If we don't stay on Disney property what would we be missing?

[Mililani Mouser]

my kids liked it because it was so close (they remember waiting for the ART in the cold and did not enjoy that) and they love love love the pools.

it also has that disney feeling that we didn't get at the marriott down the street.

 

[Eeyore76]

Well, this is my first trip to DL with my husband, and who knows when we'll get back?

So, we decided to stay at the DLH, because we figured, if it's going to be a "Disneyland vacation", then let's do it right.

Oh, and we're paying cash only, so no cc bill at the end, thankfully!

(You may want to check into buying an AP pass, in order to get a better rate at one of the hotels.)

My husband and I are just looking forward to the convenience of not having to drive during our entire vacation. So, I guess that was a plus as well.

(We're victims of urban sprawl, so that'd be a nice break. )

 

[Sherry E]

We use debit cards, and before I started the "buy a hefty gift card and use that to buy stuff" routine, we stayed at PPH. I much preferred just having the ONE hefty charge to account for in the checkbook, rather than the umpteen little charges.

And heck, it's just fun.

Oh, that makes sense. I use a debit card too, and I guess it is a pain to have to log every single little purchase - food or 'stuff' - in the check register when, as you can say, you can just have one hefty charge rather than 30 smaller ones. If ever a receipt gets misplaced, I spend hours trying to find it to log the amount into my checkbook! I can see where it would be a little easier to just charge it to the room.

 

[boscoj]

One benefit I haven't seen listed yet is that you can enter DCA about a half hour sooner than the general public from the GCH entrance. Where this really comes in handy now is that you will be one of the first to line up for Toy Story Mania.....

 

[DangerMouse]

One benefit I haven't seen listed yet is that you can enter DCA about a half hour sooner than the general public from the GCH entrance. Where this really comes in handy now is that you will be one of the first to line up for Toy Story Mania.....

Actually, DCA opens to all ticket holders (not just resort guests) 30 minutes prior to official park opening. The gates in the esplanade open at the same time the GCH private entrance does. Soarin is the only attraction open for that first 30 minutes. The only advantage a resort guest would have is using the DCA private entrance to possibly get closer to the front of the TSMM line.

 

[Leofoenget]

It might not work for us to stay on Disney property this time. I know we would miss out on MM/EE and the overall "experience" of being at a DL hotel. Also, the pools are better than the motel pools across the street. Anything else I am forgetting? Just trying to way my options....

Honestly, unlike WDW where it is more important to stay on property, at DL you don't miss much.

 

[Misskitty3]

Thanks everyone! I honestly had no idea that NOT staying on property isn't that big of a deal. We have stayed at the DL hotel, PP and GCH and GCH was our favorite but.......we DO have a budget and I think this year we will try a place across the street. Thanks again!

 

[Leofoenget]

Thanks everyone! I honestly had no idea that NOT staying on property isn't that big of a deal. We have stayed at the DL hotel, PP and GCH and GCH was our favorite but.......we DO have a budget and I think this year we will try a place across the street. Thanks again!

http://www.accommodationsneardisney.com/Disneyland/default.asp

 

[fairykin]

We are staying at GCH... why? Because I am traveling with three small children and three great grandparents. I want to be close enough to go back to the room when they get tired. Also, we wanted to stay in the park and this is the only hotel in the DCA park.

As for money. We have already paid for the flights and hotel rooms with park hoppers.

Now I am starting to save for dining and spending money.

Before we go on the trip I will prepay my Disney visa so that we get those rewards for our next trip.

Why not make your rewards card work like a debit AND get the rewards your debit doesn't provide.

 

[bumbershoot]

Thanks everyone! I honestly had no idea that NOT staying on property isn't that big of a deal. We have stayed at the DL hotel, PP and GCH and GCH was our favorite but.......we DO have a budget and I think this year we will try a place across the street. Thanks again!

As for closeness of hotels...

Yes, GCH is close. But unless there's an entrance I'm not seeing (and I've heard there's a secret, locked one in a store somewhere) you either need to be in DCA already, and hopefully near Grizzly, or you're still trekking through 1/3 of DTD, then through endless corridors, to get to the lobby of GCH, where I assume the elevators are.

With DLH, unless you're in Tomorrowland *every* time you are ready to leave, thereby making it simple to catch the monorail, you're still going to have to walk from wherever you are to the monorail. If that makes no sense, you're walking out from the park, through the esplanade, through 2/3 (or more) of DTD to get to DLH.

And with PPH you have to either walk ALL the way through DTD and behind the movie theater (which is a longer walk than to HoJo), or you cut through GCH (probably shorter than HoJo, but a longer walk than, say, Carousel IMO).

Honestly, unless I'm staying at GCH and am already in DCA, or I'm very very close to DL's entrance, the walk to a Harbor hotel is probably going to be closer, or at least even, to even GCH or DLH (unless as I mentioned you're right near the monorail).

So when you're talking about having a close-by room, quite a lot of it depends on where you are and where your room is.

 

[melancholywings]

We did the Carousel Inn and loved it. Our room was back a bit by the hot tub and we had a perfect view of the fireworks. They also had free breakfast (basics like cereal). And we were like a block from the park. We didn't care that there was no pool.

 

[avalon451]

As for closeness of hotels...

Yes, GCH is close. But unless there's an entrance I'm not seeing (and I've heard there's a secret, locked one in a store somewhere) you either need to be in DCA already, and hopefully near Grizzly, or you're still trekking through 1/3 of DTD, then through endless corridors, to get to the lobby of GCH, where I assume the elevators are.

With DLH, unless you're in Tomorrowland *every* time you are ready to leave, thereby making it simple to catch the monorail, you're still going to have to walk from wherever you are to the monorail. If that makes no sense, you're walking out from the park, through the esplanade, through 2/3 (or more) of DTD to get to DLH.

And with PPH you have to either walk ALL the way through DTD and behind the movie theater (which is a longer walk than to HoJo), or you cut through GCH (probably shorter than HoJo, but a longer walk than, say, Carousel IMO).

Honestly, unless I'm staying at GCH and am already in DCA, or I'm very very close to DL's entrance, the walk to a Harbor hotel is probably going to be closer, or at least even, to even GCH or DLH (unless as I mentioned you're right near the monorail).

So when you're talking about having a close-by room, quite a lot of it depends on where you are and where your room is.

To add to Molly's post, there's a great article on MouseAge about this, called "How Far Is It?" which has links to maps. It actually measures in FEET how far it is to some of the Harbor hotels as opposed to the onsite ones. Interestingly, many of the crosswalk hotels, and even HoJo and Candy Cane Inn, are actually CLOSER than DLH or PP, especially if you are in the farther towers of DLH. (oh, and it also details and maps that secret entrance into DTD from GCH!) Here's the link: http://www.mouseplanet.com/articles.php?art=mm060329as