Think of walking to DL/DCA parks as a capital letter T (but turn your T sideways to the right so it is laying down). Start at the left side of the laid down T, this is where the Disneyland Hotel is. Now, as you "walk" along the "stem" of the T, you are walking through Downtown Disney. You will pass LEGOLAND, Tortilla Joe's, ESPN Zone, Rainforest Café, etc. Personally, I like Downtown Disney in DL much better than DW. There is also a monorail not far from DL Hotel (maybe 1/2 block) in Downtown Disney if you don't want to walk through it. Keep walking along the "stem" and you will pass the Grand Californian Hotel. You won't notice it straight out, because one of the back entrances is located along here. (If you happen to book at GC Hotel, the Grand Californian has two terrific entrances from your hotel room: you can leave the hotel and walk straight into Downtown Disney or you can take a back entrance which puts you in DCA park by one of the water rides.) As you keep walking, you will arrive at the security for both parks. It is only a 10-minute walk or so from the Disneyland Hotel to the security checkpoints. If you stay at the GC, it's only about a 5 minute walk, if even that. Now, getting back to the T, you are at the point where you have reached the end of the "stem" and have gone through security, now you can go left or right. If you go right, you will go to DCA; left goes to DL. It's 1-2 minutes max in either direction. This is one of the major advantages of staying on a Disney property at Disneyland. The walk from the hotels is super close. This is also one of the reasons to get park hoppers. It is just very simple to hop across the terrace, plaza, etc., to go to the other park. Everything was just much simpler. And, if you need a break in the afternoon, you can just walk back to the room in very little time. No messing with getting on/off buses and having travel time eat into your day at the parks like at DW.
We have stayed at both the GC and DL Hotel. I don't know if I have a preference. DL Hotel has the headboards which light up. We stayed in a standard room in the GC, but a suite at the DL Hotel. The suite was simply two rooms connecting. I loved the beds much better at DL Hotel.
One of the things I really enjoyed was walking back to the DL Hotel at night from the parks because, once again, you are walking back through Downtown Disney, even though our legs were soooo tired. Entertainment was terrific, and it was just enjoyable to soak it all in and not have to stand in line and wait for a bus. I just didn't see the entertainment stuff going on at Disney Springs in DW--maybe I just missed it.
We've been to DW twice, but am thinking the next time it's back to California.
We have stayed at both the GC and DL Hotel. I don't know if I have a preference. DL Hotel has the headboards which light up. We stayed in a standard room in the GC, but a suite at the DL Hotel. The suite was simply two rooms connecting. I loved the beds much better at DL Hotel.
One of the things I really enjoyed was walking back to the DL Hotel at night from the parks because, once again, you are walking back through Downtown Disney, even though our legs were soooo tired. Entertainment was terrific, and it was just enjoyable to soak it all in and not have to stand in line and wait for a bus. I just didn't see the entertainment stuff going on at Disney Springs in DW--maybe I just missed it.
We've been to DW twice, but am thinking the next time it's back to California.
