Having stayed at both, I'd recommend the Candy Cane Inn hands down.
Both are similar in distance to
Disneyland; the CCI is a little closer. From the CCI, you walk down Harbor Blvd, turn left at where the buses drop off and pick up, and you're at bag check and the Esplanade (about a 10 minutes walk). Which brings up another perk of the CCI -- they have a free shuttle bus that runs every half hour to and from Disneyland, which is really nice at the end of a long day of walking around the parks. There is no shuttle at the Anabella. From the Anabella, you cross Katella Avenue, walk down a tree-lined walkway along Disneyland Drive (which is really pretty when lit up at night), up the Grand Californian driveway and in through the lobby, out into Downtown Disney, through bag check and into the Esplanade (about a 10-15 minutes walk).
Both are motel-style, generally two-story buildings (I recall the Anabella has one taller building), no elevators, with rooms facing open hallways and the parking lot. Both motels' grounds are very nicely landscaped. CCI's grounds are more compact, and their building follows a U-shape. The Anabella's rooms are in several buildings scattered across a much larger property. Both have small pools, but the Anabella's is perhaps a bit nicer.
We've stayed in the CCI's standard queen rooms, and they were all very nice, clean and felt like they were either recently remodeled or very well maintained. The Anabella has a very wide range of room types/floor plans; some felt very dated and dirty like the Casita Suite (we've found a woman's underwear behind a nightstand, rusty fixtures and peeling wallpaper), and others were quite nice like the Concierge King and Mission Suites. Even in the Anabella's nicer rooms, we noticed wear on a lot of the fixtures. One upside to the Anabella's room types is that many have a small separate room or nook with a day bed that's great for kids. Both have refrigerators and offer free wifi if that matters.
The CCI includes a free continental breakfast from 6:30 to 9:30 AM that has fruits (oranges, apple, bananas), croissants, toast, bagels, danishes, donuts, muffins, cereal, hard boiled eggs, Greek yogurt, cheese cubes, plus coffee, juice (apple and orange), milk and hot chocolate. There are paper plates, cups, and disposable utensils so you can eat in the breakfast room or poolside, or take food back to your room or on the go to the parks. By contrast, the Anabella has an onsite restaurant, the Tangerine, and a to-go window, which serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. However, meals are not included, and a bit pricey, unless you have a voucher included as part of a package, LivingSocial/Groupon/
Amazon Local deal, or concierge room. Beware if you decide to eat at the Tangerine, as we've never had better than mediocre service and absolutely terrible service on our last visit which caused us to swear off ever staying at the Anabella again. Related to this, the customer service at the Anabella often feels indifferent. The people at the CCI are very nice and hospitable by comparison.
You're paying good money for your vacation, and you don't want to stay at a place where the rooms are hit or miss, and the staff couldn't seem to care enough to make sure your stay right across the street from Disneyland is magical. Avoid the Anabella.
