Disneyland Hotel vs Paradise Pier?

sammysmom

DIS Veteran
Joined
Mar 14, 2005
We are coming to Disneyland for the 1st time in August and I was planning to stay at Paradise Pier Concierge Level. I started to look at the Disneyland Hotel and the cost difference is $500 for the time we are there. Is it worth the additional money since we won't be in the room all that much? Is it that much nicer? We probably won't be back to Disneyland anytime soon seeing that we are "world" people and I just want to make sure that I make this trip Awesome. Thanks:)
 
Have you seen a property map with the location of both properties? I personally don't care for Paradise Pier's location, but others may disagree. Now that they've closed Paradise Pier's back entrance to DCA, it is my least favorite of the 3 DLR hotels. But I'm sure you'll have a blast either way :)
 
I'm toying with the same decision for my trip in September. I've never stayed at the Disneyland hotel but I have stayed at the Paradise Pier in a Concierge level room and is was really nice! We had a great view of California Adventure and we could watch World of Color from our room. They even had a station on the TV that played the WOC audio.
 
I've stayed in both with rooms that fit 5 and didn't have a special view. DLH is the winner hands down. That said, it's a lot more money each night. PPH is not as Disney as DLH, but it still feels Disney. Just not as Disney as a WDW resort would. It is further from the parks a little, but it was kinda nice walking through GCH in the mornings and evenings. It was like we were staying there without $taying there. Plus it has a great character breakfast if you're into those things.
 


I have thought about doing a split stay and 1 or 2 nights at PPH or DLH so I am keeping an eye on this thread.
 
If you think that you'll take time to swim, especially in August, then I would choose DLH. The pool area is amazing!
 
We chose the PPH CL because of the freebies - food (DH is an eater!) and other things like that. I figure I can always go to the other hotels and take photos of the hat and the lobbies and such. Plus, our budget is stretched out to do the CL at PPH as it is. Extra $ for a level down wouldn't work for us.
 


In my opinion, yes, it is worth it, although (DISCLAIMER) I have only visited PPH a couple times to eat at the restaurant (but we have stayed at DLH and GCH). The pool at DLH is amazing. It has Trader Sam's which we enjoyed very much. I have read the elevators at PPH are painfully slow and, tbh, there is just something unappealing about PPH to me visually (it is ugly and dated). Although, if I had a WOC view from PPH, I would likely be happier about staying there...but I don't see my DH being willing to pay for that because, at that price, DLH would be on the table!
 
If moving to DLH means giving up the concierge level I would normally say no. However you may be an exception OP because I see you mention you won't be spending that much time in the room. Will you even be able to take advantage of the CL amenities? (Continental breakfast, appetizers before dinner, dessert) If you won't really be at the hotel to take advantage of these then I would opt for a room at DLH. It is more "Disney" feeling and the pool area is far superior.
 
We chose DLH because of the room decor, headboards and pool. I wanted GC so I could have a balcony but could not justify the extra cost. We plan to be in our room a lot though. I have to work in the afternoons.
 
Wh
Have you seen a property map with the location of both properties? I personally don't care for Paradise Pier's location, but others may disagree. Now that they've closed Paradise Pier's back entrance to DCA, it is my least favorite of the 3 DLR hotels. But I'm sure you'll have a blast either way :)
What do you mean? Closed the PP entrance? We were there a month ago and did the usual, cross the street, go through GCH lobby and entered CA. Was there another way?
 
We stayed at DLH at the beginning of this month. It was our first trip and was amazing. Our next trip we'll stay at PPH. My mom stayed there and said she watched WOC and fireworks from their room every night.
 
Wh

What do you mean? Closed the PP entrance? We were there a month ago and did the usual, cross the street, go through GCH lobby and entered CA. Was there another way?

In the olden days, Paradise Pier had its own back door entrance to DCA, entering somewhere around Toy Story. Supposedly it was closed because it wasn't used much? Anyway, that was a big perk to Paradise that is not part of the equation anymore.
 
Cmy thought out of the three, since your from the world. PPH is like POR, with conceirrge. You get a nice room, but nothing special, although let me rephrase that a bit since we are comparing dlh, you get a very large room but nothing all that special in amenities. Plus the conceirrge is very basic and scaled back IMHO, and opens and closes early. DLH, well you get the original, the most Disney feel, large rooms with lots of space, I think about the same size as PPH. I would compare it to say the wilderness lodge, not in architectural but in if you compare WDW hotels., conceirrge is a step up from PPH. The views are a lot better. The rooms seem a lot darker and mistreious to me, the ones at PPH are bright and airy feel. The pool is much nicer. I have had much better service at dlh than at PPH. The walk to me seems closer, although people say no, and I do know it depends on where your room is. When ever we have stayed at pph, something has been broken down and to our advantage usually, once it was the pool so we got to use dlr pool, once it was laundry not so cool to have to walk it to dlr, but I got free coffee while doing it, once it was the parking lot so we got free valet parking. Then you have the grand, that in WDW terms is like gf. But unlike WDW were the more you pay the bigger the room, at dlr the more you pay the smaller the room. Personally, the views are not so great, we can not due to ptsd stay DTD view so I can not say how that is, but we have stayed, court yard and theme park and pool view. Court yard was not all that thrilling, might as well have been standard. Theme park, we saw nothing but six foot trees, blocking any and all views of the theme park, and pool view, we saw a sliver of a pool but that was it from the angle we had. So if you stay there don't, pay for a view. Concierge is the best here. But you pay the most.

Now that all said, my favorite is the grand, I love the lobby and we have almost always got it for just pennies over dlh. I think last year the price was $100 for 6 nights total difference. I like it for the theme park right there. Second would be PPH, I like the large open airy feeling. Yet, if my kids were going I would not go to PPH, other than airy rooms the amenities suck. My least favorite is dlh, but really that is only because of the difference in rooms, if your stuck way out in one building you go forever. I hear although never happened to us, that you can get a building that is not concierge and then it is a pain in the butt to get to. If you do go this way, get the building near the hat, it is our favorite and houses conceirrge.

Hope that helps. And it is only imho, others may totally disagree.
 
In the olden days, Paradise Pier had its own back door entrance to DCA, entering somewhere around Toy Story. Supposedly it was closed because it wasn't used much? Anyway, that was a big perk to Paradise that is not part of the equation anymore.
You use to enter around goofy's sky school ride, it was a private enterence just for PPH. I think part of the new expansion on grand is where it use to be and it is no longer there.to bad, it could have been shared by the grand now, and both PPH and grand could use the enterance in am, because the one and only at the grand is a very long line in the am.
 
We have stayed at both hotels and we would choose the DL Hotel over the PPH with concierge. The reasons why are: the concierge hours do not work for us (need to be open a wee bit earlier and stay open a lot later for us to choose it), I really dislike having to see all the cars getting to Disneyland. I know it is a very short walk from the PPH to the GCH, but, and this is a big but, you have to wait at the light to cross the street to get to the GCH, all the while, there are cars, the hustle and bustle of life you are going to avoid. Even though the walk to and from the DLH is farther, I feel it goes by faster and is pleasant walking through DTD. So much to look at, yummy aromas tempting your nose, and the sounds are very interesting. Sometimes we rode the Monorail back into the park.

Depending on where you are going to dine, how old your children are, and what you have planned, you may want to stay at the DLH. The monorail drops you off right by Rainforest Cafe and there are so many good restaurants in DTD from which to choose. Jamba Juice was one of my daughter's favorite place to stop and get a beverage any time, night or day. The pool was used just one time because we were too busy in the parks. We all loved the hotel room with the famous headboard.

I would suggest you make a list of what is important for your family, and then, see which hotel fits the bill better. Calculate the $$ you would spend for meals/snacks vs concierge and see if you are really getting a deal. I know that NOW it would be a better deal for us (we have soon to be 13 year old triplets that are always hungry), but how much food would your children eat, and would those funds be better spent elsewhere.

What ever you choose, you will have a great time. You are going to the happiest place in the world! Enjoy your planning and your trip! Don't forget to get photo pass plus.
 
We have stayed at all three resort hotels. I love something about all of them. This trip is our first in awhile for our family and DH and the kids all voted for DLH. We have stayed there once since the renovations but never got the chance to experience the new slides and pools. My kids loved the pool at PPH and California Streamin', but they're ready for a change. Our entire family loves Trader Sam's, so I'm excited to be within steps of it. As others have mentioned they think DLH is the farthest away, but when you get to go through Downtown Disney the whole way, it doesn't seem that long. DLH gives me the Disney Bubble feel and PPH just doesn't quite do that.
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!











Top