Walt Disney World Freebie Friday: The Monorail | A Disney Mom's Thoughts

"Please stand clear of the doors. Por favor manténganse alejado de las puertas." This is one of my favorite phrases from Walt Disney World.  If you have ever ridden the FREE monorail transportation, you've heard this phrase. The monorail is a public transit system at Walt Disney World that opened on October 1, 1971. At Walt Disney World, there are three lines: Magic Kingdom, Epcot and Resort Lines. The resort line will take you to the Grand Floridian, Polynesian, Contemporary, and Magic Kingdom.  The Magic Kingdom line will take you from the Ticket and Transportation center to the Park. The Epcot line also goes from the Ticket and Transportation center to the park.

The Epcot Monorail runs from 8am until 2 hours after regular hours park closing. The Express Monorail, from Ticket and Transportation to Magic Kingdom, begins 30 minutes prior to Magic Kingdom opening until 1 hour after regular hours park closing. This line runs on the outer loop of this route and travels counterclockwise. The Resort Monorail runs from 7am until 1 hour after regular hours park closing at the Magic Kingdom. On special event nights at Magic Kingdom, the resort monorail runs 30 minutes after the event ends. This line is on the inner loop, running clockwise making stops in order at the Magic Kingdom, Contemporary, Ticket and Transportation Center, Polynesian, and grand Floridian.

There are 12 trains that all have different color stripes: red, green, blue, yellow, orange, black, silver, gold, teal, coral, lime, and peach.  Each train has 6 cars and is 203 feet long. The trains run on a 26 inch wide concrete beam. The beams stretch over 14 miles throughout the Walt Disney World Resort.  The trains carry around 7,000 guests per direction, per hour.  More than 150,000 guests use the monorail transportation on a typical day. 

One of my favorite things to do, until 2009 when it was suspended due to a wreck, was to ride in the front cab of the train with the pilot. There is seating for up to 4 guests in the front cab. Riding up front was offered on a first come, first served basis. When you exited the cab, the pilot gave "co-pilot licenses." At Disneyland, guests are still allowed to ride in the front cab of the monorail.