Need help planning DL trip....I'm a WDW regular and I'm so confused!

[kangaroodle]

I need some HELP planning a trip to DL. I've had over 20 visits to WDW and am a DVC owner. I need help on where to stay when we visit DL. It all seems so foreign to me! Unfortunately, due to kid's sports schedules, we have to visit during Spring Break (the last week of March 2013)....ugh! My kids are 14 and 16.

I looked into using or DVC points but is Premier season and the points cost is ridiculous. I was thinking of getting a CityPass and doing 3 days at DL, 1 day at Universal, 1 day at SeaWorld and 1 day at the San Diego Zoo. We love staying at Disney hotels to feel "part of the magic".

Here's what I was thinking....3-4 days at a DL hotel (which one is the best bang for the buck?) Where do I get the best deal? Would you recommend another hotel? Are there any condo-like accomodations near DL (not neccessarily Disney owned)? We are used to staying at DVC resorts and spreading out, rather than a hotel room only.

We could then switch to a hotel closer to Sea World and Zoo when we do those parks. Any advice on this?

ALL help will be greatly appreciated! If anyone needs help with WDW I'd be happy to help with that!

 

[coaches24]

PPH is usually the least expensive of the onsite hotels and we really loved staying there in May. we haven't tried the other two onsite hotels as our budget hasn't allowed for it yet.

 

[kangaroodle]

Why is that one cheaper than the DL Hotel? I know the Grand Californian is $$$, much like the Grand Floridian at WDW. I'll check it out. Thanks.

 

[Disney Dreams]

Let me try to help you out here...

First, don't make DLR more complicated than it is. It's not the giant that WDW is and if you have WDW down, you can do DLR very easily. Promise. If you want to stay on-site you have three choices. (Disneyland Hotel, Grand Californian Hotel, Paradise Pier Hotel. UNLIKE WDW, all three of these are walking distance to the Parks. And the main gates of the Parks themselves are many 50 steps from each other. No buses, boats, etc... needed. Easy peasy.

Why is that one cheaper than the DL Hotel? I know the Grand Californian is $$$, much like the Grand Floridian at WDW. I'll check it out. Thanks.

Simply put? It's just not a nice. It's still a Disney hotel and it's nice, but it's not the Grand CA. The Grand CA is wonderful. It just feels beautiful, wonderful walking through it. Heck, we live locally and enjoy hanging in the lounge at the Grand CA sometimes.

Sort of like, "Why is All Star Sport cheaper that Grand Floridian?"
Now, it's not a 100% fair comparison because PPH is not motel-style, but it is the lesser of the three on-site hotels.

HTH,
Dreams

P.S. I see you are currently online. I will be on for a bit. I will check your thread here for more questions if you have any.

 

[coaches24]

Why is that one cheaper than the DL Hotel? I know the Grand Californian is $$$, much like the Grand Floridian at WDW. I'll check it out. Thanks.

I think its because it has less Disney pizzaz put into it than the other hotels. But it is very nice all the same and does feel disney. I have also read on here that the rooms at the PPH are bigger than the other two so you get more space for less money. Ive seen many posters on this site who prefer PPH to either of the other two. One of these days we will be able to try the other two so we can make our own comparison.

 

[kangaroodle]

The Grand CA might be a bit out of our budget and if it "feels" like the Grand Floridian, it's nice to walk thru, but a bit stuffy for me and my family. With that said, given the other 2 choices, which is a nicer DL hotel to stay at PPH or DL Hotel? Didn't the DL Hotel just get a refurb?

Any advice on which airport to fly into from Chicago? Which is closest to DL?

 

[mydisneymoney]

The Grand CA might be a bit out of our budget and if it "feels" like the Grand Floridian, it's nice to walk thru, but a bit stuffy for me and my family. With that said, given the other 2 choices, which is a nicer DL hotel to stay at PPH or DL Hotel? Didn't the DL Hotel just get a refurb?

Any advice on which airport to fly into from Chicago? Which is closest to DL?

My family has stayed at both the PPH and the GCH and if we use an onsite hotel again it will be the PPH. The PPH is the cheapist of the three at $250-$315 a night minimum. It is just across the street from the GCH which you can walk through to get to California Adventure or Downtown Disney. In fact, depending on where your room is in the GCH, walking from PPH to the parks may actually be less of a walk.

There are several options to fly into the LA area: LAX, Orange Co (SNA), Long Beach (LGB), Onterio (ONT), and Burbank (BUR??). SNA is the closest to DSR. We are flying into it later this month. In the past, we have flown into LAX twice and both times our arrival and departure was on a weekend so traffic was not an issue for us. It takes about 45 in good (really good traffic) to get to DLR from LAX. We have always rented a car. We flew into terminal 6 at LAX and it is a smaller terminal so really easy to get around in.

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

I think you'll like the DL hotel better than the PPH, although a theme park view room at PPH is really nice.

The closest airport is the Orange County (SNA), then Long Beach. Both are smaller airports. LAX and Ontario airports are about the same distance. The Burbank airport is farther out. I use the LAX a lot, and it's not an issue for me, however, some people find it intimidating. Look at all four for the best airfare value.

Go to the sticky thread at the top of this board to start going through some helpful info. You might want to click on Hydroguy's threads for WDW vets visiting Disneyland.

Like it was said earlier, the Disneyland Resort is a lot simpler than WDW.

ADRs are still called Priority Seating reservations, and you make those 2 months in advance either by phone or email (info in the sticky thread). Hard reservations requiring a credit card are made a month in advance.

If you are staying on site, you can take advantage of the Disney hotel vacation planners (info in sticky thread) to make these priority seating and other reservations for you.

 

[Disney Dreams]

The Grand CA might be a bit out of our budget and if it "feels" like the Grand Floridian, it's nice to walk thru, but a bit stuffy for me and my family. With that said, given the other 2 choices, which is a nicer DL hotel to stay at PPH or DL Hotel? Didn't the DL Hotel just get a refurb?

Any advice on which airport to fly into from Chicago? Which is closest to DL?

GCH feels NOTHING like GF. Its theming is that of a lodge in the woods. Beautiful. Relaxing. Gorgeous. Take a look at Disney's web site. That said, if it's too pricey, I would say DLH is nicer that PPH. There is nothing bad about PPH, it's just not quite as magical as the other two, but it is still a nice hotel, on Disney property, with Disney cast members.

As for airports, if you can fly into LBG or SNA, that is most convenient. LAX is further and much bigger, but probably has more options and might be cheaper.

- Dreams

 

[Caseheidi]

There are also lots of non-Disney hotel options, some with the same basic walk to the park in length. You mentioned wanting a "Condo type" room, and there are some around. We just returned from staying at the Dolphin Cove which is a Whyndm resort, but you can sometimes find them renting out units. I also understand at least one of the Best Westerns in the area (I know of at least three) has two bedroom suites. There are also Embassy Suites and a few other extended stay places that have apartment type set ups. You just have to shop it around.

 

[smiles33]

Ditto Caseheidi. I know it's usually Disney 101 to stay on-site at WDW, but I don't think the same rationale necessarily applies at DLR. If you have an unlimited budget, I do think GCH wins every time per DISBoarders, but if you need more space (like my family with a napping toddler), a suite that doesn't cost $800+/night makes more sense. We are staying off-site, an 8 minute walk from our room to the gates, at the smaller but charming 1960s-designed Howard Johnson hotel. I know I had visions of a motel in mind when I first read about HoJo here, but staying there surpassed my expectations.

I will say that they no longer have as many of the unbelievable rates they used to offer as they changed their rate plans. I got a two bedroom/two bathroom Kids Suite (king bed, bunk bed, plus sofa bed) for $99/night last Sept. We'll be paying about $180/night next April 2013 but I still think that's a great price for extremely comfortable beds, recently upgraded rooms, 2 flat screen TVs, a mini-fridge, microwave, Keurig coffee-maker and great staff. We didn't even use the toddler water park that kids under 10 seem to love (so your kids are too old for it but they could go in the regular adult pool).

Anyhow, if you prefer to have more space and have a limited budget, don't rule out the off-side hotels yet. There are a couple great threads here about how the hotels within walking distance offer great values. No one is claiming they offer the same experience as the on-site hotels, but I do think many have been pleased to save their money for more character meals, Napa Rose, Carthay Circle, Fantasmic dessert seating, etc.

 

[mydisneymoney]

Ditto Caseheidi. I know it's usually Disney 101 to stay on-site at WDW, but I don't think the same rationale necessarily applies at DLR. If you have an unlimited budget, I do think GCH wins every time per DISBoarders, but if you need more space (like my family with a napping toddler), a suite that doesn't cost $800+/night makes more sense. We are staying off-site, an 8 minute walk from our room to the gates, at the smaller but charming 1960s-designed Howard Johnson hotel. I know I had visions of a motel in mind when I first read about HoJo here, but staying there surpassed my expectations.

I will say that they no longer have as many of the unbelievable rates they used to offer as they changed their rate plans. I got a two bedroom/two bathroom Kids Suite (king bed, bunk bed, plus sofa bed) for $99/night last Sept. We'll be paying about $180/night next April 2013 but I still think that's a great price for extremely comfortable beds, recently upgraded rooms, 2 flat screen TVs, a mini-fridge, microwave, Keurig coffee-maker and great staff. We didn't even use the toddler water park that kids under 10 seem to love (so your kids are too old for it but they could go in the regular adult pool).

Anyhow, if you prefer to have more space and have a limited budget, don't rule out the off-side hotels yet. There are a couple great threads here about how the hotels within walking distance offer great values. No one is claiming they offer the same experience as the on-site hotels, but I do think many have been pleased to save their money for more character meals, Napa Rose, Carthay Circle, Fantasmic dessert seating, etc.

I agree. If money is not an issues, then by all means stay onsite. If want the best bang for your buck, then look at staying off site and then use the money you saves on Character meals etc. They have kids suits at Desert Palms as well.

Unlike WDW, staying at a hotel across the street is even closer then staying at a WDW resort. None of them are very far away. They are just ACROSS the street. The two benefits you get for staying on site is Early Entry each morning to one of the parks (at this time, may change some time in the future) and being emersed in the Disney feeling. Actually for as much time as we spent in our room (basically just to sleep), we sure were not emersing ourselves into Disney at our resort but rather spent our time in the Parks right up until they closed each day.

 

[poohmickey]

We have stayed at all 3 Disney hotels and a number of hotels across the street, also called Good Neighbor hotels.
Our favorite Disney hotel is the Disneyland hotel, even if money wasn't an issue we still enjoyed it more than the Grand Californian.
The Grand Californian is really nice, but it didn't feel very "Disney" to us and our kids.
Paradise Pier is the most affordable, but after our stay there April 2012 we decided we have better options across the street for half the money. Our biggest complaint was the water pressure, and the room was looking ran down.

The Howard Johnson is one of our favorites and we have no problem recommending it to others.

 

[Sweettears]

Let me try to help you out here...

First, don't make DLR more complicated than it is. It's not the giant that WDW is and if you have WDW down, you can do DLR very easily. Promise. If you want to stay on-site you have three choices. (Disneyland Hotel, Grand Californian Hotel, Paradise Pier Hotel. UNLIKE WDW, all three of these are walking distance to the Parks. And the main gates of the Parks themselves are many 50 steps from each other. No buses, boats, etc... needed. Easy peasy.



Simply put? It's just not a nice. It's still a Disney hotel and it's nice, but it's not the Grand CA. The Grand CA is wonderful. It just feels beautiful, wonderful walking through it. Heck, we live locally and enjoy hanging in the lounge at the Grand CA sometimes.

Sort of like, "Why is All Star Sport cheaper that Grand Floridian?"
Now, it's not a 100% fair comparison because PPH is not motel-style, but it is the lesser of the three on-site hotels.

HTH,
Dreams

P.S. I see you are currently online. I will be on for a bit. I will check your thread here for more questions if you have any.

I would compare PPH to either the Swan or Dolphin if you have ever stayed there. Nice but nothing fancy. The TPV of CA is worth the cost. It makes it seem as though you are practically staying in the park.

 

[dsneygirl]

I need some HELP planning a trip to DL. I've had over 20 visits to WDW and am a DVC owner. I need help on where to stay when we visit DL. It all seems so foreign to me! Unfortunately, due to kid's sports schedules, we have to visit during Spring Break (the last week of March 2013)....ugh! My kids are 14 and 16.

I looked into using or DVC points but is Premier season and the points cost is ridiculous. I was thinking of getting a CityPass and doing 3 days at DL, 1 day at Universal, 1 day at SeaWorld and 1 day at the San Diego Zoo. We love staying at Disney hotels to feel "part of the magic".

Here's what I was thinking....3-4 days at a DL hotel (which one is the best bang for the buck?) Where do I get the best deal? Would you recommend another hotel? Are there any condo-like accomodations near DL (not neccessarily Disney owned)? We are used to staying at DVC resorts and spreading out, rather than a hotel room only.

We could then switch to a hotel closer to Sea World and Zoo when we do those parks. Any advice on this?

ALL help will be greatly appreciated! If anyone needs help with WDW I'd be happy to help with that!

If you do the city pass I would definitely leave Anaheim and go stay in the San Diego area for those days. It would be a huge pain to do that drive twice a day each day.

One thing you may want to consider is if on site guests get early entry. We stayed at the DLH in June and with Carsland the early entry was worth the $$$.

FWIW We love the GCH it is probably our favourite DVC hotel.