Disneyland Hotel or Paradise Pier Hotel?

[disneymom1]

I am trying to decide between DH and PPH. PPH is about $50 per night less. It appears the PPH is also much closer to DCA.

How long does it take to walk from PPH to DH? I know the pool is nicer at DH and there are more restaurants to choose from. If the walk is just a minute or two, I'll probably stay at PPH to save the money.

Any info on the proximity of the two hotels to each other and to the parks, as well as opinions on the rooms and other amenities at each hotel would be appreciated!!

 

[two-foxes]

We stayed at PP for our trip in August and loved it. It is about a 3-4 minute walk to the DLH, tops. (I have never stayed at the DLH, so you are getting a one sided story here, just so you know!)

The PP guests only entrance to DCA is so quick and easy...that is a great bonus. And, although we didn't figure it out until our last day , you can cut through GC to get to DD faster, hence you get to DL faster, too! I would say it is about an 8-10 minute walk at a "regular-not-rushing-pace" to DD on the path from PP, and probably a 6-8 minute walk through GC to DD.

PP offers what every decent hotel should, a few good restaurants, great service, a good gift shop and GOOD COFFEE! Did I mention the great coffee bar in the lobby? NO NESCAFE! A true Disney dream come true!

If I were you, I would save the $50 per night and buy some great merchandise or enjoy a wonderful meal. I don't think you'll find $50 of "extras" that you need at DLH vs. PP. Just my one sided opinion, though!

 

[Thumpersmom]

The walk from PPH to DH is just a few minutes.

We stayed at the DH in August (Bonita Tower-closest to PPH) and found if we cut through the DCA entrance it cut off time to going thru DTD. By doing this we passed right by the PPH so yes they are about the same distance away from the parks too.

You can also walk thru the GC to go to Disneyland if DCA is not open yet.

Enjoy your trip!

 

[CalGal]

If you have kids, especially if they are planning on swimming, then DH is probably worth the extra money. The pool really appeals to kids, Goofy's kitchen is a lot of fun, and the Disney magic is everywhere. It is a much larger resort, so the distance to walk to the resorts and other places can vary depending upon which tower you are in. (Sierra, I believe, is your best bet).

On the other hand, PPH is a bit quieter which may appeal to you. The Japanese restaurant there is great! I think it's a great choice if you are traveling without kids.

 

[jiminy579]

We have stayed at both hotels, and while both are nice.......the Disneyland Hotel is AWESOME!! I was blown away by our room, and it was an ordinary room. From the Tinkerbell wall border to the Disney etchings carved in the furniture....there is Disney magic all over! If you can swing it, I would definitely stay there, even if it is just this once. However, if money is an issue this trip, stay at at PP. You won't be disappointed with either hotel. As far as the walk goes, there is so much excitement and wonderful things to look at, we never really notice it. Either way....have a GREAT time!!

 

[disneymom1]

Thanks to everyone for the info. I still haven't made up my mind where to stay but based on the info you all have provided, I'm leaning toward PPH. We are going in November so I don't expect to get too much use out of the pools and since the walk seems to be fairly short to DH, we can walk over to the pool there once or twice and also use the restaurants there. Again, thanks for the info!!

 

[hookedup]

I think the PPH is a great hotel and if you can save some money I would book it over the DLH. It is quite close to DCA and you can get a really cool theme park view room there. We stayed there for a week in April this past year and loved it. Over the 6 nights we were there we saved a small fortune compared to the DL Hotel.

One thing that I would check on is that I heard that the PPH is undergoing some extensive rennovation starting about now, and the pool and other areas were going to be completely redone and closed for a while. That was told to me by a CM during our stay in April so things may have changed since then.

 

[CaliforniaTink]

We just got back from DL & DCA. We stayed at the PPH. It was WONDERFUL.

In the past, we have stayed at the DLH and Marriott Residence Inn. We stayed at the DLH when the kids were little and needed naps. The conveinence of the Monorail to the hotel was wonderful...not a lot of other hotels had the great shuttle services that they do now.

Then when the kids got older and didn't need the naps so much, we started staying at the Marriott Residence Inn. They serve up a FUL breakfast buffett bar and then in the afternoons had an "appetizer" which was really a FULL dinner! Every night has a different theme..Italian night, Taco Bar night, etc. But only served Mon-Thur nights.

But this last time we stayed at the PPH because we have annual passes and got an incredible rate for a room there!

It was GORGEOUS and our room was up on the 13th floor. SUPER view of DCA. Fun decorations throughout the whole hotel. Kids LOVED the video/TV room as well as the game room. We had fulluse of the other hotels pools, etc, too.

Service was wonderful as well. First night there two nice ladies brought up to us a LARGE plate of Mickey Rick Krispie Treats...the EARS had been diped in CHOCOLATE and around the plate was Disney Character chocolate coins! So FUN!

Five minute walk to DwnTwn Disney and private entrance to DCA.......It was wonderful!

Hope that helps anyone out!

 

[westjones]

So if we stay at the PPH, we can still go over and swim at the DLH pool? Is that correct?

DJ

 

[CaliforniaTink]

Yes, You CAN use any of the facilities at DLH...I think you can even use the pool at Grand Californian, too....but we enjoyed the pool at DLH so much that we never went over there. We could see it from our hotel room (the GCH pool) and it didn't look as fun! LOL

It was a very very very short walk from the hotel....and they had PLENTY of nice big beach towels there too. So you don't need to bring any towels. A bar was right there too so you could order any drinks etc you wanted and you could charge back to your room if you so chose to!

Awesome! Hope you have as much fun as we did!

Post back when you return!

 

[disneymom1]

Thanks for the info California Tink!! We just finalized our plans to stay at PPH and it sounds like we made the right decision. We got a super rate as well!!

 

[CaliforniaTink]

You will NOT be disappointed with your choice..I promise!

When I called to get our reservations settled, they asked me if there was any special occasion for our visit. I said that we were *sort of* celebrating our son's 8th birthday. But he wouldn't be turing 8 until the second week of October. We were just celebrating early because we couldn't get down there during that time.

When we checked in, we were greeted with a balloon bouqet, an 8 x10 BW glossy picture of all the original characters...SIGNED(!). Then in the evenings we received plates of cookies ..the first night was a HUGE plate of Rice Krispie Mickey Treats..the ears were dipped in.......CHOCOLATE! YUM! And each night our beds were turned down and on our pillows were chocolate Disney coins! How fun is that??? LOL

Enjoy and report back when you get home!

 

[westjones]

disneymom1,
Did you get a 'package deal' or how did you get the rate for PPH that you liked?

We won't be going until April, right now the deals looke like they are out for Fall only. Anyone know when they might have special for the April time frame?

Thanks SO much for letting us know about being able to go to the pool at the DLH when staying at PPH. That really helps me make my decision. I doubt if we get to swim much while we are there, but I would like them to be able to swim at least once in "Peter Pan's Pool".

Thanks!
DJ

 

[Julia M]

Just to let you know, PPH or DLH guests may not use the pool at the GC.

We have stayed at all three hotels, and I have great fondness for the PPH. The rooms are good sized, you get a regular small fridge (not an "honor bar") and I have found the CM's to be lovely.

My kids love the private entrance to DCA.

You'll like it there

Julia

 

[cndncruiz]

We stayed at PPH in August. It was fine and I would stay there again except I just want to check out the DH on our next visit.

BUT I would stay at the DH again in a minute.

The staff was great, our room was great.

The PPH room we had was a theme park view. That was great because in the middle of the week, we chose to stay in the room and watch the Electric Parade out of our room. They pipe the music in through the tv. It was great to be able to not miss anything and be in our room for a break.

90 % of the time we used the GC entrance to DTD and it does save you a few minutes. The four of us split up and two used the GC exit and we walked the regular way through DTD to our room and the two that cut through the GC did make it about 5 minutes faster.

The DH is very close to PPH. You can use the pools there as a guest at PPH, your room key works in the pool card lock.

Our room had a little mickey theming but had Mickey mouse soaps and all that sort of stuff. We had morning wake up calls from Mickey Mouse and we could see California Adventure from our room so I don't feel as though we missed out on the theme.

The best part of the hotel we thought was...
you can go to the pool deck and watch the fireworks and the hotel pipes the music in. So from the PPH we could watch the fireworks AND see the electric parade. Definitely nothing to complain about there.



We also used the sandcastle room where the kids and my DH could watch a short cartoon while I handled business at the front counter etc. There is an ATM in the PPH and a games room.

We sat in the lounge, used the gift shop and ate at the PCH Grill. We really enjoyed the PCH Grill one night when the kids got to make their own pizza at the table. We also attended Minnie's breakfast the mornign we left. I wasn't thrilled with the food for the breakfast but the kids had so much time with Minnie and Pluto because it wasn't very busy in there.

I really enjoyed the PPH.

 

[disneymom1]

westjones,

I did book the fall package. I compared the price to the package I could put together on Expedia and Disney came in a bit lower. With the 4th night free and the 2 free days of park tickets, it was the equivalent of paying $102 per night for the PPH (including tax and parking it comes to about $125) and an average $22 per person per day for the parks. The whole package for 4 came to just $932 through the website.

By the way, to get an equivalent hotel and park tickets at Disney World in Orlando you would pay at least twice as much!! That's one reason why we decided to make the trip from the east coast to California.