New red Disneyland monorail takes first public guests around the park
July 3rd, 2008, 8:20 pm · 24 Comments · posted by Sonya Smith
At about 5 p.m. today the first members of the public boarded the new Mark VII Monorail at Disneyland’s Tomorrowland station.
While some people who went on the first red monorail trip seemed to think it was just another monorail, some guests were thrilled to be on the new train.
“It was air conditioned and it was pretty,” said 8-year-old Bethany Masten from Sacramento. Masten and her family were on the first public trip with the new monorail.
Disney marked the arrival of the new monorail train with signs throughout the park. And the monorail features more than just the red sides, blue glass windows and blue-lighted floors and seat backs. The train’s message also reflects the new train.
“Ladies and gentleman, welcome aboard the monorail 7,” the speakers sounded on each ride around the park. Later, the recorded message says, “You’re riding on the new Mark 7 Monorail, the latest-generation Disneyland monorail.
“I have no other monorail experiences to compare this to, but this train looks pretty futuristic,” admitted 38-year-old John Sturgeon. This was the first visit to Disneyland for Sturgeon and his family who came to the park from Silver City, New Mexico.
On that same, second ride for the public, was Catherine Keene of San Diego. She admitted that she made her group wait for the new train, which she said looks much cooler than the old train and that also rides more smoothly.
“We saw the red monorail driving along the tracks all day. It looked so pretty and new, so we all wanted to ride on it,” Keene said.
On a ride around the track with a monorail driver, Scott Kea, he said that a few things have changed for the drivers. He said the new train has more cameras, the ability for drivers to talk to specific sections of the train and a “cushier” seat for the driver.
While some guests did not know about the new train, Michael Villanueva, a 29-year-old from Brentwood, was excited for the new train. As he walked up on the monorail platform he said of the old-style monorail train “that one’s boring, I want to go on the new one.”
Villanueva said he’s been waiting for the red monorail to open. He saw the monorail testing earlier in the day, but when he saw signs announcing that guests could go on the monorail he said he ran to the monorail station in Tomorrowland.
“I was like ahhhhhh I have to ride on the new monorail,” he said.
Disney Spokeswoman Betsy Sanchez said the red monorail’s soft opening means it will be open off and on throughout the weekend. She did not know when the monorail would begin full-time operations for park guests.
Photo at top left taken by the Register’s Joshua Sudock. Click on that image for a slide show of images of the new monorail.
Related posts:
- Monorail Red will open to the public tonight (includes details on the new trains)
- LA Times’ Brady MacDonald writes about the air flow problems with Monorail Red
- Millions goes to O.C. monorail proposal
- Monorail Red opening date pushed back
- Did you know? Facts about the Disneyland Monorail
- Disneyland Monorail milestones
- Will Disney pay for monorail beyond its parks?
- New monorail rolls in
- By the way, if you want to see more photos of the red train, CLICK HERE for some photos uploaded by Darkbeer who takes photos of Disneyland for various Disney sites. CLICK HERE for his photos of the blue monorail train.
July 3rd, 2008 at 9:35 pm
What exactly do you mean by “open to the public”? Was it previously open to employees only? By “public”, you mean anyone who may or may not have paid the admission? Is it free?
July 3rd, 2008 at 9:40 pm
hz_
Thanks for your question. The monorail, before today, was only open to Disney employees. The monorail starting today is free and open to people who have tickets or annual passes for Disneyland.
_Sonya Smith
July 3rd, 2008 at 9:51 pm
So what did Disney do to fix the serious air circulation problem? The little girl said it was “air conditioned” but does that mean the train is really air conditioned? I don’t think Disney would take the risk of running a new train with poor air circulation in the middle of summer just to get the train out there.
July 3rd, 2008 at 10:18 pm
Mike O’Connor_
Disney did not offer details Thursday about how exactly the air circulation problem was fixed. I will say that I felt cold air flow while in the monorail cars. I’ll check next week to see if I can get more details on the air flow fix.
_Sonya Smith
July 3rd, 2008 at 10:47 pm
Well I went on it around 7 pm and the air conditioning was awful. Honestly, I also think the seats in the older monorails are more comfortable. I like the new look but I am disappointed in the interior. My family and I sat on one of the benches that faces the windows and we were all very hot and sweaty by the time we got off of it. Maybe the A/C was working earlier but by the time we got on it, it was extremely weak. When we got off , I could feel the air flow the closer we got to the vents but it still wasn’t cool air. They still have problems. I hope they get them fixed. They definitely have some work to do.
July 4th, 2008 at 7:06 am
Sonya Smith you said “the monorail starting today is free and open to people who have tickets or annual passes for Disneyland or Disney’s California Adventure”. To clarify, it is not available to someone with a ticket solely to Disney’s California Adventure, as it is a Disneyland attraction.
I am also curious as to how the fixed the circulation issues, but I highly doubt it included the installation of A/C due to all the problems with this previously discussed.
July 4th, 2008 at 7:41 am
Katy_
Thank you for clarifying that a pass to Disneyland is what is required, and not Disney’s California Adventure. I’ll make that correction in my earlier comment (just so no one is confused).
And yes, I’ll check and see if there is any new word on the air issues.
_Sonya Smith
July 4th, 2008 at 11:08 am
The new monorails are NOT air conditioned.
July 4th, 2008 at 11:18 am
A monorail system in Orange County will be awesome to have instead of the buses we have now. Imagine lugging your bbq grill and surf board on a monorail and cruise to the beach. =D
July 4th, 2008 at 2:04 pm
China actually has a REAL one that goes 270 MPH, and gets commuters around at an amazing speed; compared to our joke of a system we call Metrolink!
July 4th, 2008 at 4:58 pm
How many of these people that are complaining are from MiceChat? Why don’t you go on it first, then post your positive or negative comments
July 5th, 2008 at 9:53 am
Just to let you know, there is NOTHING FREE TO THE PUBLIC IN DISNEYLAND.
Last night people paid $15 for parking to see a paltry FREE fireworks for 10 minutes!
So your posting of FREE is misleading! Just ask anyone who has been their as to what is FREE!
July 5th, 2008 at 1:31 pm
Has anyone else noticed that Disney is just pretending to improve old raides, instead of actually putting in new, better rides? Seriously, who cares about a new monorail car, or a “new” submarine ride like they did last year? For the money Disneyland costs, they should be adding great things. Instead, they’re just slapping paint on old junk and calling it new. KNOTT’S BERRY FARM RULES!!!
July 5th, 2008 at 1:37 pm
Thomas, quit whining. You sound like a typical Disney fan. Even when something sucks you can’t admit it.
July 6th, 2008 at 11:34 am
Cool looking train, but why just one new one? Doesn’t Dsineyland have 4 monorail trains? Wouldn’t it make more sense to replace all 4 at the same time so things would look more uniformed (I know Disney is into that sort of thing)?
July 6th, 2008 at 6:00 pm
To Marty: There will ultimately be three new trains: Red (now in service), blue, and orange.
To Mary Ellen: Not sure what you’re complaining about. You planned on only going to see the fireworks, and you knew that there’s a fee for parking, so it’s clear your complaint isn’t warranted. To answer your comment, the monorail, like all other attractions, are open to all Disneyland Park guests.
To Susan: The monorails are indeed air conditioned. The AC systems are in the nose and tail sections. Air is circulated to the middle cars via a venting system. This is a common design in monorail systems technology, and generally works well.
To mdcrazy: I also had the privilege of riding the monorail. When I did, the train was full, and the air seemed just fine. I’ts possible you might have been on a different car. From here out, for the next few weeks, there will no doubt be continuous “test and adjust” tweaks done, do improve the airflow overall. Test and adjust periods are normal after attractions open to the public.
Also, I cuncur with yoru assessment of the seats. They’re not as comfortable as the previous seats, but I’m old enough to remember the Mark III” seats which were less comfortable than the Mark V seats. Given that the monorail route is relatively short, I think the seating comfortablility is, while not great, is above adequate. I don’t think it’s bad at all.
To Greg: These Mark VII’s are, with the exception of the frame, completely new.
July 6th, 2008 at 6:41 pm
All of the old ones will be replaced. They are introducing the new ones 1 at a time to make sure the transition goes smoothly.
July 7th, 2008 at 12:05 am
Hey, wow … thanks for the info! A blue monorail with this design is going to look real slick!
Do you know if they’re going to stick to the same colors (red, blue, purple, and orange)? A yellow train would look awesome … a throw-back to the ol’ Mark IIi days. Then again … it might look too much like a submarine (the subs were grey when the original yellow train was buzzing around if memory serves).
- M
July 7th, 2008 at 6:37 am
Marty, they will have three: Red, Blue, and Orange. There’s a possibility of a 4th one down the line, but it’s very unlikely. Even when they had 4 monorails in the Mark V line, there was never a need for any more than 3 running at the same time. Most of the year, 2 on the track were sufficient.
July 7th, 2008 at 11:33 am
CentralAnah:
You sound like an insider. I’d love to know where you get your info, but I’m not going to pry. Anyhow, thanks for the 411.
- M
July 8th, 2008 at 6:01 am
Think “TDA”
July 8th, 2008 at 8:54 am
Those were my thoughts
July 8th, 2008 at 8:59 am
That said, CentralAnah … consider swapping the Orange concept for a metalic-blue one. The darker color should hold up better long-term without a wash and wax
July 9th, 2008 at 5:32 am
The next monorail Mark VII will be Monorail Blue. It will have the same color-shifting paint that Red has, but in blue. I don’t know the reasonign behind choosing Orange for the third, other than the color-shifting metallic orange they have chosen looks incredibly cool in daylight. I think everyone will be very happy with it once they see it.