The Walt Disney World Monorail System is a monorail serving Walt Disney World in Bay Lake, Florida, near Orlando. Operated by Disney Transport as part of the resort's public transportation system, it runs 12 Mark VI monorail trains across three lines of service.
First introduced in 1971, the system was Disney's second, following the Disneyland Monorail in California. It initially featured Mark IV trains running two services around the Magic Kingdom area: Resort and Express. In 1982, the system expanded to three services with an extension to Epcot, and by 1989, the fleet was upgraded to Mark VI trains.
As of 2016, the Walt Disney World Monorail was the third busiest monorail system globally, carrying over 150,000 passengers daily. It is surpassed by the Chongqing Rail Transit monorail system in China, where Line 2 and Line 3 combined accommodate more than 900,000 daily passengers, and the Tokyo Monorail line in Japan, which serves over 300,000 daily riders.
Lines, stations, and infrastructure
The Walt Disney World Monorail spans , with around 50 million Disney guests traveling on the monorail each year. The system opened with the rest of the Walt Disney World Resort on October 1, 1971. It initially featured four stations: the Transportation and Ticket Center, Disney's Polynesian Resort, the Magic Kingdom and Disney's Contemporary Resort. The Epcot line and station were added during that park's construction, opening on October 1, 1982. The most recent addition was the Grand Floridian station, which was opened in 1988 along with the resort hotel. Since then, no further additions have been made, and no expansions are planned due to prohibitive construction costs, though a legal easement for monorail construction through Disney's Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa dating back to 1970 still exists.
There are two distinct routes on the monorail system, with three different services: Magic Kingdom Resort: runs clockwise around the inner beam (also called the lagoon beam), serving the resorts around the Seven Seas Lagoon with stops at the Magic Kingdom, Disney's Contemporary Resort, the Transportation and Ticket Center, Disney's Polynesian Village Resort, and Disney's Grand Floridian Resort and Spa. Service ends approximately 2 hours after the last park closes. Magic Kingdom Express: runs counter-clockwise in the morning around the outer beam (also called the exterior beam), providing nonstop service between the Magic Kingdom and the Transportation and Ticket Center. Beginning around November 2025, the express monorail began running a clockwise rotation in the afternoons and most evenings. On days where there are special ticketed events (e.g. Disney After Hours, Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party, etc.), service runs in the counter-clockwise direction for the entire day. Service ends approximately 60 minutes after the Magic Kingdom closes. Epcot: runs clockwise providing nonstop service between Epcot and the Transportation and Ticket Center, along a single beam. Service ends approximately 90 minutes after Epcot closes.
A spur track between the Magic Kingdom and Contemporary Resort stations connects the Express and Resort lines to the maintenance shop. A second spur connects the Epcot and Express lines and is located northeast of the Transportation and Ticket Center. There are four track switches on the main line: a crossover between the Resort and Express beams; connecting the Express beam to the shop spur; a switch connecting the Express beam to the Epcot spur; and a switch connecting the Epcot spur to the Epcot line.
The Express (outside) beam is typically used to move trains into and out of service on all lines, as it is directly connected to both spur tracks. It can also be used for Resort service when the inside beam must be taken out of service, although instances are extremely rare.
The monorail beams, which are made of steel-reinforced concrete with a polystyrene core to lighten their weight, came by train from Washington state.
Rolling stock Specifications
The monorail operates with a fleet of 12 Mark VI trains built by Bombardier Transportation, which began to enter service in 1989. Each six-car train is long and can carry up to 360 passengers. The trains are powered by 600 volts (V) of direct current delivered through stainless-steel-capped aluminum bus bars mounted on each side of the concrete beam. Each train has eight traction motors, each rated at .
Each train also carries seven inverters that convert the 600 V DC supply to 230 V AC for the air conditioners and air compressor, as well as a battery-backed 37 V DC low-voltage system for onboard electronics. A towing knuckle is provided at each end so the train can be pushed or pulled by a diesel-powered tractor if necessary.
The maximum operating speed is , with speed-restricted zones as low as . These limits are enforced by the onboard computer and cannot be overridden without a special lockout. Attempting to exceed the limit in any zone results in an "overspeed stop."
Trains are controlled using a moving block system, locally known as MAPO (after "Mary Poppins"), which is designed to maintain a minimum distance of between trains during normal operation. If the system detects that a train is closer than to the one ahead, the brakes are applied immediately and cannot be released until sufficient spacing is restored or the operator overrides the system, such as when moving a train between beams. Failure to maintain adequate spacing is known as an "overrun," and is treated as an extremely serious offense.
Below is a list of the models of monorails (and their specifications) that have operated on the Walt Disney World Monorail System:
Mark IV MonorailManufacturer Martin MariettaPeriod of Service 1971 to 1991Length: 5 cars: 6 cars: Width: Height: ( above top of beam)Weight: 5 cars empty: 5 cars gross: 6 cars empty: 6 cars gross: Passenger Capacity:5 cars: 40 per car + 4 in the nose = 204 seated6 cars: 40 per car + 4 in the nose = 244 seated
Mark VI MonorailManufacturer Bombardier TransportationPeriod of Service 1989 to presentLength: Width: Headroom: Height (from bottom of skirt to top of shell): Weight (empty): Passenger capacity: 20 seated per car 40 standing per car 360 people total per train
Automation
Starting June 22, 2014, the monorail began operating on a different timetable in order to accommodate work to automate the system. Disney stated that the system would provide a more efficient service with enhanced safety, as well as more frequent dispatch of the trains, faster switching times, and monorail arrival information. Pilots are still seated in the front cab, but only supervise the monorail in case of an emergency. Platform attendants operate a control panel to dispatch and operate the monorail system.
Identification
Each train is identified by a colored stripe, and given a name according to that color. The complete list of colors used is below:
* Retired following July 2009 crash
To help visually identify Green from Lime, Pink from Coral and Blue from Teal, the Lime, Teal, and Coral stripes have trapezoidal "deltas" within the color stripe in between the passenger doors on each car. Originally, Monorail Lime's deltas (and those of the older Mark IV Lime) were painted a dark blue in homage to the original Walt Disney World monorail cast's costume colors (lime and blue), but the colors were changed when the entire monorail fleet was repainted in the early 2000s. In mid December 2018, Monorail Lime's white delta was repainted to the original dark blue scheme following a refurbishment; these were retained following another refurbishment in 2022. Monorails Coral and Teal had white deltas to differentiate them from Monorails Pink and Blue, respectively. Although Monorail Pink was retired from service following its crash with Monorail Purple in July 2009, Monorail Coral retained its white deltas until October 21, 2021, after which it was given teal deltas. Monorail Teal was given black deltas after its refurbishment in 2022.
In November 2009, Disney put Monorail Teal into service. Monorail Teal was built using the undamaged portions of the two trains involved in the July 5, 2009 crash. The colors of the two trains involved, Pink and Purple, were retired from service. The twelfth train, Peach, was placed into service on October 7, 2011, to restore the resort's fleet back to twelve trains. It was assembled using the undamaged center cars from the Purple train, but with new end cabs replacing the damaged sections from the Pink and Purple trains.
Special liveries In March 2010, Disney debuted Monorail Coral in Tron livery on the Epcot line as part of a marketing plan for Tron: Legacy.
Since the Tron paint scheme in 2010, there have been several other monorail wraps. On March 31, 2012, Monorail Red was converted into a special scheme commemorating the release of The Avengers, similar to the previous promotion for Tron: Legacy. The monorail ran on the Magic Kingdom line and sometimes on the Resort line as the Epcot line loops through the park itself, since Disney is not able to feature specified Marvel characters inside its Florida parks due to Marvel Entertainment's license agreement with Universal Destinations & Experiences that was in place prior to the purchase of Marvel in 2009.
In March 2013, Monorail Black was given a similar conversion to promote the release of Iron Man 3. In April 2013, Monorail Teal was converted into a special scheme commemorating the release of Monsters University. In November 2015, Monorail Black was decorated in Star Wars designs commemorating the release of Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens. In February 2016, Monorail Orange was decorated in Zootopia designs and was named the Zootopia Monorail System to reflect the Zootopia Transit Authority, commemorating the release of Zootopia. In June 2018, Monorail Orange was decorated in Incredibles designs to promote the release of Incredibles 2. A year later, Monorail Yellow was decorated with Toy Story characters to promote Toy Story 4. In September 2021, Monorail Gold debuted with a wrap for the Walt Disney World 50th Anniversary.
Refurbishment
Between June 2019 and August 2022, all of the monorails were refurbished with new brakes, a refurbished interior, and repainted exterior, each featuring an accent color delta.
A list of refurbishment dates is below: Monorail Silver: June 30, 2019 Monorail Green: October 2, 2019, repainted July 2023 Monorail Black: December 6, 2019, repainted December 2022 Monorail Peach: July 14, 2020, repainted April 2024 Monorail Blue: October 29, 2020 Monorail Red: February 12, 2021 Monorail Orange: May 17, 2021 Monorail Gold: August 15, 2021, repainted December 2024 Monorail Coral: October 21, 2021 Monorail Yellow: December 15, 2021 Monorail Teal: May 28, 2022 Monorail Lime: August 11, 2022
Pre-recorded announcements The monorail system uses a set of pre-recorded announcements to instruct and entertain passengers. Prior to departure when the pilot closes the doors, an announcement asks guests to "Please stand clear of the doors. ." One of the most well-known phrases within the resort was recorded by Jack Wagner who was known as "the Voice of Disneyland." During the system's early years, the trains featured Wagner's narration of the sights and scenery along the way, as well as information on special events, the resort, and the monorail system itself. Although his narration has since been replaced, Wagner can still be heard today as the "Please stand clear of the doors" phrase remains with his voice, partly because it is installed on a separate system.