An hour is rather an exaggeration. It's probably about 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 miles from Homewood to the gates of
Disneyland by foot. For me that's about a 25 minute walk. This will obviously vary based on a person's walking speed. Still, with all the walking that I would be doing the rest of the day, I wouldn't choose to walk to and from Homewood also. From a practical standpoint, I completely agree that it is not considered a walking-distance hotel.
I do agree that taking the ART can be a bother. I didn't enjoy the experience the one trip 10 years ago that we used it. My parents have made a couple of trips in the last 5 years though and had no issues with using the ART. They didn't have young children or strollers with them though, weren't fussy about arriving to the park before the gates opened, and tended to come and go at non-peak-crowd times of the day in general. Here's the ART route:
http://rideart.org/routes-and-schedules/harbor-blvd-line/
Best Western Park Place Inn is the closest motel or hotel to Disneyland.