Hojo or Paradise Pier?

[cndkanga]

We are booked at the Hojo in June but with the spring discounts at the Disney Resorts I can get the Paradise Pier for only $100 more. What do you think? The $100 is fine but is the Paradise Pier better than Hojo?

 

[duckboyone]

Is it $100 more per night? Is that a cost you'd be able to do in that case? If so, if I were in your shoes I would most definitely do Paradise Pier. I've never stayed in a Disney hotel but always wanted to, so that kind of colors my thoughts on it.

 

[ParkHopper1]

PP for me if it will not hamper your trip from further budget restrictions...some will argue save the $$ and Hojo is just as far but even though PP is a bit of a hike there is no comparison starting you day in the Disney Bubble and entering through DTD vs on Harbor and dealing with regular security backups on that side IMO.

PP isn't really anting special of a hotel over Hojo but feature wise but I would much prefer to start and end my day on that side of the parks.

There is nothing seedy or shady about Harbor Blvd and stay over there all the time when all we need is a bed and shower but you realize real quick you are out of the resort bubble.

 

[chezcurrie]

I agree with the bubble theory, nothing quite like it, and I really enjoy the walk through downtown disney at the end of the night - there is still music playing, etc.

Another benefit would be if the PP pool is still under construction you would have access to the DLHotel pools!

 

[cndkanga]

I booked the PP. The cast member I talked to said that the pool would be finished by May 7th and we don't mind either way. No restaurants but that's okay with us as we never seem to eat at the restaurants we stay at.

 

[chezcurrie]

At the very least you will have the disney property “smell” via the H20 toiletries! LOL

 

[Whistlebee]

When staying at PP, it is really easy to utilize the restaurants at GCH. I consider that a perk of PP

 

[GatorChris]

I did PP in 2013, our first trip to DL after 10 years at WDW. I considered staying onsite a must. The next 3 years we did HoJo with parkview room for about 60% of the cost. The walking distance was about the same, and the mini-water park was perfect for my kids back then.

However, HoJo has jacked their prices WAY too high for what they have. Even free parking disappeared! Not sure the price point is worth it anymore.

On the flip side, I personally think PP has zero Disney Bubble. It's a Hyatt with Disney's name slapped on it. No theming. No real Disney touches. The walk is long. The only thing you get is easy access to the Disney resort restaurants where you can overpay for average food. I don't do either hotel anymore.

 

[katyringo]

I did PP in 2013, our first trip to DL after 10 years at WDW. I considered staying onsite a must. The next 3 years we did HoJo with parkview room for about 60% of the cost. The walking distance was about the same, and the mini-water park was perfect for my kids back then.

However, HoJo has jacked their prices WAY too high for what they have. Even free parking disappeared! Not sure the price point is worth it anymore.

On the flip side, I personally think PP has zero Disney Bubble. It's a Hyatt with Disney's name slapped on it. No theming. No real Disney touches. The walk is long. The only thing you get is easy access to the Disney resort restaurants where you can overpay for average food. I don't do either hotel anymore.

agree with hojo prices. We stayed there twice but we've been priced out of it..

 

[Pluto468]

I'd probably go with Paradise Pier for the Disney bubble. Also, that's really great that you could use DLH pools!

 

[Version 6]

I did PP in 2013, our first trip to DL after 10 years at WDW. I considered staying onsite a must. The next 3 years we did HoJo with parkview room for about 60% of the cost. The walking distance was about the same, and the mini-water park was perfect for my kids back then.

However, HoJo has jacked their prices WAY too high for what they have. Even free parking disappeared! Not sure the price point is worth it anymore.

On the flip side, I personally think PP has zero Disney Bubble. It's a Hyatt with Disney's name slapped on it. No theming. No real Disney touches. The walk is long. The only thing you get is easy access to the Disney resort restaurants where you can overpay for average food. I don't do either hotel anymore.

Paradise Pier Hotel does have the character breakfast at PCH Grill.

So while I don't necessarily love the hotel due to distance to the gates, I don't think it's fair to say it has no Disney touches.

 

[pharmama]

Paradise Pier Hotel does have the character breakfast at PCH Grill.

Not currently. Actually there is currently no dining, character or otherwise, open in the PPH and no reopening of any food options there has been announced so far.

 

[808blessing]

i love paradise. they have the best gift shop and water slide!

 

[Critter3]

We are booked at the Hojo in June but with the spring discounts at the Disney Resorts I can get the Paradise Pier for only $100 more. What do you think? The $100 is fine but is the Paradise Pier better than Hojo?

I booked the HoJo on Feb 4th for a 1Q, 1BB Building 1 room for 6 nights (May 19-25) for $1100, cancellable. Mind you I started looking at the beginning of the year and kept my eye on prices and rebooked if it was lower. Although, it was often in that $1200-1300 range. Also note this is a AAA rate. I just checked PP and for a standard room it would be just over $2000. I'm not sure when you booked but I am surprised these is such a small difference in price.

I've never been to Disney so based on my research of all the places I looked at, for what you get (location, kids play pool, and from what I understand an recently remodel) the HoJo seems to be the best place for the price. Not sure what the prices were previously but I am happy with my booking (I'll see after my stay ). A did notice though that they are charging for parking now. When we originally planned our trip in 2020 there was no parking fees.

 

[cndkanga]

I booked the HoJo on Feb 4th for a 1Q, 1BB Building 1 room for 6 nights (May 19-25) for $1100, cancellable. Mind you I started looking at the beginning of the year and kept my eye on prices and rebooked if it was lower. Although, it was often in that $1200-1300 range. Also note this is a AAA rate. I just checked PP and for a standard room it would be just over $2000. I'm not sure when you booked but I am surprised these is such a small difference in price.

I've never been to Disney so based on my research of all the places I looked at, for what you get (location, kids play pool, and from what I understand an recently remodel) the HoJo seems to be the best place for the price. Not sure what the prices were previously but I am happy with my booking (I'll see after my stay ). A did notice though that they are charging for parking now. When we originally planned our trip in 2020 there was no parking fees.

I should have said $100/night, our reservation for 6 nights at Hojo is $1770. I have a hold on a room at PP but I am leaning towards staying with the Hojo as I like the pool area better I think but I'm not sure about the pool reservations and if that is going to be an issue for us. We usually leave the parks at about noon and have lunch at the pool and play there until about 5 when we get ready for dinner and head back to the parks for about 6ish. The pool is a big part of our vacation as we live in a climate that doesn't offer the outdoor pool experience. Whether the extra money is worth it for the flexible pool time I'm not sure yet. We don't really need the waterpark as our kids are older (10 and 13) and would much rather swim so I wonder if the 2 hour limit per day is going to be a bit frustrating. We've stayed at Hojo before and really enjoyed the experience so other than the pool reservations I would be quite happy to stay there!

 

[Critter3]

I should have said $100/night, our reservation for 6 nights at Hojo is $1770. I have a hold on a room at PP but I am leaning towards staying with the Hojo as I like the pool area better I think but I'm not sure about the pool reservations and if that is going to be an issue for us. We usually leave the parks at about noon and have lunch at the pool and play there until about 5 when we get ready for dinner and head back to the parks for about 6ish. The pool is a big part of our vacation as we live in a climate that doesn't offer the outdoor pool experience. Whether the extra money is worth it for the flexible pool time I'm not sure yet. We don't really need the waterpark as our kids are older (10 and 13) and would much rather swim so I wonder if the 2 hour limit per day is going to be a bit frustrating. We've stayed at Hojo before and really enjoyed the experience so other than the pool reservations I would be quite happy to stay there!

Right I guess it all depends on how many nights you are staying because $200 for 2 nights might not be much, but $600 for 6 adds up . Looks like I got lucky at the price I found. FYI, I find that Wyndam hotels vary in price often when you are looking ahead of time, however BW seems to always have the same price unless a deal pops up.

Right the pool reservation thing may be a headache. I haven't looked into it in detail yet to know how much ahead of time you need to book your time before it becomes "sold out". My situation is a bit different because the 2 hour time limit should be enough for us (I plan about a 4 hour break during the days), but I'm worried we will book a time for like 1pm, but then miss it because we are enjoying ourselves at the park and then can't get a reservation for when we end up getting back to the hotel. I'm in Alberta Canada so I hear you about the outdoor pool experience! With that said, I am hoping with things slowly opening up that the reservation system will drop.

 

[StarSeven7]

We just got back from our stay at the HoJo and I was not crazy about the pool reservation system before we went. We only planned on one day at the pool so I booked the afternoon a few weeks before our trip but once we got there, our kids saw the waterpark and wanted to do that as well and I had no problem adding the 8pm-10pm time slot. The next day I ended up booking the waterpark again but the confirmation never seemed to go through. I talked to a pool attendant the next day to have them look up my reservation and they said I wasn't in the system and it was all booked up but they ended up adding us in anyways. We also saw many time slots where the pool was not full and they would let you in. We came in early for our reservation and got 20 minutes in the time slot before ours but they made us leave for the 30 minute cleaning (which they warned us about beforehand) and we were the only people there the full 2 hours during our time slot so they would have definitely let other people in. That was one of my big concerns but it ended up really not being a problem at all. And we loved everything about our stay there!

 

[cndkanga]

We just got back from our stay at the HoJo and I was not crazy about the pool reservation system before we went. We only planned on one day at the pool so I booked the afternoon a few weeks before our trip but once we got there, our kids saw the waterpark and wanted to do that as well and I had no problem adding the 8pm-10pm time slot. The next day I ended up booking the waterpark again but the confirmation never seemed to go through. I talked to a pool attendant the next day to have them look up my reservation and they said I wasn't in the system and it was all booked up but they ended up adding us in anyways. We also saw many time slots where the pool was not full and they would let you in. We came in early for our reservation and got 20 minutes in the time slot before ours but they made us leave for the 30 minute cleaning (which they warned us about beforehand) and we were the only people there the full 2 hours during our time slot so they would have definitely let other people in. That was one of my big concerns but it ended up really not being a problem at all. And we loved everything about our stay there!

So if it isn't busy we could potentially be able to pick up more than one time slot in a day? I guess our other alternative is to do the 2 hours at the waterpark first and then have the pool reservation right after?

 

[StarSeven7]

So if it isn't busy we could potentially be able to pick up more than one time slot in a day? I guess our other alternative is to do the 2 hours at the waterpark first and then have the pool reservation right after?

I would think so! They let us in when we already had a 2 hour slot booked at the pool and one at the waterpark. The waterpark is where the hot tubs are so even if your kids are older you might enjoy that.