Having spent the majority of my Disney park experience going to DL, the concept of the bubble that is talked about escaped me for a long time (or at least, the definition of the bubble for myself has always been different). As such, this is how I see things:
The Bubble referred to by many is, I believe, simply another name for the “Resort” experience. You get off the shuttle at the resort entrance and are fully immersed in the amenities of the resort at every turn, seeing nothing of the outside world until you head back to the airport at the end of the trip. Your meals, entertainment, sights and sounds are all delivered to you and controlled by the resort.
Using that definition, at DLR, the only way to truly experience this is by staying at the GCH and utilizing its private entrance to DCA. Even the DLH in my opinion doesn’t exactly fit the title of a resort experience due to its path to the parks shared by visitors coming from the west, and the need to traverse through DTD and its security gate before getting to the parks.
In my opinion, even with adding the word “Resort” to the title of the site, Disneyland has never really been a true resort and hoping to find that experience there is a disappointment in the making. Especially if WDW is the bar you’re setting as the standard.
To the OP, I would say this.
WDW and DLR are not just different sites, but different experiences all together. WDW is the resort, DLR for the most part is just the parks. It sounds to me that a Disney resort is the main experience you want. If anything less is not worth the trip, then why try and put a square peg in a round hole?
IMHO, this is what WDW is for.
WDW has what you’re looking for, and probably has a pricing option that is closer to your budget, all while staying in the “bubble”.
I love DLR. it’s my preferred site and preferred vacation experience. But that’s because I don’t need a resort experience in my
Disney vacations. If I did, I think I would look to Orlando more often.