the Sunset Showcase Theater. The track then crosses through the gateway to the Disney California Adventure park. Passengers can see Disneyland Park on the right and Disney California Adventure on the left. The monorail then passes through Disney's Grand Californian Hotel & Spa then makes a sharp curve to the right and enters the Downtown Disney station, which has a vegetative theme to match the floral motif throughout the shopping district.
Downtown Disney station has one platform. After a five-minute loading, the train leaves Downtown Disney and makes a short loop around the district before crossing above the esplanade between the two parks and heads back to Disneyland. Once inside the park, the monorail crosses the railroad again and goes into a series of sharp bends and curves around Tomorrowland. The track travels above the Submarine Lagoon and Autopia. The track crosses the lagoon four times. The track then curves around the Matterhorn Bobsleds, giving a view of Fantasyland, then turns left to reenter the Tomorrowland Station.
Horn
All monorail trains are equipped with Grover 1056 2-chime air horns. The horn must be sounded twice when departing a station, at one point where the track parallels the currently unused PeopleMover/Rocket Rod track, and when approaching the Matterhorn. They are also sounded when a bird lands on the track, and as a greeting to passing Disneyland Railroad trains near the switch to the barn. The original trains were equipped with real ground-level train-sounding horns.
Maintenance "Monorail Shop", as it is officially known ("Shop" for short), is Disney's monorail maintenance facility located behind "it's a small world" and I-5 Freeway entrance to Harbor Blvd. at Disneyland and provides space for four monorails on its upper level (the bottom level houses the five steam locomotives that circle Disneyland). Monorails access this yard by stopping at the switch near the road crossing and then the switch will switch to the facility spur. Then the monorail travels slowly into the yard where another switch leads it into the designated track. No train will ever be left outside the facility because routine maintenance is performed nightly.
Tractor The diesel/hydraulic powered "work tractors" are primarily used each morning for beam inspection and maintenance-of-way which includes trimming vegetation beyond the reach of guests, cleaning and repairing the electrical commutator rails as well as periodically scheduled servicing and painting of the concrete beam guideway. They are powerful enough to return a fully loaded train fitted with tow-bars to a station platform, then to the Monorail Shop, independent of 600 V track power.
Installation and removal