The funny thing is, before the resort expansion, the stop was considered the Disneyland Hotel stop. The station never moved whatsoever, and there is no further distnance between the monorial stop and the Disneyland hotel then ever used to be.
The Disneyland monorails are much smaller then the WDW ones, and there is no standing room on the Disneyland monorails.
Prior to the expansion, a Disneyland tram was available from the old parking lot (now Disney's California Adventure), but the main reason for this was the hassle of crossing what was then known as West Street (Now Disneyland Drive). Downtown Disney now has a pedestrian bridge that goes over Disneyland Drive, so there is no longer stree crossing required.
The best use of the Disneyland monorail is to either use it as a simple attraction, and remain on at the Downtown Disney stop and return to Disneyland, or use it at night after Disneyland closes to travel to Downtown Disney. Although at Downtown Disney you are not required to exit, you must exit at the Tomorrowland stop.
The monorial also covers some areas of Disney's California Adventure, although makes no stops. (KInd of like how the Epcot monorail enters Epcot, but lets you off outside the main gate)Since boarding the monorail from Downtown Disney (and it was like this before the expansion as well), is basically entering the park, there are turnstiles and you need to present a valid Disneyland passport to ride the monorail from Downtown Disney.
