Avoid the Disneyland Hotel

[mikelan6]

I just checked in to the Disneyland Hotel a few minutes ago and I have to warn everybody to stay away or be aware of the construction going on. It's really, really bad. When I checked in they tried to give me a room in the Wonder tower. I was jetlagged and wanted to get to my room as soon as possible, so I accepted it. I walked over to the room passing the construction area. It was like a war zone. When I got to the tower the fire alarm was blaring. The room was really dated and needed renovations badly. I tried calling the front desk to see if they could change the room but they didn't answer, so I just walked back there. Fortunately they were able to give me a room in another tower. It is quiet but still very dated and needs renovation.

They should have closed down the hotel completely and done the renovations or even better, torn the whole thing down and built a brand-new resort from scratch.

 

[planaholic]

I have no plans to stay at the DLH anytime soon...but thanksf or the tip!

However, when I saw your signature, I got very, very excited...only 142 days until our ABD trip!! Can't wait to meet you and the rest of our crew in Hollywood!

PS - If you get a chance to do WOC while you're there, report back on the crowd levels. I'm going to DLR for the first time early December and am wondering if the crowds are going to be as dramatic as the crowds described in the Summer opening coverage.

 

[mikelan6]

Hey Lindsay. I'm seeing WoC tonight. I got the picnic fast pass. I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[*NikkiBell*]

I stayed at Paradise Pier in August. The Disneyland Hotel was under construction then and it looked like a mess. I was told that the tower they were working on was not housing guests. I wonder if there was some type of mistake?

 

[Cheshire Figment]

I was just at DLR for the D23 event, and spent six nights at the Disneyland Hotel. I don't pay attention to the tower names, but I was on the 6th floor of the tower with the lobby in it and was facing the pool area. Yes, there is construciton going on but at night they were not doing any work and actually the noise from people in the pool area was louder at night than the construction during the day.

And I saw WoC twice, once with a meal ticket and once without any ticket at all; I thought it was nice but does not really compare to the original IllumiNations, which I felt was much better.

 

[ironz]

I think the title is a little misleading. Maybe it should say "Don't stay near the construction at DLH."

I stayed for 3 nights at the Disneyland Hotel over Labor Day weekend for the 1/2 marathon. We were in a renovated room in the Dreams Tower (I think...the one that overlooks DTD and you could even see the parks from there). It was most wonderful and amazing! Magical, in fact, as there are lights behind the bed headboards that light up with fireworks and music plays! Beds were super, super comfy!

OP...sorry it was a terrible room location for you, but the whole resort shouldn't take the blame.

 

[mikelan6]

I think the title is a little misleading. Maybe it should say "Don't stay near the construction at DLH."

I stayed for 3 nights at the Disneyland Hotel over Labor Day weekend for the 1/2 marathon. We were in a renovated room in the Dreams Tower (I think...the one that overlooks DTD and you could even see the parks from there). It was most wonderful and amazing! Magical, in fact, as there are lights behind the bed headboards that light up with fireworks and music plays! Beds were super, super comfy!

OP...sorry it was a terrible room location for you, but the whole resort shouldn't take the blame.

I agree that some rooms are ok, but the construction is a big factor. For example, the construction noise was noticeable even in the pool area as it was adjacent to it. I just expect more from Disney, especially after seeing and/or staying at the Disneyland Hotels in Paris and Tokyo.

 

[TheBeadPirate]

Hi Mike! We're here too- over at Grand Californian. We have friends over at DLH and they said the complaints about the construction noise and mess were endless. Glad you got a quieter room.

Our studio DVC is facing a park wall. I woke up to bulldozers working in "Cars-land" this morning. So I understand the complaint!

 

[ironz]

OP...again, sorry it is not as magical as it could be.

Maybe the construction crews didn't work full time over Labor Day weekend, or we were just lucky to face away from all the commotion and couldn't hear it. (and I have very sensitive hearing)

The new rooms will be worth it! I loved our room! Castle etchings, nice art, comfy beds, flat screen TVs and the magical fireworks lights!

hope it gets better for ya!

 

[YellowMickeyPonchos]

Unfortunately, the interior walls are so necessary to get those waterfalls and the old shop buildings taken out, too. I'd love to see that from an upper room vantage point....

There really is no practical way they could have closed down that resort for construction. They would have lost so much revenue that it would be impossible to replace it. With the design of the resort, too - there is simply no way.

BTW - we are trying to hook up with Rick and Lori today - I'll send you a message on FB if you want to meet up as well!

 

[*NikkiBell*]

I'm dying to see the new Disneyland Hotel rooms in person. They look awesome in Pete's video!

 

[mikelan6]

Mini DIS meet. Yay.

 

[thunderbird1]

I agree 100%. We stayed there back in May and while we did get a renovated room, our building (the Dreams tower) was under construction and it was a mess. I'm trying to reserve judgment on the remodel until it's finished, but I was really let down by that experience. And we were huge DL hotel fans, having stayed many times over the years.

The remodeled rooms are beautiful, but I was a little disappointed by the "kiss goodnight," and I think not having balconies in a deluxe resort is a big negative. I know they didn't have them before, but at least you could open the sliding glass doors and feel a little like you did. If they can retrofit cruise ships with balconies, why not a hotel? We also had some issues with guest services not having the materials for some of the various activities advertised on the paperwork you receive at checkin.

I also found the monorail access to DL to be almost useless. In DL, the monorail is an attraction, not transportation, and Disney should not market the DLH as having monorail access to the park. Getting from the hotel to the park in the morning works fine (though I never tried using it for early mornings, and am not sure whether it's running before the park opens).

But in the afternoon, when it's hot out, guests in the park use the monorail for an a/c break. They go for a round trip ride, so only a couple of guests are able to board the monorail at the DTD stop to go to the park. Why they don't make the guests exit the monorail and get back in line, I can't imagine, unless it's because the monorail is an attraction and not transportation.

At night, it's even worse. If you want to stay until the park closes, you'd better plan on walking back to the hotel because the monorail closes when the park does. (Again, think attraction, not transportation.) In fact, if you want to take the monorail back to the hotel, you'd better get there about 30 minutes before park closing, because they close the line so they can run the last monorail at park closing. Unless there is a special event planned for that evening, like grad night. Then they close the monorail an hour or more before park closing to "get ready for" the hard ticket event.

Like I said, I'll try to reserve judgment and hope the remodel is fantastic once it's finished, but for now, the DLH is no longer one of our favorite Disney hotels.

 

[bostontim]

But in the afternoon, when it's hot out, guests in the park use the monorail for an a/c break. They go for a round trip ride, so only a couple of guests are able to board the monorail at the DTD stop to go to the park.

Have they added a/c to the DL monorail? I thought it was impractical due to the additional weight of the system against the more compact design of the DL monorail. When I was there last fall the windows were open and it really didn't feel cool to me.

 

[thunderbird1]

Have they added a/c to the DL monorail? I thought it was impractical due to the additional weight of the system against the more compact design of the DL monorail. When I was there last fall the windows were open and it really didn't feel cool to me.

I don't actually know. I just assumed it had a/c because it was cooler than standing out in the sun. Maybe it was because the windows were open--I didn't notice. At any rate, it wasn't so hot that people wanted to get off at dtd, that's for sure! Maybe they were just happy to be sitting down.

 

[YellowMickeyPonchos]

I wanted to comment on the rehab that adding balconies to that style and design of architecture is an extremely expensive thing to do. People complain about the price of tickets and hotel rooms as it is. Also, how would guests react to paying even more just to have those balconies? I think that the 2008 incident had a lot of do with the elimination of the sliding doors. http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN0230663820080502 That alone would make any business manager at Disney want to close off the balconies for liability.

In addition, the construction would also be twice as bad in both noise and appearance in modification of the superstructure of each building (if they could find a way to add them within the appropriate earthquake guidelines).

BTW - Just thought you might want a couple informational tidbits on the Disneyland monorail:

• The monorail has always been primarily an attraction and not soley a transportation method, a la WDW. The first-timer folks that come here from WDW experience are unfamiliar with Walt's original concept of how the monorail should be in the park and it is kind of a surprise for them, the first time they ride it.
  
• They do make every guest exit the monorail at the Disneyland Hotel station and get back in line. It has happened to us numerous times and is standard policy -except if you are in the nose cone seats. Those are discretionary.
  
• There is no A/C. It couldn't be installed, as the power supply to the beam couldn't support the additional drain that the A/C would require on it's system. They will also not run the new monorails if the outside temperature exceeds a certain level.
  
• The hotel has not marketed itself as having monorail access as transportation since they removed those final bungalow buildings that brought the hotel grounds to the boarding station. Saying it is the closest of the resorts to the DTD monorail station is not the same and is not an implication of that.