Disneyland Monorail: Death of a Memory

When I was a kid, it was a special treat if I could talk my mom into letting us ride the Disneyland Monorail. The joy of it was somewhere between the Railroad and the Skyway, but faster than either attraction.

Traditionally, we would board in Tomorrowland (we were too poor to have any reason to be anywhere near the Disneyland Hotel, the other boarding location), then proceed to take a couple trips around the park. It was an air-conditioned escape from the mid-day heat, providing a much needed rest from the first half of a long day of fun... and long lines.

Making the return trip to Tomorrowland, we would be rested and refreshed and ready to tackle the second half of our day. It was the perfect ride for our high noon needs.

Last night, my memory of the joy of the Monorail was killed. Christy and I decided to try something new and exciting, something outside our usual rotation of a half dozen rides. We had never been on the Monorail together, so we decided it was time. Despite the recorded announcement that clearly states "round trip", a posted sign and a live voice over the PA made it clear that it was, indeed, one way. But we figured we would enjoy the 2.5 mile ride, and jump right back on to make it round trip.

Arriving in Downtown Disney took about a minute. The "scenic" ride consisted of us turning our heads back and forth as if we were at the Indy 500. Much of the scenery went by so fast, we had little time to figure out what it was, let alone enjoy what we were seeing. We sat facing the doors, which, for future reference, looks out from Disneyland into the city, providing more of a view of Anaheim than our theme park of choice. The boarding platform was packed, so we gave up on the idea of an equally unimpressive return trip.

Our dreams shattered, we drowned our disappointment in two churros: she, a double twisted jumbo; me, a Bavarian-filled.