DLR Newbie: Hotel Pros and Cons

[PurpleKomodo]

Hey there DLR fans! I am a WDW veteran planning my first trip to DLR. I am looking at hotel/resort options and looking for opinions. On our last trip to WDW, we stayed in a villa that slept our entire group of 9. It allowed kids to be in there own room and had plenty of space for everyone. It also gave us the opportunity to stay at a higher end resort for the cost per person of a value resort which was nice. When we travel to DLR, there will be 5 adults (only 2 make up a couple and the rest are singles if that helps with bed situations). There will also be a 4 (almost 5) year old and an almost 1 year old.

Here are some options I am considering...

• A suite at Disneyland Hotel: I think this would be the most fun hotel to stay at. DS would love the monorail slide and I just think it would be iconic for our first trip. But, it is so expensive. Has anyone found splitting a suite here cost effective for a group?
• A suite at Paradise Pier: These suites seem more reasonable, but I am not able to get a good comparison for quality of this resort to the DLH. Does the pool have a slide? How does it compare to WDW Value, Moderate, Deluxe?
• A suite or separate rooms at a good neighbor hotel. I will admit, I have a hard time with this one because I am trained to think WDW. The idea of doing Disney not at a Disney resort seems crazy, but I know it is different at DLR. Tell me about this experience related to being immersed in the magic.

Thanks for your help. I am sure I will be back to ask more questions as we keep planning this exciting excursion to the other side of the country!

 

[goofy4tink]

The two times I've been to DL, so far, I've stayed at the Grand Californian. I own dvc, as does my friend. She actually owns dvc at the GC....so I either stay there with her, or swap points. I book a stay for her at BLT, she books a stay for me at GC.
So, having said that.....I'm booked at the Desert Inn and Suites for my stay in May. I'm traveling with dh, dd and her boyfriend. I needed at least three beds and some privacy. I couldn't do that, at a reasonable cost, at any of the DL resorts. Just too expensive for me.
So, I get adjoining rooms, with two full bathrooms for the four of us. A girls room, and a boys room!! For at least half what DL resorts would have cost me. It's a no frills type place. I need clean and close to the parks. This way, I'm right across the street!

 

[Nonsuch]

A 2 bedroom Villa at the Grand Californian will accommodate your group. You will need to rent points.

 

[sherilaine]

A suite or separate rooms at a good neighbor hotel. I will admit, I have a hard time with this one because I am trained to think WDW. The idea of doing Disney not at a Disney resort seems crazy, but I know it is different at DLR. Tell me about this experience related to being immersed in the magic.
Thanks for your help.

Just to help with this, as we are considering doing a WDW trip in the next year or so, I showed my DD on google maps how far away the onsite resorts at WDW are to the various parks and she was shocked - she is used to staying off site at DLR and being able to easily walk and go back for afternoon breaks - so to us, staying onsite at WDW is a downgrade to staying off site at DLR. Being onsite gives you the EMH every day into the parks and you are in the bubble but the bubble is not very large, for example staying at Paradise Pier just doesn't seem to be much different than staying off site but close by from any time we have spent there. So while you may still decide to stay onsite, your options are certainly not limited to three hotels! There are a lot of options offsite. We stay off site at the HOJO and it takes us no time to walk to the gates and we always feel like we are in the bubble even if we are off site since all the hotels on Harbor are very geared to DLR clients.

 

[Nevada Jen]

As a WDW vet, I think it is important to know that only on site hotel guests get EMH at DCA. You get EMH at one park or the other everyday. Since there are so few hotels, this is a really big perk. The park is empty. Off site guests who buy 3 day tickets can get EMH at Disneyland but so it is not quite as empty but still a huge improvement over the general admission time. It is WAY different than EMH at WDW.
I have stayed at all the on site hotels and when I am not traveling on the company dime, I prefer, concierge rooms at Paradise Pier over anything at the other two hotels. The hotel is just fine. I hold compare it to a Holiday Inn or a standard Hilton. Yes it has a water slide. It is definitely more of a hotel than a resort. DLH is more resort like with more in your face Disney theming.

 

[smartlabelprint]

The park isn't always empty for EMH on magic morning days in Disneyland.

If you can't afford Disneyland hotel I'd stay offsite. Paradise pier isn't really worth it IMO. The walk is longer. The theming looks the cheapest of the three hotels.

The desert inn & suites is my least favorite of the motels across harbor. But if the large suite is available it might be the right configuration. The "pool" & breakfast were terrible. The sooner you book this motel the cheaper it is.

My go to motel is best western park place inn.

I'd also look at the new Marriott theme park entrance. Or the brand new holiday inn - sorry don't know the address on this one.