The Disneyland Monorail in Anaheim, Calif., was a first-of-its-kind transportation system in America when it opened in 1959. The 2-1/2-mile electric rail system uses a 600-volt DC power source that emits no exhaust or pollutants as it transports millions of people each year.
When the House of Mouse opened its second theme park, Disney World in Orlando in 1971, it included two Magic Kingdom Monorail routes, Resort and Express. The Monorail was updated in 1982 adding a Monorail line with the opening of Epcot.
The Monorail was for the most part free of major accidents or problems until 2009 when one Monorail train backed into another on the Epcot line crushing the cockpit of the train and killing 21-year-old Monorail pilot Austin Wuennenberg.
Disney closed the Monorail for two days and made more than a dozen safety improvements as the National Transportation Safety Board investigated the accident, WKMG News 6 in Orlando reported. NTSA determined that human error caused the accident, as well as Disney’s lack of standard operating procedures for reversing monorail trains.
Disney's Reedy Creek Improvement District had the responsibility of maintaining infrastructure around the Disney World property since the district was established in 1967.
Fast-forward to 2022 and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' "War on Woke" after Disney's then-CEO Bob Chapek opposed Florida's Parental Rights in Education law or the "Don't Say Gay" law. In April 2022 DeSantis signed legislation repealing the Reedy Creek Improvement District Act and dissolved the district in June 2023. He appointed his own hand-picked board to govern the property's infrastructure.
State of Florida regulates Disney World Monorail
DeSantis continued his anti-Disney campaign and in May 2023 signed legislation authorizing the state's Department of Transportation to inspect and oversee Walt Disney World's Monorail. The state agency has since confirmed that it has begun regulating the theme park operator's 15-mile transportation system.
The Florida DOT will begin conducting structural inspections and establish minimum safety standards for operating the trains as mandated by the new law, a spokesperson told News 6.
“Being that this is the first time that the state has had oversight, FDOT is doing its due diligence to thoroughly complete the review while ensuring the safety of travelers,” FDOT District Five Public Information Director Cindi Lane said.
Florida DOT Structures Maintenance Office, which inspects bridges and other structures in the state, has begun conducting field inspections of the Disney World Monorail, News 6 reported on Jan. 8. Disney, in turn, has provided the department with safety manuals and other existing Monorail documentation.
The department has the authority to temporarily shut down the Monorail during structural inspections to ensure safety of inspectors and passengers but it is not known whether that has occurred yet.
The agency has not yet prepared written reports from its ongoing field inspections, which it is expected to conduct every two years. It also has not established minimum safety standards for the Monorail's operation as required by the law.
Florida DOT is responsible for overseeing government-funded railways in Florida. Among the systems it is responsible for are people mover trams at Orlando International Airport, Tampa International Airport, and Miami International Airport; Miami-Dade's Metrorail and Metromover; Tampa's TECO Line Streetcar; Jacksonville Skyway; and the SunRail and Tri-Rail commuter rail systems.
Disney accuses DeSantis of retaliation
The Walt Disney Co. has accused DeSantis and the state legislature of retaliating against the theme park operator by dismantling Disney's Reedy Creek Improvement District that governed the Walt Disney World property's infrastructure and by passing the Monorail legislation because the company opposed the "Don't Say Gay" law.
Multiple lawsuits were filed regarding the Reedy Creek special district's demise. Disney has said that DeSantis targeted the company for political reasons while the governor continued to say that he's trying to take away special benefits from the company.
