Planning a first time trip to Disneyland - Question about hotels

[ThumpersMommy]

I am planning a first time trip to Disneyland in CA and had a question about Disney hotels. I apologize if there is another thread that answers this but I could not find one. Are there any room only discounts available for any of the three Disneyland hotels on property, similar to the general public discounts available at the WDW resort hotels? I am planning on going in July and just wondered if there would be a room only discount and approximately when that would be available? Thank you.

 

[ADLFAN]

We stayed at the Disneyland Hotel on our first trip a few years ago. After we booked, I kept checking back and when they advertised a discount for our dates, I called back and they very kindly applied the discount to our booking. As far as I know they'll do that for you as long as there is availability. There are are limited number of rooms available at the discounted rate, so it pays to keep checking. Now that we've stayed once, we keep getting discount offers via email, usually 10% off, or a bit higher for the higher priced 'premium' room catagory.

The discount offers are usually for low season, when they're still trying to fill rooms. They don't so much need to try to fill up in July, so I doubt they'd be offering a discount then.

But it doesn't hurt to reserve a room and cancel it later if the price doesn't become feasible. You may have to put down the first night as a deposit, but we have had to cancel with DLR before and they were very prompt about refunding our deposit and cancelling the trip for us.

I've never been to the Paradise Pier, but the DLH and the Grand Californian are beautiful resorts with awesome pool areas!

Have fun planning!

 

[GatorChris]

Not usually. Sometimes, rarely, there's a Visa cardholder discount. I think I've seen that once, and it wasn't all that great. DL is a lot different than WDW. In Orlando, the resort is part of the experience - plus it makes it convenient with transport from the airport and to the parks. And you get that "bubble" feeling. That's not quite the case at DL. There's no Magical Express, and many of the hotels nearby are just as close to the parks as Disneyland Hotel and Paradise Pier.

After 7 trips to WDW, we finally ran out of money to fly out to Florida and so we started going to DL back in 2013. It took some time to adjust. There's a lot less planning to do in Anaheim and it's tougher to get that "bubble" feeling. As for hotels, I've stayed at PP and at DLH. PP was not worth the added price. It's a pretty far walk and doesn't feel very Disney. DLH feels very Disney, but it's as pricey as a deluxe in orlando and still doesn't quite give you the escape feel that I would get at any of the Moderates or the AKL.

I've stayed at HoJo on Harbor twice. The walk is a little bit shorter than the Paradise Pier walk, and you can get a superior room with a view of DL for over $100 less per night. And if you have small kids (under 12), they'll like the little waterpark they have. There are also other hotels closer to the parks and a little cheaper than HoJo that aren't too bad. I'll just say this as a former WDW alum: unless you're getting a huge discount by way of a conference or something, the Disney hotels at DL just aren't worth it for my family.

 

[figment_jii]

I would keep an eye on the Special Offers & Discounts webpage on Disneyland.com to see what they announce. However, as ADLFAN said, discounts are more common in the less busy times of the year and they have been scaling back the discounts this year.
https://disneyland.disney.go.com/offers-discounts/

 

[sherilaine]

Have you visited WDW and are wanting to stay onsite at DLR because of your experience with WDW? I just ask that as being onsite as DLR is not as crucial as it is at WDW - there are plenty of hotels that are very close to the gates and allow for easy walking and going back during afternoon breaks etc. The Disneyland Resort has a very small footprint in Anaheim unlike the massive amounts of land they own in Florida.

Now if you want to stay onsite for early entry or because you just want to be in that bubble, then that is another thing entirely but if it is for proximity to the parks, then you do have other options, especially if price is an issue.

 

[Nonsuch]

...Sometimes, rarely, there's a Visa cardholder discount. I think I've seen that once, and it wasn't all that great...

Disney Visa cardholders sometimes get early access to offers, before the general public. The early access might only be a week early, but that can be important during holidays.

 

[ThumpersMommy]

Thank you all for the information. I didn't realize that there were that many other hotel options located near DL. I thought that there were more perks with staying on Disney property but it seems like there are enough alternatives nearby. I just cannot afford to stay in any of those DL hotels without some kind of good discount -even with a discount, it would still likely be more that I want to spend. I am going to check out some of the other options nearby. Thank you!

 

[sherilaine]

Keep in mind, when shopping for hotels nearby Disneyland, that many will say they are close to Disneyland or even "across the street from Disneyland" but only the hotels on S. Harbour are actually across the street from the Disneyland main gate entrance. Google maps can be of great assistance - there you can see the main crosswalk to the entrance to the park and measure your walk distance to any of the hotels.

 

[GatorChris]

Glad to hear your thoughts on the DL hotels. It's tough to come to terms with going offsite when every WDW cell in your body says otherwise. Here's some stuff that helped me out a lot when I made the switch.

Hotels starting with closest one: http://www.disboards.com/threads/walking-distance-hotel-list-w-discussion-details-of-hotels.2796786/

PDF map of area (a little old): http://anaheim-attractions.10-best.info/disney_map.pdf

Use these and you will be on track by the time your head hits the pillow tonight.