estimated walking times

[Crazy4Disney72]

I'm still struggling with the on- vs. offsite hotel for our November DL trip. We are only going to be there from Friday afternoon through Tuesday evening. The GC is totally out of the question financially, though I have previously stayed there and I love the convenience. I have also stayed at the DLH and quite honestly didn't find it all that convenient, still a bit of a walk, especially if you want to enter DL through the main entrance and not Tomorrowland via the monorail.

Right now I have reservations at the Tropicana Inn, though I could always cancel. It's obviously much cheaper than a DLR hotel and factoring in the free breakfast makes it even more of a savings. I know it will lack the magic of a DLR hotel, and I'm okay with that, I'm just wondering if anyone has stayed there and either the PP or the DLH and can tell me if the walking distance is about the same or if those two onsite hotels are actually closer. It appears that the walk from the Tropicana would be quicker, but I'm not sure, and so many people on here site convenience as a big reason to stay at a DLR hotel that it really makes me wonder if the offsites that are pretty close to crosswalk on Harbor Blvd are really that much further of a walk than the DLH or PP.

Thanks!

 

[talie95]

We have yet to stay onsite but we have stayed on Harbor previously and we've booked at the Tropicana for our Oct. trip too! This will be our 1st time there so I can't really give you any insight into the hotel but I've heard good reviews. Anyway, the walk from Harbor (especially when you're right at the crosswalk) is very short and I've walked through DTD before, although not directly from one of the hotels, but the walk through DTD just by itself seems just as long if not longer than the walk from Harbor. JMO! Have fun!!

 

[bumbershoot]

It appears that the walk from the Tropicana would be quicker, but I'm not sure, and so many people on here site convenience as a big reason to stay at a DLR hotel that it really makes me wonder if the offsites that are pretty close to crosswalk on Harbor Blvd are really that much further of a walk than the DLH or PP.

Thanks!

Oh gosh, I've heard the opposite, that for the convenience in closeness/walking, ONLY the offsites fit the bill.

The ones right across the street, as far as I have read here (unless you're only going to enter the parks through GC), are closer. We were booked at the Carousel for that very reason. Then paradise pier showed up with 4th night free, and we needed a 4th night anyway, so I switched. There are different conveniences, such as charging to room and sending things over there, that I'm focusing on now, but I know when I'm carrying my 3 year old to PP after closing, and it's further away than the Carousel, I'll regret it for THAT reason alone.

And for what it's worth, as a kid I stayed at a Motel 6, and it was still magical... As an adult, paying the higher prices for the DLR hotels starts to take AWAY from the magic for me, so I think staying at a closer, less expensive, breakfast-included, hotel would be very magical.

Ask me again why I switched?

 

[pixiewings71]

We stayed at the Tropicana in July. It was about a 5 minute walk to the main gate. We also walked to DLH because we had breakfast at Goofy's Kitchen, in our experience the Tropicana was much closer...but the monorail is in DTD so we took that after our breakfast. IME the close Harbor hotels are much closer than the resorts, unless of course you're at they GC and you're going to CA.

The Tropicana was a nice hotel, the rooms were small but clean. The pool area was amazing. The thing I didn't like was the laundry room, it has 3 washers and 2 dryers, we did 2 loads of wash and it took us $2.00 to dry them!! The dryers suck, next time we will definitely go to a laundry mat and do it all at once. But, that was the only drawback we had in regards to the hotel.

 

[godalejunior]

I agree with Pixiewings, the walk is maybe five minutes at the most, that is with a 5 year old in tow. The hotel was clean and our room was small for three people. Pool area was nice. We stayed at DLH last Jan/Feb. and used the monorail everyday and after staying off site we decided the extra money to stay on site is worth it to us. The room we had at the DLH rocked and being in the center of everything was great for us. Plus having the themed pool and Goofy's kitchen right there really sold us on it.

 

[Amy&Dan]

I love staying onsite and try to do so whenever I can. That said, sometimes my budget and my wants in life have a difference of opinion! Of our four offsite stays, the Tropicana was my favorite. Super clean, spacious, recently redone room, very nice, spotless bathroom, frig and microwave in the room, nice pool area, nice staff and most of all GREAT location! The free breakfast was fine, we got our fill of sugary, high carb pastries and it helped our food budget. They also had apples and oranges they encouraged us to take to the parks for a snack which we did. And there were many offsite restaurants right there including Mimi's, Tony Roma's, IHOP, McDonald's and Denny's just steps from our door. So that again, can allow you to save money over staying onsite where those restaurants aren't so convenient.

Many of the motels on Harbor, Tropicana being one of them are closer to DL than any of the onsite hotels and almost as close to DCA as the GCH is. The thing that makes the location wonderful about the onsite hotels is that you are walking up DTD versus a busy city street. To me, the walks to and from PP and DLH are very pleasant and not far at all. And the monorail makes getting to and from the parks very easy from PP or the DLH. And the GCH entrance can be used by DLH and PP guests as well and can save some steps when coming or going to DCA. But distance wise, the Tropicana is closer plain and simple.

The conveniences of staying onsite as far as location refer more to the better situation of not staying away form the parks, where you would have to park and leaving for a midday break is complicated and involves driving through L.A. traffic. Staying at one of the nearby motels like the Tropicana accomplishes the same thing for much less. Other conveniences of staying onsite however are: Early Entry each day its offered regardless of what your ticket is, having the monorail take you very near your hotel, having charging privilidges in the park attached to your room bill, package delivery, being right near or at the character meals, never leaving the Disney magic, and having Disney customer service at your disposal 24 hours a day for your whole trip. Those are all things that don't matter to many which is why paying for them would be silly. Only you can decide if those factors are worth it to you.

I always enjoy my offsite stays and while they aren't the DLH, my budget doesn't whimper quite so loudly! The parks aren't any less fun and magical when I stay offsite.

 

[HydroGuy]

Here is some info that answers how far, but not how much time to walk:

"How Far Is It?" (shows actual distances in feet from hotels to DLR entrance plaza) www.mouseplanet.com/articles.php?art=mm060329as

"Walking Distance Accommodations" (shows hotels within walking distance) http://www.mouseplanet.com/dtp/maps/...g_distance_map

"Bret's Disneyland Lodging Map" (shows hotel locations around DLR) www.geocities.com/ashpsyche/DisneylandLinkMap

TIme depends on how fast you walk and whether you hit the crosswalk on Harbor at the green or red light. If you stay at the CCI or a few others there on that side of Harbor, then there is no crosswalk.