Which hotel is your recommendation and why?

[TamaraH]

So we are a family of 4 and we are thinking of going to DLand next fall for about 4 days. Which of the three hotels: Grand Californian, Disneyland Hotel, Paradise Pier - would you choose and why? In your opinion, what are the advantages/disadvantages of each (if any)? Thanks so much!

 

[whoever]

We've only ever stayed at the Grand, but are doing eight nights at the Disneyland hotel this trip starting tomorrow.

Advantages of the Grand: Beautiful architecture and craftsman/woodland theming. Balconies on the rooms. Steps from the park (It's technically inside DCA). Cons: Smallest rooms of all the hotels. Ageing hotel in need of a room refurb. Crazy room cost.

Advantages of Disneyland Hotel: Best pools. Best "Disney" theming. Trader Sam's Cons: Further from the parks. High-rise hotel feel.

Advantages of Paradise Pier: Largest rooms of them all. Cheap. Views of DCA (provided you get a room view). Disadvantages... slow elevators..worst pool... furthest away from everything provided you don't cut through the Grand.

 

[tlovesdis]

I've stayed at all three and they all have their pros and cons.

The rooms at the Grand are the smallest and darkest. The rooms at PPH are the largest and brightest. The DLH rooms are just a tad smaller than PPH, but they have the awesome light up headboards! The DLH is my favorite just because of the nostalgia of it and I like the decoration of it more than the other two. Yes, the Grand is very convenient, but too me is just too expensive for what you are getting. Last time we stayed at the Grand our room was so far from the elevator it was ridiculous!

Just my opinion, but I would choose DLH, then PPH, then Grand, in that order!

You will love all three I am sure no matter which you choose!

 

[TamaraH]

Awesome - thanks for the feedback guys! Do appreciate it - knew I could count on you all!

DLH is not attached to the park but has a Monorail stop right?

 

[whoever]

The monorail is still a short walk from the hotel. The monorail goes THROUGH the Grand, but there is no stop outside of the DTD stop.

 

[Bud Ice]

> Advantages of Disneyland Hotel: Best pools. Best "Disney" theming. Trader Sam's Cons: Further from the parks. High-rise hotel feel.

Agree with the above statements. DLH is a reasonable hotel to stay at for a family of 4. Plus restaurants, coffee shop, artwork walk.
If Paradise Pier is quote $80+ less a night, stay there is just fine too. The inside scoop about the three hotels is most of the amenities are
open to the public (exception pools). You can tour all three hotels while there to get a feel for them. Even hangout in GCH's Main Hall.

 

[justgrace]

I would not recommend the Paradise Pier or the Disneyland hotel on just proximity alone.

Some of our traveling party stayed at the Paradise Pier hotel. One of the days we walked over with them back to their hotel, and couldn't believe how far it was! It was a longer walk over to the actual "Disney hotels" than it was to our hotel across the street on Harbor! We even took the "short cut" through the Grand, and it was still a fairly long walk back, especially with younger kiddos. The Disneyland hotel is even further away than the Paradise was.

Can't comment on the Grand though.

 

[Aladora]

I would not recommend the Paradise Pier or the Disneyland hotel on just proximity alone.

Some of our traveling party stayed at the Paradise Pier hotel. One of the days we walked over with them back to their hotel, and couldn't believe how far it was! It was a longer walk over to the actual "Disney hotels" than it was to our hotel across the street on Harbor! We even took the "short cut" through the Grand, and it was still a fairly long walk back, especially with younger kiddos. The Disneyland hotel is even further away than the Paradise was.

Can't comment on the Grand though.

We found that our room at the Grand was as far a walk as our room at Paradise Pier...the hallways at the grand are loooooooooooooooooooooong!

To answer the OP, it really depends on what is most important to you in a Disneyland hotel.

Best Disney theme? DLH has the best in my opinion, the light up headboards are lovely.
Biggest room? PPH for sure.
Most refined feeling? GCH has a wonderful feeling of grandeur.
Most relaxed? PPH.

We've stayed in all three and PPH is our new favourite one. We enjoy the more relaxed atmosphere and the bigger rooms are a bonus as well. We've never felt that the walk back to any of the hotels was particularly long, although they are all further than the offsite motels at the crosswalk on Harbor Blvd. We go back to the room every day after lunch and have never felt that the walk was too far to be worthwhile, we are normally back in our room in less than 10 minutes. I've even left DH and DS in the park and gone back to the room for a forgotten item and it has never been an issue.

For us, we will pick the PPH over the other three, even if the price was the same. I do wish all three onsite hotels would upgrade their wifi, it is amazingly lousy!

 

[sgrap]

Love the Grand!! The separate shower and toilet , and the 2 sinks make it so much easier. Love the bunk bed rooms.

 

[TamaraH]

Thanks everyone for the continued feedback - it really does help. Our family is all about convenience and comfort. We've always loved the look of GCH - it's beautiful and would love to stay there as it is connected to the park and the ease of just walking into the park but I'm not sure if that is worth the extra $$. I do want to stay at a Disney property so probably, it's between DLH or PPH. I'm kind of leaning toward DLH but still not sure. So how far of a walk is it from PPH to GCH to use that entrance? How far of a walk is it from DLH to the park entrance? Or is it better to just jump on the monorail from DLH to the park? It's been so long since I've been there and I never really paid attention to all that LOL. I used to live in SoCal and went to the parks often but now live in AZ and haven't been for years.

 

[Aladora]

Thanks everyone for the continued feedback - it really does help. Our family is all about convenience and comfort. We've always loved the look of GCH - it's beautiful and would love to stay there as it is connected to the park and the ease of just walking into the park but I'm not sure if that is worth the extra $$. I do want to stay at a Disney property so probably, it's between DLH or PPH. I'm kind of leaning toward DLH but still not sure. So how far of a walk is it from PPH to GCH to use that entrance? How far of a walk is it from DLH to the park entrance? Or is it better to just jump on the monorail from DLH to the park? It's been so long since I've been there and I never really paid attention to all that LOL. I used to live in SoCal and went to the parks often but now live in AZ and haven't been for years.

To get from the PPH to the GCH, you walk out of the PPH to the set of lights less than half a block away, cross at ther lights and you are at the GCH main entrance.

DLH to DL is right down the middle of DTD. The monorail takes you right into tomorrow land but I would avoid using it for MM/EMH. The last time we did that, more than half of the extra hour was gone before we got off the monorail and we started lining up 40 minutes early!

I would say that you could probably walk from DLH to DL/DCA entrance in 10 minutes depending on how fast you walk. DS is not the speediest walker but I don't think it took us more than that.

 

[whoever]

I'll be better equipped to comment after my trip tomorrow. We REALLY love the grand though. Hence staying there EVERY time as a family. While we are trying out DLH this time, we are NEVER going to do Paradise Pier Hotel. It's just not Disney for us.

 

[VandVsmama]

I agree with what Aladora said about the DLH. Don't rely on monorail to get you quickly into the park for EMH. If you are a rope drop person, then it's best to walk through DTD to the main gate.

 

[sgrap]

Thanks everyone for the continued feedback - it really does help. Our family is all about convenience and comfort. We've always loved the look of GCH - it's beautiful and would love to stay there as it is connected to the park and the ease of just walking into the park but I'm not sure if that is worth the extra $$. I do want to stay at a Disney property so probably, it's between DLH or PPH. I'm kind of leaning toward DLH but still not sure. So how far of a walk is it from PPH to GCH to use that entrance? How far of a walk is it from DLH to the park entrance? Or is it better to just jump on the monorail from DLH to the park? It's been so long since I've been there and I never really paid attention to all that LOL. I used to live in SoCal and went to the parks often but now live in AZ and haven't been for years.

It is not very far from PPH to the GCH lobby, but it does add ~ 10 minutes to the walk, and longer if you have to wait for elevators. We have always stayed at GCH except for once when I decided that it couldn't make that much of a difference for almost double the $. So we stayed at PPH. Granted, we are severely spoiled by staying at the Grand, but it just wasn't the same. We didn't like leaving the Disney bubble we didn't like the room at PPH. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't "Disney" for us. It was just like a normal hotel room. I hated that we only had 1 bathroom space and 1 sink, especially with 2 tween girls at the time. Having the shower/toilet separate from the 2 sinks makes a huge difference for us.

We haven't stayed at DLH, but we did move a friend down from GCH to a different room there once (she stayed on for a convention and we went home). The room was nice, the light up headboards were cool, but it had the same bathroom problem, we hated the walk and there was no balcony like the Grand. None of these are deal breakers, and you are still in a Disney hotel with all its perks, but those are the reasons we prefer GCH. We finally bought DVC resale points there this year so we can stay there in the DVC Villas. Should have done that years ago with how much we love the place!

Whatever hotel you choose, you will have a wonderful time at Disneyland. Think about how much time you will spend in the room vs. the parks. If you are park commandos, it won't make a huge difference other than before and after the day in the parks. Enjoy!!

 

[Malcon10t]

We even took the "short cut" through the Grand, and it was still a fairly long walk back, especially with younger kiddos. The Disneyland hotel is even further away than the Paradise was.

Can't comment on the Grand though.

Thanks everyone for the continued feedback - it really does help. Our family is all about convenience and comfort. We've always loved the look of GCH - it's beautiful and would love to stay there as it is connected to the park and the ease of just walking into the park but I'm not sure if that is worth the extra $$. I do want to stay at a Disney property so probably, it's between DLH or PPH. I'm kind of leaning toward DLH but still not sure. So how far of a walk is it from PPH to GCH to use that entrance? How far of a walk is it from DLH to the park entrance?

From the Sorcerer's Hat at the DLH to the Bag Check tent is 7 mins. It is 4 mins to the DTD "turn in" to the Grand. From the Harbor side, it is a 5 min walk from BWPPI front desk to the bag check. So, yes, if you are staying at the front desk of BWPPI, Park Vue Inn or Desert Inn, DLH is 2 mins further.

My favorite onsite? DLH. My favorite off site? I have 3 - Hilton, Candy Cane, and Residence Inn. I have stayed at all of the "Harbor side" motels (except Tropicana or the new Marriott). Some, I won't recommend, some I do. They can be slightly closer. But, there is a big difference in comfort levels. And 3-4 mins isn't a big deal after 10 hours in the park.

 

[mt mommy]

We have stayed at the Grand and Disneyland hotel. As mentioned by many both have advantages and disadvantages. If you want to quickly come and go to your room during the day, definitely choose the Grand. If you love a gorgeous relaxing room feel, choose the Disneyland hotel.

Have fun and enjoy either way!!

 

[Malcon10t]

We have stayed at the Grand and Disneyland hotel. As mentioned by many both have advantages and disadvantages. If you want to quickly come and go to your room during the day, definitely choose the Grand. If you love a gorgeous relaxing room feel, choose the Disneyland hotel.

Have fun and enjoy either way!!

On the Grand, if you get one of the rooms in the longer hallways, it won't necessarily be faster. A room in the high 100s or 300s, you won't necessarily be coming and going quickly. Also, going to DCA is faster, but to DL, not necessarily.

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

We have stayed one time each at the Paradise Pier and DLH. We had a standard view at the Paradise Pier and a lower view room at the DLH (don't know what they call that room type these days). Our DLH room had two queen beds, no day beds, and I can't remember what floor it was. We were in the Adventure tower overlooking DtD and had a great view of the fireworks from our room. Between the two experiences, I liked the DLH better. We enjoyed the hotel grounds, pool, and Disney touches. The room at the DLH just seemed nicer than the room at the Paradise Pier too. If I were to shell out the big bucks again, I would probably pick the DLH as my first choice, preferably with a view. If I were to stay in Paradise Pier ever again, I would pick a view room rather than a standard room. The walk didn't bother us from either hotel, but we generally stay offsite and are used to walking.

 

[llump41]

We've stayed in all three and my least favorite was the Grand. To me the only advantage to the Grand is IF you are visiting DCA over DL. As previously mentioned the hallway is long. But it was a very short walk from our room to the DCA hotel entrance.

My feeling on distance is this- you're going to walk about a mile an hour. if your staying in the parks 12 hours then that's 12 miles you're going to walk. What's a few extra yards at that point. Our stay at the PPH was awesome and the distance, cutting thru the GCH lobby, was negligible. The only real disadvantage to the PPH is that the pool just sucks. But we don't go to the DLR to use the pools.

My advice usually boils down to this. If you can afford the DLH then upgrade to PPH concierge. If you can afford the GCH then upgrade DLH concierge. The GCH just isn't worth the price if you ask me. And we stayed free there last time.[GALLERY=][/GALLERY]

 

[azdisneylover]

We have stayed and enjoyed the three hotels. PPH had slow elevators and you will see traffic when you go to the parks or DTD. I know that isn't a big deal to many, but to me and my family, we prefer not to see it. We would stay at PPH again in a minute, but it would be our last choice ONLY because of seeing the traffic. The character meal was great, kids loved the slide, and the room was nice size for this family of 5. DLH is a bit far to walk when you are tired and your kids are whining how far the room is! But, the walk is entertaining if you like window shopping. Even though the monorail is there, sometimes it isn't running, or it is so crowded to get on it, it would save you time to just walk to the park. The pools are nice, Goofy's kitchen was BUSY, oh, and I saw 3 different cats roaming the grounds there! GCH is great IF and I repeat IF you get a room that you requested. Since my kids are now taller than I, we really needed a room with the daybed. We were put in a room that was close to PPH overlooking where you walk from the PPH and an air mattress. We had to rearrange furniture for the air mattress. Very tight squeeze. I got lost EVERY TIME trying to get back to the room. We were put on a list and were moved a few days later to a daybed room which was better because I was in the Acorn gift shop purchasing medicines, etc daily. All but hubby got sick at Disney. The housekeeping staff was wonderful at GCH. The balcony was nice to sit and watch the monorail go by while relaxing with sick kids. Out of the three if I won the lottery, I would stay at GCH every time. It is nice to walk out to DTD and be in the middle. Go left, and you can go to the movies (went twice while there this time and the price was good for the first show of the day), go right and you go towards the park gates. If your kids are younger, I would say DLH would be a better fit visually. Have fun where ever you decide to stay.