Today, our options for arriving at Disneyland include taking the monorail into Tomorrowlandand walking the path to the turnstiles at the front of the park. But I fondly remember the tripsof my childhood when my family and I would indulge in another form of transportation: the Disneyland Hotel tram.

The tram departed every five minutes or so, and it felt safer and certainly more fun than walking through the expansive parking lot that used to rest where Downtown Disney and Disney California Adventure sit today. It was a great “first ride of the day” to save our feet before entering the park, and an even better “last ride of the day” to carry our tired tootsies home after putting on some significant park miles. (In the days before smartwatches, my dad and I tracked our steps with a good old-fashioned pedometer.)

The open, breezy tram always felt so adventurous with its seatbelt-free bench seating and thewind whipping in my hair. It was an invigorating moment to plan for the day ahead or reflecton the one that had passed, and it didn’t hurt that it practically stopped in front of my all-timefavorite Disneyland restaurant (RIP, Monorail Café).

Looking back, I must have only experienced the tram on four trips before it closed in 1998, butit’s a surprisingly fond memory of those early days in the Disney parks for me. When I saw oneon display in the “Big Beautiful Car Show” exhibit at D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event in2024, I squealed with delight audibly, and to the confusion of everyone else who was moreintrigued by the Prometheus rover or various Muppets cars. That A-frame design and blue-andyellow paint job brought back such happy memories, and I smiled all night long after seeingmy gone-but-not-forgotten favorite shuttle to the park.