Oct. 27, 2006: Yesterland-Alweg Monorail

[Werner Weiss]

When the Disneyland Monorail opened in 1959, the Tomorrowland Station was the only station. There were two trains. Each had three cars.

Link to Alweg Monorail at Yesterland.

What are your thoughts about the Disneyland Monorail—past, present, and future?

[Barbossa]

Thanks for the link Werner.

When Disneyland reopens the Monorail, they should get Leonard Nimoy to make a guest appearance.



Leonard Nimoy: I'd say this vessel could do at least warp 5.
Mayor Quimby: And let me say, "May the force be with you."
Leonard Nimoy: Do you even know who I am?
Mayor Quimby: I think I do. Weren't you one of the Little Rascals?"

[drnilescrane]

Pleasing the Purists is one thing, but I really would hate to see what these new Monorails (not the current ones) would look like going through DCA, DTD, The Esplanade and most of all the Grand Californian.

I think people fail to take into account the fact that these monorails have to look good in much more than Tommorowland - while Bright pastel colors may suit Tommorowland (even that is debatable at the moment), the only color that effectivly transends the boundaries of the park is white, and that is the color they should stay.

It's the whole reason WDW got the Leer-Jet Monorails in the First Place - Disney Imagineers at the time realised that these Monorails had to look like they were part of the land and surroundings. Why should Disneyland be any different, especially when everything is much closer together?

[DLDCALVR]

does anyone have the concept art of the new monorail? I think it would be interesting to see.

[Werner Weiss]

does anyone have the concept art of the new monorail? I think it would be interesting to see.

Yes!

Click on Image: Disneyland MKVII Concept Art.jpg, from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

What does everyone think about this design?

[DLDCALVR]

I like the physical design, but the color has got to go.

[Alchimedes]

I never got the chance to ride the Monorail in the 70's during my first visit.

The new design is really exciting! I love the concept work and the" little things" returning. The Bubble dome is a nice touch. I love the photos of the crowd locked in awe of the Monorail passing the Matterhorn. Bob Gurr is clearly one of many great imagineers.


I would love to see a full fledged Monorail through California.(Not the probable DCA changes) One that travels all over California. Or at least from Northern Cal to the Southern Cal.

[Dustysage]

Oh my goodness. The Alweg Monorails were so cool looking. But it shocked me to see that it only had 3 sections. So tiny.

[Gemini Cricket]

Yes!

Click on Image: Disneyland MKVII Concept Art.jpg, from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

What does everyone think about this design?

I like the design. It's very futuristic looking. Love it.


Nice pictures, WW!

[cellarhound]

It would be interesting project, Mr. Weiss, if somehow we can get a shot of each design from Mark I to Mark VI once the Mark VII gets up and running...

It would be interesting to see the evolution of the Monorail...

You could make it a sub topic, sort of like what you did with the ticket books...

The new design is just find... Of course, I didn't know what was wrong with the last one, other than the fact that the doors seemed to be waring out...

[shrunken ned]

I want to talk about something interesting I saw in the third picture down in the article. Look closely at the Matterhorn waterfall and how many tracks looped behind it. the rockwork is open in three places directly below the falls. Not that way today. I assume later on they must have eliminated those openings. Today you only see the water below the Falls and Rock, not what appears to be three concetric openings behind the water. I would assume the water played havoc with the guests in gusty wind periods. Thoughts???

[RenMan]

I can't place where the second photo (captioned "Mark I Monorail Red passes over the queue for the brand new Matterhorn bobsled ride.") was taken from, or in which direction the camera is pointing. Can anyone clear that up for me?

[Pinniped]

I recall hearing in the early 80's about a proposed second monorail system that would link the park with the Convention Center across the way and many of the larger hotels in the area. Like many good ideas, this never happened, and I've always been sad about that.

I've always wondered too why monorails never really caught on for short-to-medium range urban transit. I have to assume the current style of light-rail systems (such as that in Los Angeles) are cheaper to build and maintain.

Growing up in Southern California, never travelling much as a kid, and living within walking/biking distance of school, Disneyland was really my first experience with mass transit. Even today, when I see the San Diego trolleys crossing a bridge, it gives me a Disenyland-like feeling, particularly at night.

[cellarhound]

I recall hearing in the early 80's about a proposed second monorail system that would link the park with the Convention Center across the way and many of the larger hotels in the area. Like many good ideas, this never happened, and I've always been sad about that.

The only second monorail system I heard of was one that was going to link the park with the Anaheim Stadium Complex... the plan was to build a park/or rec area out there that was sports themed and would take advantage of the syneries of having Disney owned sports franchises in so close to the parks, the Angels and the Mighty Ducks.

This was discovered as too costly, and owning sports teams seemed too risky to keep profitable... The result was not only abandoning the idea, but ownership of the teams...

The source of this was the old SaveDisney site... sigh... Also something of yesterland...

[JiminyCricketFan]

I have to say I love the new design and I love the COLOR! John Hench talked about the importance of color for adults to relax and play. Tomorrowland has lost a lot of color. Right now it is almost only blue and white. It is like color will be absent in the future. I think it is MORE important for Disneyland's monorails to be colorful because they can be seen so much at the resort. WDW's monorails are mostly seen from the inside. But at Disneyland people love to see them from the outside, standing watching it go by.

Now I do thing that the shades of color should be carefully chosen. The older more primary colors could be toned down to a more sophisticated color pallet. But please keep the variety of colors. If the monorails went to pure steel with white, it would take away most of the fun of seeing them glide through the skies. They would look too industrial. Too much like the real world. They would look like commuting trains, and people would be reminded of their dull, drab lives. Keep the trains looking fun with different colors.