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Disneyland Mark VII Monorail Discussion


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  • 1 month later...
^I don't know how much is new and how much is old, but I believe you are correct. They took the monorails completely apart, reversed engineered everything so new pieces could be fabricated where needed, and put everything back together.

 

I don't know where some of this is coming from...

 

From what I've heard the trains are entirely new.

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I don't know where some of this is coming from...

 

From what I've heard the trains are entirely new.

 

I pretty sure this is what they did.

 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it was my understanding that those were the old monorail trains. I heard that the two cone sections are brand new, but the three middle coaches are just heavily refurbished sections from the old monorail trains.
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  • 4 weeks later...

From the article:

While some people who went on the first red monorail trip seemed to think it was just another monorail, some guests were thrilled to be on the new train.

 

“It was air conditioned and it was pretty,” said 8-year-old Bethany Masten from Sacramento. Masten and her family were on the first public trip with the new monorail.

 

Did they add air conditioning, or was the 8-year-old wrong?

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^ Maybe because the new monorails at Disneyland are sooo cool already that they don't need A/C?

 

Seriously, I'm sort of surprised that this was overlooked. But they'll fix it.

 

Eric

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My understanding is the middle coaches never have had air conditioning. The Disneyland Monorail is about 1/2 the size of the WDW Monorail--vehicles and all, so they originally couldn't fit an A/C unit in, discounting strapping it to the roof or something. They've always simply rolled down the windows to allow for fresh air to enter the cabins.

 

The problem now is that DOSH and the DL safety people dont want the windows to be opened beyond 2 inches, with all the low clearances beside the track and such. Hence the problem.

 

 

 

 

 

I'm glad they were able to figure out whatever they did!

 

-Jahan

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We left the movie theatre in DTD at about 6 PM Thursday evening after watching Wall E. I noticed monorail red carrying passengers so we headed on up to the monorail station. In between initially seeing monorail red and getting up to the platform, the old monorail wrapped in the YOAMD ads had arrived and loaded. We let it go ahead and leave, purposely waiting for monorail red to return.

 

Since we were the second group in line, I asked the CM at the far end of the platform if it was possible to ride in the nose or tail sections. He informed me that the AC wasn't working in the nose section so no guests were being allowed in there. Whether that was true or not was a little suspect since the CM that exited the nose section when the train stopped didn't look particularly over-heated. (and it was a pretty warm and sunny afternoon/early evening)

 

After the gates opened, we hopped into the front car and grabbed the rearward facing seats on the wall directly behind the driver. There was AC in at least that portion of the train, so the idea that was AC wasn't working in the nose section seemed even more like it was a contrived story. (I'm sure they had their reasons why they didn't want anyone in the nose, so I didn't question it any further)

 

Despite the fact that the front car had AC, the windows were still open. The windows hinge at the top and open a few inches outward at the bottom. If there is any mechanism to open and close the windows, it's not accessible to the passengers. It actually looked to me like they're just locked in that "cracked open" position. In addition to the windows, there were roof vents that had the shape of small air scoops. The temperature inside was slightly below ambient, and reasonably comfortable, but nowhere near the kind of cooling effect that you get when, for example, you walk into the shops after have been outside in the heat. We only took the one ride from DTD to Tomorrowland, so I have no idea what the temperature was like in the middle of the train.

 

As for the ride itself, it was smoother than my last monorail ride, but there's still a bit of bumpiness that's just the result of the condition of the beam itself. Other than being in a shiny new train that's a little smoother and has some cool interior lighting features, it wasn't much different than any other ride I've had on a monorail. Upon arriving at the Tomorrowland station we overshot by a few feet and had to back up. Other than that, the ride was uneventful.

 

I'm sorry that I don't have pictures, but I wasn't carrying my camera at that time. Besides, the pictures in the link posted by Top Thrill Dragster are considerably better than what I'd have probably taken anyway.

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Rode Red last night at closing. Gives a pretty smooth ride. New bench-style seating does wonders for moving around inside the cabins. Airflow felt as expected. I checked out the new scoops, and, well, it's an improvement but they're basically aerodynamic holes in the ceiling. What's going to happen when it rains? Take Red off the loop, replace the roof hatches with ones that don't have scoops, and send it back out? That's pretty awkward for something that is a marginal fix at best, seeing as they aren't running Red at all once the temp. reaches a certain point. Maybe they'll pull a Knott's and just shut it down completely at the first hint of drizzle? We'll see I guess.

 

Here's some crappy pictures, but it's the best my Canon could do in the dark...

(Hit refresh if some of the photos don't load)

 

Sexy lit-up logo in the cabins:

 

 

New hotness open for business!

 

I press button. Button make door close. I love button.

 

 

Windows that don't open more than a crack thanks to scary corporate lawyers...

 

 

Vents that were part of the original design hidden under one of the benches:

 

 

The new air scoops from the inside...

 

Believe it or not, you can stick your hand through one of those things and out into the open air. Don't let the lawyers catch you!!!

 

Scoops from the outside...

 

The super-grainy look is due to the general lack of light. Rain made flash pictures come out looking as dotty as your vision after being in a flash picture...

 

 

The interior lightning looks just awesome at night. Compliments your view out the windows of the lit-up park instead of competing with it. Also note how much more space there is to move around inside there.

 

 

One of these lit-up signs needs to be in my dwelling place!

 

 

Goodnight Red! Thanks for a smooth and enjoyable nighttime trip around Disneyland!

 

Go check it out, but don't expect to be able to ride it in the daytime before Labor Day if these heat rules become the standard. They aren't allowing Red to run in hot temperatures, so if it's not out during the day for you, be sure to check back in the evening. Last Sunday, Red wasn't out until after the fireworks. So don't despair, have patience and maybe you'll get a chance to ride Red on your next visit!

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  • 3 weeks later...

Thanks for the interior night shots, although I'm not quite sure what to make of the excessive use of flourescent lighting. Unfotunately, it reminds me of a friday night at Anytown, USA's local strip for a cheap low-rider convention. Or perhaps each train should be filled with a bachelor party on the way to some cheap strip joint. It just has that cheesy stretch limo look to it.

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  • 8 months later...
Maybe it's just your camera, but it looks awfully red in those pictures. I would've expected it to look more like this photoshopped version:

 

To compare and contrast, I took photos today of both Orange and Red. These ARE NOT Photoshopped. Through the course of the day they took Orange on and off the rail a couple of times. The new prototype windows on Monorail Red really help air move through the cabin.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

John

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