Please Help me choose....

[mickey+minnie91]

Hi everyone. I have never stayed at a resort hotel and I really would like too. We are leaving next friday. I have reservations at the Hilton Anaheim. I called DL today and have a hold on a room at the Paradise Pier. It will cost our family about 550.00 more dollars to stay here. Is it worth it?

Im not sure what to do. DH thinks its way too much money. we plan on spending the afternoons going back to the pool. I think it makes more sense to also have EE each stay we are there and they have it. Right now with my tickets, we only have it one day.

What are your thoughts????

 

[DangerMouse]

How many days are you planning to be in the parks?

 

[blackerbys17]

Well, if it helps, this is what I am doing:

We are going from 7/21-7/24 for the 1st time. We go to WDW all the time since it is only 4 hours away from us but this is our first trip to DL. At WDW, we usually stay at the Wilderness Lodge, usually for anywhere from $150-$250. For our DL trip we decided to stay at the GC at a whopping $344 a night, and that is WITH a AAA discount.

Wayyyyy too much money, but, it is our 1st time at DL and except for another trip in 5-10 years, I doubt we'll be back any sooner than that. So, I decided to make it the best trip ever and spend the cash.

For me it's based on making the trip the best possible since we will not be back for many, many years. If you go often, I would not spend that kind of money, but if it is for a special trip, I say go for it!

 

[mickey+minnie91]

We are staying for 4 nights and have a 5 day park hopper.

 

[PrincessSitka]

Why are the prices going up so much? They are makeing money with out the price increase

 

[DangerMouse]

I have never gone in July so I'm no expert on the crowds, but. . . I would assume that 5 days would be plenty for you to be able to see everything, even with only 1 EE day during that time. When we go off season we feel more than satisfied with 3 days.

Personally, I wouldn't spend $550 extra on the PPH. Maybe on the DLH or GCH, but not the PPH.

Good luck with your decision!

 

[Hound 109]

$135 per night (difference) is a tough call. I agree with DangerMouse that i might do it for the GCH, but not for the PP. I stayed at the PP & it was nice, but not deluxe. A couple of questions:

- Will the hilton provide transportation or will you have to park/drive? (that afternoon swim has me wondering about this)
- What is the EE start time. (Is it 7am now?) If it is, will you really be able to get your family up at 5 am for 3 of the 4 mornings that you're there?
- Do you have a car? (& if you do does the Hilton charge for parking?) Our parking at the PP was included in the price.

Any which way you go, it'll be 5 days at Disney....you can't go wrong.

hound

 

[PrincessSitka]

When I stayed at the pp it was cheaper than any on site hotel

 

[grumpy.uncle]

I agree w/ one of the previous posters. If you are going to spend extra money to stay on site, either stay at the Disneland Hotel or the Grand Californian. They are both better than the PP. I know that Disney sometimes runs specials where you get your third nite free. Don't know if there are any promos going on right now. The Grand Californian is like a smaller version of WDW's Wilderness Lodge. The Disneyland Hotel is older, but the pool area is great w/ a Peter Pan theme. Of the 3 of them, PP is my least favorite. If you can afford to stay on property, I would do it. The GC even has a back entrance into California Adventure park, really easy to head back to your room for a quick swim or nap. You will have plenty of time to see both parks. DL is a dot compared to WDW. I think you could fit both parks into Magic Kingdom.

 

[Saavy?]

I have stayed at the Paradise Pier once before and swore NEVER AGAIN.
Now the hotel was nice, the room was big, it was themed in a fun fashion, the food was great, no problems whatsoever with the actual hotel.
The problem was the distance from the monorail and the park gates. Even using the "guest only" back entrance to DCA was a long hike. It seemed to take forever to walk anywhere. You trek across streets, across parking lots, side streets, all over the place... JUST to get to the monorail or gates. I felt it was ridiculous.
If you have no problem with hiking, go for it.
Personally, by the 3rd day I was bribing the maintenance man to give us a ride on his golf cart to DTD.
By the 4th day we were seriously considering renting an electric scooter.
By the 5th day we were ready to call a taxi.

The pool is on the roof. Not themed, just plain. Big jacuzzi though. Believe me, you will need the jacuzzi to soak your feet.

My favorite is the Disneyland Hotel.
To me, this is worth the money.
What I love is the proximity to the monorail. Just a hop, skip, and jump away and whiz bang, you are in Tomorrowland bada bing.
It is the oldest of them all, but themed wonderfully. Two big pools, two jacuzzi's, beautiful grounds, great restaurants, it has it all.

 

[Tink33]

What are your thoughts????

I would keep the current reservation and plan some special activities.

 

[CalGal]

I agree with the others. I just don't think of PPH as a resort hotel. It's a perfectly nice hotel with the benefit of an extra EE day, perhaps 2, but it's not really resort like (while DLH and GCH are). It might be a little tempting if you are talking about a view room overlooking DCA, but still, the $550 would be better spent on other things.