Disneyland Gets Their New Monorails

The old Disneyland Mark V monorails are being retired, and on Friday the new trains start running:

ANAHEIM – What's red, white and blue and glides through the air?

It's not some superhero. It's the new monorail opening to the public Friday at Disneyland.

The first new monorail car in two decades – called the Monorail Red or Mark VII – is expected to open to the public Friday morning.

"I think we're always looking for ways to update and refresh classic attractions," said Scot Drake, the monorail lead designer. "This is definitely an iconic attraction."
The biggest change is the look of the train: The first electric cars have blue glass and red stripes that change color in the sunlight. The next two cars will be blue with purple glass and orange with blue glass.

Bench seats will face the windows, allowing visitors a full view of the parks, Downtown Disney and the Disneyland Hotel. The capacity and speed will remain the same.

The Monorail started in 1959 as part of Disneyland's first expansion and the track was extended to the Disneyland Hotel in 1961 to a length of two and a half miles.

The monorail was always one of my favorite rides over there, and when I was a kid if there was ever a dream job at Disneyland, it was driving the monorail. Unfortunately, when I did get a job at Disneyland I was sweeping trash around the Haunted Mansion and not gliding through the skies hauling tourists back and forth to the hotel.

UPDATE: The debut will be delayed a few days according to this article.