Back from Disneyland/ Disneyland Hotel

[sm4987]

Well, I'm home and things have settled back to normal. I enjoyed my trip to Disneyland, not sure if we'd go back though.

Disneyland hotel was nice. Not as Disneythemed as we had hoped. Check-in took us over an hour. The lines were long and there were only 4 people doing check-in. Once we checked-in, had to wait and come back for our keys. Room was nice, again nothing special although I loved the TV cabinet. my Dh often told me that we wasted money on the room and could have stayed off property. He was so dissapointed that it was nothing like DW. I began to have the same feeling after day 3 and wanted to come back home really badly.

We really enjoyed DCA. We spent quite a bit of time there. Mostly because Disneyland was so crowded!!! Even with unlimited fast pass, we often stood in long lines to get a fast pass and then a long line to use it. Kids kept saying, it's not like this at DW. I guess we are used to just walking on rides We loved all the old rides that you can't do at MK. Pirates was a big hit with my family and we ate at the Blue Bayou. We gave it an A+ for atmosphere and a D for the food. Rolls were cold and hard. Our waitress didn't come by very often either. We really loved the Aladdin show, Snow White and the Fireworks were awesome. I love the Star Wars Part!!!!!!! We didn't like fantamic. I think we are really used to the DW one although the Capt. Hook/Peter Pan scene is amazing. Loved the matterhorn, the railroad, Splash Mountain (even though it seem shorter to us) and BTMR. No one really liked Indy. It was a rough ride and dark. My son (9) liked it rough, but after Dinosaur he said it was a piece of cake!

Overall, it was a good vacation. The whole family was tired of eating Disney food at the end and was so happy that we decided to hop in the car and go buy some other food. I am happy that we had the opportunity to see the original Disneyland, but we are a Disneyworld family at heart. I've never seen everyone in my house so itching to go home before. 7 days and 5 day park hoppers were to much for my family. I think we could have enjoyed everything in 3.

 

[Mary Anne]

7 days and 5 day park hoppers were to much for my family. I think we could have enjoyed everything in 3.

You're report could have been written by me. We were there last week too and felt exactly the same way. We did not stay at the Disneyland hotel but stayed at one of the Good Neighbor hotels and used the shuttle. That was a disaster too.

I will say the croweds were terrible and that was the only reason we needed the 5 days, we never would have seen it all in 3 with the crowds.

I do have a trip report written as there were some really good parts, I think I will post it on the Disneyland trip report board.

 

[nono]

Isn't it funny how things can turn out differently? My husband and I just came back from Disneyland last week and said, "We'll definitely go back maybe in 3 - 5 years, instead of every 10 or so that we do." We didn't have an hour plus wait (!) for check in at our hotel (Embassy Suites South on Harbor Blvd), and we walked to and from the parks (little over a mile), so we weren't subject to a bad shuttle. Both of those sound like real joy killers.

Disneyland was pretty darn crowded though, wasn't it??? We were out of there both days by 11 a.m. and on our way to California Adventure which we really loved. We only did 2 day park hoppers and didn't expect to see everything as we had our 16 mo. old with us. She did great though, so we ended up with way more time in the parks than we thought (oh and 74 degrees in late June vs. whatever Orlando was last week didn't hurt either!)

I really appreciate the posting about the hotel as we might have considered staying there next time -- it's been kind of the holy grail for both my husband and me since we were both youngsters. Scratch that one off the wish list!

 

[Blackunicorn]

I really appreciate the posting about the hotel as we might have considered staying there next time -- it's been kind of the holy grail for both my husband and me since we were both youngsters. Scratch that one off the wish list!

To be fair, you're only hearing one opinion. Some people love the Disney hotels, and some people definitely don't feel that they're worth the money. You're the only one who can decide, and I'd hate for you to potentially miss an experience you'd enjoy.

 

[Amy&Dan]

To be fair, you're only hearing one opinion. Some people love the Disney hotels, and some people definitely don't feel that they're worth the money. You're the only one who can decide, and I'd hate for you to potentially miss an experience you'd enjoy.

My thoughts exactly! I love the Disneyland Hotel and so does my family. We have enjoyed our onsite stays at WDW but just love the DLH the most. As for Disney theming I have found that with the exception of All Star Movies and Pop Century the onsite hotels in WDW aren't Disney at all. For instance I loved Port Orleans Riverside but it was themed like the south not Disney. Crowds at Disneyland are probably pretty bad right now due to the 50th. If somebody has been to WDW and never experienced crowds they are mighty lucky! Test Track is the only ride I have ever had to wait 45 minutes for WITH a fastpass. At Disneyland when it is crowded at least it isn't humid. Different experiences for different folks I guess. I think you always love your home park. For the OP that is WDW, for me its Disneyland although I love WDW about as much. WDW is so huge it is a world not a land and I can see how people who have been there many times feel somewhat let down. I have to say from the many posts I have read regarding people not enjoying DL as much as WDW, once you start the comparing game you're sunk! The two parks are so different it is truly comparing apples to oranges and once you start, you get more caught up on what's better/what's not and not the experience itself. JMHO.

 

[sparkysfriends]

I can't agree more with the last poster to this thread. We LOVE WDW so much that we joined the DVC in June 2000 and go every year, but we also LOVE Disneyland for other reasons. And as far as hotels go, one of the most amazing hotels I've experienced anywhere is The Grand Californian. It it absolutely breathtaking! Oh well, everyone is entitled to their own opinion.

 

[nono]

Thanks for the replies -- didn't mean to hijack the thread either! I'm glad there's others out there who love both WDW and Disneyland! We do more trips to FL being on the East coast and DVCers, but heck, Disneyland was our first park, so there's special sentiment there. I really think the adding of Downtown Disney and DCA make it more of a destination now for us on a more frequent basis.

So, we'll consider the Disneyland Hotel (just not at the end of June 'cause a 1 hour check in after 6 hrs of travel with a baby would probably be too much!) along with the others for our next trip. Ironically, we've never stayed off property in WDW and never on in DL. Go figure!

 

[Blackunicorn]

Thanks for the replies -- didn't mean to hijack the thread either! I'm glad there's others out there who love both WDW and Disneyland! We do more trips to FL being on the East coast and DVCers, but heck, Disneyland was our first park, so there's special sentiment there. I really think the adding of Downtown Disney and DCA make it more of a destination now for us on a more frequent basis. So, we'll consider the Disneyland Hotel (just not at the end of June 'cause a 1 hour check in after 6 hrs of travel with a baby would probably be too much!) along with the others for our next trip. Ironically, we've never stayed off property in WDW and never on in DL. Go figure!

I was surprised to hear about a 1 hour check-in, also. I don't know if that's because of the hotel, the busy season, the time of day, or the phase of the moon. I've never had to wait that long at the PPH, but I do travel in the slow season and I usually check-in well before normal check-in time. Since you're a DVCer, I just wanted to point out the extremely low points cost for staying at the Disneyland Hotel right now.

 

[Amy&Dan]

We have stayed at the DLH a total of five times in the past two years, at various seasons and arriving at various times of day/night. I am happy to say the longest check in time we have ever had is maybe 10 minutes! I am usually pleased at how many cm's they have working at that very long front desk. Hopefully this is just an unusual incident. One nice thing is that they do have a tv with Disney cartoons near the front desk to keep kids happy while the parents check in.

 

[TravelingJen24]

My family goes to Disneyland quite often and always stay on site. I'm suprised that so one has brought up the fact that maybe the hotel and park are so crowded because of the 50th. Even when we have gone for the fourth of july, I have never had to wait that long to check in. We love WDW also, also DVC members, but as was previously said, they are completely different. I would suggest, if anyone plans on going for more then five days, venture out and see the cities that surround Dis, you'll be happy to come back to the hotel after a day at the beach, etc.

 

[sm4987]

It may be because it was the 50th that it was so crowded. It was just as bad standing in line for the keys to our room! I checked in about 9:00 that morning as we were trying to get to California Adventure. The hotel was nice, don't get me wrong, but there were so many difference. No 24 hour room service, which was hard after they kept changing the park hours. Limited food choices. The room was beautiful and big, I just mentioned that the tv stand was my favorite park. It was also hard having my 9 and 6 year old walk so far! Getting on the monorail took forever by the time you got there. Again our very first week there was enjoyable, but then by June 17th, that changed and the crowds were tight. You coiuldn't even move after the 1st fantasmic show. It was so crowded that in the middle of the day they changed the park hours to midnight. By the time we went to see the electical parade, it was hard getting into California adventure. Maybe it was the time of year, it was just different for this DW family. Liines for breakfast were an hour long ( I brought the dining package and had to use it) At the princess breakfast, us and several other families waited an hour and a half because many of the princesses didn't even make it to our side of the area. Lot's of complaints there.

To some of the other posters, we went to Six Flags, Legoland, The garmet district and Huntington Beach. It was all good except for sixflags. My children loved Legoland and especially their new ride. I loved the shopping and the beach was wonderful.

I'm sorry if anyone is upset by my experience, but it just wasn't our cup of tea. To each it's own though. There were many good parts (some of the rides, Goofy's Kitchen, Blue Bayou, etc), but overall the crowds made it very difficult. I've even been to DW both at Christmas and the 4th and don't remember crowds like that!!! Oh well, again, I'm glad to have gone, we just might not go back unless we have a free couple of days and then we won't spend as much money for the trip as we did this time around.

 

[Mary Anne]

I too have been at DW for Christmas, NYE and the 4th of July, you are right about the crowds. They were just too many people with no where to go. I wonder if the fact that in DW, they can judge the crowds better by how filled up the on-site hotels are and in Calif because there are so many more offsite ones, it's harder to judge what the crowds are going to be and that is why they needed to keep changing the hours?

 

[Blackunicorn]

I'm sorry if anyone is upset by my experience, but it just wasn't our cup of tea.

I didn't get the impression that anyone who replied was upset by your experience--I certainly felt that you stated your opinions in a very rational manner. We understand that not everyone is going to like DL better than WDW, and you also stated that you like some parts of the trip, as well. It's very helpful, for me at least, to look at this thread and say, hmmm....maybe crowds are a bit heavier this year, and now I definitely don't want to travel in the summer.

 

[bubbasmom99]

Someone I know just got back from a stay at the DLH and did not like it either... said the lines were long, they were given wrong information by the front desk, etc. It was surprising to me because we have always had a great time staying at the DLH. We are DVCers and planning to go on points this August and December. It's not the same as WDW, but it's still more Disney than the HoJo across the street!