Happy Monorail Memories

[inkkognito]

With all the gloom and doom surrounding the monorails over the past two days, I thought it might be a nice change of pace to share some good memories of the monorails. This accident was one time in 38 years. For most of the time, the monorails create so many happy memories for Disney World guests.

I'll start off with one of mine, which is more of a funny one:

DH and I were on the monorail when a family got on...mom, dad, and two kids. Dad and kids sat across from us, and mom sat next to DH and I...at that point, all other seats were full. She was a real glamor queen type and was sighing and fretting about how the humidity was wreaking havoc with her hair. We had gotten on at the first hotel past TTC (can't remember which one that is). At the next stop, everyone else in our car got off so there was now room to sit with her family, but she stayed jammed against DH. The whole way she was ranting about how traumatic their vacation was and how she wished this darned train would hurry up and get to Disney Hollywood Studios. She whined, "It got there so much more quickly earlier!" We got off at TTC, so the next stop was the hotel where she and her family got on...I wonder what they thought when they got there and how long they stayed on, waiting to get to Disney Hollywood Studio. We didn't dare try to correct her because she seemed like one of those types who would snap your head off if you dared to imply she was wrong...even her own family seemed to be trying to tune her out and she went on and on non-stop.

 

[Cheloconnell]

My husband loves when you first get on and they tell you to please stand clear of the doors and then speak in Spanish - he recites it and even has the T-shirt with the monorail and saying on the front.

My favorite part is to travel through the Contemporary. When we leave I love to sit backwards and watch the Castle fading into the distance. I really want this to always be my last memory of the MK.

 

[arielmomma]

The monorail is one of my children's favorite "rides." DS loves to ride the monorail on our first day at WDW. To him, it adds to the hype of going to the Magic Kindgdom on that first day. It is an essential part of every trip.

 

[LowesChevy]

It's not a trip to WDW for us without riding the monorail at least once.

Some of my favorite memories are of the older model monorail that had row style seating. The CMs had to actually go down the outside to shut the doors-you would hear boom, boom, boom, boom, etc.

I still love to tune into Live365 and listen to the full length monorail spiels on the stations, especially the older versions.

 

[LadyGracey]

Ever since I was a kid I have been fascinated by the monorails. Going to Disney isn't complete for me without at least seeing one going overhead.

The first time I rode in the front cab was on the TTC-to-Epcot loop and I remember thinking to myself, "one day I'm going to be a monorail pilot!" I still want to be one someday

 

[Eljay]

When I took my nephew at age 6 to WDW for his first visit, he quickly became a monorail expert and addict.

Our first day we visited Epcot and after Illuminations, we slowly dragged our tired selves back to the monorail station, to return to the Contemporary, where we were staying.

We were the only family on the platform and my nephew, who was wearing his First Visit button, was asking the CM on the platform, questions about the monorail.

When the train pulled into the station, the loading CM pointed to the front car and said to my nephew, "Walk straight up to the front of the monorail, the pilot would like you to ride with him."

That was a memory of a lifetime for a little boy who loves monorails. Especially since the pilot let him blow the horn at an oncoming train!

 

[MusicalDisneyDreams]

My favorite monorail memory was on this past trip when I got to ride in the front with my Momma. The pilot was so nice and explained everything to me. He was like the perfect CM.
Seeing Spaceship Earth off in the distance was just so... incredibly magical.
I loved it!

 

[Cheshire Figment]

The monorails at WDW have been running almost 38 years; the monorails at DL even longer.

How many millions of people have ridden them safely each year.

Commercial transportation measures accidents, etc., using "Millions of Passenger Miles". How many millions of passenger miles have been accident-free?

 

[DVCGeek]

My husband loves when you first get on and they tell you to please stand clear of the doors and then speak in Spanish - he recites it and even has the T-shirt with the monorail and saying on the front.

My wife got me one of those as well!

My favorite was the first time i took DW to WDW and I asked to wait for the front. The CM said sure, and we moved up. She asked me what was special about the front. I said "You'll see" or something to that effect. Then we joined the driver and she got a co-pilot's license on her BD. She really loved it, and it makes me happy to share something i got to do as a kid with her now.

Another of my favorites was being on board the Epcot one and getting to watch some of Illuminations from it.

Finally, just loving them in general is a big part of why I bought in @ BLT; I love the Contemporary because of the monorail going through it and for us it is a lot more affordable in the long run to do DVC so I can stay there on a regular basis!

 

[inkkognito]

I have that shirt too and a monorail "hat" that makes it look like the train is running through your head. Here is a pic...it's not a very good one, but I took it quickly once to illustrate for someone:

I often wear it to WDW, especially when doing solo visits, because it's a great conversation starter. I got it at the Contemporary years ago...you can't buy them anymore.

My doctor is a former monorail pilot, and he has a monorail set-up by the ceiling of his waiting room...it's very cool to see while waiting.

 

[Chellymouse]

The monorail is essential to any WDW trip. My favorite memory of the monorail was the 8/08 trip. My BFF and I took a "girl's week" to WDW. We had the smoothest arrival ever. (really, it could have been scripted) unbeknownst to me as a new AP holder, I wound up at TTC (instead of outside the gate at MK) to have my pass processed. When BFF and I arrived on the platform, I asked if we could ride up front with the pilot. We could! It was the first time in 9 years of WDW trips that I was able to ride up front (and hopefully not the last). It was also my BFF's first ride ever on the monorail...one of which she will probably remember forever!

 

[Renee1061]

I posted this picture on one of the other monorail threads. It was taken two weeks ago today. A CM offered to take the picture for us and, to make it even more special, waited until the monorail pulled into the station. It is Monorail Pink, and we were on our way to Epcot. The picture has bittersweet significance, but still portrays a happy memory.

 

[DeblovesPoohbear]

This is one of my favorite pics ever, my oldest DS fell asleep on the monorail after a long night at MVMCP, Mickey Balloon in hand

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[tmarquez]

This driver absolutely made my DD's 5th birthday by letting her "drive" the monorail.

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[NikkiLovesWDW!]

The first thing that comes to mind is a future memory! I am getting married next Saturday and as part of our entrance, we plan to play the "Please stand clear of the doors...." audio clip before we are introduced.

Here's an old memory. In 1994, I was 13 and my sister was 17. We were staying at the Poly and convinced our parents to let us go off on our own. We were to go around the resort monorail loop and head right back to the Poly. It was very fun to be on our own for the first time in WDW. Well somewhere between the Contemp and the TTC, the monorail just stopped. I don't know exactly what happened but it was stopped at least 1/2 hour, maybe even longer. Of course, we knew our parents would be freaking out! A truck had to come and pull the monorail into the TTC JUST as it started to POUR! We had to run, soaking wet in the pouring rain from the TTC back to the Poly!! My parents were just glad we were ok and did what we were supposed to do! I'll never forget that.

My future DH has that shirt too.

 

[eaj1228]

We took our first WDW trip a couple of years ago. My father had only ever been to Disneyland and he doesn't adapt to change very well. I had to bully him into going to WDW instead. We stayed off-site and took the hotel shuttle to TTC. We really didn't do our research to plan for the trip (thank goodness I found Dis).

We got the to the monorail just in time to miss the monorail going to Magic Kingdom and he leaned over to me and said, "I don't like this. I don't like this at all!" Of course I am picturing a miserable 10 days of vacation with my Dad whining about how much better Disneyland is the whole time as the monorail pulls up.

We boarded the monorail and get to see the beauty of the property. By the time we got to the Magic Kingdom my dad's sour attitude faded. Now he talks about how much he enjoys WDW more than Disneyland and he even wants to retire near WDW. Of course everytime we start our trip and are waiting for a monorail I lean over to him and say, "I don't like this. I don't like this at all." Just to tease him.

 

[Capt. Barbosa]

Waaay back when I was in early teens (late 70's) and the only park was MK. I spent a great night riding the front of the monorail for about 3 hrs (this was back in the days when you could disappear for hours without parental supervision) just running the resort loops talking to the pilot. It is one of my favorite Disney memories.

 

[fairestoneofall]

This story may seem silly, but it made us laugh on our last trip. None of us smoke. Nobody in our family smokes. But, every time they'd announce "No smoking, please," one of us would say, "DD, no smoking." It kept on because she'd get so annoyed by it. But then, if we didn't say it, she'd get upset that we forgot.

Anyway, I love that our toy monorail says it too. It makes us all laugh.

I also always repeat the Spanish part and the kids get a big kick out of that too.

 

[jennapens]

The monorail is the first "attraction" we go on when we get to Disney World. No matter what resort we're staying at, I always make my way to the monorail first. I've been to WDW quite a few times, and every time, this has the be the first thing. This is DD's first trip, so hopefully she can carry on my tradition! (And yes, DH thinks I'm nuts! =)

 

[carmiedog]

My best memory is from my trip this June. We got into one of the further back empty cars and a CM got on with us. He found "pixie dust" on my 4yo's shoulder and played around with it (my son says it was a tiny strobe ball he was doing magic with, but *I'm* pretty sure it was real pixie dust ). Then he had dd make a wish and blow pixie dust out of her hand. A couple weeks later, she's still asking when her wish will come true - a gold and purple bunny. There's a fabulous wahm that makes bunnies and I may have to beg her to make another like this:
http://pam-o.smugmug.com/photos/58841434_2ePcH-S-1.jpg

The last day of our trip, our final monorail ride was pink. I remember because we were making bets as to what color ours would be.