Mark IV monorail

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The Mark IV monorail (Mk4) was a straddle-type monorail train built for the Walt Disney World Monorail System. The design was developed by Disney Imagineer Bob Gurr.^[1] Ten trains were built by Martin Marietta in 1969 at the cost of about $7 million USD each^[2] and they were used on the monorail system between 1971 and 1989 before being replaced by the Mark VI monorail,^[3] although a few lasted until 1991.

As Walt Disney Productions finalized its plans for the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, it was decided that monorails would be used as a primary means of transportation for the new “Vacation Kingdom." While the monorail system would not be as extensive as Walt Disney's original plans for the Florida site, it would still be the primary mode for transporting guests throughout the resort. Walt Disney envisioned the monorail as the transportation system of the future. To preserve the aesthetics of the resort and to separate the theme park from the outside world, the parking facilities for the Magic Kingdom were built nearly a mile across the 200–acre Seven Seas Lagoon creating one of the world’s largest park and ride operations. This would be the first Disney monorail system for necessary transportation rather than a ride in the park. Disney had nearly 10 years of experience with the Alweg monorails of Disneyland and designed the new monorails inspired by the look of the popular Lear jets. Disney Imagineer Bob Gurr^[1] designed the Mark IV trains, which were manufactured by Martin Marietta in Orlando, Florida with 10 trains originally built. When two additional trains were needed in the mid-1980s as attendance increased, Disney turned to Walt Disney Imagineering to build the additional units.

The trains originally had five cars (all Mark VI trains were introduced as 6-car units). With attendance skyrocketing in the mid-70s, Disney increased capacity and by late 1978 some trains were expanded to six cars. Expansion of the trains continued through the mid-1980s.

The Mark IV monorails were reliable workhorses with a 99.985% operational readiness and a low cost of $0.06 per passenger mile (PPM).^[4]