Benefits on staying onsite??

[Katiepotatie]

We are planning our first trip, and looking into all the options. We are booked to stay at Hojo at the moment, with an excellent industry rate in the kids suite.

But - I keep hearing about how great it is to stay onsite, so can someone tell me why exactly? What is so great about the DL hotels? Also, where can I see pictures or room diagrams of the DL hotels - as that is one thing that put me off, as well as the price, I couldn't find diagrams of the rooms which is something I really want to know about. Do the DL hotels have suites? Where can I get room info? We really want a room where the kids (3) can sleep in a different room to us. Also, do the DL hotels offer industry rates does anyone know?

Thanks for any info!

 

[christine*]

I think it's more beneficial to stay on site if you're at Disneyworld- Disneyland not as much. One of the perks of staying on site is getting Magic Morning admisions but you can get admission to one Magic Morning if you buy a 3-day park hopper ticket. The Grand Californian has it's own entrance to California Adventures which is very convient. DL hotels have suites but they're very expensive. A lot of people on the the Disboards seem to love Hojos more so than Disney hotels. Have fun on your trip no matter where you end up staying =)

 

[jenpace]

The number 1 perk of staring onsite for my family is the 24 hr Disney experience. There's nothing like walking out onto Harbor Blvd to break the spell. Most of the time it's relatively okay but when it's bad it's really BAD

 

[jandersonlj]

I think there is nothing like staying inside. We definitely utilize the extra magic hours, especially the early entry days. It seems to just add to the whole Disney experience to see the Cast Members walking around and to ride the Disney buses to the parks. I guess everybody to their own opinion, but we wouldn't stay anywhere else! I do know that some of the resorts have suites and Fort Wilderness has cabins. I have never stayed in these and don't know much about them.

 

[Katiepotatie]

Thanks, what's Fort Wilderness?

 

[christine*]

Thanks, what's Fort Wilderness?

Fort Wilderness is a resort at Disneyworld.

 

[sonnyjane]

I think there is nothing like staying inside. We definitely utilize the extra magic hours, especially the early entry days. It seems to just add to the whole Disney experience to see the Cast Members walking around and to ride the Disney buses to the parks. I guess everybody to their own opinion, but we wouldn't stay anywhere else! I do know that some of the resorts have suites and Fort Wilderness has cabins. I have never stayed in these and don't know much about them.

Thanks, what's Fort Wilderness?

I think jandersonlj is accidentally posting about Walt Disney World, not Disneyland. If you stay on-site at Disneyland there are no buses, and obviously Fort Wilderness is in Florida

The biggest tangible perk, as others mentioned, is that you get to entry Magic Morning every day it is offered (usually Tues, Thurs, Sat, Sun). The intangible perk, also as others mentioned, is that you feel more immersed in the "magic".

 

[jdb in AZ]

When we stayed at the Grand Californian in January they were doing an experiment where half an hour before Disney's California Adventure opened, we could go to the private entrance and get fastpasses to World of Color. Does anybuddy know if they decided to do that all the time? Anyway, not having to go into the park to get a fastpass was really convenient.

I love relaxing in front of the huge fireplace (in the winter, obviously.) They often have a concert pianist playing Disney tunes on the grand piano in the lobby, and it's so peaceful.

DH and I both rent ECV's (electric scooters) so we stay onsite and ride the scooters through Downtown Disney to the main gate.

 

[Katiepotatie]

Can anyone wander into the GC lobby? We wont be staying there but it sounds lovely

 

[jdb in AZ]

Can anyone wander into the GC lobby? We wont be staying there but it sounds lovely

Yes. People go to the restaurants all the time.

 

[mama2dutchies]

honestly if you got a great rate I'd stick with HoJo's.. the suites are really $$$ at the resort hotels.

Normally we're like you we like a suite where kids goto bed in one room and us in the other just for a break, but this time we're staying onsite in the PPH.

 

[Sherry E]

We are planning our first trip, and looking into all the options. We are booked to stay at Hojo at the moment, with an excellent industry rate in the kids suite.

But - I keep hearing about how great it is to stay onsite, so can someone tell me why exactly? What is so great about the DL hotels? Also, where can I see pictures or room diagrams of the DL hotels - as that is one thing that put me off, as well as the price, I couldn't find diagrams of the rooms which is something I really want to know about. Do the DL hotels have suites? Where can I get room info? We really want a room where the kids (3) can sleep in a different room to us. Also, do the DL hotels offer industry rates does anyone know?

Thanks for any info!

I think it boils down to what kind of experience you want to have on your trip. Many folks just look at the 2 parks as the focus of their trips and the hotels are not part of the experience. They see the hotels as simply a place to sleep and shower.

Others of us enjoy staying onsite because we feel it enhances our trips 100%. We like to be immersed in the Disney feeling the whole time, we like to look for hidden Mickeys in the carpets and wallpaper, we like the Disney touches in the rooms, etc. We don't have to feel like we are leaving Disney property when we exit the parks.

And having access to Magic Mornings for every morning it's available during our stay does not hurt at all! Plus, you can have your purchases sent back to your hotel for free, so you don't have to lug them around in the park.

Sometimes, if you get lucky and arrive early enough, the CM at the front desk may upgrade you to a better room for free or give you little things like pins and 8x10 photos and balloons, etc. You get a room key/charge card - called a Key to the Magic - with your name on it.

It's just fun. It completes the whole Disney experience for me, and for some other folks on this board.

But there are lots and lots of folks who stay off-property, so that is definitely not uncommon at all.

 

[Presley]

As nice as it is to stay on-site, it is still a far walk to the entrance plaza. Grand California does have direct access to CA adventure park, but is that worth paying the $400 + per night?

The rooms at all the hotels are truly nothing special. The atmosphere of being in the Disney area is fun, but really if you plan to be at the parks all the time, you won't benefit from staying on-site.

 

[granismith]

I went back & forth struggling with decisions on this too. We ended up staying at HoJo and while Hojo was a great hotel and all, after being in DL for the first time in 12 years I realized why so many people want to stay on site. And we never left and came back because we were already doing so much walking that we really didn't want to take the time to leave & come back and walk all that way. I never reallized just how close GC is. The other 2 are a bit farther though, not as close.

It's about staying there and and just living in magic the whole time. We would walk right from the park into the lobby of the GC and I kept thinking man I wish I had understood why it is so great to stay this close. It is hard to explain but I finally got it! If I could afford it or save a little longer next time I would do it for sure. But if not then HoJo is fine.

 

[LisainCalifornia]

As nice as it is to stay on-site, it is still a far walk to the entrance plaza. Grand California does have direct access to CA adventure park, but is that worth paying the $400 + per night?

The rooms at all the hotels are truly nothing special. The atmosphere of being in the Disney area is fun, but really if you plan to be at the parks all the time, you won't benefit from staying on-site.

I have a very different opinion. I think the rooms and overall experience is much better when we stay on property. The newly renovated rooms at the Disneyland Hotel are very special, and the overall experience of staying at the Grand Californian is something special in itself. I have friends on the East Coast who typically go to Disney World, but have stayed at the Grand Californian and say that it is amazing and nothing like DW has.

Also, if you plan your vacation carefully--you can stay on property for much less than the 400 you quoted. We are taking advantage of the 30% off (we got in before it dropped to 25%) room rates at the hotels--and are staying at the Grand for 289.00 per night in June. In April we stayed at the Disneyland Hotel for around 200 per night.

I realize that not everyone finds it important to stay in one of the resort hotels, but we really feel like it gives the trip more of a "vacation" feeling.

 

[rbbs]

Absolutely nothing wrong with Hojos!! That is all!!

 

[Katiepotatie]

Absolutely nothing wrong with Hojos!! That is all!!

lol! I hope you are right! I think we will stick with Hojos, although onsite sounds nice, I think for the kind of room we would want it would just be soooo much more expensive, we are already flying all the way from New Zealand so its already costing a LOT!

 

[grumpy's fan]

The podcast listed a few perks for staying onsite. Here is the transcript on the blog...



http://www.disunplugged.com/2011/04/16/bonus-adventures-for-a-disneyland-resort-hotel-stay/

 

[taaren]

As Lisa said, it depends on the kind of trip you want. We take a few trips a year, spend one on-site on points, and then we relax, spend time by the pool, wander in and out of the parks, watch WOC from our VGC balcony, etc, etc. That's our main trip to spend a whole week enjoying each other's company with friends. Then on other trips we only stop in for 2-3 days and we usually stay off-site for the savings since we go into the parks, stay all day, and only sleep in the hotel don't really relax there. So my rule of thumb is: park-intensive quickies, save your money, if you want a relaxing resort vacation experience including parks, on-site is the way to go.
That being said, we're doing a quickie and I managed to find a way to stay at DLH for an obscenely low price (just a tad higher than I was paying offsite) next weekend, so we're going to try it and I'm planning on using the early-entry for WOC FP's that were being offered when I was at VGC last fall, and hopefully is still there. I had been under the impression that it was a permanent feature of staying onsite from the way the concierge described it to me. But if the DLH option for this trip had been full price, or even a mild discount, we would have stayed at the Fairfield Inn since I can't justify paying double for the experience.

 

[ronandannette]

Most of the time it's relatively okay but when it's bad it's really BAD

Would you please explain this a little? We're across the street at the Camelot Inn next week and I'd like to know what I'm in for.

Annette