Okay, so this is absolutely WILD. Disneyland’s iconic monorail completely lost power Thursday evening, stranding about 60 passengers on TWO separate trains that were just… stuck there on the elevated track near the park entrance.
Like, imagine you’re on the monorail thinking you’re about to have a nice scenic ride into Tomorrowland, and suddenly everything goes dark and the train just STOPS. No movement. No power. Just you and a bunch of other guests suspended in the air waiting for someone to come rescue you.
That’s exactly what happened around 5 PM, and the Anaheim Fire Department had to come out and evacuate everyone because when the monorail loses power, you can’t exactly just hop off and walk away.
The whole situation is giving major “this is NOT how I planned to spend my Disney day” energy. According to Disneyland officials, the monorail BEAM lost power, which affected both trains that were operating at the time. Not just one train having issues, but the entire track system going down, which honestly sounds like a pretty serious electrical problem.
And this happened during that busy transition time when some people are arriving for the evening and others are leaving after a full day at the parks, so there were plenty of witnesses to this whole evacuation scene playing out.
Sky5 got aerial footage of the whole thing, and you can see dozens of people just sitting there on these stalled trains near the Disneyland entrance while emergency crews figured out how to get everyone down safely.
The good news? Nobody got hurt. Zero injuries reported, which is honestly amazing when you’re talking about evacuating 60 people from trains that are elevated above the ground.
But still, this is NOT the kind of Disney magic anyone signed up for when they bought their park tickets. And here’s what makes this even MORE concerning: this is the SECOND major monorail incident at a Disney park in just a few months. Let’s talk about that.
What Actually Happened to the Power?
So here’s what we know: the monorail beam itself lost power sometime in the late afternoon. Not the trains having mechanical issues, but the actual BEAM that supplies electricity to the trains. That’s a big deal because it means something went wrong with the track’s electrical system, not just one train malfunctioning.
When the monorail beam loses power, the trains can’t move. Period. They don’t have backup batteries that let them coast to the next station. They just STOP wherever they happen to be at that exact moment. And if you’re unlucky enough to be between stations when this happens (which these passengers were), you’re basically stuck there until emergency crews can set up evacuation equipment and get everyone off safely.
Disneyland hasn’t said exactly what caused the power failure, which is frustrating because guests deserve to know if this was a freak accident or if there’s some bigger maintenance issue with the monorail system. Was it equipment failure? Did something overheat? Was there an electrical surge? We’re getting radio silence from Disney on the actual root cause, and that’s not great when you’re trying to reassure people that the monorail is safe to ride once it’s back up and running.
The fact that TWO trains lost power at the same time tells us this wasn’t just one train having problems. This was a section of the track losing its electrical supply, which affected multiple trains simultaneously. That suggests a more significant infrastructure problem rather than just routine mechanical wear and tear on one vehicle.
The Evacuation Scene Was INTENSE
Anaheim Fire Department showed up just before 5 PM to help get everyone off these stranded trains, and let me tell you, evacuating people from an elevated monorail is NOT a quick process. You can’t just open the doors and let everyone walk out. These trains are suspended on beams high above the ground, so firefighters need special equipment and they have to remove people in small groups to keep everything safe.
Sky5’s aerial footage really puts it in perspective. You’ve got these big monorail trains just sitting there completely motionless, emergency vehicles on the ground below, and dozens of passengers waiting inside while crews work through the evacuation procedures.
The trains were near the Disneyland Park entrance, which is probably the BEST possible place to be stranded if you’re going to be stranded somewhere, because emergency vehicles can access that area pretty easily compared to if the trains had stopped in some remote section of the monorail route.
But still, imagine being one of those 60 passengers. You’re stuck on a train that has no power, you don’t know what’s happening or how long it’s going to take, and you’re watching emergency crews arrive with evacuation equipment. That’s stressful! Even though nobody got hurt (thank goodness), the experience itself had to be pretty nerve-wracking for everyone involved.
The fact that zero injuries occurred is actually impressive when you think about the complexity of evacuating that many people from elevated trains. Disney’s emergency protocols clearly work, and the firefighters knew exactly what to do. But it doesn’t change the fact that this shouldn’t be happening in the first place, per KTLA.
NBCLA shared footage of the rescue in the TikTok video below:
@nbcla First responders were evacuating passengers from a stalled Disneyland Monorail train Thursday evening. NewsChopper4 was over the scene where crews were using a ladder to reach passengers from the elevated train rail. Tap the link in bio for more details. #nbcla #Disneyland
This Keeps HAPPENING at Disney Monorails
Here’s what’s really concerning: this is NOT the first recent monorail emergency at a Disney park. Back in November 2025 (literally just a couple months ago), Walt Disney World’s Monorail Silver had a complete electrical meltdown near the Grand Floridian Resort. And that incident was even MORE dramatic because there was actual SMOKE coming from between the train cars, and it smelled like burning electrical equipment.
Fire crews had to respond to that one too, and they ended up shutting down the ENTIRE monorail system at Walt Disney World, both the Resort Line and the Express Line. That meant boats, buses, and ferries were absolutely MOBBED with people trying to get around because the monorail wasn’t an option. Even the walking path between Grand Floridian and Magic Kingdom got shut down while emergency vehicles were on site.
So we’ve got November 2025: electrical fire and smoke on Walt Disney World’s monorail. January 2025: complete power failure on Disneyland’s monorail. That’s two major incidents in less than three months at two different Disney resorts on opposite sides of the country. What are the odds that these are just random coincidences with zero connection?
Now, to be fair, these are different monorail systems. The Disneyland Monorail and the Walt Disney World Monorail operate independently with their own infrastructure and maintenance schedules. But when you see the same type of electrical problems popping up at both locations within weeks of each other, you have to wonder if there’s some broader maintenance issue that Disney needs to address across ALL their monorail systems.
What This Means If You’re Visiting Disneyland
Real talk: if you’re planning a Disneyland trip in the near future, you need to know that the monorail might not be available. Disney hasn’t announced when it’s going to reopen because they need to inspect the entire system, figure out what caused the power failure, fix it, and then test everything to make sure it’s actually safe before they let guests ride again.
That inspection and repair process could take days. It could take weeks. Disney isn’t saying, which means you should just assume the monorail might be down and plan your transportation accordingly. The good news is that the monorail is basically just a convenience at Disneyland, not a necessity. You can walk from Downtown Disney to the Disneyland entrance in like 5-10 minutes, so losing monorail access isn’t going to ruin your trip or anything.
But it’s still annoying! The monorail is ICONIC. It’s one of those classic Disneyland experiences that people love, and having it shut down because of power failures and electrical problems is disappointing. Plus, if you’re staying at one of the hotels near Downtown Disney and you were counting on using the monorail to easily get into the park, now you’re walking instead.
And here’s the bigger concern: if Disney is having these kinds of electrical issues with their monorail systems, what does that say about the maintenance and upkeep of other aging infrastructure at the parks?
The Disneyland Monorail has been around since 1959, and while it’s been updated over the years, that’s still a LOT of wear and tear on the electrical systems. Maybe it’s time for some serious infrastructure investment to prevent these kinds of breakdowns from becoming a regular occurrence.
The Questions Disney Needs to Answer
Look, we get that mechanical systems fail sometimes. Things break. Electrical problems happen. That’s just reality when you’re dealing with complex transportation infrastructure that runs constantly. But when you have TWO major monorail incidents in less than three months at two different Disney resorts, people are going to have questions.
What caused the power failure at Disneyland? Was it preventable? Is there a maintenance issue that Disney should have caught before this happened? Are the monorail systems at both Disneyland and Walt Disney World receiving adequate inspection and upkeep, or are they being run into the ground until something breaks?
Disney hasn’t provided detailed answers to any of these questions, which is frustrating for guests who want to feel confident that the transportation systems are safe and reliable. A generic statement about “the beam losing power” doesn’t really explain what actually went wrong or what Disney is doing to prevent it from happening again.
And what about compensation for the 60 people who got stuck on those trains? Were they offered anything for the inconvenience and stress of being evacuated from a powerless monorail? Did they get fast passes, meal vouchers, anything? We don’t know because Disney hasn’t said, but those guests deserve something for dealing with this situation.
Have you ever been stuck on the Disneyland Monorail or any other Disney transportation? Drop a comment and tell us your story! Did the power go out? Did you get evacuated? How did Disney handle it, and did they give you any kind of compensation for the trouble?
We want to hear all the details because this seems to be becoming a pattern with Disney’s monorail systems, and guests deserve to know what they’re potentially signing up for when they get on these trains. Let’s get all the evacuation stories in the comments!
