How often do you stay on-site at DLR?

[Sherwin]

So how often does everyone stay onsite? Is it worth shelling out extra cash for DLH, PP, or GC? Or are you a budget person?

My family has always been fiscally stingy when it comes to coming to DLR. We've always stayed off-site in some of the decent places (Fairfield, Clarion; never tried HoJo, though). I do want to try an onsite stay pretty soon though.

Anyone wanna give the pros and cons of staying on-site?

 

[PinkBudgie]

Never. Ok, when I was four my family stayed there and I got a paper Mickey Mouse mask.

I have never stayed onsite with my own family. For years I've been saying we should sometime but it is so expensive.

Then we thought for our anniversary, that was a special occasion worth staying there for. Until I looked and found that we could go for a week if we stayed somewhere nice offsite compared to a few days at the CGH. So we decided a week was better than a few nights there.

 

[rszdtrvl]

We went to DL last year.

Our original plan was to stay 4 nights at DL/DCA, at Paradies Pier.

I did some tinkering with our plans, and for $100 LESS, we stayed at Camelot, ADDED Universal Studios w/admission & Gray Line transportation, PLUS Knotts Berry Farm w/admission & Gray Line Transportation, AND added an extra night.

We went from : 4 nights, all DL/DCA & Paradise Pier 4-day park hoppers

to :

5 Nights at Camelot, 5 day park hoppers, Universal Studios w/ transfers, Knotts Berry Farm w/ transfers.

And saved $100.

Absolutely crazy!!

This next trip in March may be our last for a couple years, as our dog may need $6,000.00 surgery. If that turns out to be the case, we will definitely stay in a DL hotel for the next family vacation.

 

[DizMe]

Almost always. Worth it to me. Some of the pros: Magic Morning every day it's offered, atmosphere, never leaving the resort, seeing characters in the hotel, good dining choices on the property, interesting and beautiful grounds, nice Disney touches (sculptured bushes, pixie dust wallpaper, etc), great gift shops, DTD and monorail.

Cons: more expensive (but I almost always get a rate deal, though it's still more than you'd pay at Hojo's, say).

There is no making this call for someone else. I used to have to go the budget route but I don't have to now, and I much prefer staying onsite. I will be at Hojo's in 2 weeks though because I've squeezed in a birthday trip, it will be stay #5 for the year, and it's just my grown dd and me. I'm just happy to get to go and couldn't say no to the $59 rate this time around. I'll be back 2 weeks later staying DLH concierge.

ETA: Oh yes, and you can utilize vacation services and also send your purchases back to the hotel from the park. Quite honestly, I've never done either.

 

[JennCa]

Never at DL, but about 50% of the time at WDW. My reasoning....

Dl is more compact and so much closer to many decent hotels that are much cheaper! You can WALK to DL and DCA from so many places. I don't like eating on site at DL like at WDW. Even with Downtown Disney and the restaurants at the parks and in the DL hotels, I find it expensive and food quality poor comapred to price. When we go to WDW I find the price still high, but the choices much more diverse as well as they aren't really close to much else!

I figure if we are frugal we can go on more vacations and I never spend money on something I don't feel I can justify.

I like to go somewhere on vacation and either walk or use shuttles to get around I find it more relaxing.

Jenn

 

[LucyDingo]

Never at DL. Always at WDW.

The reasons we stay on-site at WDW are - moderate resort is only around $149 a night, we never leave Disney property, we don't rent a car, we use "magical express" at the airport, we LOVE Port Orleans Riverside, we spend a fair amount of time at our resort.

At DL - they don't really have any on-site "moderate" resorts, we leave Disney property a lot (to visit family and such,) we always rent a car, the only hotel that looks like something I would really love is GCH and it's just way more money than I'm willing to spend, we are only in our hotel to sleep.

For us, there aren't really any pros for staying on-site at DL. So we stay offsite.

 

[Disneyanajc]

Always...and our hotel of choice is the Disneyland Hotel...Have been staying at this hotel since 1970...seen a lot of changes to the hotel in 38 years!
DizMe I love your pro's

Almost always. Worth it to me. Some of the pros: Magic Morning every day it's offered, atmosphere, never leaving the resort, seeing characters in the hotel, good dining choices on the property, interesting and beautiful grounds, nice Disney touches (sculptured bushes, pixie dust wallpaper, etc), great gift shops, DTD and monorail.

So always on site to both DL and WDW love their hotels..jc

 

[Sherry E]

I always stay onsite - for all the reason's DizMe stated above. I won't repeat all of it, because she pretty much summed it up really well! The last two trips, I have stayed at PPH, then GCH before that a couple of times, and I used to stay at DLH ALL the time in the '80s and '90s, before there was a PPH or GCH to stay in!! I like being immersed in the Disney feeling from beginning to end, and everywhere in between in my DLR trips. I also like the adorable bath products with the Mickey ears on the bottles at the DLH and PPH! (GCH has H20 bath products.) Technically, I should be staying at the cheapest place I can find, based on my current money situation. If I went to DLR more often - like, let's say 4 or 5 times a year instead of one or two - I would probably stay at HoJo's once or twice, or one of the other off-site hotels. But if I am going to be at DLR one or two times in a year, or once every other year, I want to go full, all-out Disney in every aspect! I do try to capitalize on whatever discounts are available at the time, whether it be special PIN codes or AP rates! That definitely helps a lot during the holidays!

Oh, and I have used the service of sending my purchases back to the hotel on many occasions and it is SO handy. And it is free. There is no charge for it. Because I am a klutz and tend to drop things (or break them), I feel much better knowing that my purchases are safe and I don't have to worry about dragging them around the park with me and damaging them. Also, I don't want to have to get an expensive locker if I only have one bag of purchases. It is just nice to not have to lug something else around or make a special trip back to the hotel just to drop off souvenirs, etc. You simply make your purchase in any DL or DCA shop, fill out a form letting them know which hotel you are in and what room number, and voila! Your packages are available at 7:00 a.m. the next morning at your hotel's Bell Services desk! So convenient!

 

[WannaBeAPrincess]

I would stay on-site every trip if I could, but since we go two or three times a year, it's not financially feasible. Like a pp stated, when staying at park hotels you are immersed in the magic at all times. You don't have to step out into "real life".

There are lots of great off-site hotels though that will help you retain some of that magic.

I plan on staying at the GCH in August for my birthday. It will be a special trip for me and my hubby, and for just a couple of nights. Special occassions are always a great time to stay on-site.

 

[disney-super-mom]

We'll only stay at the DLR hotels if there's a good discount. But, luckily for us, we often go when good discounts are offered.

We've done split stays as well (when our budget wouldn't allow us to stay onsite the entire time), staying a few days offsite then moving for a few days of onsite fun.

However, we've done trips where we stayed offsite the entire time, and those trip were still a lot of fun, and we'd do it again without hesitation.

I guess it's whatever we can afford, and if we feel the expense is worth it. If it's only an extra $50 per night to stay onsite, we'll stay onsite. Anything much more than $50 extra per night, and we'll stay offsite. Of course if we hit the lottery, well.......

 

[blackjackdelta]

Never, there are 6 of us and that = mega$$ to do just about anything on vacation, besides that we get better amenities off site.

Jack

 

[Tasmen]

I have never stayed at DL hotel in the many, many times I've gone to DL. This upcoming trip, however, I think we are going to go ahead and give it a try. I've always wanted to stay at a Disney hotel when going to DL. We got one of the PIN postcards and are going to take advantage of it this time around (if rooms are available for the dates we want, that is). My reasoning is:

1) Closeness to parks -- I know some people stay at the Hojo and it's just as close if not closer than some of the disney hotels. However, we don't usually stay at the Hojo so the Disney hotels are actually closer for us. I figure it'll be convenient to have them nearby as we'll be taking our then 17 month old.

2) Total Disney immersion -- We loved this during our WDW stay in 2006 and we want to relive it again any way we can.

3) Early morning hours -- I figure this will be nice with the LO if she keeps her current schedule (up at 7am and down at 8pm).

4) Mommy is selfish -- I just want to do it

Some of the cons for us:

1) Cost -- I think it's going to be about $30-50 more a night for us.

2) No free breakfast -- normally we get a free breakfast where we stay

 

[Disney Dreams]

NO clue if this will help you because it really addresses the enjoyment factor, not the vacation factor, but...

We live less than 1 hour from Disneyland. A few years ago DH and I got to talking about the newer hotels at DLR and how we know nothing about that since we live locally and don't need them. We both thought the GCH would be the type of place we would enjoy staying at, however, if we were to come here on vacation.

Shortly after that discussion, DH decided to do something others might find silly. He told me to prepare for a fun, casual day and to pack an overnight bag. (He never does stuff like that, so I was beyond curious!)

Well, we went to DL (with our APs) for the afternoon, had dinner at the Blue Bayou and at the end of the night checked in to the GCH for the night. After I got over the, "Why are we paying for a hotel so cluse to home?" issue, we REALLY enjoyed the hotel. The atmosphere was comfortable, the hotel was really pretty and relaxing. The service was wonderful. For us, it was "worth it" even just for a 1 night local getaway when home was truly just a short drive away.

- Dreams

 

[JenDisneylandlver]

If we can afford it we will. But we will stay offsite if it means we can go more often.

We prefer onsite, it's more magical to us, and more comfortable. We don't have much luck with the offsite motels either. The only one we've liked is the Tropicana, and I don't consider us picky.

 

[DisneyMomma81]

We stayed on site for the 1st time last month. We were at PP our last night, our 1st two nights were spent @ HoJo and I much preferred HoJo. The walk was easier ~ it was less expensive (HoJo ~$59 per nite PP ~ $150+ per nite & I got the AP rate) we spend our time in the parks when we're @ DLR not at the hotel. The only great thing about our stay @ PP was our MM, we have AP's so we don't get MM's unless we stay on-site. I have HoJo booked for 3 nights this March (@ $59 each nite) ~ I might consider staying at the DLH our last night but it'd really only be for the MM so I don't know if it's worth it.

 

[abouley]

I had never stayed on-site until this past year when we purchased season passes and then I thought it would be fun to try for $40-$50 more per night than off-site. It was nice to be immersed in the magic and we really liked the pool. I also thought it was convenient to walk through DT disney on our way to and from the parks. We ended up staying on-site a few times that year but when we went back and added up how much we spent, we decided that it really made our quick, inexpensive trips not so inexpensive!

I think I'd rather save the money and stay extra days or make an extra trip that year with the money saved. I think if you go just once in a while it'd be worth the splurge but if you are like us and go 2-4 times/year, then saving the money is nice. I think I'd at least try it once though!

Alison

 

[kerickson]

We've done both. I prefer onsite (GCH) due to the proximity, gorgeous architecture and other perks mentioned above. We plan on becoming Founding Members when the Villas at Grand Californian DVC property goes on sale later this month. The up front investment will allow us to stay onsite in a Villa for the next 50 years no matter how high the rack rates get. We figure we'll break even on our initial investment after about 4 years, then our vacations in a Deluxe resort for the next 46 years will be at about an 80% discount (just the cost of annual dues). And we'll save tons of $$ on food as we'll be able to cook in our room. We are planning on buying enough for a week a year, then the other times we visit we'll stay offsite.

 

[PrincessSitka]

We stay on site each time we go. We did stay at the PP and the DLH. I have not stayed at the CG. (I live in Alaska and I had a log home really wanted a change). My family Love's to stay on site. We stay about 7 days each time we go.

I have not stayed off site so I can not compare.

 

[ThisLittleLightShine]

We stay on site each time we go. We did stay at the PP and the DLH. I have not stayed at the CG. (I live in Alaska and I had a log home really wanted a change). My family Love's to stay on site. We stay about 7 days each time we go.

I have not stayed off site so I can not compare.

I am thinking of booking PP, how do you transport into Disneyland?Monorail or by foot...tram?

Thanks,

 

[tracer]

I try to watch every dollar we spend and keep an eye out for deals. We always try to go on an off-peak time so we can take advantage of such. In the past we have always stayed off site so we could save money. Last year was the first time my family stayed on site. Growing up we stayed on site all the time but that was my parents money! Anyhow, the only reason we even stayed on site was because of the great discount that we got plus the extra GC that was being offered. The price we ended up paying was just about the price we would have paid staying at the BWPPI (our closest GN choice). That being said, we don't ever want to stay off site again!! The magic truly was everywhere and we never left it. DLH will always be our first choice. But like I said, we will only go if there is a great deal being offered because I just can't stand to spend rack rates on anything!