a Disneyland Hotel stay

[chickyann]

Just wondering what your best tips are for booking a stay at the Disneyland Hotel?

 

[Denton]

Are you asking about which tower is preferred?

If so, I like the Dreams (old Sierra) tower. Your view is either the pool area or Downtown Disney.

 

[chickyann]

any tips will help

Is it best to book through Disney.com or some other agent or directly with the Hotel?

Thanks for the Tower tip, it's good to know.

 

[keishashadow]

subscribing

 

[LisainCalifornia]

We typically stay at the Disneyland Hotel each time we go, but have also stayed at the Grand California. I always book our hotel and park hopper tickets at the same time through the www.disney.com website (click on travel). Actually--I booked our first time on the phone (calling the DLH directly), but found that I got a cheaper rate through the website--so that is how I do now.

There are 3 towers at the Disneyland Hotel:

Magic tower: This is the tower with the lobby entrance. This was the "Original Tower". The rooms are a bit smaller than the other two towers. You could have a pool view or on the other side of the building a view of the parking lot. We have never wanted to stay in this tower because we have three kids and we can't have the room be any smaller!

Dreams tower: This tower gives you the option to have either a downtown disney view/resort view (so you could see the matterhorn) or on the otherside you can have a pool view. Some parking lot views as well.

Wonder tower: this tower has the rooms that are the largest. Many rooms have a bathroom area, and then a separate area that has a lighted mirror and countertop---this way mom can sit down to do her make up, fix children's hair, etc...while dad or others are in the bathroom. It really comes in handy. There is also extra room around the closets--so more room for luggage. You can have a pool/falls view. The falls are great, because they are very relaxing sounding and block out any noise from the pool area and outside traffic. The pool views at the Disneyland hotel are amazing--because the pool is the Peter Pan pool with lots of plants--it looks tropical. Not your typical retangle hotel pool at all. The other side of the wonder tower has some resort views and parking lot views.

We have only stayed in the Wonder Tower and the Dreams Tower. We personally like the Wonder Tower better because of the extra room and quiet falls/pool views. In the Dreams tower we had the downtown disney view, and that was great as it was Xmas and we had a veiw of the huge Xmas tree--but it was kind of noisy. We were very high up in the tower--but could still hear people partying late into the night in downtown disney. It was still really neat--but not ideal.

We have never had a Dreams tower pool view, and may ask for that this time. The Dreams tower has easy access to downtown disney--it is the closest to it--but they are all within minutes of each other, so that is really splitting hairs.

We always pay extra to upgrade to a upper tower/pool view room, and feel it is worth it.

Hope this helps--forgive any mistakes--I have to drive my kids to school right now!

 

[justliketink]

I was just checking vacation packages that include the Disneyland Hotel. I searched Disney Travel (where I have booked in the past), AAA and Costco. I found that Costco gave you more perks for the same amount of dollars when I entered in the same travel dates and preferences. Costco gave a free character breakfast to each member of the party and a $20 gift card, whereas AAA and Disney Travel did not. I was able to compare them all online, so it was pretty easy to compare apples to apples...

Good Luck!!

 

[sgtdisney]

Magic tower: This is the tower with the lobby entrance. This was the "Original Tower".

Actually the Dreams tower was the original tower built at the Disneyland Hotel. The Dreams (Sierra to me) tower was built in the mid 60s. The Magic (Marina) tower, the 2nd tower built, was opened in the very early 70s. The last tower, Wonder, was built last and opened in the late 70s. You are right about the room size, though, from what I can recall, the Magic tower does have the smaller of the three rooms.

 

[LisainCalifornia]

Ah ha! For some reason I had always thought the Magic tower was the original (I guess because that is where the main lobby/check in is). Thanks for the clarification!

At least I stopped calling the Wonder tower the Bonita Tower! That took me forever to get right. And for a while I called it the "Wishes Tower". Maybe because I wished they hadn't changed the name in the first place!

 

[CoolPool]

How long is your stay? When are you thinking of traveling?

It might sound crazy, but it might be worth it for one of you to get an AP. Last fall (end Aug through mid Dec) there was an AP promotional rate that was phenomenal. It was called AP4. Right now (spring: AP6 I believe) the special rates are only so-so.

 

[chickyann]

thankyou everyone so much for your replies, I'm so excited can't believe I'm actually going to Disneyland!

 

[chickyann]

How long is your stay? When are you thinking of traveling?

It might sound crazy, but it might be worth it for one of you to get an AP. Last fall (end Aug through mid Dec) there was an AP promotional rate that was phenomenal. It was called AP4. Right now (spring: AP6 I believe) the special rates are only so-so.

We are planning to be in Anaheim for a week & get a 5 park hopper. Does having an AP give you benefits when staying at the Hotel?

 

[sgtdisney]

Ah ha! For some reason I had always thought the Magic tower was the original (I guess because that is where the main lobby/check in is). Thanks for the clarification!

At least I stopped calling the Wonder tower the Bonita Tower! That took me forever to get right. And for a while I called it the "Wishes Tower". Maybe because I wished they hadn't changed the name in the first place!

HAHA, yes, I know. I still don't remember the (new) names of the towers. I always remember then as Bonita, Sierra and Marina. Of course now that the actual Marina is gone, I guess it makes sense to change them, but it is kind of sad that more and more of the Wrather years are fading away.

 

[CoolPool]

The benefits of an Ap are the promotional hotel rates (called Ap4, AP5, Ap6) and discounts in the park (usually 10 to 20%). If you are staying at Disney-run hotel, then you get magical morning/early admission.

A five day park hopper currently costs $194 and a deluxe AP costs $259. Difference is $65. With ONE AP in the family you could potentially save far more than that using an AP promotional rate. It just depends on what time of year you are going. If you are going during summer or holiday times, then an AP won't help you much with getting a cheaper hotel rate at a Disney hotel.

 

[CindyH]

If you can travel with a senior, ask them along! The senior rate gives you a HUGE discount, much more than the AP.