Guests Speak: What Monorails Mean to Me

[turkeyham]

One of my ex-BF, he did take the train tour and did like it. :)

I will have to check it out next year when I come out there.

[cjbnc]

Hello CMs,

While I'm new to this forum, I'm a frequent guest and die-hard fan of WDW. I've also dealt with death in relation to the park in a different way.

My wife and I bought into the DVC in 2000, and made 10 or so visits to the parks up to 2006. Our very first visit together involved a guest incident that sticks with me to this day...

We stayed at the Swan hotel that first trip, and enjoyed the Friendship service to Epcot and (then) MGM studios. On one of our waits for the boats, a prim and proper woman and her son joined us out at the dock. Her son found a spider web on the railing... no big surprise, it was early morning and the spider had probably made it just a few hours earlier. Mom grabbed the son's hands and pulled him away from the webs. In her self-righteous tone, she exclaimed "they wouldn't have spiderwebs on the dock if this was a real Disney hotel!" Wife and I held the chuckles inside. Every trip after that, we'd find some spec of dust, or spider web, on the "real" Disney properties, quote the lady, and have a good laugh over it.

My wife was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer in Dec 2004. She fought it through chemo and radiation, had a relapse and opted for surgery and seemed to be on the road to recovery. In Jan 2006, we made our 11 month plans to visit our Boardwalk with family. In Feb, she had another relapse and was pronounced terminal. We hurriedly made plans for one last trip for her in March... seeing Disney again was that important to her, in spite of being on constant bed rest and strong narcotic pain killers. She managed a full day at Epcot, and got to see Soarin' for the first time. The second day at MGM was just too much for her, and we had to return to the resort. She passed away in July, three years ago now.

And I still had a Disney trip planned for Dec, without her. We went, my family and I, and had a good time. There were many times, when I'd see something, or hear something, and think, "Oh, she'd like that. she'd want to see that. she'd get a laugh out of that." I've been back since, but the memories still stand. I always think of her when walking through England, past her favorite Fish and Chips shop. I still think of the "if this were a real Disney resort" and have a chuckle. And the pickles, she loved having a pickle from the pickle barrels while in the parks.

So yes, Disney will never quite be the same. That doesn't have to be a bad thing. There are still so many good things to see and do, and so many great people working there making sure that the dream continues to live and evolve. Have no doubt about it, CMs, you folks make the magic. We know it, we guests who pay attention. For that, I am very grateful. I'm sorry to see you all dealing with this pain. You're right, I'll never completely understand, but perhaps you can see that I can sympathize. Others here can too. What you do for us means so much to our lives, we want to be help you through the hard times in any way that we can, even if that is simply to give you time and space to grieve.

Take care, and perhaps I'll see some of you in Dec.

[joanna71985]

Hello CMs,

While I'm new to this forum, I'm a frequent guest and die-hard fan of WDW. I've also dealt with death in relation to the park in a different way....



So yes, Disney will never quite be the same. That doesn't have to be a bad thing. There are still so many good things to see and do, and so many great people working there making sure that the dream continues to live and evolve. Have no doubt about it, CMs, you folks make the magic. We know it, we guests who pay attention. For that, I am very grateful. I'm sorry to see you all dealing with this pain. You're right, I'll never completely understand, but perhaps you can see that I can sympathize. Others here can too. What you do for us means so much to our lives, we want to be help you through the hard times in any way that we can, even if that is simply to give you time and space to grieve.

Take care, and perhaps I'll see some of you in Dec.

Welcome to SGT! Glad to have you here. :)

I just want to let you know, I am really sorry for your loss. Maybe I'll see you in Dec (I'll be around somewhere).

[BRWombat]

I'm late to this thread, but to me and my family, the monorails embody the Disney experience like no other attraction. They are unique to the parks, magical, amazing... We mark our arrival by our first monorail spotting, and note with sadness when we take our last monorail ride. The monorails are Disney.

This memory, from our 2003 trip report, of our first time riding up front (ironically, in Monorail Pink):

[INDENT]The pink-striped monorail pulls up and the driver steps out of his cabin and waves us forward. We climb into the driver's cabin and take our seats!

It is much roomier than I thought it would be. The driver sits in his own elevated chair behind the controls. We are in front of him, on cushioned seats under the large front windshield. And wow! what a view! It's completely unobstructed – just the track ahead, the ground below and the sky above. It's dusk, and it's a gorgeous, smooth ride.

Our driver is an older man named Bob. He's not too talkative, but he does answer questions. The one time he lights up is when I remark that I'd like his job, "although I'm sure it's just 'work' to you." "Oh, no!" he replies, "It's like having my own really big train set to play with each day!"[/INDENT]

God bless all CMs, and especially you drivers. Our thoughts and prayers are with you.

[ktulu]

(Hi-jack alert!)

I just found out through other channels that the Steam Train tour has been suspended for 90 days. I hope they don't have plans to eliminate it, but with the recent events I can understand them doing this.

(Hi-jack over!)

[Shorty82]

(Hi-jack alert!)

I just found out through other channels that the Steam Train tour has been suspended for 90 days. I hope they don't have plans to eliminate it, but with the recent events I can understand them doing this.

(Hi-jack over!)

I'm not surprised in the least. Hopefully the tour will be back soon.

[Shorty82]

We thank you for your support. My wife designed a solidarity <sp> ribbon for us. Below is a picture of it. Their is a vigil being set up in Celebration, below will also be a copy of the invite from Facebook. I see no reason for those who want to show their support to attend.


The Black Ribbon shows us that we are in mourning
The Maroon Ribbon shows our bond by the colors that run deep with in us.

In this time of deep loss, it is important to remember the man that Austin was, one who is and always will be cherished by everyone he touched. Please join us in a Vigil gathering in the Town of Celebration, in front of the lake, at the end of Market Street This Saturday July 11, 2009 at 9pm.

Here is a picture of my ribbon. I plan to wear it on my costume for as long as the Monorail Pilots wear their ribbons on their costumes.



I wish I could make it to the vigil but I am working to late that night.

[Monorail_Red]

Just thought that I would pass these videos along...they made my day:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZ33YtBwBhw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGKDctS5F84

They are videos of a Monorail Pilot making magic, another reason to love them! :D:

[ktulu]

Just thought that I would pass these videos along...they made my day:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZ33YtBwBhw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGKDctS5F84

They are videos of a Monorail Pilot making magic, another reason to love them! :D:

Those are great! Thanks for sharing :)

[NCDisneyMom]

I hope y'all don't mind me coming in late with a couple more anecdotes. One of my fondest monorail memories is from 1989...March or April, right before MGM opened. I visited WDW with my HS marching band, and one day my friends and I were riding the monorail around the resort loop, just for fun. After all, isn't it an attraction unto itself? Every time we stopped at the GF, the same CM was standing just outside our door. So, after a couple of times by, we would applaud for him, and he would just laugh. After a couple more times by, he pokes his head in, we all applaud, and he said in his wonderful Irish accent "Seems I could pick my nose and you'd applaud for me!". I even remember that his name was Patrick. Well, we just busted out laughing, and that was our phrase for the rest of our trip. Even when we were done riding the loop, we went around 1 more time, to say good-bye to Patrick.

Now, I'm all grown up with kids of my own. Of course, we know we are truly at Disney when that first monorail is spotted. And, the kids must call out every color they see. We've ridden in the front cab a couple of times over the years, and nothing beats having the entire monorail to yourselves as you glide over a still not opened Epcot for the first Princess Storybook breakfast of the day. BUT....in a true testament to the draw of the monorail... my kids and I were watching videos of our past trips just the other day, and I had taken some video at Chef Mickey's a couple of years ago. As Pluto is standing at our table, ready to take pictures and give autographs...all my daughter is saying is "Look! A monorail! Look! Look! A monorial!!!!!!". Who cares about Goofy...it's all about the monorail!! :)