wow, great pics stopher!!! it seems everything is more outside. what is the inside of the monorail like now that they went to the replica of the original? which i think are cool. i have to get dw into a plane!!
The new trains definitely have a retro-look with these new Mark VII trains! They are sleek and sexy, currently up to a Blue, Red & Orange train. Yesterday, all 3 were operating. Prior to the new trains, the last models were up to 4 trains at their zenith, but then slowly 2 of them were cannibalized for parts as repairs were needed. Here are some photos of the inside. The lighting is really, really cool.
Here's a view of the back cabin. I've ridden in it twice now, once on this trip. It can accomodate 8 guests. I can't remember if the front cabin is available to guests or not - but I'm pretty sure it is like the old trains were. Though it would probably only accomodate 5 or 6, since the driver's console is up there.
At DL, the monorail is primarily an attraction, not a transportation system. Sure the resort guests can and do use it as transportation, but it is primarily an attraction in Tomorrowland. From there you can ride over to Downtown Disney. You have to disembark, but if you want to continue back to TL, just jump back into line. There is an opening in the queue that will allow you back in without having to go out through the exit and show your ticket again. With that in mind - if you are a hotel guest, or you've left and visited DTD for lunch or dinner or some shopping & want to return to the park, there's a ticket turnstile just like at the front gate. This is the only other guest entrance to DL besides the Main Gate.
When it opened in 1959, it was the first daily operating Monorail in the western hemisphere. In the early '60's the line was extended from being just inside TL, leaving DL and actually going out through the parking lot and across a public road. Another first - crossing a public street! When they did that, the line was extended from 1/2 mile to over 1.5 miles (nothing compared to all the mileage of the WDW system, but the DL resort is much, much smaller too). With the extension, it then went on to the
Disneyland Hotel (which wasn't owned by Disney back then - Disney didn't buy it until 1988). Walt's good friend Jack Wrather asked him back in the late '50's if he could open a hotel and use the DL name, to which Walt agreed and licensed. As it expanded in the early '60's, the Travelport was opened, which was the Monorail station, taxi stop, a bus depot and later a rental car area for travelers who wanted to explore more Southern California. Soon small bungalows were built nearby that hotel guests could rent that were more villa like in a Japanese garden setting with complete housekeeping facilities, ie. a kitchen (kind of a 1960's pre-cursor to today's DVC units!)
The hotel grew from it's original low level facilities into the 3 large current towers (all going under the knife to be gutted and completely renovated over the next 3 years. One of the 3 towers is currently closed as it is going through that process now). When Disney bought the property in 1988 (I was a cast member back then - I remember what a GREAT BIG DEAL it was that we "finally" owned the Disneyland Hotel!) a great big renovation was begun to make the rooms "more Disney". They were nothing like you would find today, but they were far improved over their former state.
When the plans for DCA began coming together in the mid-'90's, the Travelport was demolished. By 2000 it was gone. The original Monorail station structure was refurbished/remodeled, but remains in the exact same location. It just isn't directly located at the DL Hotel anymore, but rather within the confines of the all new Downtown Disney District that was forming in between DL and the Hotel property. The bungalows and other outlying buildings were demolished to make way for the Rainforest Cafe, ESPN Zone, AMC Theatres & more. No more can you just take the monorail to the hotel - but rather to DTD, where you then walk to your hotel, through the last portion of DTD.
In the old trains, all of the seating was pretty much foward facing, with pairs on each side, a space in between, and then a full row behind that (repeated throughout). These new trains have outward facing seating instead. IMO it's definitely better to be outward facing to actually be able to see what you're passing over, instead of just facing forward and have to crane your neck to see!
The lighting is really, really cool.
So what are your thoughts about it????
At the end, DW turned to me and mouthed "Next year" to me. 
, maybe by the time The Dis Dads work at WDW, they will have those new monorails!
nobody messed with them!!
she is not to happy about it. i told her about the pickpocket thing, she said you can pick a tourist out with no problem, they are allways walking slow and looking up.
