MONORAIL BY THE NUMB3RS | the Disney Driven Life (2024)

I don’t know many people that don’t like to ride the monorail when they go to a Disney park. I am sure you are aware of the sacred seven, especially rule number 2: “Thou shalt ride the monorail when in Disney.” There are times I just ride the “rails” for the fun of it, so let’s call it an attraction too!

New Disneyland Monorails

Disneyland Monorail

• 1959 is when the Disneyland Monorail debuted but was named Alweg Monorail System
• 1961–the Disneyland monorail had a bar
• .08 mile was the total length of the Monorail on opening day
• 1961–the track was extended 2.5 miles so that it could be used as a transportation system
• 2.5 miles is the length of track at Disneyland.
• 15 minutes is the time of a roundtrip ride
• 1 billion+ riders have been on the monorail since it first opened.
• 4 trains are used in Disneyland
• 4 colors are used on the monorail trains: Red, Orange, Blue, and Purple
• 1 monorail has been taken out of service: the Orange monorail
• 3 monorails are used at 1 time during normal operations.
• 13 minutes is the total ride duration of the monorail.
• 3 car trains, the Mark I, were used in June 14, 1959.
• 4 car trains, the Mark II, were put into service in 1961; it also had the big dome on top.
• 1961–the track was expanded to include the Disneyland Hotel
• 5 car trains, the Mark III, were put into service in 1969 and was built by WED Enterprises.
• 137 feet was the length of the newer Mark III trains
• 5 car trains, the Mark V, were put into service on January 23, 1987 and were built by Ride and Show Engineering.
• 27 passengers–the number that can be seated in the 3 middle cars of the Mark V monorail.
• 32 passengers–the number that can be seated in the 2 end cars of the Mark V monorail.
• 145 passengers–the total number of passengers per each monorail train.
• 4 generations of monorails have been used at Disneyland.
• 2007 was the year the new Mark VII was put into service, with new seating configuration and sleeker designed

Walt Disney World Monorail

• 50 million people use the monorail each year, making this the world’s busiest monorail system in the world.
• 337 individual track beams were used on the original monorail loop that consisted of the resort hotels and Magic Kingdom. Each track beam is 85 to 110 feet in length, and weighs 55 tons.
• 3 monorails were in operation on Opening Day in 1971: Orange, Green, and Gold.
• $1,000,000 per mile is the estimated cost to build the monorail system.
• 11 Mark VI monorails trains are in service today. Each train is identified by a color with the following colored trains still in service: Black, Blue, Coral, Gold, Green, Lime, Orange, Red, Silver, Yellow, and Teal.
• 2 colors were retired after the 2009 accident: Purple and Pink. Teal was rebuilt using parts from the retired cars.
• 6–number of cars per each Mark VI monorail train.
• 203’ 6” is the overall length of the Mark VI Monorail trains. With a height of 10 feet 10.5 inches tall.
• 124 tires are on each train of Mark VI monorail train, and each train can carry 360 passengers.
• 300-372 guests are the capacity of a Mark VI 6-car monorail.
• 15 miles–the total length of monorail track at WDW
• 4,200 feet of track were originally installed.
• 171 feet–the total length of a 5-car monorail train.
• 50 miles per hour–the maximum speed of the monorail, but they typically don’t exceed 40 miles per hour.
• 50 tons–the gross weight of an empty 6-car monorail train.
• 14 monorail trains are currently used; they include (1 5-car train, 9 old 6-car trains, and 4 Mark VI 6-car trains).
• 10 selections are on the Monorail Master Control Unit (MCU), 5 forward, 1 center, and 4 back. The 5 forward positions are propulsion selections labeled P-1 through P-5. They correspond to speed traveled as follows: P-1 = 15 mph, P-2= 20 mph, P-3= 25 mph, P-4= 30 mph, P-5= 40 mph. The 4 back are labeled B-1 to B4; the higher the number the harder the brakes. The 1 center is a neutral.
• 8 electric motors are on each monorail train.
• 113 horsepower–what each monorail motor delivers.
• 600 volts of DC power is generated from each electric motor.
• 99.9% up time for the monorail system. Each train has a strict maintenance schedule to keep these running as well as they do.
• 4 million plus miles–the approximate total miles the monorail has traveled since 1971.
• 200,000–how many people use the monorail each day between Epcot, the Magic Kingdom, and the 3 Resorts
• 26 inches–the width on the Monorail track
• 40 MPH is the average speed of the Monorail
• 77,427 feet–the total track length
• 10,000 guests ride per hour
• 65 feet–the highest point of the track
• 300 guests can ride on the Mark IV monorail
• 400 beams were used to construct the original track
• 110 feet long is each section (beam) of track
• 1 million dollars were needed to extend the monorail in 1982
• 200 pilots operate the monorail system that keeps WDW guests moving each day
• 2009 was the first year in the 48 year history that there was a fatal accident
• 1 death occurred in 2009 as a result of a head-on collision of 2 monorails, a 21 year monorail pilot, Austin Wuennenberg died at the scene of the accident at the TTC at 2 am Sunday July 5, 2009
• 9/1/71–when Monorail Orange was put into service; it was delivered on 4/5/71.
• 9/1/71–when Monorail Green was put into service; it was delivered on 5/20/71.
• 9/1/71–when Monorail Gold was put into service; it was delivered on 6/15/71.
• 9/20/71–when Monorail Blue was put into service
• 11/7/71–when Monorail Red was put into service
• 12/3/71–when Monorail Yellow was put into service
• 7/3/72–when Monorail Pink was put into service
• 8/16/72–when Monorail Silver was put into service
• 11/14/72–when Monorail Purple was put into service
• 12/22/72–when Monorail Black was put into service
• 5,511,200 KWH is the total system energy consumption per year on the Monorail Mark IV
• 137 KWH is the per train operating energy consumption per hour on the Monorail IV
• 11.52 KWH is the per train mile energy consumption on the Monorail Mark IV
• 5 Mark IV cars weigh 92,000 lb while empty.
• 5 Mark IV cars’ gross weight is 122,600 lb.
• 6 Mark IV cars’ empty weight 108,500 lb.
• 6 Mark IV cars’ gross weight is 145,100 lb.

I hope to see you on the “BEAM”

Contributed by: Tony Caselnova (NDD#61) Tony is the DDL Statistics Blogger. He is also the creator of Disney By The Numbers.

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