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| "Whenever
I go on a ride, I'm always thinking what's wrong with the thing and how can it
be improved."
- Walt Disney |
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| Disneyland-Alweg
Mark III Monorail Tomorrowland to Disneyland Hotel February 1976 Click to listen in Real Audio |  |
Disneyland
Mark V Monorail Tomorrowland to Downtown Disney December 5, 2001 Click to listen in Real Audio |
| 1976 Monorail - Departs Tomorrowland Station Control:
Monorail One, you are now cleared for dispatch. | 1 |
2001
Monorail - Departs Tomorrowland Station Welcome aboard the Disneyland Monorail. For your safety during our journey, please keep your hands and arms inside the cabin, and remain seated at all times. We're beginning a two-and-a-half-mile round-trip journey to Downtown Disney Station, gateway to Disney's California Adventure, Downtown Disney, and the Disneyland Resort Hotels. Along the way, we'll get a bird's-eye view of Tomorrowland and Disney's California Adventure. You're riding aboard a Mark V Monorail, the newest generation of the Disneyland Monorails. When Walt Disney introduced this attraction in 1959, it was the first daily operating monorail system in the Western Hemisphere. 972kb.wav - 881kb.mp3 (:45sec) |
| 1976 Monorail - Parking Lot Pilot:
We're cruising at a height of twenty feet above the ground, and we're maintaining
constant radio communication with our dispatching station. I'll be increasing
our ground speed as we cross Disneyland's one-hundred-fifteen-acre parking area,
our "freeway retreat", as many of you have called it. | 2 |
2001
Monorail - Disney's California Adventure We're now approaching Disney's California Adventure. This 55-acre theme park celebrates the spirit, innovation, and natural wonders of our Golden State with a new generation of Disney shows and attractions. To the far left is the Hollywood Pictures Backlot, celebrating the myths and magic of the movies. The Golden Gate Bridge serves as the Main Entrance to the park. Beyond it is the towering rock formation of Grizzly Peak, a landmark of The Golden State. To the far right are the high-energy beachfront attractions of Paradise Pier. Just ahead, is Disney's Grand Californian, a luxury resort hotel designed in the Arts and Crafts tradition of the early 20th Century. Beyond it is Downtown Disney, a dynamic, high-energy district, featuring the finest in shopping, dining and live entertainment. 1,232kb.wav - 1,117kb.mp3 (:57sec) |
| 1976 Monorail - Arrival at Hotel Station Pilot:
We'll be making a brief stop at the Hotel Station. For those of you who boarded
our Monorail in Tomorrowland, this is the halfway point. You may disembark if
you wish, and by having your hand stamped, you may reboard the Monorail here at
the Hotel anytime prior to Disneyland's closing time today. | 3 |
2001
Monorail - Arrival at Downtown Disney We are now approaching Downtown Disney Station. This is the stop for Disney's California Adventure, Downtown Disney, and the Disney Resort Hotels. If you will be returning to Disneyland later, please be sure to keep your Disneyland Passport, and have your hand stamped as you leave the station. You may reboard the Monorail anytime up until one-half hour prior to Disneyland closing. For your safety, please remain seated until the Monorail comes to a complete stop. Then, gather your belongings, lower your head, watch your step, and exit to the left of the Monorail. Thanks for traveling with us today and we hope you enjoy your visit to the Disneyland Resort. For those of you continuing with us, we'll begin our return trip to Tomorrowland in just a few minutes. 1,110kb.wav - 1,006kb.mp3 (:52sec) |
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Back in the days when Disneyland would close on Mondays and Tuesdays during the winter months, you could board the Monorail at the Disneyland Hotel Station and ride through Disneyland, stop at the Tomorrowland Monorail Station, and return to the Disneyland Hotel. You would be seated in the rear bubble cabin and you would not be allowed to disembark in Tomorrowland if the Park was open. This excursion was (as we recall) also available on the Mondays and Tuesdays when Disneyland was closed, which would have made for interesting photo opportunities. (Note the 75¢ equivalent value of an "E" ticket.) |
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| 1976 Monorail - Departs Hotel Station Control:
Monorail One, you are clear for Hotel dispatch. | 4 |
2001
Monorail - Departs Downtown Disney To those of you who have just joined us, welcome aboard the Disneyland Monorail. For your safety, we ask that you keep your hands and arms inside the cabin during our journey, remain seated at all times, and no smoking, please. 646kb.wav - 308kb.mp3 (:16sec) |
| 1976 Monorail - Main Entrance Pilot: We are now on a re-entry course, back into the Magic Kingdom. Destination: Tomorrowland, World of the Future. We'll soon be passing Disneyland's Main Entrance, the gateway to Main Street, U.S.A., where turn-of-the-century America is relived. Above the Entrance is Disneyland's Main Street Station. Our 1890 steam trains depart from here and stations in Frontierland and Tomorrowland, for a grand circle tour of the Magic Kingdom, climaxed by a journey through the Grand Canyon and Primeval World, realm of the dinosaurs. 816kb.wav - 739kb.mp3 (:38sec) | 5 |
2001
Monorail - Main Entrance We'll be traveling right through the heart of the Disneyland Resort, enroute to our next stop: the Tomorrowland Monorail Station at Disneyland. To the right of the Monorail is Disney's Grand Californian, a luxury resort hotel with the ultimate amenity, a theme park just outside the door. Just beyond is Disney's California Adventure. This 55-acre theme park celebrates the spirit, innovations, and natural wonders of our Golden State, with a new generation of Disney shows and attractions. To the left of the Monorail is the Main Entrance of Disneyland, the Happiest Place on Earth. Disneyland is truly an American Original. Since its opening in 1955, it has hosted hundreds of millions of guests from around the world, including presidents, kings and countless Hollywood celebrities. It was the original Disney theme park, created and enjoyed by Walt Disney, himself. To the right is our Resort Transportation Center, a central hub for parking lot trams, taxis, and hotel shuttles. 1,572kb.wav - 1,425kb.mp3 (1:13) |
| 1976 Monorail - Scenic Tomorrowland Pilot:
As we return to Tomorrowland, we remind you to please keep your hands and arms
inside the compartment at all times. | 6 |
2001
Monorail - Scenic Tomorrowland We're about to enter Disneyland. Some of the clearances are pretty tight up ahead, so please keep your hands and arms inside the cabin. This is Tomorrowland, a land inspired by science fact and science fantasy. Directly below us are the roadways of the Autopia, where drivers off all ages can get behind the wheel of a car, and no license is required. To the left of the Monorail is the heart of Tomorrowland. Towering in the center is the Observatron, which comes alive in an orchestrated symphony of music and motion every fifteen minutes. Across the way are the icy peaks of Matterhorn Mountain, home to the world's most famous bobsled Run. 1,058kb.wav - 959kb.mp3 (:49sec) |
 The Monorail may be"The Highway In The Sky", but why are there wings on this badge? Photo Courtesy of Phil-Sears.com (where it's for sale.) |
| 1976 Monorail - Fantasyland Monorail
One:
Monorail One, 10-20 at Checkpoint Fantasyland. 1,105kb.wav - 1,001kb.mp3 (:52sec) | 7 |
2001 Monorail - Fantasyland Just
ahead and to the right of the train, is one of Disney's most beloved attractions,
it's a small world. Beyond it is the wacky world of Disney's classic cartoon characters,
Mickey's Toontown. |
| 1976 Monorail - Into Tomorrowland Station Pilot:
Please remain seated until the Monorail comes to a complete stop. The doors will
open automatically. As you step from the compartment, lower your head, watch your
step and please exit as directed. | 8 |
2001 Monorail - Into Tomorrowland Station We're now approaching the Tomorrowland Monorail Station, our final destination. Please remain seated until the Monorail comes to a complete stop. Then, collect your belongings, watch your head, and step carefully from the train. On behalf of all of our crew, thank you for traveling with us, and we hope you'll have a happy and memorable visit here at Disneyland. This is the Tomorrowland Monorail Station. 648kb.wav - 586kb.mp3 (:30sec) |
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| Some
postcard compositions are simply too good to give up when the trains are upgraded. Postcard photos courtesy of DisneylandPostcards.com. | |
| Bonus
Tracks from the Ticket Booth Page: Voice
of Jack Wagner:
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| This footage highlights the Monorail, Submarine Lagoon,Autopia, Matterhorn Bobsleds, and other wonders of 1959 Disneyland. Watch Walt's hands closely at the start of this clip and you'll see him tear the ribbon at the Monorail's Grand Opening. (If you don't have the plug-in to display the embedded video, click here to download the .wmv file.) |
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Young visitors aboard the Disneyland Monorail System once received "Honorary Co-Pilot" Licenses that required a "Certified By" Cast Member signature... ...while a visitor to the Walt Disney World Monorail System was recognized as a full-fledged "Certified Co-Pilot", and their License was pre-certified by Mickey Mouse himself! (Note: Licenses do not permit you to actually operate the Monorail. Do not attempt to do so.) |
| "Honorary
Vice Presidents" of the Disneyland-Alweg Monorail System were given these
passes, allowing them complimentary passage on the Monorail, or the S.F. &
D. Railroad. Note our old friend Mark III Monorail Red and that it is still the
Santa Fe & Disneyland Railroad, placing the issuance of this pass prior
to the 20-year sponsor and franchisee expirations of 1975. |  Photo Courtesy of Phil-Sears.com |
The
fine print at the bottom reads: "HONORARY VICE-PRESIDENTS WILL PLEASE PRESENT THIS PASS TO ANY S.F. & D. RAILROAD DEPOT FOR COMPLI- MENTARY PASSAGE ON ANY TRAIN OF THE S.F. & D. R.R." |
| Background
photo for this page is of the Official Ceremonial Ribbon-Cutting at the 1959 opening
of the Disneyland-Alweg Monorail in Tomorrowland. Political local boy and then-Vice-President
of the United States, Richard M. Nixon and his lovely family officiate with Walt
Disney at what turned out to be a "Ribbon-Tearing" (overlarge ceremonial
prop scissors being what they were), opening the "Highway In The Sky".
Here Walt introduces the Monorail to Tricia, Julie, Pat and Dick. |
| * - If "You're riding aboard the Mark III, an advanced, new, second-generation design of the first daily operating monorail system in the Western hemisphere, introduced right here in Disneyland in 1959." If it is by definition an advanced, new, second-generation design, then why isn't it called the Mark II? The third-generation design would be called the Mark III, wouldn't it? Just wondering... |
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Sorcerer's Workshop has brought back the Disneyland-Alweg Monorails for you. Did you enjoy riding them? Kindly use this banner to link to this page! |
 Many of the items illustrated on this page are available for purchase at Phil-Sears.com. Would you enjoy owning them? Click on this banner to visit Phil Sears. |
This
site has gone woefully neglected since March 17, 2008 
