The Disneyland Monorail…an attraction that was more than just an attraction.
The monorail was a symbol of Walts vision for Disneyland, and for the world.
And in this episode of Fresh Baked, we’ll cover all the secrets and history of this
iconic Disneyland attraction.
The story of the monorail is one that is deeply personal to Walt in both its origins and its
place in Disneyland history.
If you know anything about Walt Disney, you know that he had a fascination with transportation.
Many of the most legendary Disneyland attractions were focused on how guests get from one place
to another.
the Disneyland railroad, the river boats, main street vehicles, autopia.
But in the case of the Monorail, it was more than just a means of conveyance.
Walt wanted to make the world a better place.
He wanted a better way for people to commute.
He wanted…a monorail.
And this monorail was to be the cornerstone of his eventual experimental prototype community
of tomorrow.
Or EPCOT.
But we’ll get more in to that in a little bit.
For now, it’s enough to know that a monorail was always on the table for Tomorrowland.
Or, in the case of very early concept art…the city of tomorrow.
Though a suspended one, that is a monorail.
You see, the Monorail was not a new invention, nor was it particularly futuristic.
In fact, the history of the monorail that Walt and Lillian first rode in Germany while
on vacation goes back to 1901.
And it’s on this trip that OUR monorail, the Disneyland monorail really begins.
Walt and Lillian often vacationed in Europe as they were not often recognized and could
travel in peace.
And on one such trip in 1958 while in Germany, they took the historic Wuppertal Monorail.
But this monorail was the typical suspension variety, hanging down freely from the track.
However THIS monorail, the free-swinging suspension style, made Lillian queasy and she had asked
Walt, after riding the Wuppertal, why they couldn’t make a monorail that rode ABOVE
the track.
Well as it turns out, by pure luck and happenstance, walt and Lillian were driving through the
german countryside in cologne when suddenly an elevated monorail zipped right by them
across the road.
They were, in fact, just minutes away from the Alweg company and shipyard.
Walt immediately found the ALWEG building and began a conversation with the engineers
and builders.
The Alweg company was owned by Dr. Axel Wenner Green.
Green made his fortune investing in the Electrolux Vacuum company.
However, the german government would not allow him to repatriate those earnings back to his
home country of Sweden.
So, he spent it all in Germany, building monorails.
After meeting with alweg, Walt went home with some materials on how to build monorails and
immediately began working with his imagineers to develop their own.
And that’s where Bob Gurr, Disney legend, enters the story.
It is said that if the ride has wheels, Bob probably designed it, and the history of the
Monorail is almost completely a Bob Gurr story.
Gurr’s initial impression of the monorail designed by Alweg was not exactly favorable.
He described the practical design of the german monorail as being like a loaf of bread.
It was boxy, and not at all modern or futuristic.
Gurr drew on his background as an automobile designer to apply some cosmetic changes to
make the vehicle look sleeker.
He added “tumblehome”, a term for adding curve to the design.
To tuck it in, thus removing the boxy look.
Gurr also drew inspiration from the Buck Rodgers’ rocket ship of all things, most prominently
the nose, again using a more curved design with the wrap around glass in the pilot seat.
As described by Gurr, the transformation from a loaf of bread to the monorail as we know
it, was done in his home, in about an hour.
And that initial sketch lead to this now famous piece of concept art that he presented to
Walt Disney and his team of imagineers.
As the story goes, Walt took one look at it, turned to Bob and asked, “Can you build
that?”
And when Gurr answered yes, Walt looked around the room at his imagineers and said “Okay!”
And that’s how things got done at Disneyland in the 50’s.
So Disney sent Bob Gurr, Roger Broggie, and Joe Fowler with back to Germany with their
math and concept art to meet again with the Alweg company with plans to have them build
the first Disneyland monorail.
But as it turned out, the Alweg company was not exactly thrilled by the radical changes
Gurr and company had proposed.
One could say that they were offended that in just a few weeks Disney had completely
changed the german design they had been developing since 1949.
Further, those changes were being proposed by a film technician (Roger Broggie), and
an autopia car sketch artist in Bob Gurr.
As in men who were NOT mechanical engineers.
In fact, it got bad enough that Disney decided to just build it on their own and it wound
up that Alwegs involvement was limited to sending over a single engineer to California
to consult.
In one year, the film technician and autopia designer built the monorail.
And they built it on time to coincide with the rededication of Tomorrowland, along with
the Submarine Voyage, a project led by Bob Gurr, and the Matterhorn, where Bob Gurr also
designed the legendary bobsleds.
The design of the body was inspired by, in fact was almost identical to, the viewliner.
This was another Bob Gurr designed vehicle that was essentially a futuristic looking
train that ran alongside the Disneyland Railroad.
That first monorail, monorail red, had 3 cars with 3 compartments each, and could accommodate
a total of 82 guests and like the viewliner, had guests facing forward, as in guests would
sit face to face, as opposed to the window facing seats we see today.
In addition to sharing its design with the viewliner, the Monorail shares a bit of park
history with it as well.
Before the Monorial, this part of the park was nothing more than the autopia, the viewliner,
and the poorly performing phantom boats.
Meanwhile, to the north, newly opened Pacific Ocean Park was giving Disneyland a run for
its money, pulling guests from Disneyland.
Walt decided a response was needed, and thus plans were set in motion to revitalize Tomorrowland.
The phantom boat lagoon would be replaced by the submarine voyage, and the viewliner
would be replaced with the Monorail.
In the year spent perfecting the monorail design and mechanics, it went through many
trials.
They had to overcome the dangers inherent with single track trains, namely, where if
the design is too top heavy, when the monorail slows down or stops during a bank it could
possibly tip over.
They were working under such extreme time pressure that their first test run was just
weeks before the official opening of the attraction.
And that test did NOT go well.
As Bob Gurr relays the story, he went first in reverse a bit, then sent it forward and
after maybe an inch, the engine exploded, sending parts everywhere.
Over the course of the next three weeks, as they pressed to meet the scheduled launch
on June 14th, 1959, they would keep testing every day, and every day the train would fail
to make it around the track without breaking down or catching fire.
Finally, literally the night before the dedication, they were able to make a full lap around the
track without stopping.
But where, on dedication day, Bob Gurr was ready to park the monorail at the depot, have
a ribbon cutting, and then send the monorail backstage again, Walt had other plans.
Walt was very proud of the Monorail, so much so that he invited ABC, Art Linkletter, and
Vice President Nixon to attend the debut.
Now I’m sure most diehard Disney fans have seen the photos or video of the Nixon family
cutting the ribbon.
But what’s really amusing about this story is that Bob Gurr, who was piloting the Monorail
for its inaugural launch, effectively kidnapped the vice president of the united states.
On the day of its debut, Gurr parked the monorail at the beginning of the loading ramp, and
it was Gurr’s understanding that they would do the dedication, then Gurr would send the
monorail on its way back to the station without any guests.
They had, after all, had only one successful test of the monorail in its history, and that
was just the night before!
But proud papa Walt showed up at the ramp with Art Linkletter, Richard Nixon, his kids,
and his secret service attachment.
With Gurr at the pilot seat, they all boarded the monorail for a tour of the interiors.
Well, all but the secret service attachment.
it was a hot summer day, so Gurr turned on the engines so he could start the air conditioning
and cool down the cabins.
But Walt thought that the engines had started in order to take the monorail out.
And it was at this point that Walt said “Let’s go!”
And that was it.
Without hesitation, Gurr hit the gas and took the vice president with him…without his
secret servicemen.
As Gurr tells it, you could see the secret service detail excitedly trying to follow
the monorail as it made its way around the tracks, nervously awaiting his return
But as they pulled in to the station, Nixons kids asked for another ride around, so Walt
gave Gurr the go ahead and around again they went.
The Vice Presidents reaction?
He thought it was hilarious watching his protection detail panic at Disneyland.
As for Walt, this story gives us a peak at the kind of Juice walt had, the kind of confidence
he had as to his place in this world.
He had the vice president of the united states on his train, and didn’t think twice about
taking off without any sort of plan, or clearance….or fear of reprisal.
Make no mistake, Walt was in charge of his world.
And with that, the Disneyland Alweg monorail, was the first passenger carrying monorail
in the western hemisphere.
Yes, it originally did have the ALWEG name in its title, but this had little to do with
Alwegs actual participation.
Disney and Bob Gurr built the whole thing.
The alweg name was included only as part of a legal agreement between the two companies.
After monorail red debuted in 1959, Monorail blue followed shortly after on July 3rd.
The original track was just 8 tenths of a mile, and made what was essentially just a
loop around Tomorrowland.
At the launch, instead of heading straight out and right on to Harbor boulevard, it made
a left turn over Autopia.
For the keen observer, you can even find a support pylon over autopia that was disconnected,
but left behind, when the track was re-routed to Harbor before heading to the Disneyland
hotel.
This re-route occurred in 1961, adding nearly 2 miles to the monorail route and its first
ever STOP when the train arrived at the new platform constructed at the Disneyland hotel.
With this stop, one could say that the monorail was no longer JUST a Disneyland attraction.
It was now a legitimate mode of public transportation.
In fact, you didn’t even have to have a park ticket to enjoy the monorail.
Guests could purchase round trip tickets at the Disneyland hotel stop, allowing non park
guests the chance to view the park without paying admission.
It sounds crazy today, but to accommodate this, monorails were fitted with dials that
indicated what kind of guests were riding in order to alert cast members.
general admission guests, round trip only guests, or mixed,
Also in 1961, the monorail saw its first upgrade, to the Mark 2 and the addition of Monorail
yellow.
The mark 2 was extended to 4 cars instead of three, and included another fantastic little
innovation…the vista dome Walt was a huge fan of allowing guests to
ride in the nose of the monorail, believing it gave those lucky guests the very best view
from the monorail.
And I have to agree.
However he did NOT like the fact that guests got a view of the pilots back.
originally the pilot sat in the front most portion of the nose, while guests sat on a
bench behind him.
To solve this problem, the vista dome was installed and the pilot moved back, thus allowing
guests an unimpeded view from the nose.
The monorails next upgrade arrived in 1968 with the Mark 3 and Monorail green.
This time the monorail was lengthened to 5 cars.
In 1971, the Mark 4 was introduced to the world, but not at Disneyland.
These would appear at Walt Disney World, where they were the centerpiece of walts vision
of the city of tomorrow.
The Disney world monorail connected all the parks and resorts on the walt Disney world
property, thus bringing the monorail that much closer to a true mass transit system.
Meanwhile, the Mark 3’s at Disneyland managed to last until 1985, when they were finally
replaced by the mark 5.
Monorail green became monorail purple, monorail yellow became monorail orange.
The old models were stripped and re-designed, removing the unique double bubble and a more
streamlined nose that resembled the mark 4.
These were also the first to be made of fiberglass, where previous versions were made of stell.
In addition, they were the first monorails to feature power doors that slid open and
shut, as opposed to swinging open and shut.
Over the years, the monorail went through additional track changes, upgrades, and temporary
modifications.
In 1994, the inbound monorail track was re-directed to the Eeyore section of the parking lot in
order to accommodate the construction of the Indiana jones adventure show building.
In 1999, the outbound monorail track entered a new park, sort of.
That new park was Disney’s California adventure, and it was built around the existing track,
thus allowing the monorail to pass through the Hollywood backlot, the main entrance,
and the grand Californian hotel before arriving at the downtown Disney stop, which had also
been completely demolished and rebuilt.
Many have speculated since then if or when there would be a third monorail stop for California
adventure, however this is not practical for a variety of reasons.
For one, the outbound trip from Tomorrowland to downtown Disney is already incredibly short.
Guests would barely have time to get comfortable before stopping again at DCA.
Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, California adventure is a separate admission ticket from
Disneyland.
As such, any guest not holding an annual pass or park hopper, would not be permitted to
exit.
This would no doubt lead confusion and anxiety among guests and cast members trying to negotiate
who could exit at California adventure, and who could not.
In 2007 The trains were upgraded to Mark 7’s, the most recent upgrade, and were the first
to feature the window facing central bench seat we use today.
Over the years, the monorail was used to promote new attractions or new movies coming to Disney.
For example there was the finding nemo monorail in 2007, and the cars monorail in 2012.
But it’s classic imagery is how we all know and love the monorail, both today and throughout
the history of Disneyland.
It was always walt’s dream to build a highway in the sky.
Not just the monorail, but the people mover and skyway buckets too.
But history has shown that he didn’t quite get there.
Though there are monorails in use today, including ones in seattle and las vegas in the US plus
many more in Japan, China, and Germany, they haven’t reached anything close to the vision
Walt had.
And one is left to wonder why.
They occupy less real estate.
Plus they’re quiet and provide competitive rider capacity to other forms of public transportation.
Some cite the cost, which can be more in some installations, or the impact on the the environment,
such as the additional foundational requirements for monorails vs. the more simple railway
tracks.
Others mention the visual intrusion on sight lines, where traditional trains do not obstruct
views or available sunlight while others speak of tradition.
But it’s very possible that Walts very involvement, and its introduction at Disneyland, contributed
to its maybe…..not being taken as seriously as it should.
The reality is, in the US, the monorail was nothing more than an amusement park attraction.
It’s famous use at Disneyland and Disney World cemented its view in the public eye.
It wouldn’t be difficult to believe that city planners who are accustomed to classic,
entrenched systems such as trains and subways, might view a monorail as being less than a
serious endeavor because of its association with Disneyland.
But the good news is that the Monorail is still at Disneyland, alive, well, and amazing.
It’s one of the signature attractions at the park, and rightfully so due to Walts involvement
and its’ impact on the history and status as an icon of the park.
The monorail will forever be linked to Disneyland in the same way as the Disneyland railroad,
Main Street or pirates of the Caribbean.
The Monorail IS Disneyland.
And so concludes our best secrets and history of the Disneyland monorail.
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And until next time…Fresh Baked!