Is it worth it?

[tinkmt]

We are coming to Disneyland the first week of December. We currently have a room reserves at Carousel Inn. But we are thinking about staying at the Disneyland Hotel. We will only be there for 4 nights. We have been to Disneyland before but have stayed at Stovall's Inn. Is it worth it to stay on site abd spend the extra money? I know its all relevant but would like to hear other's experiences.

 

[Malcon10t]

If you are going to spend time at the hotel and enjoy its amenities, yes. If the park os the main draw, no. We frequently stay onsite (and we stay off site.) For us, it depends on how much we will use the hotel.

 

[SandyDid]

We are coming to Disneyland the first week of December. We currently have a room reserves at Carousel Inn. But we are thinking about staying at the Disneyland Hotel. We will only be there for 4 nights. We have been to Disneyland before but have stayed at Stovall's Inn. Is it worth it to stay on site abd spend the extra money? I know its all relevant but would like to hear other's experiences.

I think it is worth it. Some of the best times that we have are staying on the grounds at Disneyland and WDW.

 

[abbie13_15]

We loved staying at the carousel inn. It was very close and just what we needed. Beds to sleep in and a bathroom to shower. We spent all of our time at the parks.

 

[lovebug33]

I don't think it's worth it. For double or even more , I will stay off site and use the money to eat at a good restaurant!

 

[McNs]

If you can afford it and don't have to compromise other parts of the trip, yes it is. The hotel is lovely, a real step above the motels etc. Also, you get to go in the parks an hour before regular opening with EMH (alternates between DL and DCA). Though this can mean early starts, especially if park opening is 8am, it worth every minute of sleep lost when you can do TSMM 5 times in a row without a line!

 

[StyledSugar]

I think it's worth it. You get the extra hour and we've always had great service at the PPH when we've stayed there. We've never stayed at the Disneyland Hotel but always wanted to.

 

[Pucka1378]

I love staying onsite but, I don't like paying the price... so I wait until I can get a deal and stay for under or right around $200. I can justify that price but, not much higher.

 

[NewbieMouse]

It's a very personal decision, but we go every December and I can never seem to justify the extra cost even though I always consider it and check prices. A big part of it is that we wouldn't really get a lot of use from the pool at that time of year, so we don't bother. The time we stayed in the DLH it was June, so it made more sense for us.

The one thing that I think is the real perk is the early entry to the parks, and that would be the major draw for us. I also think it depends on how much more it is - but only you can decide if it's worth it to you.

 

[GeneralTso]

For us, staying onsite is the best.
We've done both and much prefer the benefits of staying onsite.

Yes, it's pricey but you get what you pay for. If you like the atmosphere and magic of the hotel, it matters.

 

[YukonMommy]

Personally I would rather use the extra money to stay longer, eat better and buy all the extras.

Have a magical time!

 

[PocahontasLookALike]

For me personally I like to stay at the grand Californian when I visit with my family. But I've got a 1 and 2 year old so staying VERY close is imperative for me. I also enjoy the experience of just being in a disney hotel

 

[5forMickey]

We love it!!!! But it doesn't stop us from doing all the other things we want to. We still stay as long as we want (7 days this time ), and dine where we please. We are not big spenders on merchandise although I can't wait to visit the Pandora store this year.

It all depends on how you vacation. If it's in your budget then by all means go for it. If it is going to cause you to cut back on other things you will probably be disappointed.

 

[purplecrush]

Personally I would rather use the extra money to stay longer, eat better and buy all the extras.

Have a magical time!

This!!

It's all up to you and your budget! We never just hang out in our room. We sleep and shower and that's it. I'm not just going to waste my money on a room that cost 2x the amount of a room offsite, when I can buy lots of souveniers instead!!

 

[GatorChris]

For us, it's got to be an amazing deal. Not just a good deal, and amazing deal. If it's over $300/night, that's not amazing. It's expensive. I'm sure it's nice, and I'll find out in February with my amazing deal, but $300/night nice??? Not for us.

 

[hootey]

For us, it is worth it but, we treat the DLH as the resort it is. We enjoy the grounds, the waterslides, hot-tubs, the cafes, the character meet n greets in the lobby, and the historic photos and art work at the DLH. We go to unwind and s l o w down. We do not have to be in the parks to enjoy the DLR. But, that is just us

 

[starjazz]

If its WDW, staying on site is a must. At DLR, not even close. PPH and DLH are as far if not farther than the motels across the street like Trop, Park Vue, BWPPI, etc.

Now, given that we leave in the morning before we can see straight, and when we return in the evening we can barely walk, it could hardly matter what pretty pictures are on the wall.

Granted, we go in Feb, so pools don't matter.

I just can't see spending $200-$400 per day more for an hour extra at the parks, which to me would be the only draw.

 

[2tinkerbell]

We just recently came back from staying at the DLH. I, too, questioned if it was worth it before we stayed there. However, I booked our stay there as surprise birthday present for my DD. It has been her dream for a long time. While there, I thought "okay, this is great and it is nice" but, I didn't think anything over the top. Yes, we were greeted by Goofy in the lobby and saw him each day we were there. Yes, it was easy to walk down to breakfast at Goofy's Kitchen instead of walking to the Parks and through DTD. Yes, the slides and pool for great fun on the afternoon we had our break. We also received a ton of Pixie Dust from the staff. The only down side is I think we walked just as far to the parks. All that being said, I would say that for our trip and our stay at the DLH, it was totally worth it for me. My DD's face when she found out she was staying there was priceless! Her comments while there were also priceless ("I've never stayed in a hotel where they have bathrobes!"). Even last night she was talking about her stay at the DLH. That to me definitely makes it worth it! Kind of like those old MasterCard commercials.

Would I stay there again? Yes! If I could afford it and do it without sacrificing other things. We will be going back to DLR in May 2015 and will be staying at the Candy Cane Inn because that is what I can afford for the length of time we need to be there.

 

[Pooh2]

We just stayed there and paid $350/night plus tax. It was a nice hotel, but for the cost, I would consider staying off-site if we get to go again. The morning that we did early entry at DCA, RSRs was closed and Toy Story was closed. Both opened about the time of regular park opening. The roller coaster was open but we cannot do coasters so wandered around and got some brk at Flo's V8 cafe.

 

[hootey]

Is it worth it? If you are going to enjoy/use the amenities of the DLH, then it might be worth the extra money compared to one of the good neighbor motels. If all you are wanting is a place to shower and sleep so you can spend every waking moment in the parks no, it is probably not worth it.
The way we enjoy the DLR, the DLH is a great choice for us. As stated earlier, we use almost all of the DLH amenities. We do enjoy it and the DLH CMs are amazing.