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View Full Version : Ok, now I'm all confused...Monorail question...



80s Babe
10-30-2001, 07:51 PM
I haven't stayed at the Disneyland Hotel since around 1994. Last February I rode the Monorail the night something in DCA caught fire, LOL, so with the fumes and all I failed to notice this:

Does the Monorail still stop at the Disneyland Hotel? :confused: Or just some midpoint in Downtown Disney? This will be a major factor in where we stay next Feb.

Sorry if this was asked in the past.

Gregmh48
10-30-2001, 08:02 PM
It stops at the same station that used to be the Disneyland Hotel station only now it is called the Downtown Disney station. The station has not moved since it was renamed and it is the same distance from the hotel as it always was.

EandCDad
10-30-2001, 08:07 PM
The monorail station is in the middle of Downtown Disney, but has not moved as Gregmh48 mentioned. They built DD around the "old" monorail station and now it looks a little different and is surrounded by different things but is still in the same location.

Lost Boy
10-30-2001, 08:30 PM
The Monorail station is in mostly the same location. Since the hotel tore down the front part of the hotel where the station used to be it now seems to take longer to get to the hotel as there is a lot of open space filled with trees and things. Not as much fun places to stop be and no more Monorail Cafe. It seems like such a long walk now. I know it's not, it just seems that way. I like the new station though. Themes nicely with all the leafy roof panels and imprints of leaves in the cement floor.

Napsto
10-30-2001, 08:47 PM
i think it is nicely themed.

Marko50
10-31-2001, 12:33 AM
Monorail Cafe. ::sigh::

Also used to love watching football at the Neon Cactus after a day at DL. Or after going up to see something at the Pond or Convention Center.

Morrigoon
10-31-2001, 01:39 AM
You're kidding right?

The new monorail station has to be one of the most hideous monstrosities I've had the misfortune of happening upon.

The old station was no gem, but at least is was charmingly cheesy. That new so-called palm tree station is an industrial nightmare.

Sorry to rant, but a magical place like Disneyland deserves a nicer station - maybe Victorian or art deco.... something ATTRACTIVE.

(

coronamouseman
10-31-2001, 02:38 AM
I remember reading something written by a critic of "Industrial Age" architecture of the 1800's where he pointed out that using steelwork or wrought iron to mimic floral patterns was "rude" and "disgusting" architecture - fits this instance perfectly.

Also, why not go "full boat" and run the monorail closer to the hotel?

EandCDad
10-31-2001, 06:53 AM
I think "charmingly cheesy" is giving the old station too much credit. I hated that whole area. It was also super cramped. It was incredibly ugly and so were the buildings around it. I like the new look much better altough it is still no architectural marvel.

tinkfreak
10-31-2001, 12:39 PM
Geez guys, the new station is not that bad. At least it HAS a theme unlike the old station. It's all leafy and stuff to go with Rain Forest Cafe, which is just feet away...

Gregmh48
10-31-2001, 01:22 PM
Does anyone have any pictures of the old station and the area around it? I only vaguely remember going there when I was younger.

TP2000
10-31-2001, 03:48 PM
The old station was built in 1961. It was a cinder block and sheetrock building and resembled a shoe box. For decoration, the monorail platform had steel I-beams exposed and painted orange. The platform looked out upon the blacktop parking lot and West Street, with a row of tree's along the curb. There was a ticket booth at the entrance to the platform, and the building had some backlit advertisements for hotel restaurants along the walls.

Am I the only one who remembers how bland and boring the old monorail station was? I'm a fan of googie architecture, but the monorail station was not googie. It was sort of cheap, pseudo-googie with only the exposed I-beams adding any sense of "space age" design.

The new station is certainly an example of budget cuts and lowered expectations when viewed next to other 21st century examples like the Tokyo Disneyland monorail station, but it is still lightyears ahead of the old 1961 station it replaced. When you leave the monorail station to walk to the Disneyland Hotel you pass by Rainforest Cafe, a Starabilias store, an AMC megaplex theater, and an ESPN Zone. Then you pass under a sorcerer mickey hat, and you are in the hotel.

If given the choice, I would choose the current setup of Downtown Disney and the "modern leaf" monorail station over the old 1961 station, the Neon Cactus and the Monorail Cafe. But that's just me. Don't stand in the way of progress folks. :-)

coronamouseman
10-31-2001, 05:30 PM
Current setup seems pretty lame - why not extend the track back to where the main hotel buildings are? Then monorail becomes a true premium feature of the hotels - right now, Disneyland Hotel people have to practically walk farther than anybody to get to the parks which doesn't seem like a great benefit for the price of the rooms.

TakeMe2Disneyland
10-31-2001, 06:46 PM
I think it's a really pleasant walk from the Disneyland Hotel to the either the DD Monorail Station or to the Esplanade at the entrance to both parks.

However...if you were staying in one of the rooms on the far end of the north/south facing towers, it could be quite a walk, and the idea of having the monorail extended onto the hotel property (maybe somewhere over the top of the Neverland Pool, somehow?) would get to be really attractive after a few days!

Lost Boy
10-31-2001, 06:53 PM
I was on the monorail one day before everything was torn down and rebuilt. On the same train was a suit from headquarters. Being one of those people who is not afraid to start up conversations with suits or other Cast Members, I started talking about the future station for the Monorail at the Disneyland Hotel when all this was finished. According to him, and remember this was about 6 months before they started breaking ground on DCA, he said the plan was to extend the monorail all the way back into the Disneyland hotel area, down to the Pacific Hotel (later renamed Paradise Pier Hotel) and then back thru Downtown Disney with no stops other than Disneylands Tomorrowland, The Disneyland Hotel and the Pacific Hotel.
I guess the old budget cut demon stepped in and stopped that plan cold. It is very expensive to add track or change the layout of the Monorail, as they found out when they moved the Monorail track further out on the stretch back to the Park to make room for the Indy Ride Building which was plopped down in the old Eyore Parking lot area. It cost a whole bundle of $$ for that light move and disrupted the Monorail for months on end.
So we end up with a stop at Downtown Disney that you either love or don't. I find it not that bad, but I guess everyone has their own opinion, and that's cool.

MonorailMan
10-31-2001, 07:16 PM
I just had to jump in on this topic. :D I remember when they did the Indy move, but I remember the testing after it, they had problems wwith the electrical on the new stretch of track, so the bonorail would die at this one point, I watched them test it from the Parking Lot.

EDIT: Bonorail, Monorail, DOH! :p

Gregmh48
10-31-2001, 07:41 PM
What was the track like before the changes? Did it just go closer to the Disneyland berm?

Nigel2
10-31-2001, 10:28 PM
Originally posted by MonorailMan
I
EDIT: Bonorail, Monorail, DOH! :p

Wooo sing your favoirte U2 songs everyone.:D

tabacco
11-01-2001, 04:34 PM
Originally posted by Gregmh48
What was the track like before the changes? Did it just go closer to the Disneyland berm?

The only change made to the track was a bend they put in to keep a certain new attraction from becoming "The temple of the forbidden concrete beam"

Translation: the old beam ran right through where the Indy building is now. They put a little bend in it to make it go around instead of through :)

mspangler
11-01-2001, 06:59 PM
While it does seem like a bit of a walk from the hotel to the station, it is still a nice convienient way to get into DL.

For those that want to know, the Sierra Tower is the closest tower to the Monorail. (It's the tower facing Downtown Disney...it has the star light design on it...which looks pretty neat at night IMO...)

FEJ
11-01-2001, 08:04 PM
Originally posted by MonorailMan
I just had to jump in on this topic. :D I remember when they did the Indy move, but I remember the testing after it, they had problems wwith the electrical on the new stretch of track, so the bonorail would die at this one point, I watched them test it from the Parking Lot.

EDIT: Bonorail, Monorail, DOH! :p
I knew you couldnt resist