monorail riding

[Chrissysdaddy]

is it true there not letting ppl ride up front anymore ? that would be really sad my 10 year old always brags to his brothers about the time him and daddy got to ride up front on the monorail . he still has the licence the driver gave him he was 4 at the time .

 

[kaytieeldr]

It's true. There was an accident about sixteen months ago (affecting only a driver) and Walt Disney World won't intentionally put any of its Guests at risk.

 

[phred52]

Sadly no more. We loved to do this.

 

[Oglet]

Yes, It is 100% true and while July 5 might have been a major factor in it there are numerous other reasons why it is no longer permitted.

I would love to say for everyone to contact Guest Relations and complain however it will not change anything. After speaking with some sources very well connected and informed I have gone from being somewhat optimistic about its return to almost certain the days of riding up front are just a memory and they are gone for good.

 

[stacy6552]

When that news broke, all I could think of was how many times we'd been up front and as tragic as it was, it could have been so much worse, if a family had been up there. I have to say it seems a little disrespectful and the CM who lost his life and the company that loved him to try and pressure them into letting families up from again. No judgement, just how I feel about it myself.

 

[Missytara]

When that news broke, all I could think of was how many times we'd been up front and as tragic as it was, it could have been so much worse, if a family had been up there. I have to say it seems a little disrespectful and the CM who lost his life and the company that loved him to try and pressure them into letting families up from again. No judgement, just how I feel about it myself.

I feel the same way.

I think it would somehow be disrespectful to Austin's memory and to his family, to have anyone ride up front anymore.

 

[dudspizza]

I have to say it seems a little disrespectful and the CM who lost his life and the company that loved him to try and pressure them into letting families up from again. No judgement, just how I feel about it myself.

I feel the same way.

I think it would somehow be disrespectful to Austin's memory and to his family, to have anyone ride up front anymore.

I have to agree 100%. One of our fondest memories is our first trip to MK and our daughters excitement when they got to ride up front... that said, a CM died and it could have been so much worse if a family was up there........ I personally will respect Disney's decision to not put guests at risk and thank them for thinking of the guests......

Duds

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

I believe guests at Disneyland in Anaheim are still allowed to ride up front on their Monorail system, so if you ever go there at least that's something to keep in mind. However I also agree that at Walt Disney World ridding up front on their Monorail system will never be brought back and I think it's for the best.

 

[Chrissysdaddy]

OMG ! that's terrible I never heard that ? what happened did it involve people being up front or something ?

 

[ccudmore]

It was late at night after all of the guests had gone. The pilot was the only one on board. There was a communications error with those doing the track switching and the pilot drove into the back of a parked monorail.

 

[Oglet]

It was late at night after all of the guests had gone. The pilot was the only one on board. There was a communications error with those doing the track switching and the pilot drove into the back of a parked monorail.

There was far more to it than that.

 

[clkelley]

There was far more to it than that.

Exactly, the pilot that was killed was sitting in the parked monorail waiting for clearance to proceed.

The driver of the OTHER monorail was driving in reverse and backed into Austin.

There were actually TWO monorail drivers affected, one killed, another that just has to be "haunted" for the rest of his life.

 

[Detailor]

Link to July 15, 2009, article in the Orlando Sentinel...

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/orl-disney-monorail-crash-071509,0,5258965.story

 

[DebbieB]

I believe guests at Disneyland in Anaheim are still allowed to ride up front on their Monorail system, so if you ever go there at least that's something to keep in mind. However I also agree that at Walt Disney World ridding up front on their Monorail system will never be brought back and I think it's for the best.

The monorails at Disneyland are new, my guess is they have stronger construction in the front. The one in the accident at WDW crushed like a tin can.

 

[Brian Noble]

Add me to the chorus. Cockpit rides for Guests should be permanently installed in Yesterland, for a variety of reasons.

 

[Oglet]

So many different areas of blame with the 5th of July in my opinion.

The guy who didn't throw the switch, some of the platform cast, the manager at the time and the driver of monorail pink plus several others are all somewhat to blame.

The switch should have been moved, no question. The driver of pink should have known something wasn't right while in reverse, platform cast could have dropped power to the beam stopping the trains it goes on and on....

 

[Spokavegas]

Terribly sad story.

On our last visit in Feb 2009 though.....we were told that they were no longer allowing families to ride up front for safety reasons, and that was BEFORE the fatal accident. Wonder if they'd had a "close call" or incident before this one?

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

Terribly sad story.

On our last visit in Feb 2009 though.....we were told that they were no longer allowing families to ride up front for safety reasons, and that was BEFORE the fatal accident. Wonder if they'd had a "close call" or incident before this one?

I don't think that's true because I am willing to bet someone would have reported on here that guests were no longer to allowed to ride up front and that never happened.

 

[Oglet]

I rode up front with my family as a guest on July 4, 2009 in the evening and it was allowed.

There are also numerous videos on youtube that were within a month of so of the accident.

 

[taaren]

In Disneyland we were allowed to sit in the front of the monorail a couple of times last month (October 2010). So you can still have that experience there. My 4 year old loves to pretend he's the conductor. Perhaps if they eventually install new monorails in WDW in future years they might bring the riding up front experience back.