Getting Around Disneyland Resort

[Bowen9475]

We are headed to Disneyland at the end of July. Haven't been in over 10 years. We are staying at Paradise Pier for 3 nights and then Disneyland Hotel for 3 nights. We will be spending 2 days in each park. How long does it take to get from either hotel to either park? I know the monorail is at/near DLH. Where does it take you to? What if we want to go to Downtown Disney? How long of a trip from either hotel? We are WDW vets so Disneyland is a little overwhelming for us. Thanks for any help

 

[jammyjam25]

Both Paradise Pier and Disneyland Hotel are about a 10-15 minute walk from the parks (PP being slightly farther away). For both hotels you walk through Downtown Disney to get to the esplanade between the parks. Everything is VERY close together and walkable. If you look the Disneyland Hotel up on Google Maps and check out street view you'll see just how close everything is.

The monorail goes from Downtown Disney directly into Disneyland, where you get off at Tomorrowland. It might be a nice way to save a few steps at the end of the day when you've got tired feet but it won't get you directly to your hotels, just closer!

 

[ADLFAN]

DL will probably be super easy to navigate once you see it's layout once. I liked looking at it on Google Maps just to locate the off site options for restaurants and hotels. Downtown Disney is what you walk through in between the DLH and DL/DCA. A little ways in from the DLH, you can catch the Monorail to Tomorrowland if it is running. When we stayed at the DLH we noticed it was not operating all the time. A little further past the monorail station towards DL is where the tram from the parking garage lets people off. Then a massive World of Disney store and a brand new Starbucks, and you're at bag check!

The walk took about 10 minutes, with piped in or live music and window shopping along the way to make it pretty pleasant.

Check out the area on Google earth, you will get a great feel for the layout and I'm sure the compactness of it will reassure you!

Happy planning!

 

[Eclectic Goddess]

If you're coming from PP, you can also shave a few minutes off your walk by going through the Grand Californian rather than walking all the way through DTD. If you're headed into DCA, you can skip the esplanade altogether and go in the direct entrance from Grand Californian, as well. (You're better off using the main gates first thing in the morning, though.)

 

[ktlm]

Fellow WDW vet here. DL is very easy to navigate. It is so much easier than WDW to get from Point A to Point B. Everything is just a short walk away. I see you say you are spending 2 days in each park. You might want to consider hoppers. As WDW vets, DL/CA is just like one big park to us. The only thing between them is a plaza. Bag check is on the outskirts of the plaza, so you do not even have to go through back check to go between the parks. You can literally get from the back of one park to the back of the other in 10 minutes- we have done it. The distance between the parks is shorter than the distance you are used to getting off the bus and walking to the gate of a park at WDW. We typically hop back and forth all day at the parks. It is also great when one park opens earlier or stays open later than the other. On a day DL opened an hour earlier than CA, we have gone to DL for that hour and them hopped over to CA to pick up Soarin and TSM before the lines got long. DL often is open a couple of hours after CA closes, so we have made that hop and gotten those extra hours in. We also hop if one park gets a little crowded in the afternoon, but the wait times app shows that the other park has shorter lines. Everything at DL is very convenient. To get to DTD from the parks, you just walk outside of bag check and you are practically there. The walk to and from DLH to the parks, is a nice 10 minute walk through DTD. The monorail is more of a ride than a transportation system at DL. It might not save you any time at all if there is a line. If we know we want to go to Tomorrowland first, and the line is not too long for it, we take it. If we are in Tommorrowland and want to go back to the DLH and the line is not too long we take it. One time, I just wanted to ride the monorail so I made DH walk to it from another area of the park to take it back to the DLH. The line was long and DH got very irritated with me, because we could have walked back to the DLH at least twice by the time we walked over there and waited for the monorail!

 

[peterpanandwendy]

PP's all have great info, but one thing i wanted to mention is that unlike Disney World, the monorail at Disneyland is actually considered more of a ride than transportation. It does not actually take you to the Disneyland hotel, it takes you to Down Town Disney, and it often has quite a long line. You would get to the gates of Disneyland faster if you walked

As others mentioned, the hotels are around a 7-10 min walk through the lovely down town Disney to the gates.

I also second PP about getting park hoppers. Again, unlike Disney World the gates of Disneyland and DCA are literally steps apart from each other. Check out the vid:

We almost always treat the two parks as one large park, often hopping over to DCA from Disneyland for beers in the afternoon. I cannot spend 2 solid days in DCA, I still don't find there is that much there, it is more of a day and a half park, with a few hops for adult beverages now and again

 

[GoBears 1980]

Have you looked at a map?

https://goo.gl/maps/D6HxM

Everything is in one location. Disneyland, Disney's California Adventure, Downtown Disney and the Grand Californian Hotel would all fit inside the Magic Kingdom's parking lot

 

[coaches24]

Took us with a strollered 3 yo 8-9 minutes to walk from the PP entrance to the security tents at the parks by walking through the GCH. It was slightly longer going from DLH when I walked there to check it out.

Generally I don't think the monorail is a good way to get into the parks at opening. If your coming back later in the day after a break than I can see it being a good idea. It takes you to tomorrow land near the submarines.

I agree with the PP that park hoppers are the way to go.

 

[calilou]

While staying at PPH plan to cut through the Grand Californian - you simply cross the street from the PPH lobby and enter the GCH lobby. From there you can follow the signs into Disney California Adventure or cut through to Downtown Disney which lets you out at Anna & Elsa's Boutique and puts you close to the security (bag check) area and then the grand esplanade where the main entrances to both parks are. This is the best way to get to Disneyland from the PPH.

When staying at the DLH the best way to get into DCA is by walking all the way through Downtown Disney though sometimes we cut through GCH because we enjoy the scenery and depending on where in DCA we want to get to. We usually take the monorail when going to DL from the DLH. We rarely experience lines that are too long. Note that the monorail is closed during the fireworks (about 8:30-10:15). It lets you off in Tomorrowland which is in close proximity to Fantasyland. Or you can hop on Mickey's Train in Tomorrowland which stops at Main Street, New Orleans Square and then Fantasyland (next to It's A Small World and Toon Town) to conserve your feet. This takes longer but is fun and relaxing.