Hi Amy! Welcome back to planDisney! We love to see Guests returning to our happy little corner of the magic. You've got a fellow rope-dropper in me, so you came to the right place! I'm so happy to hear you listened to the
planDisney Podcast on Resorts! I had to grab a pen and a piece of paper myself to keep up with all the tips Amy and Julie were dishing out!
Yes, let's talk about the
Disneyland Monorail! If you're a seasoned visitor to the Walt Disney World Resort, the novelty will not be anything new for you, but I guarantee you've never arrived into the parks like this! What makes the Disneyland Monorail so special is that you board in Downtown Disney District and it takes you straight into Tomorrowland! Yes, right into the smack dab middle of Disneyland Park! Can you believe it?! As part of the experience, you'll get to enjoy views of Disney's California Adventure Park's Buena Vista Street, wave to your fellow Guests on
Grizzly River Run and then look out for Buzz Lightyear on your way into Tomorrowland! You'll even get to skip the crowds at the Main Entrance Gate!
If you're choosing to enter the
Disneyland Park via Monorail, there are a few things to EARmark in terms of logistics. Since it takes you directly into the park, you will need a valid theme park ticket and theme park reservation for each day you are planning to use this high-speed, zero emission transport to Tomorrowland. The station opens right at park opening, so be sure to take a peek at those
park hours for each day. This includes opening 30 minutes ahead of scheduled park hours for Guests of the Disneyland Resort Hotels as part of the
Early Entry perk returning August 8th. For us rope-droppers, this is an actual dream!
The Disneyland Monorail is also easy to keep track of as there are only two stations - one inside the park in Tomorrowland and one outside the park in
Downtown Disney District. The Tomorrowland station is located directly above the entrance to the newly reopened
Finding Nemo's Submarine Voyage, so you can get a jump on those rope drop crowds by heading straight for
Space Mountain or
Matterhorn Bobsleds as soon as you disembark! The Downtown Disney District station is located on the west end of the district close to, but not directly at the
Disneyland Hotel. It's just inside the security entrance off to the left. The Disneyland Monorail runs about every 10 minutes and is an attraction in and of itself! You'll get 13 blissful minutes of Disneyland views as you glide into Tomorrowland. While a walk down Main Street, U.S.A. is a quintessential Disneyland entrance, you can't beat landing right in the middle of the action!
Of course, you can also hop the Disneyland Monorail to head out of Tomorrowland and back to the Downtown Disney District as well. The Monorail does tend to close earlier in the evening due to any firework performances, so if you are planning to use it as your exit, I would just double check those hours.
I hope this was helpful! To infinity and beyond!
Tara