Description
The Walt Disney World Monorail System opened on October 1 1971 with Mark IV monorails servicing the Transporation and Ticket Center, the Magic Kingdom, and the Magic Kingdom Resorts. The system was expanded with the opening of the Epcot line servicing the TTC and Epcot on June 1 1982. Later, from 1986 to 1988, the system was upgraded to Mark VI monorails. New features included improved air conditioning, door systems and safety features, a re-designed interior, additional standing room for peak travel periods, improved sliding-door systems, on-board monitoring and improved communications and control.
Details
Specifications: Each of the six-car trains is 203 feet long and has 124 rubber tires powered by 600-Volt DC propulsion systems, including eight DC motors rated 113 HP each. Train bodies are made of a high-strength composite honeycomb material that allows high strength at a low weight.
Trains travel on a 26-inch-wide concrete beam supported by tapered concrete columns approximately 110 feet apart. The beams and columns are constructed in sets of six and post-tensioned together to form a single 600-foot structure. As trains move along the beamway, they pick up electrical power from a metallic buss bar.
Capacity
Nearly 7,000 guests per direction, per hour. On a typical day, more than 150,000 guests use monorail transportation.
Beam
Walt Disney World Resort has a 14.7-mile system of elevated beamway that services seven stations throughout two theme parks and several hotels.
Color Identification
Each of the current 12 monorails are identified by a colored stripe.
The current colors are: Peach, Teal, Red, Coral, Orange, Gold, Yellow, Lime, Green, Blue, Silver, Black. Photos of the monorails.
Pink and Purple were retired following the accident in 2009.
Monorail Teal: Teal was built by combining the undamaged portions of Pink and Purple. It took it's first test run on the Express Beam on the evening of 3 November 2009, and it entered service with guests at 1:30pm on 4 November 2009. Photos of Monorail Teal.
Monorail Peach: Monorail Peach is comprised of cars 1 to 5 from Monorail Purple, and car 6 from Monorail Pink. The cabs on the front and back of the monorail are completely new and built from scratch. Peach debuted on the Express Line on October 11 2011.
Special Edition Monorail Wraps
Monorail TRON (aka the TRONOrail): As marketing for the 2010 movie TRON Legacy, Monorail Coral was covered in a full piece of TRON artwork. The nose cones of the monorail were painted blue, while the rest of the artwork was a wrap. It debuted on March 19 2010 on the Epcot beam. Photos of Monorail TRON.
Monorail The Avengers: A promotional wrap for The Avengers movie was installed on Monorail Red and debuted on the Express Beam on March 31 2012. Photos of The Avengers Monorail. Video of the The Avengers Monorail.
Iron Man 3 Monorail: A promotional wrap for the Iron Man 3 movie was placed on Monorail Black and debuted on the Express Beam in March 2013. Photos of the Iron Man 3 Monorail.
Monsters University Monorail: Characters from the Monsters University movie appeared on Monorail Teal from April 24 2013, traveling on the Express Beam. Photos of the Monsters University Monorail. Video of the Monsters University Monorail.
Stations: Transporation and Ticket Center, Epcot, Magic Kingdom, Contemporary Resort, Polynesian Resort, Grand Floridan Resort.
Schedule
Epcot Monorail
The Epcot Monorail runs from 8am until 2 hours after regular hours park closing.
Express Monorail
The Express Monorail schedule begins 30 minutes prior to Magic Kingdom opening until 1 hour after regular hours park closing.
Resort Monorail
The Resort Monorail runs from 7am until 1 hour after regular hours park closing at the Magic Kingdom. For ticketed events, such as Halloween and Christmas Party nights, the resort monorail runs until 30 minutes after the event ends.
Monorail Routes
Epcot Monorail
Transportation and Ticket Center to Epcot to Transportation and Ticket Center
Express Monorail
Transportation and Ticket Center to Magic Kingdom to Transportation and Ticket Center
Resort Monorail
Transportation and Ticket Center to Polynesian Resort to Grand Floridian Resort to Magic Kingdom to Contemporary to Transportation and Ticket Center.