Question about good neighbor hotels

[BlueSuitDonald]

We are considering coming to Disneyland next summer. I have been once before and stayed at Disneyland hotel. I have been pricing hotels and wow, on site properties are pricey! Which good neighbor hotels are close to the parks and how long of a walk? Also do you have to cross the street or is there a walkway? If staying at a good neighbor hotel, do you still get early entry? Thanks for any info!

 

[mommy2mrb]

We stay at the Fairfield Inn.
About 10-15 minute walk. Yes you cross the street, at a well marked crosswalk on Harbor. No early entry, perk only for those staying at one of the three DL hotels. If you get a three day ticket you will get one magic morning entry to DL only.

 

[LittleFlounder]

2 weeks ago, we stayed at the Desert Palms Inn & Suites, which is at Katella and Harbor. Same side of the street as DL. It was a 10-15 min walk to the DL/DCA turnstiles. We really liked the hotel!

 

[smartlabelprint]

My faves in very close walking are best western park place inn. They have a Costco discount. Sometimes you must call for better availability.

Camelot inn was nice. Discount for 5 nights or more.

But my absolute favorite now that we have toddlers is a suite. I've stayed at HomeWood Suites convention. LOVE! But I've heard good things about Spring Hill suites and there's a newer suites hmm can't think of it. I'll come back if I do. It's on a side street. We always drive by it on the toy story bus.

 

[Indiana Scott]

The closest and best hotels IMHO are not official GN hotels - which gains you nothing.
My go to hotels are Park View Inn and Best Wester Park Place Inn.

 

[FCDub]

Look at Google Maps for distance and aerial views of walks.

 

[BadPinkTink]

Ive stayed at 2 good neighbour hotels

June 2017 - Dessert Inn and Suites on Harbour Blvd
This motel is directly across the street from the pedestrian entrance. It takes about 7 minutes to walk from the breakfast room to the bag check area. You cross the street at the pedestrian, crossway.

June 2016 and June 2015
Motel 6 Main Gate on Disney Way
This is a little further away but is still walkable. I used the ART bus network

 

[lalasmama]

Park Vue is our favorite, but it's not a GN hotel.

Don't miss a good hotel just because it doesn't have a GN designation. Basically, that GN designation means the hotel:

*Paid Disney for the designation.
*Agrees to let set a few rooms aside for Disney to sell through their website and through specialized TAs.
*Sells Disneyland tickets.

A GN designation does NOT mean hotels:
*Are any cleaner
*Are any nicer
*Are any closer
*Are "Disney-fied"
*Will give you on-site perks
*Are inspected in any way, shape, or form by Disney, or any list of Disney standards

Really the GN designation is an impressive marketing tactic that pays back in spades for the properties because people expect that there's something magical about the designation.

Okay, off my soap box.

Park Vue is across the street. Comfy beds. Good customer service. Renovated 5-6 years ago. Clean. Nice outdoor pool (but certainly not fancy!). Free hot breakfast. Cold Stone Creamery in front of the property (it's our first-night-no-park-day dinner, lol). Best prices if you call for reservations. Usually around $150-250/night.

If it's a bit rich for your blood, Tropicana is 2 properties north. In the middle of renovating now, I've heard great things about the new rooms. Comfy beds. Clean. Around $160-220/night.

 

[Geemo]

We are considering coming to Disneyland next summer. I have been once before and stayed at Disneyland hotel. I have been pricing hotels and wow, on site properties are pricey! Which good neighbor hotels are close to the parks and how long of a walk? Also do you have to cross the street or is there a walkway? If staying at a good neighbor hotel, do you still get early entry? Thanks for any info!

HydroGuy has a few threads with planning and DLR information. Review these for some planning tips.
https://www.disboards.com/threads/hydroguys-hotel-rule.1199862/
https://www.disboards.com/threads/historical-dlr-park-hours-entertainment-and-refurbs.2291124/

Figment_jii maintains the annual Calendar of Events & School calendars for DLR. Here is the one for 2017, we're hoping to see one for 2018 one day soon.
https://www.disboards.com/threads/2017-calendar-of-events-school-breaks-and-dlr.3528760/

Staying at a Disney Hotel gets you Early Entry (EE) to both DL and DCA.
Not staying on site, the only way to get Magic Morning (MM) is to purchase a 3 day or longer park ticket.

The EE schedule is - DL Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday DCA Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday
The MM schedule is - DL Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

If you stay on Harbor Blvd, you will be crossing at the crosswalk. There are plans to construct a walkway/entrance over Harbor.
You can check out the crosswalk here. You can also see some of the hotels along Harbor.
https://www.google.com/maps/@33.809...4!1s1g8q-zb_MvYbhI15kdLd6g!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

If you are considering a trip, pick a hotel now and book. The general rule is the earlier you book the better the rate.
Most have free cancellation if you decide not to go. Also if you find a better rate later you can have it adjusted to save.

Geemo

 

[22Tink]

Our go to hotel is usually the Best Western Park Place but we stayed at the Tropicana last month and it was good, clean and very friendly staff.

 

[smartlabelprint]

And with a 3 day hopper you only get one early entry day. to Disneyland park only.

 

[Elima2015]

We have stayed at BW Park Place Inn, Candy Cane Inn, and HoJo. All have been great choices for different reasons. I would stay at any of them again. Here is my opinion:

BWPPI - had the best included breakfast and location (can't get any closer). Room and pool was the least favorite of the three hotels we have stayed it, but it was clean, comfortable, and we have no complaints.

Candy Cane Inn - best value, property was pretty. The included breakfast was a perfect start to the day. Rooms were fine. It was an easy 10 minute walk to the park. Free shuttle available.

HoJo - this was a great choice with small children. They loved the water slides and pool play area. The rooms were spacious and easily fit 4 of us plus a baby in a pack n play. We had plenty of space and a fridge/microwave to make our own breakfast in the room. It was slightly pricier than the other options, but I thought it had the better rooms and pool. It was about a 10-15 minute walk (about same distance as CCI, but also have to cross Harbor).

 

[poppins2008]

And with a 3 day hopper you only get one early entry day. to Disneyland park only.

We were able to use our 3 day hopper early admission at California Adventure in August. There was clearly some confusion about it, because the cast member who admitted me gave me no trouble, but the gentleman handling my sister's ticket at the ECV gate wanted to see our room key. My cast member told him it was fine and let my sister through the gate with me.

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

We were able to use our 3 day hopper early admission at California Adventure in August. There was clearly some confusion about it, because the cast member who admitted me gave me no trouble, but the gentleman handling my sister's ticket at the ECV gate wanted to see our room key. My cast member told him it was fine and let my sister through the gate with me.

Pretty sure that was a mistake on the part of the CM. It's for DL only. The only way to get early entry at DCA is by staying onsite.

 

[deetman]

Pretty sure that was a mistake on the part of the CM. It's for DL only. The only way to get early entry at DCA is by staying onsite.

Yes. OP of this comment scored!

 

[BlueSuitDonald]

So if you stay at best western park inn and cross at the crosswalk, is the entrance to the parks directly across the street or do you have to walk further down the road?

 

[Geemo]

So if you stay at best western park inn and cross at the crosswalk, is the entrance to the parks directly across the street or do you have to walk further down the road?

If you looked at the link I posted for Google Map, you'll see the people waiting at the signal in front of the crosswalk.
Captain Kids Buffet is in the middle, Best Western Park Place Inn (BWPPI) on the left and ParkVue Inn to the right.
Using the cursor you can spin the view 180* and see the walkway into DLR
You'll see tenting for some construction going on right there. To the right you can see the track for the monorail.

https://www.google.com/maps/@33.809...4!1s1g8q-zb_MvYbhI15kdLd6g!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

Now here's another map I like to use for distances
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=3...8087;1604;30469;1604;22423;2674;9977;1158;0;0
With the first red dot in front of the BWPPI and the rest going over to the middle of the Esplanade, the distance is 1274Feet.
If you scroll in it will indicated the name of the hotels on Harbor.

Geemo

 

[BlueSuitDonald]

Awesome! Thanks

 

[BLAllee]

I will put in another vote for the Tropicana. Very easy access to the parks, about a 5 minute walk.

 

[felice]

TBH, even if some of the hotels are a fair distance away from the parks, they are still counted as GN hotels (particularly if they live up to the standards required).

The Staybridge Suites hotel on S Manchester Av (where my wife and I stay when we travel over from the UK) is, i believe, a good neighbor hotel (and I think that's official, though i could be wrong) and strive to achieve this aim.