Help me narrow down my hotel search area for my trip to DL?

[Becca43]

Hi all, looking to plan a last minute getaway to Disneyland and hoping those of you who are more familiar with DL and the surrounding areas can help me with narrowing down my hotel choices!

Specifically, and this may sound like a dumb question but, would anyone be able to help me create parameters using the streets surrounding DL to define an area I could search for hotels in that is a reasonable distance from the parks (ex. south of street A, east of street B, etc.)? And by reasonable, I am looking to be within up to ~15 mins walking distance of the parks or 5-10 mins walking distance from one of the DL parking lots/structures to be able to then take the shuttle to the gates. Please note that I am specifically looking for helping defining a geographical area to search within, not recommendations for specific hotels.

I struggle with spatial awareness, including judging distances on maps, and it's especially challenging for me in places I'm not familiar with. When going somewhere new, I would usually just use Google maps to create walking directions as an estimate, but I am finding I'm getting really overwhelmed by the vast number of hotels in the area surrounding DL and am having trouble keeping track of which ones are where and how far they are from the parks. I'm also not sure if Google Maps is capturing the main entrance's location correctly or not if I just set the destination as 'Disneyland' and/or if there are also potentially pedestrian-only walkways or similar that it may or may not be capturing as well that could shorten the walk to the parks. So, if anyone has insight on either of those, that would also be helpful as well!

I realize this is sort of an odd request, but I really would appreciate it if anyone has insight to share. It will save me hours of being on my laptop, trying to conceptualize this all and figure it out by myself Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[disneychrista]

Personally I would stay on S. Harbor between Manchester & Disney Way.

 

[Hyphen677]

We've stayed near the corner of Harbor and Katella and that was about a 12-minute walk to security.

 

[Jawwdoc]

The easiest method is to select the Disneyland Esplanade (compass between the main gates of DL and DCA), then select a hotel on harbor blvd between ball road and katella (or orangewood if you don’t mind a longer walk), select the pedestrian icon and google will glshow a path with blue dots (sometimes an alternate path in gray will also be shown) as well as an estimated walking time. I think the easiest route to DLR from offsite hotels would between on Harbor Blvd between Howard Johnson and Katella Ave.

 

[DizMe]

First of all, when you say "last minute trip," are you talking about December? That is most likely going to limit your options, as it's a very busy time. But I would strongly agree with the advice above to stay on Harbor in one of the motels/hotels closest to the parks. The ideal area would be between Hojo and Katella. Otherwise there are some hotels beyond that that would be ok as long as you're not too far from either the Harbor crosswalk or the street that goes by Pixar Pier and GCH. I've stayed at the Marriott behind the Hilton and it was harder to try and get a shuttle from the Toy Story lot than to just walk, but it was a LONG walk.

Second, how many people in your party? Any younger kids? If so, you definitely don't want to extend your walk any farther than you have to. You're already going to be walking all over the parks and possibly DTD. It's really nice to go back to the hotel to rest or change clothes etc but not when the distance is too much, and it feels a lot longer in the evening!

Good luck in your search and I hope you have a wonderful trip!!

 

[Geemo]

Hi all, looking to plan a last minute getaway to Disneyland and hoping those of you who are more familiar with DL and the surrounding areas can help me with narrowing down my hotel choices!

Specifically, and this may sound like a dumb question but, would anyone be able to help me create parameters using the streets surrounding DL to define an area I could search for hotels in that is a reasonable distance from the parks (ex. south of street A, east of street B, etc.)? And by reasonable, I am looking to be within up to ~15 mins walking distance of the parks or 5-10 mins walking distance from one of the DL parking lots/structures to be able to then take the shuttle to the gates. Please note that I am specifically looking for helping defining a geographical area to search within, not recommendations for specific hotels.

I struggle with spatial awareness, including judging distances on maps, and it's especially challenging for me in places I'm not familiar with. When going somewhere new, I would usually just use Google maps to create walking directions as an estimate, but I am finding I'm getting really overwhelmed by the vast number of hotels in the area surrounding DL and am having trouble keeping track of which ones are where and how far they are from the parks. I'm also not sure if Google Maps is capturing the main entrance's location correctly or not if I just set the destination as 'Disneyland' and/or if there are also potentially pedestrian-only walkways or similar that it may or may not be capturing as well that could shorten the walk to the parks. So, if anyone has insight on either of those, that would also be helpful as well!

I realize this is sort of an odd request, but I really would appreciate it if anyone has insight to share. It will save me hours of being on my laptop, trying to conceptualize this all and figure it out by myself Thanks in advance for your help!

This OLD thread from 2011 “Walking Distance Hotel List w/discussion & details of hotel” will give you an idea of distance.

I wouldn’t rely on anything else due to the number of years that have gone by.

Wikimapia has functions to measure distance. Plus it has the hotel names too.

 

[Becca43]

Thanks so much! Y'all are awesome - I appreciate it a ton. This definitely gives me a good starting point

 

[crystal1313]

Thanks so much! Y'all are awesome - I appreciate it a ton. This definitely gives me a good starting point

I’m going to pm you!

 

[DizMe]

I forgot to mention that there is a hotel that is not really walking distance but has its own shuttle. It's called Majestic Garden, used to be a Sheraton and looks like a castle. The rooms are spacious and it has hotel amenities (small restaurant, lobby, etc). I stayed there once last year and it was fine for us. Kind of dated but kitschy cool.
https://majesticgardenhotel.com/

 

[xipotec]

Google maps has a feature for directions, place start and end points, and choose the icon for walking , driving whatever.

It tells you the foot path and how long it takes to walk it.

You can add points among the way to change the route also.

Use the satellite view for more exact shortcuts

 

[Becca43]

Thanks, everyone! Appreciate it Happy to report my search area was successfully narrowed with your help and a hotel has been found. Disneyland, here I come!