WDW Toy Monorails (Theme Park Souvenir): Quality?

[RickNWendy]

Looking for posts on the Motorized monorail theme park souvenirs that are sold for a high price in the park. I am interested in getting one for my son, as he has become a monorail junkie like his father but am afraid it may stop working. My reason is: we bought him the die cast monorail (~ $ 15) and it came apart - the trains are not connected between cars, they just 'sit' there on a peg. Once they come apart, the plastic part crumbles.

Now... for the motorized ones - please post your opinion on quality below. Also, if anyone has a non-working train, I would be willing to offer you something for it (off post, to be legal, Via PM ok) so I can inspect it myself as well as see if they are 'fixable' before I throw retail at a working one in September.

Thanks!

 

[Robo]

Very well-made (and a pretty good "bargain" at between $50-$70 for a set).
I've had mine for years.
I set them up and run them for Christmas.
I clean the the tracks and the rubber "tires" under the engine-car so they stay free of dust and don't slip.

Check this recent thread:

http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1171521

 

[Micca]

We have two monorail trains and all the WDW stuff that goes with it. I think the build quality is fair. One of my trains struggles to get around the track even with fresh batteries. I don't think the price is too bad--I think it's still $60 with one train and a starter pack of track. We just use ours at Christmas time.

 

[shafke]

We bought ours about 4 years ago. It gets set up a couple of times a year. The quality is good. I know what you mean about the dicast model. One of the pegs that connect two of the cars broke but I was able to fix it with a drill and a nut and bolt. I thinks that the die cast models are not really meant to be played with.

 

[RickNWendy]

I know what you mean - but I couldn't convinvce my son (2 1/2). He even slept with the thing the first couple nights we were back, which leads me to asking, lol.

Thanks so far - keep the good info coming - maybe this can be a 'repository thread' of toy monorail info.

As for us, though - I will likely get him one and we will see what happens. If he still likes it, I may try to get him a model of California Screamin to go with it - though I think they are discontinued now at DL & CA.

 

[boBQuincy]

The monorail model build quality is fair, all the ones I have seen (five) needed some truing up of the drive wheels before they ran smoothly.

They are probably too fragile for a 2-1/2 year old, a couple trips to the floor and something is likely to break.

For the older kids (like those in their 30's) a web company installs radio control in the monorail. Lots of $$$ but *almost* the ultimate in cool for those who love monorails.
And what could be more cool? Why, the N scale version is *the* ultimate:

http://www.mindspring.com/~bobquincy/wdw/monorail_6218.jpg

 

[RickNWendy]

boB - what am I looking at here? is there a link to a site with more info on the conversion / N scale ?

 

[tmt martins]

Look at the Tink Room in my sig

The thread in ROBO's post it shows his 2 and later in the post it has a few pics of DD's setup.

It has been set up from the date of the thread and runs alot.DD like to just here the monorail run at night.

I think they are good Q and I did look at cleaning the Tires if needed and they are the same material that I use in rollers at my work .I will clean them with a bit of water and thats all they need if they glase over or harden I have some rubber restore to use .

 

[Robo]

...One of my trains struggles to get around the track even with fresh batteries...

That's why I described CLEANING the rubber "tire" under the engine car and the track.

Try cleaning the tire with "Formula 409" (or similar cleaner) and cotton swabs while you hold the engine RUNNING upside-down in your hand.

 

[boBQuincy]

boB - what am I looking at here? is there a link to a site with more info on the conversion / N scale ?

The photo is of the underside of the N scale monorail. The main beam rollers are black rubber and are kind of difficult to see, the beam side rollers are more readily visible, two each at the front and rear of the chassis.
The large silver object near the back is the motor (less than 1/2" diameter).

I am working on a web page to show the conversion but "Be Prepared", it is neither easy nor inexpensive, almost everything had to be fabricated.


Converting the larger model to radio control is a lot easier:

http://www.mindspring.com/~bobquincy/wdw/monorail/rcmonorail.html

and "Episode II" for the newer, better version.

 

[Mandalou]

We have two monorails (one for each DS). While we love the "Disney atmosphere" they create, they both do have problems. The audio went on one of them within a month of getting it and the other one has slowed down significantly (even with fresh batteries). My DH and oldest DS have looked into "tweeking" both to give them some more power/remote access, but they haven't finished anything yet.

Still, we love having them. We even put up the set in our flower garden (we have almost all of the accessory buildings, so we recreated WDW in our backyard ). We took the trains themselves in all of the time, but the buildings we just left outside. The only reason we took the set down recently was because we were bombarded with two weeks of weird strong winds that blew the Polynesian across the yard one too may times and we didn't want anything to get damaged.

There. . . more info to (hopefully) help you make your decision on what to do. . .

 

[Caitsmama]

Thanks for these posts.. I have the castle, which i think is ok quality.. (spent $60) it came apart, but i guess can be fixed.. But i am looking into getting a monerail system this yr.. I just wish they would sell models of all the hotels.