Monorail Question

[airplanegod]

Hello everyone! I was just wondering if Disney allows again, or ever will allow people to ride up front on the Walt Disney World Monorail system. I know the crash was awful (RIP Austin) but it is kind of ridiculous that with all these safe guards and new rules that they still don't allow anyone up there. Or, I guess I will have to wait until I go to Disneyland one day again......

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

As of today they still don't allow the guests to ride up front of the Walt Disney World Monorail, so I guess you will need to wait until you are in Disneyland if you want to do that.

 

[jmartinez1895]

That is a shame. I was hoping to one day have my family ride up front, but I do understand. I guess they are going to play it safe.

 

[cigar95]

Hard to say that any plan is literally "permanent", but there are no known plans to change it. I would think it would be a few years, at least. Partly for legal reasons, partly because it's will be a sensitive issue for a while, and partly because the issue of potential distractions to the pilot is a legitimate one.

Since WDW is WAY overdue for a new generation of monorail trains, it will be interested to see if the next ones, whenever they might arrive, are designed with the issue of front-cabin riding considered.

One possibility would be something like the old Disneyland design I remember from the 60s, with a "bubble" on the top of the front car that sat slightly behind the pilot, but was elevated to allow a 360 degree view.

 

[DCTooTall]

Hello everyone! I was just wondering if Disney allows again, or ever will allow people to ride up front on the Walt Disney World Monorail system. I know the crash was awful (RIP Austin) but it is kind of ridiculous that with all these safe guards and new rules that they still don't allow anyone up there. Or, I guess I will have to wait until I go to Disneyland one day again......

While i miss riding up front, I don't find it too ridiculous that they no longer allow riding up front. It seems that after the accident and the hand slapping from both the NTSB and OSHA, that Disney is Finally starting to have to deal with the reality that the Monorails at WDW are a Public Transit system and not an Attraction.

So I see it as having to deal with the same realities as your local subway/light rail system.... which include not allowing guests up in the driver's compartment.