NEWS: Monorail is back October 15th!

[jordan13402]

straight from Disney Parks:

https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/b...-welcome-back-the-iconic-disneyland-monorail/

 

[Steven G]

love the monorail.

 

[dragonflymom]

Yay! Just in time for our early Nov. trip. It's so nice to be able to monorail to Downtown Disney for dinner, grab some gourmet snacks and save ourselves some walking.

 

[DizMe]

I'm SO happy to hear this!!!

 

[DLgal]

We noticed yesterday that the Tomorrowland monorail station got a spiffy new color changing paint job. It looks cool!

 

[DLgal]

Yay! Just in time for our early Nov. trip. It's so nice to be able to monorail to Downtown Disney for dinner, grab some gourmet snacks and save ourselves some walking.

Operating hours will only be 8am-7pm. Take note.

 

[RyanLowdermilk]

Historically, has the Downtown District station been a good way to rope drop or enter the park in the mornings? The reason I ask - we are staying at Paradise Pier in December.

Also, was it ever the case that the Downtown District station could only be used by those who have park tickets AND were staying on property?

Thanks all!

 

[2tinkerbell]

Since the hours of operation begin at 8am, using the Monorail for rope drop is not advised. Going to the turnstiles will get you into the park about 1/2 hour earlier to stand at the rope for the 8am opening of the park.

 

[KTownRaider]

Operating hours will only be 8am-7pm. Take note.

Thanks for the heads-up. I wonder if the early closure at 7PM is partly to head off a mass of people from using it to cut the trek back to Mickey and Friends post fireworks. Glad to have the monorail back, but please bring back the trams!

 

[DLgal]

Historically, has the Downtown District station been a good way to rope drop or enter the park in the mornings? The reason I ask - we are staying at Paradise Pier in December.

Also, was it ever the case that the Downtown District station could only be used by those who have park tickets AND were staying on property?

Thanks all!

No, on both questions. The monorail has always been open to anyone who holds a park ticket. Now, with reservations, it will cut down on the number of people using it in the mornings naturally, since a DCA start means those people can't board the monorail until after 1pm. But they open the monorail gate at official opening time and often you have to wait 2-3 trains to even get on. You can reasonably expect to arrive in Tomorrowland anywhere from 15-30 minutes after park open.

 

[DLgal]

Thanks for the heads-up. I wonder if the early closure at 7PM is partly to head off a mass of people from using it to cut the trek back to Mickey and Friends post fireworks. Glad to have the monorail back, but please bring back the trams!

The monorail always paused operation during fireworks and it would resume running about 30 minutes after the show. In recent years, though, it's just closed for the night about 30 minutes before fireworks.

 

[DizMe]

Also, was it ever the case that the Downtown District station could only be used by those who have park tickets AND were staying on property?

As already noted by DLgal, no. However, they used to have a dedicated entry from DL to the monorail for hotel guests only. I can't remember whether it was all day or just at the end of the day.

ETA: it was essentially a fast pass line for hotel guests.

 

[DLgal]

As already noted by DLgal, no. However, they used to have a dedicated entry from DL to the monorail for hotel guests only. I can't remember whether it was all day or just at the end of the day.

ETA: it was essentially a fast pass line for hotel guests.

This shows up periodically. There are 2 lines that go up to the platform and sometimes they close one off to only resort guests. However they merge kind of far from the actual station so even when it's open, it doesn't cut the wait down very drastically.

 

[Pluto468]

Great news! I love the monorail and was hoping it would be running for our December trip

 

[BadPinkTink]

Now the next question is, will they allow guests in the nose and tail, like before Covid or will they stop this? Riding in the nose with the driver was one of my must dos, I think Ive only ever been on the Monorail the normal way once or twice.

(waiting patiently for the guinea pigs... ahem I mean lovely Disboard members to report back )

 

[lalasmama]

Now the next question is, will they allow guests in the nose and tail, like before Covid or will they stop this? Riding in the nose with the driver was one of my must dos, I think Ive only ever been on the Monorail the normal way once or twice.

(waiting patiently for the guinea pigs... ahem I mean lovely Disboard members to report back )

Fresh Baked Disney (YouTube vlogger) was there today and posted a video earlier.

They were allowing tail, but no nose. I'm assuming it's the cast member in the nose that stops it. Can't guarantee 6 ft apart, and there's not much air exchange.

 

[DisneyJamieCA]

Now the next question is, will they allow guests in the nose and tail, like before Covid or will they stop this? Riding in the nose with the driver was one of my must dos, I think Ive only ever been on the Monorail the normal way once or twice.

(waiting patiently for the guinea pigs... ahem I mean lovely Disboard members to report back )

Fresh Baked Disney (YouTube vlogger) was there today and posted a video earlier.

They were allowing tail, but no nose. I'm assuming it's the cast member in the nose that stops it. Can't guarantee 6 ft apart, and there's not much air exchange.

I thought they stopped allowing the nose years ago? In the 2 or so years pre-Covid they always told us it was tail (or normal) always.

 

[lalasmama]

I thought they stopped allowing the nose years ago? In the 2 or so years pre-Covid they always told us it was tail (or normal) always.

Before Covid, it was hit-or-miss. It could only be done when it was under certain temperatures, only from the Tomorrowland station, only round-trip, and only if the pilot okays it. My understanding was that even when the pilot was okay with it, they aimed for a 1-on, 1-off kind of schedule; in other words, 1 round trip with passengers in the nose, and the next one without passengers in the nose, then passengers again. So a lot had to line up to get to ride. We've only managed it once, and have been turned down too many times to count. Thinking back, though, it was probably 2017 the last time we had success getting into the nose. We had one day during our 2018 visit when it was too hot, and one day when we were going to be allowed, but we didn't want to wait (they said it would be about a half-hour). We didn't try in 2019 to my recollection.

 

[Kender]

I thought they stopped allowing the nose years ago? In the 2 or so years pre-Covid they always told us it was tail (or normal) always.

Before Covid, it was hit-or-miss. It could only be done when it was under certain temperatures, only from the Tomorrowland station, only round-trip, and only if the pilot okays it. My understanding was that even when the pilot was okay with it, they aimed for a 1-on, 1-off kind of schedule; in other words, 1 round trip with passengers in the nose, and the next one without passengers in the nose, then passengers again. So a lot had to line up to get to ride. We've only managed it once, and have been turned down too many times to count. Thinking back, though, it was probably 2017 the last time we had success getting into the nose. We had one day during our 2018 visit when it was too hot, and one day when we were going to be allowed, but we didn't want to wait (they said it would be about a half-hour). We didn't try in 2019 to my recollection.

In the before times it was up to the CM that's in the nose to make the final decision. I last rode during my NYE 2019 trip in the nose from the DTD station.

 

[BadPinkTink]

I thought they stopped allowing the nose years ago? In the 2 or so years pre-Covid they always told us it was tail (or normal) always.

I rode in the nose with the driver on almost every one of my June trips, the last time was June 2019. Like @lalasmama said, I always did a round trip from Tomorrowland. Sometimes I had to wait for the next Monorail. Sometimes I was on my own, sometimes another party got in at Downtown Disney. Maybe because I am a solo, it was easier to do it. Also the max is 6 people, so maybe it depends who is in your party, as in maybe solo adults or 2 or 3 adults have a better chance than an adult with 1 or 2 children??

Anyways , it looks like they stopped allowing in the nose now. I'm happy they are still allowing the tail, so now I can add it to my plan for my January trip