Any thoughts about PP resort?

[cseca]

I just booked for beginning of oct at PP resort and was wondering what your thoughts about the resort.
This is the first time we had a chance to stay on one of the DL resort hotels
We're excited but don't seem to see a lot of reviews on this boards (see more of GCH and DL).

Thanks in advance!

 

[twinspluscade]

You may want to check out the recent post about employees picketing and banging pots and pans in protest outside the PP at 6 am. There was a recent thread all about it; it's probably still on page 1 or 2.

Let's just say I was glad I hadn't booked to stay there.

Edited to add: It's on page 3. The thread titled "OMG! Angry Cast Members Picketing!" or something like that. I'd link it, but for some reason my computer doesn't work when I try to do that.

 

[pycees312]

I have been to Disneyland many of times and have never done a character breakfast or dinner. Well last May we decided what the hay and did the PCH Grill. We loved it. We were able to take pics with ever single character( please note it was not packed at all) and the food was delicious. the salmon was heaven and i loooove salmon. I only wish i had more of an appetite to eat more.. i really ate very little but the experience was priceless. Would I do it again. yes but only on an off season time. I have never been during a peak season but i suppose if the place was full we may not have gotten to spend the whole 45 mins we were there with Characters...
You can see how empty it was...

 

[Disneyland4Jamy]

I have stayed at all 3 hotels over the years. I have stayed at the Paradise Pier Hotel twice in the last year and had pleasant experiences. I found the check-in lines to be much shorter than the Disneyland Hotel and you receive the same Disney quality service from the cast members. The hotel rooms are Disney "beach" themed (palm trees on the bedspread, Mickey lifeguard lamp). I like the theme park view into DCA...you can watch the rides from your room and some rooms have a nice view of the parade route. The view is especially pretty at night!

 

[Sherry E]

I just booked for beginning of oct at PP resort and was wondering what your thoughts about the resort.
This is the first time we had a chance to stay on one of the DL resort hotels
We're excited but don't seem to see a lot of reviews on this boards (see more of GCH and DL).

Thanks in advance!

Hey there! What dates are you going in early October? I also just booked the PPH for early October (the 3rd through the 5th) yesterday! Maybe we will be there at the same time! In fact, they just sent me an e-mail confirmation this morning and it was for someone else's reservation!!! They likely sent my confirmation to someone else!

I have stayed at PPH, I believe, three times before, the most recent time being September of last year. I have stayed at GCH twice, most recently in Dec. 2007, and DLH probably seven times back in the early '90s. I like all three for different reasons. Honestly, if I had the money, I would stay at the GCH all the time because of the convenience of it. It is just too costly. I love the waterfalls and koi pond over in the DLH. But PPH is whare I stay if I want the touch of Disney magic at a more economical rate, if there is such a thing in the world of Disneyland. PPH is very basic - nothing elegant or extravagant there, but it is very nice. The people at the front desk are very nice and helpful. There is a big Surfer Goofy statue in the front lobby. PPH has a great little coffee bar in its lounge, where they serve good frozen mochas and other munchies. Nearly all of the rooms have a day bed or pull-out sofa in them, so usually they can accommodate five people if you have two regular beds too. And that is about all I can think of for now. You won't be disappointed. You will have a great time. But do take some time to wander over to the DLH and the GCH so you can see how great they are. The PPH is technically the hotel that is the furthest from the two parks, but you can just cross Disneyland Drive from PPH to the GCH, cut through their gorgeous lobby and out to Downtown Disney, then walk a short ways to the entrances to both parks. That is the best way to do it, or you can use the special GCH entrance to California Adventure.

 

[heatherleigh]

This is the only hotel we have ever stayed at. We have done the character breakfast there a few times. On our last trip, we did it twice. It was never crowded, and we pretty much had the characters to ourselves. My baby loves Minnie, so she spent a lot of time snuggling w/ her. We wouldn't have been able to do that if there were other people there. The only picture I have of our room is in the hallway, so there isn't much to see. Here is one from the character breakfast. This is the busiest one we ever went to, and there still weren't that many people there.

 

[cseca]

You may want to check out the recent post about employees picketing and banging pots and pans in protest outside the PP at 6 am. There was a recent thread all about it; it's probably still on page 1 or 2.

Let's just say I was glad I hadn't booked to stay there.

Edited to add: It's on page 3. The thread titled "OMG! Angry Cast Members Picketing!" or something like that. I'd link it, but for some reason my computer doesn't work when I try to do that.

Sigh... I guess I have to take the good and the bad...
Plus, 6am there is 9am our time... hopefully that'll be ok...
Thanks for the warning tho.
I sure do hope they get it resolved before we get there.

I have been to Disneyland many of times and have never done a character breakfast or dinner. Well last May we decided what the hay and did the PCH Grill. We loved it. We were able to take pics with ever single character( please note it was not packed at all) and the food was delicious. the salmon was heaven and i loooove salmon. I only wish i had more of an appetite to eat more.. i really ate very little but the experience was priceless. Would I do it again. yes but only on an off season time. I have never been during a peak season but i suppose if the place was full we may not have gotten to spend the whole 45 mins we were there with Characters...
You can see how empty it was...

Thank you for the pics!
I am thinking of doing 1 char meal. Not sure which one yet, I might just have to do the PP one. Thank you!

I have stayed at all 3 hotels over the years. I have stayed at the Paradise Pier Hotel twice in the last year and had pleasant experiences. I found the check-in lines to be much shorter than the Disneyland Hotel and you receive the same Disney quality service from the cast members. The hotel rooms are Disney "beach" themed (palm trees on the bedspread, Mickey lifeguard lamp). I like the theme park view into DCA...you can watch the rides from your room and some rooms have a nice view of the parade route. The view is especially pretty at night!

Thank you so much. I can't wait until we get there.

 

[heatherleigh]

The rooms were clean, and the walk to DL was not bad at all. I thought it would be terrible after reading reviews, but it was nothing. And we had 3 little kids w/ us.

 

[cseca]

Hey there! What dates are you going in early October? I also just booked the PPH for early October (the 3rd through the 5th) yesterday! Maybe we will be there at the same time! In fact, they just sent me an e-mail confirmation this morning and it was for someone else's reservation!!! They likely sent my confirmation to someone else!

I have stayed at PPH, I believe, three times before, the most recent time being September of last year. I have stayed at GCH twice, most recently in Dec. 2007, and DLH probably seven times back in the early '90s. I like all three for different reasons. Honestly, if I had the money, I would stay at the GCH all the time because of the convenience of it. It is just too costly. I love the waterfalls and koi pond over in the DLH. But PPH is whare I stay if I want the touch of Disney magic at a more economical rate, if there is such a thing in the world of Disneyland. PPH is very basic - nothing elegant or extravagant there, but it is very nice. The people at the front desk are very nice and helpful. There is a big Surfer Goofy statue in the front lobby. PPH has a great little coffee bar in its lounge, where they serve good frozen mochas and other munchies. Nearly all of the rooms have a day bed or pull-out sofa in them, so usually they can accommodate five people if you have two regular beds too. And that is about all I can think of for now. You won't be disappointed. You will have a great time. But do take some time to wander over to the DLH and the GCH so you can see how great they are. The PPH is technically the hotel that is the furthest from the two parks, but you can just cross Disneyland Drive from PPH to the GCH, cut through their gorgeous lobby and out to Downtown Disney, then walk a short ways to the entrances to both parks. That is the best way to do it, or you can use the special GCH entrance to California Adventure.

Hi SherryE!
We'll be there at the same time! Oct 2nd-6th
Maybe we'll pass by each other at the lobby!!!
Thanks for all the good notes about PP. I can't wait now to get there.
gay day crowds or not we are going to have a blasted good time!!!!

This is the only hotel we have ever stayed at. We have done the character breakfast there a few times. On our last trip, we did it twice. It was never crowded, and we pretty much had the characters to ourselves. My baby loves Minnie, so she spent a lot of time snuggling w/ her. We wouldn't have been able to do that if there were other people there. The only picture I have of our room is in the hallway, so there isn't much to see. Here is one from the character breakfast. This is the busiest one we ever went to, and there still weren't that many people there.

Aaww... what a cutie!
Another vote for PP char meal! I must make one now... Thanks for the tip!

The rooms were clean, and the walk to DL was not bad at all. I thought it would be terrible after reading reviews, but it was nothing. And we had 3 little kids w/ us.

LOVE your picture!!! He's adorable...
I know... I was worried about not finding a ton of reviews. But I won't be picky since this is a last minute trip

 

[pixiewings71]

We stayed in January, a party of 4 adults. We shared a room, it was a nice hotel. We would stay there again, the rooms were nice and clean, we had a theme park view so that was cool!! Parking was easy and we loved riding the outside elevator up to our floor! We did the Lilo & Stitch breakfast in 06, it remains one of our favorite character meals. We need to go back...next trip we will!! Maybe we will even stay at PPH next trip, it's going to be a while and I think the kids would really like it there.

We've also stayed at GCH and while GCH is my hotel of preference the price makes it difficult to do. LOL
We never got to stay at the DLH, but there's always time for more DL trips.

 

[Sherry E]

Hi SherryE!
We'll be there at the same time! Oct 2nd-6th
Maybe we'll pass by each other at the lobby!!!
Thanks for all the good notes about PP. I can't wait now to get there.
gay day crowds or not we are going to have a blasted good time!!!! :

Oh, are those Gay Days that your group and mine are there? I didn't realize that. That will be a hoot! I love wild and crazy gay men! So much fun! See, my friend initially wanted to go the following weekend - October 10-12 - but that is a holiday weekend (Columbus Day and also Yom Kippur), so I figured that would be the most crowded weekend of the 'off-peak' season. As it turned out, those dates were not available at the discount rates that I had with the PIN# offer. So I was forced to take the 10/3-10/5 weekend, but I felt we were lucky to get that because apparently they are booking up at PPH for their off season pretty fast now! We might switch weekends if anything opens up on October 10, but for now we are set for October 3.

We do the character breakfast buffet over in the DLH at Goofy's Kitchen. Great food, usually lots of characters. Pretty costly though. We have also done the Storytellers Cafe Breakfast at GCH but I don't like it as much.

I bet your group and mine WILL pass each other in the PPH lobby, or in the hallway. Stranger things have happened! You never know - if you JUST booked you reservation like I just booked mine, we might end up on the same floor, in rooms right next to each other! Of course, you will already be checked in by the time we get there, as you are arriving one day before we do, but I plan to try to check in early on Friday morning (the 3rd), so if you see two women at the front desk of PPH at 6:30 a.m. on October 3, it will probably be us!

 

[cseca]

Oh, are those Gay Days that your group and mine are there? I didn't realize that. That will be a hoot! I love wild and crazy gay men! So much fun! See, my friend initially wanted to go the following weekend - October 10-12 - but that is a holiday weekend (Columbus Day and also Yom Kippur), so I figured that would be the most crowded weekend of the 'off-peak' season. As it turned out, those dates were not available at the discount rates that I had with the PIN# offer. So I was forced to take the 10/3-10/5 weekend, but I felt we were lucky to get that because apparently they are booking up at PPH for their off season pretty fast now! We might switch weekends if anything opens up on October 10, but for now we are set for October 3.

We do the character breakfast buffet over in the DLH at Goofy's Kitchen. Great food, usually lots of characters. Pretty costly though. We have also done the Storytellers Cafe Breakfast at GCH but I don't like it as much.

I bet your group and mine WILL pass each other in the PPH lobby, or in the hallway. Stranger things have happened! You never know - if you JUST booked you reservation like I just booked mine, we might end up on the same floor, in rooms right next to each other! Of course, you will already be checked in by the time we get there, as you are arriving one day before we do, but I plan to try to check in early on Friday morning (the 3rd), so if you see two women at the front desk of PPH at 6:30 a.m. on October 3, it will probably be us!

Yeah, gay days are 3rd-5th.
I was (am) REALLY dreading the crowd but hey... at least I'll be at DL. If it gets too crowded I'll just get back to the hotel and hang out...

I'll be checking in on the 2nd but man... 6:30am?!?!?!?
You start early don't you!!!
If I see a couple ladies hanging out that early I'll make sure to say Hi!!! (and cross my fingers that it's you guys... )

 

[bumbershoot]

We basically enjoyed our stay. We prefer offsite, b/c the value is higher at HoJo's or even Anabella, but it was a nice place.

The elevators are SLOW. Plan for that.

If you don't have a street/park view room, you probably won't be bothered by protesters. But really, if it's not the protesting, it'll be the DVC construction bothering you (like it did for our trip, having been upgraded to a park view room, before they had announced the DVC at GCH, LOL) with a view room.

When you're going to the parks, unless you want to walk ALL the way through Downtown Disney, ignore the signs inside the hotel. Go out the FRONT door of the hotel (not the side/back), go to the crosswalk, and cross towards Grand Californian. Go in the GCH's big pretty doors, turn left down a hallway that will ultimately lead you to automatic doors on the right, go through the doors, and soon you will find yourself in DTD at the middle, instead of having to go through all of DTD. It'll be much quicker. Just ignore the signs in the hotel; they fooled us in September, that's for sure!!!

 

[Sherry E]

Yeah, gay days are 3rd-5th.
I was (am) REALLY dreading the crowd but hey... at least I'll be at DL. If it gets too crowded I'll just get back to the hotel and hang out...

I'll be checking in on the 2nd but man... 6:30am?!?!?!?
You start early don't you!!!
If I see a couple ladies hanging out that early I'll make sure to say Hi!!! (and cross my fingers that it's you guys... )

Well, when I don't drag my friends out early in the morning, we tend to not get into the park until 1:00 p.m. and that is just no good for me! We check in early, before anyone gets to the hotel. We have more of a chance at an upgrade or whatever if we get there early. We get all the paperwork out of the way. IF a room happens to be ready at that time (like during a slow period), we get our bags and head to the room and unpack, which takes time. If not, we head over to Goofy's to grab a leisurely breakfast before that gets too crowded, and then into Disneyland. This time, because California Adventure will be closing early that night (Friday), we will probably head there first and get on Toy Story Mania, and then take it from there. So, when we stick to my plan, we always end up getting more done and everything goes according to schedule. I would rather be there early than late. We only have two days in the park this time (as opposed to three like last year, so I want to get as much out of them as possible. When we have been late in the past, it seemed to set off a string of bad luck for us, where everything was going wrong! So there is a method to my madness!

But, yes, if you see two women at the front desk and quietly tiptoe up to them and say, "Are you Sherry?", I hope they don't look at you like you are crazy!

 

[cseca]

The elevators are SLOW. Plan for that.

Just ignore the signs in the hotel; they fooled us in September, that's for sure!!!

Slow elevator and go through GC! Got it!
If they don't put us too high I might just use the stairs. I needed the exercise anyways...

So there is a method to my madness!

But, yes, if you see two women at the front desk and quietly tiptoe up to them and say, "Are you Sherry?", I hope they don't look at you like you are crazy!

That's what I always told my DH... somehow he just laughs at me... hehehe...

Good luck with your plan and be careful of blisters.
One of the trips I did solo I came back with blisters the size of an eyeball on both feet!!!!
I was on my feet about 12 hours for 2 days in a row. By the 3rd day my feet cried "UNCLE!!!" but I didn't give up... I paid for it when I went back to work the next day...

See you soon!!! (maybe )

 

[Sherry E]

That's what I always told my DH... somehow he just laughs at me... hehehe...

Good luck with your plan and be careful of blisters.
One of the trips I did solo I came back with blisters the size of an eyeball on both feet!!!!
I was on my feet about 12 hours for 2 days in a row. By the 3rd day my feet cried "UNCLE!!!" but I didn't give up... I paid for it when I went back to work the next day...

See you soon!!! (maybe )

I tend to get bad blisters too, so last year, in December, I planned for it. I was loaded down and bandaged up with Band-Aid Blister Protect and Blister Block and all that stuff, and didn't get any blisters. I don't know if it was just good luck or the actual protection, but I worry what would happen if I DON'T have that stuff with me. It can get pretty painful walking around when you have blisters!

 

[heatherleigh]

One thing I noticed during both of our stays here, was that our room was not ready at 3P when we checked in. Fortunately, it wasn't a big deal because my mom arrived the night before, so we just put our stuff in her room (we had adjoining.)

Bumbers, I wish I knew about the short cut! I kept hearing about it from the staff, but I couldn't ever figure it out. My husband would have been so happy to find that out while we were there. He had to carry one of the kids on his shoulders the entire trip, so it would have been a big help.

Like I said, I didn't really take any pics of the room, but I do have some taken inside the room. The door you see to the left is the adjoining one that went into my mom's room. The cupboard to the right that is closed contained a mini fridge and safe. The safe came in handy.

 

[bumbershoot]

Heatherleigh, what made it worse was that I knew there was a shortcut from the boards, and I stupidly thought that was it! Either people weren't being specific about the "go through GCH" part or I was skipping it while reading.

And it wasn't just long; for us the biggest torment was our son talking about the Lego store every single time we went by it. He already had so many souvenirs, and it's not like the lego store there is a bargain, so it was NOT going to happen, but he couldn't stop begging. I would have given just about anything to bypass that store!!!

 

[ScooterL]

I like the Paradise Pier. In fact, I prefer it over the Disneyland Hotel. GC is my favorite, but it's SO expensive, and the theme park view at the PP is really nice, and a LOT more affordable! I just booked a night at the PP for October, and got an upper floor theme park view for $159 with the AP7 rate.

Yes, the PP doesn't have all of the Disney "Magic" that the DLH has, but the rooms are light and clean and nicely decorated and pretty roomy - bigger than the rooms at the GC, I think. And even when I've booked a park view room at the GC I've never gotten as nice a view as what I had at the PP earlier this year - and I paid a whole lot less for the PP room.

As someone else mentioned, the only real downside that I know of to the PP is the elevators - at prime times of day you can have a loooong wait to get back up to your room - or down, I suppose, though I'll walk down rather than wait.