Steakhouse 55 First Day, then Parks

[Speedracer5]

My husband, sister and I will be visiting Disneyland from April 7 through April 11. We are staying at the Best Western Stovalls. We usually stay at Stovalls and rely on ART for transportation to and from the parks. We are familiar with how to get through security at the entrance near the shuttle pick-up/drop-off.

On our first day, we plan to have an early breakfast at Steakhouse 55 at Disneyland Hotel. I looked up directions from our hotel to Disneyland Hotel and found that it's about a 10-minute walk. We'll walk over, that isn't a big deal.

My question is for getting from Disneyland Hotel to the main entrance. I see that Downtown Disney is near the Disneyland Hotel. Can we ride the monorail from Downtown Disney and enter Disneyland? Or do we need to walk from Disneyland Hotel to the front entrance? The reason I ask is that it will be our first day at the parks, so our tickets will not yet have our photos on them.

 

[Nonsuch]

You may use the Monorail

 

[Where's Wall-E]

My understand is that sometimes if it is Magic Morning at DL, the Monorail is reserved only for those staying at a DLR hotel - but someone please correct me if I'm wrong. Also, if your breakfast ends after the park is fully open, this isn't an issue regardless. And yes, you can take the Monorail into the park - it goes to Tomorrowland. It could be a longer wait though than walking a couple of more minutes to the main entrance, depending on how many trains are running.

If you decide on the Monorail, they will take your photo for your pass there, just as if it was the main entrance.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

Sometimes the monorail isn't running in the morning, so just be aware of that possibility. Either way, the walk to the front gates from the DLH is about 5-10 minutes on flat pavement -- a very easy stroll through DTD. You will go through bag check (usually very short lines at that checkpoint) just past the hotel (and before you get to the monorail anyway) and walk straight through DTD to the front gates. Easy!

 

[j9isawesome]

You usually can enter at the monorail station but keep in mind that it is a short walk from the DLH to DL main entrance and the monorail can have quite the wait at times. So while taking the monorail is an option, it is often faster & less stressful to just walk. I'm also a big fan of walking through the main entrance and down main st for the first day of any trip, but maybe you're less sentimental and getting dropped off over in Tomorrowland is just fine.

 

[Speedracer5]

Thank you everyone. It sounds like walking to the main entrance is a better idea. I also like walking through the entrance into Main Street. Walking under the plaque that says: "Here you leave today and enter the world of yesterday, tomorrow and fantasy" is always so magical. It's usually the way we enter the park everyday of our trip. I've never ridden the monorail before. Maybe we'll just do it at another point in the trip.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

... I've never ridden the monorail before. Maybe we'll just do it at another point in the trip.

You could ride the monorail one night on your way out from the TL station to DTD. Maybe on the last run of the night? (Check with CMs on what time that would be that night.) That would give you a scenic route on the way back to your hotel. The monorail doesn't have a/c, so we like it when it's cooler outside.

 

[VandVsmama]

If it were me, I could go either way with this. If you have the 1st breakfast reservation of the day at 7 am, then you'll probably finish with breakfast at 8 am. So you may not make the 1st monorail of the day, but it's a really fun way to start your morning. If you really want to do it, you should just go for it, especially since you'll be at DL for a few days.

However, if you finish a 7 am breakfast by about 7:45 am, and let's say you get to the monorail in DTD and the line of people waiting to go on the monorail seems pretty long, then just walk through DTD to the main gate. Just play it by ear!