PP or Disneyland Hotel?????

[DBMagic]

We will be going to Disneyland for the first time with our 8 & 12 yr old daughters in Feb of 06. What would be the best choice between these hotels. I would imagine that we won't be doing too much swimming in Feb but I may be wrong. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[MamaKate]

I would go with the Disneyland hotel for your first trip!

We've stayed at all 3 on-site hotels. We love the location of the Grand Californian, but I don't really like the wilderness theme.

I actually love the theming of the Paradise Pier hotel (beach theme) and the renovations are brand new. Also, if you get a upper themepark view room, the view of California Adventures at night can't be beat. You can also see the Electric Parade & they have a TV channel that plays the music of the parade while you watch it. But it is the farthest walk of the 3 hotels.

My kids love the pool at DLH & you will be able to swim in February. The pools are heated and last year it was actually hot during the week of Presidents day. We went to the DLH for my daughters birthday (Feb.19th) and my kids spent all afternoon swimming. The grounds of DLH are beautiful to explore and it's not too far of a walk to the monorail station in DTD.

I love both, but for your 1st visit I'd choose the Disneyland Hotel.

,
Katie

 

[Blackunicorn]

I agree with MamaKate on many points, but in order to pick your hotel, you're going to have to consider many things:

1)Dining--do you want a hotel with more dining options? The DLH has more restaurants and a greater variety than PPH. PPH has a sandwich/snack place, a sit-down restaurant (which is also the character breakfast restaurant), and a Japanese restaurant. DLH has a bar/lounge, a fast food/snack stand, a sandwich/snack place, Goofy's Kitchen (which is their character breakfast restaurant), a sit-down restaurant (which I wasn't impressed with).

2)Pools--there is just no comparison to the Neverland Pool. The PPH has a regular, rectangular pool with not a lot of theme. There's a hot tub, a wading pool, and a super cool slide. But the Neverland Pool has a pirate ship! And the hot tub has the Little Mermaid! There are two slides, one for big kids and one for little ones. The pool is huge!

3)Grounds--the PPH doesn't have any to speak of. It was a regular hotel until Disney bought it. The DLH has waterfalls, topiary, toy boats, and lots of places to explore. I really hope that the water show is back when we go this fall! It's worth seeing at least once. Of course, you don't have to stay there to see all of this stuff, but it's more convenient if you're already there.

4)Laundry--maybe a stupid thing to worry about, but if you want to wash your clothes, don't stay at the PPH. They don't have a laundry room, so you'd have to have your clothes dry-cleaned.

5)Distance--in my opinion, the distance between the two hotels is negligible. The walk to the monorail may be longer from PPH, but with a shortcut through the GC, the distance to the main gate may not be much longer than the walk from DLH. Also, we were able to cut through the GC to DCA, making the PPH only a few minutes from DCA. Of course, all of this does depend on which tower you end up in, and again, it's based on nothing more substantial than my opinion.

6)Theme--I love the PPH theme. I adore having all the little suns and beach decore around me. I love the blues and the golds. I've never even been in the DLH--how odd is that? I've been all over the grounds, though. So I can't tell you much about the theme. I hear good things about it, but the pictures I've seen aren't that exciting.

7)Price--yes, we all know that the PPH is less expensive. Many people feel you get what you paid for. I felt that the service was wonderful at the PPH, if it makes any difference.

8)Room Size--I've been bad, and I didn't write down the research I did, so all I have are hazy memories. I believe that I found out that the average room at DLH is about 50 sq. ft. bigger than the average room at PPH. The rooms at PPH were very big! I think, and don't quote me on this, that the rooms at PPH are supposed to be about 250 sq. ft.

Now, despite my professed love for the PPH, I've been talked into staying at the DLH this fall. I really, really hope that I don't end up homesick for the PPH!

 

[Amy&Dan]

Hey Blackunicorn, too funny! I got talked into staying away from my favorite hotel, the DLH to stay at PP this September! One thing I really liked about the PP was that there was just one Tower. None of that stressing about which tower will we get. They are both great hotels with lots of magic and theming, you cannot go wrong with either. Since we got a $128 a night at PP for our September stay and DLH was around $60 a night more the decision was easy. I also say this a lot, the walk to either hotel is not bad! It is a very pleasant walk up Downtown Disney wth no worries about traffic and no leaving the magic behind. The rooms at the DLH have Disney themed etchings on the entertainment center. If memory serves I think it was a park map type thing, very cool. The bedspreads are also Disney themed. While the theming is different, both hotels sort of remind me of each other. Maybe its the Mickey soap. I'm just counting the days until our trip!

 

[Blackunicorn]

Well, you were the one who talked me into staying at the DLH! That, and they lowered the points required to stay at the DLH so that they were actually lower than the PPH--we even got an extra night out of our stay! We may actually get there the day that you leave.

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

During the time you'll be visiting Disneyland closes at 8pm and California Adventure closes at 6pm - it's kind of dark at that time -- it might be cold & rainy, or the Santa Ana Winds may be blowing and it might be in the 80s....

The Disneyland Hotel has a little balcony-ledge that you can step out on - the Paradiser Pier Hotel has no ledge.

Electrical Light parade will be running on the weekends only - if you get a room at Paradise Pier, get a theme park view that overlooks California Adventure & watch the lights at night.