Perks of Staying at Disneyland Hotels

[hugo]

Hello everyone,

we are going to DL in Feb. I see that there are plenty of hotels that are in walking distance and they seem to be cheaper. Are there any perks to staying onsite. I have been to WDW many times and I wouldn't stay off site again.

Would definately appreciate some insight from the Disneyland folks.


Thanks

 

[CalGal]

There's a huge difference between staying on-site at WDW and DL. At WDW, it's the only way to go. It saves so much time and energy and there are many perks. AT DL, it's nice to stay on site, but not a must.
Perks for staying on-site
- The nicest full-service hotels close to the park; most of the places right across the street are more motor hotels/inns. Keep in mind, the onsite hotels at DL aren't quite as fabulous as most of the WDW delux resorts, but they are nice.
- EE each day of your stay that it is offered (although EE is only offered 4 days a week, and you should get one EE with your park-hopper regardless of where you stay)
- Package delivery service from the parks
- You can use your charge slip from the hotels in the parks
- And it's just more of a "stay in the magic" feel.
- While the pools aren't nearly as awesome as some of the WDW delux pools, they are more fun (with slides, some theming) than the basic pools at most of the good neighbor hotels/inns.

If cost is a significant factor and you don't mind staying at a 2 1/2 star place, find one of the nicer places nearby.

 

[HydroGuy]

There's a huge difference between staying on-site at WDW and DL. At WDW, it's the only way to go. It saves so much time and energy and there are many perks. AT DL, it's nice to stay on site, but not a must.
Perks for staying on-site
- The nicest full-service hotels close to the park; most of the places right across the street are more motor hotels/inns. Keep in mind, the onsite hotels at DL aren't quite as fabulous as most of the WDW delux resorts, but they are nice.
- EE each day of your stay that it is offered (although EE is only offered 4 days a week, and you should get one EE with your park-hopper regardless of where you stay)
- Package delivery service from the parks
- You can use your charge slip from the hotels in the parks
- And it's just more of a "stay in the magic" feel.
- While the pools aren't nearly as awesome as some of the WDW delux pools, they are more fun (with slides, some theming) than the basic pools at most of the good neighbor hotels/inns.

If cost is a significant factor and you don't mind staying at a 2 1/2 star place, find one of the nicer places nearby.

I am finding myself agreeing with CalGal almost all the time lately, and she has it all here. If you look at the cost tradeoff in WDW for example between offsite/onsite, one of the things you usually need to factor is a rental car. If the rental car costs $50-60 a day, then it makes the onsite options - especially the values and moderates - more equitable with the offsite options. As long as you are willing to tolerate the Disney transportation system.

At DLR no such advantage exists because many offsite hotels are so close to the parks and within walking distance. It should be noted that if you stay at a Harbor hotel/motel you will be even closer to the parks physically than you will at the DLH and PPH.

So I am like CalGal that at WDW I will stay onsite in the future, while at DLR I will usually stay offsite with an onsite thrown in here and there. In my case with four kids the DLR offsite hotels work better. I priced a room at the GCH and for a family of six in June and would need a suite which ran somewhere north of $700 a night. Ouch. For a few nights I can maybe splurge at $400-500, but $700 is pretty steep for most people.

 

[Sleeping Becca]

Fellow Louisianian here! I live in Houma! We just took our first DLR trip in May and we will visit again. We really loved DLR.

At WDW I don't consider staying offsite unless it is free.

For my recent DLR trip, I considered staying offsite, and did significant research on the subject.

Reasons why I didn't stay offsite:

1. I was traveling without my husband and felt more comfortable in the Disney cocoon.

2. I was traveling with my handicap mother who uses an ECV and did not know how difficult crossing the street would be or how difficult getting her on a shuttle would be.

3. I love the atmosphere of Disney hotels at WDW and thought I would lose some of the magic by staying offsite.

We ended up staying onsite at the DLH. We really enjoyed our stay at DLH, and would stay there again, service was wonderful, and the accomodations were nice, however for our next trip we will try GCH. DLH did not feel "Disney" enough for me, I like to be submerged in a theme at a Disney Hotel, taken to another time and place and DLH was kind of like staying at a Hilton that had Disney decor.

If cost is a significant issuse, stay offsite, if not stay at GCH for a WDW deluxe hotel experience.

As for us, we will not stay offsite in the future. When we do return, it will be for a Disney trip exclusively, and since we will be spending the money to travel to CA we might as well just spend the money to stay onsite.

 

[Sleeping Becca]

As far as perks go, to me the perks mentioned above were a non issue.

The charging privilege was more trouble than it was worth, it is not like WDW where your room key is coded and linked with your credit card. They give you a little paper card that you can use to charge, to me it was just easier to use my credit card instead of waiting for the cashier to punch the numbers in.

Package delivery was also a non issue because the hotels are so close to the parks, carrying packages was no big deal. We did the bulk of our shopping at World of Disney in DTD which is just steps away from DLH and GCH.

Early Entry was only offered one day during our stay and was included in our pass anyway, so this was not a big advantage for us.

Pool at DLH was great DD(8) loved it, although I'm not sure how much swimming you will be able to do in Feb.

Theme was the biggest consideration for us.

 

[Skylarr29]

I heard that if you stay at and Disneyland resort they will make your priority seatings for you (like concierge level rooms at WDW, but applies to all rooms at DL), is this true?

 

[pindecisive]

When I was planning my trip I considered staying onsite for the magic and pools.

But I decided against it because:

It was 140 dollars more a night than Ramada Maingate.

I didn't think I would be swimming during my trip.

I didn't think I'd be spending more than 9 hours in the hotel every day (and I really didn't) and those would mostly be sleeping.

 

[julw]

We've stayed at all three DL resort hotels in the past, but most of the time we stay at off site hotels. We are going in July and decided to stay on site solely based on the pool. We know it will be hot and we will swim and the off site hotels do not have great pool areas. That is really the only reason we are staying on property this time.

Many of the off site hotels are just as close (walking distance) and some even argue closer than the DLH or the PP.

Some to check out that are super close in walking distance are:


Best Western Park Place Inn

Carousel Inn and Suites

Park Vue Inn


These three are our favorites though we have stayed at others. Walking distance is a biggie for us since we have two little ones.

Good luck and have fun!

 

[CalGal]

I am finding myself agreeing with CalGal almost all the time lately...

Hey, I feel validated, thx Trey!

Another post reminded me of another silly thing that I just love about staying on-site, namely Mickey's wake-up calls. Big doin's goin' on... (probably not worth $100+ a night tho-).

And yes, Skylarr29, you can use Vacation Planning service to make PS arrangements for you, and even Fantasmic reservations sometimes. You do not need to be staying concierge to have access to this service.

 

[Skylarr29]

And yes, Skylarr29, you can use Vacation Planning service to make PS arrangements for you, and even Fantasmic reservations sometimes. You do not need to be staying concierge to have access to this service.

Thanks so much for the clarification!

 

[GinnyM]

Hello everyone,

we are going to DL in Feb. I see that there are plenty of hotels that are in walking distance and they seem to be cheaper. Are there any perks to staying onsite. I have been to WDW many times and I wouldn't stay off site again.

Would definitely appreciate some insight from the Disneyland folks.


Thanks

We have stayed at WDW's Polynesian and Animal Kingdom Lodge and the Disney's Grand Californian and The Disneyland Hotel in Disneyland. The rooms at AKL in WDW are very much like the DGC in Disneyland. At the DGC you get turn down service and robes in all of the rooms. The lobby is beautiful and there is a special entrance into the California Adventure Park.
It's a short walk to the parks from any of the resort hotels. We liked the Disneyland Hotel the rooms are larger and the pool area is very nice. We love staying at the Resorts in Disneyland. We have stayed offsite in the past and prefer staying onsite.
I think the biggest perk is you never feel like you leave the parks. If you are a AAA member you may get a discount if you reserve your room early enough. February isn't their busiest time. I recommend staying onsite.