What is with the Smell of the Monorails?

[Scott M]

I'm not usually one to criticize anything Disney. We've just returned from yet another wonderful WDW vacation and once again, I was not disappointed. Except for...

The smell of the inside of those monorails!!! They smell like an elephant house at a zoo.

I realize that they're transporting thousands of people a day (and some not with the best hygiene) but how could every monorail have such an offending smell?

Does anyone else notice this odor? What could it be? How can Disney remedy it?

Scott

 

[One Lil Spark]

Oh, you're not the only one to notice the smell...

I'm guessing it probably has something to do with a lack of proper ventilation? All those bodies. All the potential lack of deodorant. Only opening the doors to let people off and on.

:hurl: :lol:

 

[Disneychild92]

i have to agree one with not liking to critise but i too have noticed the smell on several occassions doesnt half turn my stomach and im glad to get out the things as nice as they are sometimes i now prefer to get the boat when i can

 

[EPCOT Explorer]

I never really noticed!:shrug:I'm usually to hyped up to be on one to be complaining.:lol:

 

[krankenstein]

It's called B.O.! When you have that many hot and sweaty people in a poorly ventilated metal tube, you're going to smell the funk.

 

[sknydave]

It smells like really old air conditioning units to me

 

[BellaBelle27]

The smell used to be awful when the monorails had the rugs and they'd get wet after it rained. The cabs probably weren't ventilated enough. I think most of the renovated monorails had their carpeting removed, and, as I recall on my last trip, the smell was gone.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

We call it the 'funky feet' odor. Or, sometimes it reminds me of when my sons come in from playing outside. That's what we call the 'goat boy' stench.

 

[Mori Anne]

I think it smells like rotten tuna fish. It is really strong in some of the cars. Someone was making a comment about it on the monorail one time, and another passenger said it was the air/heat filters.... I have no idea if it is true, but it does stink.:hurl:

 

[Vermonter]

we call it the monosmell

 

[dmbouton75]

I'm a farm girl from Illinois--it smells like a stock trailer to me. It was still there when my husband and I were at the World in September.

I've smelled worse--much worse!

TTFN,
Dawn

 

[DMC-12]

Smells like a petting zoo. Blech.

 

[Uponastar]

I don't connect the smell in the monorails with body odor.
Maybe I'm wrong.
It does smell like a stable and it's consistently the same and unpleasant.
But body odor...just my opinion, but I don't think it's that.

 

[SirNim]

This sounds like a job for Loranges!

 

[TikiBeckie]

Three separate monorail operators told me it had to do with the glue they used on the carpets or something, and that only a couple of the monorails do not have the stench because they didn't have the same work done on them. I asked a few different people out of curiosity...

 

[LudwigVonDrake]

It's a Cat smell, if you ask me.

 

[sbkline]

I'm apparently a total oddball, but I actually like the smell. :lol:

Or, to clarify, perhaps I should say that it's not the smell per se that I like...but what it's associated with. It's a classic WDW smell. I get on that monorail and I smell that smell, and it brings back the memories of past trips and being on the monorail. Perhaps I wouldn't like the smell if my shirt smelled like that. Or if my living room smelled like that. But the fact that I associate it as a classic WDW smell, I wouldn't want it any other way than for the monorails to smell like that. Of course, since I DO associate that odor with WDW, then for that reason, perhaps I WOULD like it if my clothes smelled like that. :shrug::lol:

Again, perhaps it's not a very pleasant smell for any other aspect of life, but since it has come to be so closely associated with the monorail at WDW, it has become, to me, one of those "you know you're at WDW when..." things...and as such, it holds a pleasant place in my heart...along with the musty water smell of the boat rides, the smoky smells from SSE and UoE, etc.

 

[the-reason14]

I know what you are talking about. But its like a hit or miss. I remember when I was young, I used to love the monorail smell, it was like a sign that I was finally there. Now, it rarely smells the way I remember. I only remember getting one horrible smelling one, the others are just inbetween pleasent and horrible, but overall the smell isnt too nice.

 

[Kelsybelle]

Oh you mean that smelly smell, the smell that smells...smelly...:lookaroun

It's funny because you can always count on the monorails to smell that way. It isn't offensive enough to make me hide my nose in my shirt or anything but it does does conjure up memories of being in WDW.

 

[lilfritzy]

To me it smells like mildew. Really bad mildew, like the mildew itself got moldy if that's at all possible ! ! !:ROFLOL: