Some Great Tips on Using the Monorail to Get Around Orlando, Florida

A trip to Orlando Florida wouldn't be complete without taking a ride on the Disney Monorail System. While the monorail is an attraction in its own right, and quite fun to ride, it is also a real honest to goodness transportation system which can help you to get around the vast Orlando property.

It is best to think of the Disney Monorail System as really three separate service loop lines.

The first line circles Seven Seas Lagoon and is known as the Lagoon Beam or the Resort Beam. This line serves (in this order); The Contemporary Resort Hotel, The Transportation and Ticket Center, The Polynesian Resort, The Grand Floridian Beach Resort, The Magic Kingdom Theme Park, and then Back to the Contemporary Resort Hotel in a never-ending loop.

The second line is known as the Express Beam, or Magic Kingdom Express, and also circles the Seven Seas Lagoon while providing service to the Transportation and Ticket Center and the Magic Kingdom Theme Park only in a never ending loop.

The third and last line is known as the Epcot Beam, or Epcot Express and only provides service to the Transportation and Ticket Center and the Epcot Theme Park in a never-ending loop.

It is important to keep in mind that if you get on the wrong monorail it is really not that bad of a thing since all the monorail lines are loops and sooner or later you will be brought right back to the monorail station where you started.

It is probably best to avoid the Magic Kingdom express monorail since that monorail is usually mobbed with huge amounts of guests coming from the Magic Kingdom Parking lot. While the resort monorail will take you a little longer to get to the theme park, you will at least be able to get a seat and enjoy the ride.

For a really special experience you can request to ride up in the front cab of the monorail with the monorail pilot. The Disney Monorail platform load attendants control access to the front cab. While nothing is guaranteed, generally if you ask, and are willing to wait, you can get a ride up front. Your chances of getting a ride up front will generally increase at the less crowded off peak times.

Operating times for the monorails is generally from 7 am to Midnight seven days a week. Sometimes, if there is a special event at one of the theme parks, the monorails will run later. If you should find yourself stranded somewhere and the monorails stop operating, then you will have to resort to the Disney Bus Service. A helpful tip is that the last Disney Bus service generally ends at 2am, with the closing of Downtown Disney.