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The Orlando Sentinel is reporting that Disney will put the nose section of its first monorail up for auction, along with some other unique items from Walt Disney World, including one of the Jungle Cruise boats and special vacation to the Walt Disney World Resort.

Orlando Sentinel Article

Disney monorail car zips to eBay auction site Monday
By Todd Pack

Bored with the usual T-shirts and mouse ears? How about this for a Disney World souvenir: a piece of one of the theme park's famous monorails.

In a first for Disney, a monorail pilot's car will be auctioned off at its eBay site, Dinsey Auctions Bidding starts on Monday.

Disney is selling the 8-by-12 foot piece of the Mark IV "Monorail Red," which whisked visitors from the parking lot, around the Seven Seas Lagoon and to the Magic Kingdom from the park's opening in 1971 until the train was retired in 1993.

Disney spokeswoman Brandy Phillips said bidding will start at $100 to commemorate Disney's "100 Years of Magic," celebrating the 100th anniversary of Walt Disney's birth, but it's expected to sell for many times that.

Disney collectibles are very popular and often fetch premium prices. For example, actor and Disney fan John Stamos paid $30,700 two years ago in an online auction for a huge "Disneyland" sign that greeted visitors to the California theme park from 1989 to 1999.

Disney started its official auction site on eBay in October 2000, selling thousands of items, such as costumes, props, collectibles and artwork.

The car is just one of the items for sale as part of Disney's "100 Years of Magic" auction, which started Thursday.

Friday afternoon, the bidding stood at $142.50 for a submarine porthole from the drydocked 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea ride at Magic Kingdom and $52 for a pair of directional signs that pointed the way to New York Street and Catastrophe Canyon at Disney/MGM Studios.

Bidding on all items ends June 6.

The pilot car will be delivered by truck, which likely will cost several thousand dollars -- to be paid by the winning bidder.

But don't get any big ideas for using the pilot car, say, as a movie prop or a sign outside a flea market. Disney is requiring the winning bidder to sign papers agreeing to use it only as a collectible.


Orlando Business Article

Walt Disney World puts first monorail car up for sale

Walt Disney World Resort's first monorail car is going on the auction block May 27.

For the first time the resort is selling the item on Dinsey Auctions in a two-week auction as part of the "100 Years of Magic" celebration, which commemorates the 100th anniversary of Walt Disney's birth.

The monorail system at Disney whisks visitors along an above-ground guideway in electric-powered trains.

The Mark IV "Monorail Red" debuted with the opening of Walt Disney World in 1971 and transported visitors between destinations within the resort.

Disney is selling the nose section of the monorail, which was decommissioned in 1993, after logging 943,976 miles during 20 years of service. The Disney Monorail system transports up to 200,000 people daily and is the most heavily traveled passenger monorail system in the world.

Disney plans to sell other memorabilia on the Web site through June 6, including items from Walt Disney World theme park attractions, vacations at Walt Disney World parks and original artwork from Walt Disney films and park attractions.

Disney Auctions, presented by eBay, is provided by North Hollywood, Calif.-based Walt Disney Internet Group. The group handles the Walt Disney Co.'s Internet properties, including Disney.com, ESPN.com, ABCNews.com and ABC.com. It has operations in Orlando, Seattle, New York, Tokyo and London.