Disney begins work on 12th Monorail?

[seanf125]

Hi all. Been listening to the radio feed for a while, but just found out from my girlfriend (blackfroggy) that there were forums. As a quick intro (since I know this isn't the place for it), I'm a WDW Cast Member, working in the Strollers-Wheelchairs-ECVs department at Magic Kingdom.

Anyway, I'm also a Disney nut, so I keep up on the latest news. Over on WDWMagic, it was posted today by someone who at least says they are a cast member that Transportation has approved work on a 12th monorail for Magic Kingdom. For Monorail Teal, they used the 6 cars furthest from the impact of Pink and Purple. For this monorail, they plan to use the 4 closer cars that weren't destroyed, now repaired and sitting waiting to be used. WDW will make 2 new cars. They plan to test it around September and have it roll out for October, ready for the holiday season.

Now, what about a color? There's no official announcement yet, but apparently Transportation Cast members have been pitched the idea of Monorail Maroon. The monorail would be maroon and white, just like the drivers' costumes, and be seen as a tribute to Austin, the driver that was killed in the crash.

http://forums.wdwmagic.com/showthread.php?t=574883 This is a link to the post over on WDWMagic. I don't think you need to register, but you might. There is no official source, but there wouldn't be at this point. But I did a quick search, and whatever info is out there seems to be as legit as it comes. Multiple sources list this as a confirmed rumor, and it's all over the other Disney boards (might even be somewhere here, though I did a search and didn't see anything).

It'll be good to have the fleet back to 12. My girlfriend was a pilot for a few years and I came to understand some of the way they work through her. They are really strained even at 11, since that doesn't leave a lot of room for error. No word on anything regarding NEW monorails, however badly needed those are.

[Len90]

I just read that entire thread. It has been a long time since I have been over to wdwmagic.com.

I am happy to see that it seems like the 12th monorail will be Monorail Maroon (Purple with Car 6 of Pink) as a silent but fitting tribute to Austin.

Thanks for posting this here!

[Amy]

Sounds like a positive thing for sure ~ hopefully it does come about!

[Peerless83]

It would be better if the company decided to expand the track instead of adding and removing new colors. Maybe once Night Kingdom finally gets approved they will think about expanding the monorail system.

[MadEye]

It would be better if the company decided to expand the track instead of adding and removing new colors. Maybe once Night Kingdom finally gets approved they will think about expanding the monorail system.

Not going to happen any time soon. It's a dream by a lot of Disney fans and that is all it will be for a couple of decades at least.

And a 5th gate (new park) won't happen either. Iger himself has said that Disney will not be building a new park in the US for quite some time.

[MmeLeota]

First of all, welcome to the forums seanf125!

I think that monorail maroon as a silent tribute is a wonderful idea!

It will be great to have all 12 monorails again. I understand the strain that is put on those trains everyday since I have experience with the Mark IV monorails (not at Disney). There's no way they can expand without adding more trains either.

[Amy]

It would be better if the company decided to expand the track instead of adding and removing new colors. Maybe once Night Kingdom finally gets approved they will think about expanding the monorail system.

Not going to happen any time soon. It's a dream by a lot of Disney fans and that is all it will be for a couple of decades at least.

And a 5th gate (new park) won't happen either. Iger himself has said that Disney will not be building a new park in the US for quite some time.

What is Night Kingdom? Is that a 5th gate?

[MadEye]

It would be better if the company decided to expand the track instead of adding and removing new colors. Maybe once Night Kingdom finally gets approved they will think about expanding the monorail system.

Not going to happen any time soon. It's a dream by a lot of Disney fans and that is all it will be for a couple of decades at least.

And a 5th gate (new park) won't happen either. Iger himself has said that Disney will not be building a new park in the US for quite some time.

What is Night Kingdom? Is that a 5th gate?

"Night Kingdom" is one of the fan proposed 5th gates being considered...

[northernmousefan2007]

I would much rather see updates done to the existing parks and resorts then a 5th gate. Same with the monorail system, it would be really cool if they could be updated to go a little faster. I wonder how long the return of investment would be to replace all or nearly all of the buses with monorail. Grab the green movement by the horns and only have magical express and dcl buses running around disney. They would loose less people off property if the transit time to a park was 15 min or less... too much to ask I know but Walt would want to know why the monorails aren't still kept up as a blueprint for transportation of the future.

[MadEye]

I would much rather see updates done to the existing parks and resorts then a 5th gate. Same with the monorail system, it would be really cool if they could be updated to go a little faster. I wonder how long the return of investment would be to replace all or nearly all of the buses with monorail. Grab the green movement by the horns and only have magical express and dcl buses running around disney. They would loose less people off property if the transit time to a park was 15 min or less... too much to ask I know but Walt would want to know why the monorails aren't still kept up as a blueprint for transportation of the future.

They are updating the existing parks, which is why you will not see another park for a long time at WDW. Updating the Monorails is, hopefully, going to be done soon. As for making them go faster... Not going to happen.

[boilerbabe]

Thanks for posting! I like the sound of that, hopefully we can see Monorail Maroon if we make it there in Dec.

[horizons1]

Monorail Maroon would be a nice tribute, plus I like the color.

[Mousekedude]

It's sounding more and more like a reality (Monorail Maroon, that is...), and we'll be sure to make it a point to ride it in December, in honor of all that's happened.

[boilerbabe]

Has there been anything said what line this Monorail will run?!

[seanf125]

WDW's Monorails aren't assigned to a specific line. The Tron-O-Rail (Coral) is right now, because Tron would be a bad fit for theme at Magic Kingdom. But the others are shifted around regularly.