How Disneyland Got Its Monorail

Planner Sam Gennawey tracks the history of Disneyland's monorail back to a 1958 visit by Walt Disney to Wuppertal, Germany.

1 minute read

June 3, 2011, 1:00 PM PDT

By Tim Halbur


Wuppertal was home to a unique monorail system that hung upside down from its track and had been in operation for over fifty years. It was not unlike a vision he and artist Herb Ryman had imagined for the original Tomorrowland plans:

"Later in the trip, Walt and Lillian were driving north along a major roadway near Cologne, Germany when a monorail train suddenly crossed over their heads. This monorail was very different from the one in Wuppertal. This train rode on top of steel-reinforced concrete beam. Walt was stunned. He wanted to learn more so he drove right to the administrative building to see what he could find out."

Thursday, June 2, 2011 in MiceAge

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