disneyland on points-need suggestions

[pickles]

I know wdw pretty good, but no clue about DL. Anyone give me some ideas of places they stayed on points that were similar to DVC 1bedrooms? we have 5 people(2 a and 3 k)
good pool and easy to get to DL, as we may not have a car. we just have 3 days to work with so want the best all around

Our fav at wdw is OKW and we liked the boardwalk and AKV gives you an idea what we may like..we tend to prefer the beach look over the woods dark stuff

 

[CraftyMouse]

I know wdw pretty good, but no clue about DL. Anyone give me some ideas of places they stayed on points that were similar to DVC 1bedrooms? we have 5 people(2 a and 3 k)
good pool and easy to get to DL, as we may not have a car. we just have 3 days to work with so want the best all around

Our fav at wdw is OKW and we liked the boardwalk and AKV gives you an idea what we may like..we tend to prefer the beach look over the woods dark stuff

There are no villas available for points at DL...yet. They are currently building DVC units at the Grand Californian but they are not yet ready. For now we are limited to standard hotel rooms in the 3 DL hotels (Paradise Pier, Grand Californian, Disneyland Hotel). There are a variety of options (standard view, preferred view, concierge, etc.) but no suites. Paradise Pier will cost the least points with the Grand Californian costing the most. The points charts are available on the member website.

The Grand Californian is similar to the Wilderness Lodge. Paradise Pier has a beachy theme but it is a standard, high-rise hotel. The Disneyland Hotel is also a high-rise but offers 3 towers and a Peter Pan/Neverland themed pool area. All are within walking distance to the 2 parks.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

I have heard that there are suites at the hotels - at least the GC although I don't think they have kitchens. I do not know what their configuration is and you do need to call MS in order to learn the point requirement as they are not published.
DL and DCA is easily walkable from all 3 hotels. GC is the closest of the three. You actually walk thru DL's Downtown Disney. You'll find that the layout is very different from WDW and is quite convenient.

 

[DebbieB]

I stayed at Paradise Pier and Grand Californian this year. The Paradise Pier room (park view) had 2 queens and a good size daybed, depending on the ages of your kids that may work. It does have a beach theme.

My standard GC room just had 2 queens. It is a more formal hotel.

 

[Snow Shoe]

This past June, my wife and I stayed at the GCR with a DTD view on points. Our room had 2 queen beds and was very nice. The view of DTD outside our balcony was good. I beleive the are some suites available at GCR, but nothing like the one or two bedroom DVC villas at WDW. The DLH or PPH are way at the other end of DTD, so you have to walk through them to get to the parks. The GCR is the closest to both parks. The GCR is the closest though to the parks with a private entrance to CA for the resort.

The one thing I will say is don't compair WDW and DLR, and it's going to be hard not to do so while your there. You will find rides that are better at DL then WDW and visa versa.

There's not much in the park TS dining, but I highly recommend eating at Blue Bayou in DL park.

I strongly recommend you read these articles on DL from HydroGuy on the Disneyland boards here, it helped us a lot in making our plans....
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1162599
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1520483

I also purchased the Unoffical Guide to Disneyland, which was a big help.

We flew into Orange County Airport (SNA) and took a special bus service to all Disneyland resorts from there. I highly recommend using SNA, it's closer and smaller to get around in then LAX.

 

[livinthedisneydream]

We just did a split stay at Gch (Grand Californian) theme park view room and DLH (Disneyland Hotel) 1 br suite so yes, you can get suites on points. It does take a little longer to book since they (MS) have to call Disneyland to check availability but it was worth it for us.

We stayed in July and it was 36 points for weekday in GCH theme park view room and our 1 br at DLH was 46 points weekday and 75 weekend. I do remember that a GCH 1 br suite was 108 points weekend and 67 points weekday during this time.

We loved both rooms and decided to do the GCH theme park view this time since the kids loved the bunk beds and trundle. Don't know if I'd love it if the kids were bigger though. Our last trip 2 years ago we did a GCH 1 br and it was wonderful with an amazing view of the monorail and grizzly peak. We booked it at a AAA discounted rate (which doesn't happen on the suites at WDW!) It was 10% off. You can also get senior rates which I believe are also 10% off if you or anyone in your party is over 60.

Our 1br at DLH was amazing! We were in the Wonder tower which is the furthest from the parks but has a nice lobby and the waterfalls right outside. We were on the top floor so we had 2 walkout balconies---you get fake balconies in the rest of the floors. We had amazing views of the entire recreation area of the hotel plus could see the DL fireworks and park as well! We loved the huge space and the additional sink outside the bathroom. Loved the Disney artwork too. Oh, and being on the top floor we had higher ceilings as well which added to the spaciousness.

I don't think you'd go wrong on either of these hotels. We love them both and will most likely do split stays every visit.

Oh, and we also took a peek at the new villa models and added on at AKL. They had the current incentives PLUS 2 annual passes to DL or WDW!

 

[CraftyMouse]

The DLH or PPH are way at the other end of DTD, so you have to walk through them to get to the parks. The GCR is the closest to both parks. The GCR is the closest though to the parks with a private entrance to CA for the resort.

I believe that anyone can use the GCR entrance into California Adventure. I know that DLR hotel guests can definitely use it as we were able to on our last stay at the Disneyland Hotel.

Also, there is a monorail station just a little way into Downtown Disney from the Disneyland Hotel end. It's very convenient to hop on the monorail to get to Disneyland. The monorail drops you off in Tomorrowland so it's a bit different than those in WDW. You'll need park admission to board the monorail at the DLH station. The monorail does not make any other stops so it isn't an option for getting to California Adventure. We've stayed at the DLH twice and will be doing so again in September. We've never found the walk to be that long and rather enjoy it. Everything is so much closer together at DL anyway!

 

[YellowMickeyPonchos]

We live in Los Angeles and use points to stay over at the DLR when we have special occasions - usually about 3 times a year. Otherwise, we just visit the parks there every 2 weeks or so and drive home at night.

You won't find these listed in the Member Guidebook, but you can get a 2 bedroom suite for a pretty low amount of points at the DLH. I think it totalled 51 points/ night when we did it Dec 2006. It is actually a lock-off at the end of the hall (ours was in the Wonder Tower). You go through a door and there are two additional doors, so you can lock the main door and keep the two internal ones open. That way, you get a King Suite for you with a living room and a room with 2 queens (and separate bath) for the kids. We did this with another family and it was fabulous! The King bed is huge - very tall and comfy - I had to use the ottoman to get in and out of it, being 9 months pregnant at the time!

It is such an easy walk to everything at DLR - don't even think of it in terms of WDW. Remember that this park has a lot of local attendance - very unlike Orlando, where the locals couldn't care less if WDW was there or not. During the week, you will see lots of mom's with little ones in both parks and the local families come out hard at DL on the weekends. DCA doesn't get near the weekend attendance as DL does, but it has lots of cool things to do.

One thing, though - there aren't as many table service restaurants inside the parks as at WDW parks. I disagree with Blue Bayou as a must do. They are now very expensive, service has been bad lately, and they are getting a bit too snooty. I would save that money and go to the Napa Rose or Steakhouse 55 or Catal. I would do Cafe Orleans for a table service instead. (Unless you have an extreme princess lover in the family - stay away from the food at Ariel's Grotto Princess Meal..... got food posioning there... also, never saw dried hotdogs in a kid's meal before....) Lilo and Stitch meal is wonderful, though - great character interaction and best breakfast food on property!

Don't forget that DVC members actually get food discounts inside the parks -and merchandise, too. Not like WDW, where our discounts are slim. We get the same perks as DL AP holders. You'll get a Member Perks book upon check-in.

Have fun and Welcome Home to DLR!
Nancy

 

[pickles]

has anyone stayed at the resorts outside the parks in the area (using points) ?
I forget what the collection is called, but you can use the akv incentive developer points on them.

i appreciate the responses about the actual Disney hotels, but was wondering about other decent options

 

[pickles]

we are the family of 5. we use the one bedrooms at DVC in WDW

what are our options near Disneyland or at DL?

 

[YellowMickeyPonchos]

We've done rooms at the DLH and GCH. Your sig doesn't say if you use the Pack&Play for a younger child, but if you do, than any DLR hotel would be fine.

There are also King Suites with a pull out that have tons of space for an extra roll-away. I would suggest the ones on the park end of the Wonder Tower at the DLH.

Nancy

 

[YellowMickeyPonchos]

has anyone stayed at the resorts outside the parks in the area (using points) ?
I forget what the collection is called, but you can use the akv incentive developer points on them.

i appreciate the responses about the actual Disney hotels, but was wondering about other decent options

There aren't any actual resorts close to DL that are on the Member Getaways program. There used to be a "Conceirge Collection" in Santa Monica, but that's over an hour away (if you are lucky with traffic) and I didn't see it in the 2008-2009 book. Keep in mind, when you booking a Member getaway through Interval International, it has to be 7 days, so in the end, you are better off getting into one of the DLR hotels.

Nancy

 

[Caskbill]

Moderator note: Two separate threads by the OP on the same topic have been merged together into this single thread.

 

[castleri]

We stayed on points at the DLH twice and both times got large rooms with two queen beds and a day bed that is a full sized single bed. They also had a dorm size frig and sink area. They overlooked the pool. The points were 22 or 23 per night at the time and I thought it was a really good deal compared to the room we had for two night at the GCH which was smaller than a studioo at SSR and only had the two queen sized beds. They did provide a sleeping bag and floor mat that just fit between one bed at the GCH and the frig only had room for a couple of sodas because it was stocked with overpriced items that you got charged for it you removed them. When we went for the 50th anniversary we stayed at a hotel just down the street the first two nights before checking into the DLH because I waited too long to get the night before actual anniversary at the DLH. We just walked from there at 6am and got in line to join the fun.