The Lilly Belle car, named after Walt Disney's wife Lillian, holds a special place in Disneyland history. The Lilly Belle is the Presidential Car of the Disneyland Railroad, filled with elegant Victorian-style furnishings, that was designed to be a private car for VIPs and special guests.
As public awareness of this train car has increased over the years, getting to ride it is now a rare and highly coveted experience. Keep reading for details on how you can ride the Lilly Belle today and the history of this iconic train car.
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History of the Lilly Belle Car at Disneyland
The Lilly Belle car is the last remaining train car from the opening day of Disneyland. The Lilly Belle, previously the Grand Canyon viewing car, was converted when the Disneyland Transportation Superintendent decided that Disneyland needed a special VIP car. Lilian Disney was influential in designing the car, adding family photos and early memorabilia. Because of her involvement, the car was named the “Lilly Belle.”
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Fun fact! Japanese Emperor Hirohito and his wife, Empress Nagako, were the Lilly Belle's first notable VIP guests.
For more about the Lilly Belle and the history of the Disney railroads, check out the book Walt Disney's Railroad Story: The Small-Scale Fascination That Led to a Full-Scale Kingdom
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In the past, the Lilly Belle was more accessible to the general public for walk-ups. However, the process to secure a ride was becoming increasingly competitive. Then, in 2014, the Lilly Belle car was closed to the public before reopening again for limited ride availability. A Disneyland Cast Member at the time confirmed that the Lilly Belle would no longer be open for regular park guests and that no requests for rides would be fielded at the main Disneyland Main Street station.
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While the Cast Member wouldn't confirm that it was specifically for Club 33 use, they did confirm that it would be used for special groups and events. My hunch and the most likely situation is that the public had become very aware of the car, and the demand had dramatically increased. The Lilly Belle is one of the listed benefits of being a Club 33 member (subject to availability and unavailable in the case of inclement weather). In the past, I have heard of Club 33 members not being able to use the car because it was full for the day with regular park visitors.
Bob Iger briefly mentioned the car and the Court of Angels in the 2014 Disney Stockholders' Meeting, saying, “In some cases the only way to bring something back is to do it for an exclusive number,” and that there is so much to do in the parks that the exclusive stuff makes up a very small amount.
For a time after this change took effect, it was rumored that you could ride for free by being one of the first 14 people in line in the morning to get a reservation on the Lilly Belle, and the lucky few chosen to ride would be given a return time and asked to sign the conductor's list. However, this is not the case today.
How to Ride the Lilly Belle
Today, Disneyland has limited access to this historic train car in order to preserve its history. The only way to ride it is through one of Disneyland's guided park tours. Currently, there is no known way to access the Lilly Belle as a walk-up experience.
In 2017, Disneyland Park started offering the guided “Grand Circle Tour,” which was a train-themed tour that included a ride on the Lilly Belle. It began with a walking portion, where you would learn about Walt Disney's love for trains and how that history is incorporated into the parks. After the walking tour, you would climb aboard the Lilly Belle for your full circle ride around Disneyland. During the ride, a Cast Member would share the history of the Lilly Belle with the tour group. During the tour, you received a hot beverage, a themed donut, and the opportunity to buy tour-specific merchandise, including a Disneyland Railroad Map.
In 2024, this guided tour was brought back in another form as the “Disneyland Railroad Guided Tour.” Since that point, it has been offered on and off again seasonally. In this tour, you'll learn about Walt's love for trains and the impact it had on Disneyland. In addition to the opportunity to ride the Lilly Belle, the tour also includes a rare look at the Disneyland Park Roundhouse. Keep in mind that a ride on the Lilly Belle may not be guaranteed, due to certain factors like weather.
The tour is 90 minutes long and costs $145 per person. Here is everything it includes:
- A sweet pastry before your tour
- Stories about Walt's train creations and the impact trains had on his dreams
- See the Disneyland Park Roundhouse and learn more about the engineers who look after the Disneyland Monorail and trains.
- Climb aboard the Disneyland Railroad’s parlor car – The Lilly Belle – and ride the rails around Disneyland. This unique experience is not available to park guests!
- Meet a train engineer
- Receive a tour-specific keepsake
The tour is on the pricier side and does not include park admission, but if you're celebrating a special occasion or are a big Disneyland history enthusiast, it would be worth the splurge for the unique experience you get. You can see our guide to all of Disneyland's other guided tours here. Disneyland will regularly rotate its tour offerings, so certain experiences like this one may only be available seasonally.
We have also heard that participants of Disneyland VIP Tours and Disneyland Club 33 members have the opportunity to ride on the Lilly Belle as well.
Other Secret Disneyland Experiences
While riding the Lilly Belle is one of the most highly coveted experiences available to the general public at Disneyland, there are a couple of other cool experiences you can still enjoy!
In each of the Disneyland Railroad engines, there are tender seats that fit two people. These seats are open to guests, subject to availability. You can ask a Cast Member at the station, and they will let you know if the experience is available. The schedule for these tender rides varies, so your best bet is to check in at the Disneyland train station in the morning right when the park opens. If you're looking for a similar experience, the Disneyland Monorail recently started offering rides again in the nose cone with the driver! For both of these experiences, you can enjoy the full loop of these historic transportation options, talk with the Cast Members, and watch them at work.
See more of the secret things to do at Disneyland you may not know about! You should also consider booking a tour to see Walt Disney's private apartment at Disneyland.
Another similar experience, which is no longer offered to our knowledge, was the opportunity to ride in the wheelhouse of the Mark Twain Riverboat with the captain. The Mark Twain Riverboat used to let a lucky group of guests “drive” during each trip around the river. To enjoy this amazing experience, you would find a Cast Member right before you boarded and ask to visit the wheelhouse, and ask if you could be the captain this time around. If you were lucky, they would escort you up to the wheelhouse where the captain would teach you how to steer. You could sign the guest book that dates back to 1955 when Walt Disney and his wife christened the boat on their wedding anniversary.
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We did ride it and actually had a guided experience with lots of information on the train’s history, design and overall meanings. I loved this little gem….sad to see it go!
Now, I’m off to frame my ticket!
Those tickets make great souvenirs. I have been planning to put all of my Disneyland paper: FastPass, tickets, Club 33 napkins all into a big collage.
I rode it on my first date with my boyfriend. It was so romantic and wonderful. Sad to hear we won’t be able to do it again.
What a romantic first date! That would be magical.
Thanks for the confirmation. I was fortunate enough to ride a few times (the first time was with my parents for their 40th anniversary). I’m sad it’s no longer as accessible as it was, but I understand the need for it.
(BTW, the tender rides are only available on Engines 1 & 2, as they are the only ones that have a tender seat.)
The reason it was closed is because articles that tell people about the “secret” experiences at Disneyland (like this one) made it far too popular and impossible to accommodate demand. It was also causing enormous wear and tear on a piece of Disney history.
Your information about tender rides is also inaccurate. The worst time to ask for a tender ride is first thing in the morning, The engineers are still setting up the engines for the day and will not take passengers. Also, only three of the five engines have tender seats, and one of them is out for a major refurbishment right now. There is no schedule for tender rides, and they all depend on the condition of the engine at the time the guest asks for the ride.
DLR Conductor, I know you can do tender rides on Engines 1 & 2. What’s the 3rd one?
Engine 4 has a tender seat now. The tender seat was added last year during her refurbishment.
“The Lilly Belle car is the last remaining train car from the opening day of Disneyland.”
What about the red train? While now much changed, the freight train was present at opening day, making a full circle trip from Frontierland Station, and it can still be ridden on a near-daily basis by hundred of passengers. In addition, it still includes its original enclosed caboose.
Had the honor of riding a few times. Sometimes with a CM that barely said two words, a few times with great ones that shared all sorts of history and stories! It was a favorite treat to take that ride.
Side note. Even though we got to ride it on several occasions we never did acquire a ticket 🙁
Too bad. I am sure that you could find one on eBay. But, I am sure that a purchased ticket wouldn’t have the same sentimental value and that the prices that the tickets are going for is outrageous.
We were just at Disneyland the week before Memorial Day 2014 and rode the Lilly Belle. I don’t know where you’re information is coming from, but our experience seems to indicate that either Disneyland execs changed their minds or your source was misinformed.
I was lucky enough to propose to my girlfriend on the Lilly Belle and it was a wonderful experience.
We still share those great memories with all our friends and family.
Although it was already a special occasion the cast members on that day made it even more special !
I noticed that the photo of the Lilly Belle ticket that you used in this article is one of mine. You are more than welcome to use any of my photos on your site, but if you do I would appreciate it if you could use my Flickr page (http://www.flickr.com/photos/harshlight) or the actual photo page (http://www.flickr.com/photos/harshlight/7492724638) as the source link. The link you are currently using is just the static image and isn’t meant to be used as a credit link since it gives no information on where the photo is from. Since the story is being picked up by other news sources such as touringplans.com, they are assuming the photo is yours since the only link provided is just to a static image. Thank you for your help!
Of course. I have added in the correct image credit.
Thank you so much!
I was discouraged to read this before our trip in July 2014. However, while talking with a railroad cast member he encouraged us to ask for a ride the next day. We were there when the park opened, told to come back in an hour, and then given a time to ride. This was late July after the 33 renovation. Later that same day we did the “Walk in Walt’s footsteps tour” My parents were still wearing their name tags and a cast member approached them and asked if they would like to ride!
Thanks for coming back and reporting on what you found. I’m very happy to hear that the Lilly Belle is still offering rides to the public, even if it is on a secret limited basis. So glad that you got to enjoy this.
We visited Memorial Day weekend 2014. Unfortunately did not get to ride. This would have been very memorial especially since my daughter is named LILY BELLE! Disappointed.
Isn’t it too bad that the car is closed to the public now?
My husband told our story to a cat member in may this year. We ended up pregnant and married (in that order) @17 years old. No proposal, just a shot gun wedding. My husband proposed to me on the lilly belle with the help of some wonderful cast members! We will be renewing our vows 2015 on our 25th wedding anniversary. Followed by a honey moon including our kids back to Disneyland!
We just rode the Lilly bell 2 weeks ago.
Was it a nice experience?
I have a Lilly Belle Guestbook. It has Shirley Temple, Emperor Hirohito, and others in it. For sale $999
Is there an eBay listing for it? Please authenticate.
There was only ever one guest book and it was stolen.
My family of 5 all got to ride in the Lilly Belle last Saturday, Aug 9th. So it must be back open for the public. Our conductor, who was wonderful, indicated that there have been a LOT of people sure they could get a ride in the car because they had read it on the internet. He told us what a privilege it was to be one of 30 people per day that gets to ride in it. I guess they accept people to the Lilly Belle for two trips daily. The car holds 15 people. He told us of the history of the car and answered lots of questions. It really was magical! (We each got the punched tickets as well) 🙂
False reporting.
General public can still board the Lilly Belle, though the guest book is no longer inside the caboose car.
Many years ago, while awaiting the arrival of the Disneyland Railroad train in Tomorrowland I had the opportunity to ride aboard the Lilly Belle. It was early evening and the same train had passed as we entered the station, a white haired woman and others were aboard, when the train returned the car was empty. A good friend and I stepped up and into the car. This is when Walt’s caboose, baby pictures, guest signature book and more were in the car. We sat in awe riding around the park which was so magical. We do think the previous rider was Lillian and members of the family.
I tried to walk up this morning and just ride the Lilly Belle. I was told you can’t Currently Unless you’ve booked one of the tours.