Is Paradise Pier like the Value Resort at WDW

[8timesblessed]

I stumbled across this thread as we are in the same situation as the OP. We are going to AZ on friday with visits in San Diego for 2 nights and Disneyland for 2 nights starting July 4th. Were excited about doing July 4th in Disneyland as we did it in WDW in 09' and had a blast. We have 52 points left to use which would be enough for the 2 nights in a studio at VGC but of course no availability(we keep trying though). There is availability in all 3 resorts online for the 2 nights costing $610PPH,$800 DLR,$970 VGC plus the room tax. Since its our first time and probably who knows the next time we will be in Cali my heart says go for it but I can't wrap my head around the big $$$ amount...so I think we are going to do PPH as by everyones posts seem like its closer to a lower deluxe than a value and if thats the case its good enough....so besides the OP thanking everyone for the responses we thank you too....

The interior reminds me of the Boardwalk at WDW. We've stayed at PPH twice and really like it. It felt closer then the DLH and we had a theme park view two nights and a standard view when just my DH and I were there and we had planned to stay in the parks til close so no reason to have a view room.

 

[Judy from Boise]

I am not a big fan of the room decor, but enjoy the easy walk, the interior corridors , and most of all the room service !

 

[Babybears]

You have stayed concierge? We have never experienced any turndown unless staying on the concierge level. NOw, the Grand does it for everyone (unless they have changed things) but not PPH.

We have actually gotten turndown service, chocolate coins on the beds, etc on every trip we have had to PPH. The first and second times we booked standard room through Costco and the last time we booked concierge through WDTC. Each time we got turndown service, and we did not request it. Maybe we got lucky, but we just assumed it is that way for everyone, as it has always been something we have gotten, regardless of our type of package.

 

[TotalDreamer]

I'd like to know about proximity to the parks as well, since I am having trouble choosing between PPH w/ a park view or standard DLH view...proximity might be the tiebreaker!

The location of PP is actually the selling point for me because A. Park View (I know I've mentioned watching World of Color from my room here a lot) and B. it's not far at all from the Grand Californian entrance. Maybe technically further away from an entrance than the DLH, but I personally like the Grand Californian entrance better. It is only for California Adventure though.

 

[nancy drew]

The interior reminds me of the Boardwalk at WDW. We've stayed at PPH twice and really like it. It felt closer then the DLH and we had a theme park view two nights and a standard view when just my DH and I were there and we had planned to stay in the parks til close so no reason to have a view room.

This is how I feel, right down to the comparison to the Boardwalk and feeling closer than DLH. You can take a shortcut through GCH to access DCA or Downtown Disney. Also the PPH has a person or two stationed at the front entrance (where you leave/enter if you use the GCH shortcut). We spoke to a man there on our first night about dining needs, and every day after when we saw him he said hello, asked me if I needed help with anything else (and helped me with some other thing I can't remember) and really went out of his way to make our experience more personal. Before staying there I assumed I'd be disappointed, because there are no lush grounds or gardens, and it is "just" a high rise with the Disney name slapped on it. After staying there, I am happy to stay again.

And we didn't even have a theme park view room! I really hope to get one on our next visit.

If you want to see photos, I have a bunch posted here (beginning in post #4). The photos also show the beginning of the shortcut through the GCH.

 

[hellokitty1]

You have stayed concierge? We have never experienced any turndown unless staying on the concierge level. NOw, the Grand does it for everyone (unless they have changed things) but not PPH.



PPH is great! Go out the FRONT door, cross the street towards the Grand, walk in the Grand's front doors. Super-easy as long as you go out the FRONT doors! Do not follow the directions inside the PPH for the walk to the parks! Those will take you the long way, alongside DLH and allllll the way through Downtown Disney. You do not want that!

Once you're in the doors of the Grand, if you're going in the onsite guest entrance to DCA, cross the lobby, go out the automatic doors, and follow the signs to DCA.

If you are going to Disneyland, turn left down a long corridor (almost immediately after entering the Grand), follow the hallway (if you have a stroller or wheelchair you will find ramps to the *left* sort of behind a wall). Go out the sliding glass automatic doors on your right, follow the outside path, and you will exit into DTD, a little more than halfway through. Haagen Dasz will be across from you and Sephora will be on your right. Turn right, go to the bag check and into the esplanade!


It *sounds* more complicated than it actually is.



When we stayed at DLH we thought "ooh monorail!" but it was closed half of the time we wanted to take it. And then it doesn't start running until after the gates open for MM, so unless you're interested in Nemo or Tomorrowland for MM, it's not much use. We missed too much of MM getting off the monorail and past Nemo and then on into Fantasyland.


Lastly, PPH is great! It's our fave onsite resort. And IMO can't be compared to anything at WDW, because they just don't have the big tall hotels there.

Thanks for such detail!

 

[hellokitty1]

We have actually gotten turndown service, chocolate coins on the beds, etc on every trip we have had to PPH. The first and second times we booked standard room through Costco and the last time we booked concierge through WDTC. Each time we got turndown service, and we did not request it. Maybe we got lucky, but we just assumed it is that way for everyone, as it has always been something we have gotten, regardless of our type of package.

We are costco members but had not thought of booking though them. Any particular advantage to doing so?

 

[bumbershoot]

We have actually gotten turndown service, chocolate coins on the beds, etc on every trip we have had to PPH. The first and second times we booked standard room through Costco and the last time we booked concierge through WDTC. Each time we got turndown service, and we did not request it. Maybe we got lucky, but we just assumed it is that way for everyone, as it has always been something we have gotten, regardless of our type of package.

Isn't that odd.

Our first time we booked through Costco. Second time directly through the hotel with AP rate. First time we got upgraded to theme park, second time we got "Big Kahuna Family of the Day" at checkin and were upgraded to a suite. There have been one or two more stays, and then the last time we were there, in Feb, we booked a normal room, concierge level (not theme park b/c we wanted the cabana rooms, not knowing the pool and pool deck would be closed and cabana rooms were unavailable) and somehow got upgraded to a suite *again*. That was the time we got the turndown service and chocolates.

since we didn't get it the first time we got the suite upgrade, I figured it was the concierge.

Sounds like we've both been lucky in various ways.

 

[kristenm514]

How "lucky" is it to be upgraded to theme park view at check-in? I have heard a few people mention that it happened to them, and that would be awesome since it's a $200 upgrade, but I don't want to bank on the free upgrade and book a standard view only to get there and find out that we can't even pay for a park view because they're sold out, kwim? We are going in late August (25-28), so they will probably be pretty full. What time of year did people seem to get the free upgrade? Off season? I want the park view soooo bad but I think DH might have a stroke if he found out I spent $200 we could have saved just to look at some pretty lights out the window lol

 

[disneymom0104]

PPH is a lot nicer than the values (but less theming, if that makes sense). The rooms are actually bigger than the moderates, too. The moderate's do have more theming as well, and larger grounds. The WDW hotels are more resort feeling (spread out, multiple pools, etc) and PPH is more like a nice hotel. There are 2 queen beds and a twin sofa bed. It has inner hallways. The theme park view is fantastic. We absolutely loved watching World of Color from our room every night with the music playing on our TV. We were upgraded for free and I can't imagine not having that upgraded view now. We had turn down service every night (we were there 5 nights) with chocolate coins and received chocolate covered rice krispy treats in the shape of a surfboard for each person in our family on our first night. We loved our stay at PPH.

 

[kristenm514]

Possibly a strange question, but ... are the hallways going to the rooms enclosed or do they have a half-wall that faces an open atrium? My mom is terrified of heights and can't do open hallways on high floors, like at Embassy Suites type hotels. Since the park view rooms are on the higher floors, if she has to walk down an open hallway this will be a deal breaker

Any info?

 

[closetmickey]

You have stayed concierge? We have never experienced any turndown unless staying on the concierge level. NOw, the Grand does it for everyone (unless they have changed things) but not PPH.

Yep! Non concierge turndown service- sometimes without even asking! We also received a plate of chocolate dipped Mickey rice Krispie treates once! Yum! And also Big Kahuna Family of the Day once with an upgrade to theme park view. That time, however, the joke was on us as it was a grad nite and I heard those kids screaming at CA until the wee hours of the night.

 

[disneymom0104]

Possibly a strange question, but ... are the hallways going to the rooms enclosed or do they have a half-wall that faces an open atrium? My mom is terrified of heights and can't do open hallways on high floors, like at Embassy Suites type hotels. Since the park view rooms are on the higher floors, if she has to walk down an open hallway this will be a deal breaker

Any info?

Our room was in a fully enclosed hallway. We had a theme park view so we were like 12 floors up. I know they have a tall atrium, but I am not sure how those hallways work. They do have one elevator that has glass walls that goes up part of that inner atrium, but they also have 3 regular elevators- my kids loved the glass elevator but you can choose to not use that one at all.

 

[kristenm514]

Our room was in a fully enclosed hallway. We had a theme park view so we were like 12 floors up. I know they have a tall atrium, but I am not sure how those hallways work. They do have one elevator that has glass walls that goes up part of that inner atrium, but they also have 3 regular elevators- my kids loved the glass elevator but you can choose to not use that one at all.

Awesome! We will use the glass elevator (looks cool!) but I am glad that there is a regular one for grandma! Once we are in the room, being high up is no problem, but glass elevators and open hallways are no-go for her...strange how phobias work, she knows its totally irrational but it is what it is

 

[TeddiBarra]

It helps me most to be able to think of DLR descriptions as compared to WDW since WDW is what I know. Is anyone familiar with Pop Century at WDW and PPH at DLR and can compare for me?

What about walking distance from PPH to the parks compared to DLH from the parks? Big difference? While my kids will be overJoyed to go, I foresee some grumpy mornings to make an EMH.
Thanks!

I'm in planning mode for our first WDW trip. Paradise Pier is a 3 1/2 star full-service hotel. Not entirely sure why it doesn't get rated as a 4 star, in all honesty as it has all the amenities that generally gets a hotel 4 star. So, frankly it compares more to a Moderate *plus*. Here are the big exceptions: it's much smaller than any of the resorts you are used to at WDW in terms of space because it's a vertical hotel! It doesn't have an very themed pool BUT it has a kiddy pool and a big slide and my kids have always LOVED it and been totally happy. In the summer/warm months there's a poolside bar/snackbar. There's a smaller arcade, an onsite hotel gift/shop/few grocery items, a bar and one character-breakfast restaurant (used to have two, a sushi place but that closed about two years ago). It is similar to the WDW values for families with kids in that it has a "basic pool" but with the plus of the big slide (no water play areas and no disney theming at the pool though). Also, there are no onsite programs for kids (which the values also don't have).

If you stay here, you can get something that you CANT get at WDW w/out paying a good $300 more a night- a theme park view. I totally recommend paying for a theme park room if you can. The view of DCA is gorgeous. You can watch WOC (while you won't see the projections well, it is still nice to watch ) from your window and they have a tv channel that syncs to the music.

Also, none of the values offer concierge, PP of course does. We recently tried it out on a short one night stay back in Feb. I loved it! The off-season price for concierge starts @ $85 more than the standard room rate, which makes it a steal compared to WDW concierge prices.

The walk is SHORTER than from the Disneyland Hotel. You go out the front and at the cross walk cross over and cut thru the Grand Hotel. It is a nice bit shorter to DCA and you can use the Grand Hotel guests only entrance, or cut through the Grand and out to DTD and to DL.

Some say it feels less Disney themed, and yes it's lightly themed with a Disney Character beach feel. None of the resorts at DLR are themed quite to the extent or have the expansive grounds that are in WDW. PP has the least of all. All of the rooms were recently finished being "refreshed" (new drapes, bedding, etc.) The rooms that sleep 5 all have two queen beds plus a sofa that the back pulls down that has a smaller than twin size single sleeper mattress built in the backside. (This is the same as the DLH, the Grand has other options).

Our family has stayed 3 times since Dec 2009 and we've always enjoyed our stays. The first time we had a standard view room (view of the pool, ie the side of the hotel that doesn't face the parks/dtd). The last two times we had view rooms (once on the 14th Fl, once on the 8th: both were very good). Service and staff has always been good.

 

[TeddiBarra]

We have actually gotten turndown service, chocolate coins on the beds, etc on every trip we have had to PPH. The first and second times we booked standard room through Costco and the last time we booked concierge through WDTC. Each time we got turndown service, and we did not request it. Maybe we got lucky, but we just assumed it is that way for everyone, as it has always been something we have gotten, regardless of our type of package.

We also had turndown service each night in our first stay, which was a standard room. We were celebrating my girls' 5th birthdays and got the free plate of rice crispy treats (like a $24 value) they are HUGE and covered with frosting, plus little photo card and birthday cake towel warp (the stay was mid december, right before xmas pricing went into effect). I had purchased some mylar balloons as a surprise for my dds and they were so kind at the front desk they gave me two small regular balloon bouquets to add to my mylars which they filled with air for free! I do not think that last year during the summer we had the turndown except for 1 night. We did in Feb this year, which was 1 night concierge.

I honestly don't think anyone used to WDW values OR WDW moderates would be disappointed in what they can get for the same/comparative prices as long as you do know the basic differences ahead of time (i.e. vertical hotel with no resort grounds).

I think that the PP would compare to the boardwalk in theme but in style more like the Contemporary in that it's a self contained hotel with all interior hall access.