Proper way to go from external to internal display?

I have a new macbook 15 inch. I'm using a dual link dvi on my 30 inch dell monitor. On my old mac it was super easy, if i unplugged the dvi it would switch to the regular display, if i wanted to put on the external, i would close the lid, let it sleep, plug in the monitor and wake it up with an external keyboard mouse.

With my new mac this isnt happening. I put it to sleep plug in the dual link and no display comes up. I usually have to turn it off and turn it back on with it plugged into my monitor. If i want to take my mac off the monitor to use it elsewhere the regular display never comes back on. I always have to force shut it off, which is bad in general, and reboot, which is annoying.

Is there a proper way to do this without going through all this?

Thanks.