Recommendations for a fabulous hotel

[ubermama]

We need to find a fabulous hotel for our upcoming trip to DisneyLand. We are taking the Disney Cruise out of LA next year and would like to spend 4 days before the cruise. Of course we have to visit DisneyLand. Any hotel suggestions would be great. We have a 12 year old daughter so the pool area needs to be awesome. Thank you everyone.

 

[ballarinamom]

If you want to stay onsite, the Grand Californian is the best of the 3. Not really "Disney" themed but really pretty. I can't vouch for their pool. I think in that regard from what I have heard it is the least cool of the pools as the DLH and PP have great waterslides.

If you want offsite, the Desert Palms look really nice and the are failrly close. I have only stayed at the DLH and once at the Desert Inn and Suites. We LOVE the DLH but many fell it is dated (hence the remodeling going on)
They have a great Peter Pan themed pool. Maybe you could upgrade to concierge level or get one of the newly themed Suites???

Have a great trip!

 

[DizMe]

Absolutely the Grand Californian! The pool is beautiful and the waterslide is fun though nothing spectacular. The hotel and grounds are gorgeous; in particular, the lobby is spectacular. They offer lots of little extras to guests, like gold coins on the pillows, activities each day, childcare (for a fee), and of course they have a special entrance to CA, which is very handy!

I really, really love the Disneyland Hotel. It is my personal favorite! But if you're looking for a "fabulous hotel," I think you'd prefer GCH. It is more upscale, while DLH is more family oriented and Disney-esque. They have topiary animals, characters in the lobby, a very cool pool with lots of landscaping and a pirate ship (which isn't something you can play on but looks great!). They have waterfalls and koi ponds and second pools and on and on. It is further from the park but a nice walk through DTD and it's also very close to the monorail.

The Paradise Pier Hotel is nice but not fabulous, IMO, and I wouldn't pay resort money for it. If they have a good special, then ok, but otherwise I'd go with GCH or DLH or stay off-site. At the times I go, it has only been $10 less per night than DLH which isn't worth the savings to me.

 

[HydroGuy]

We need to find a fabulous hotel for our upcoming trip to DisneyLand. We are taking the Disney Cruise out of LA next year and would like to spend 4 days before the cruise. Of course we have to visit DisneyLand. Any hotel suggestions would be great. We have a 12 year old daughter so the pool area needs to be awesome. Thank you everyone.

Not sure how awe$ome you are looking for but GCH is the most awesome. If this is your first time at DLR I would suggest that in general DLR visitors have a different mindset than WDW visitors about hotels. Yes, it is nice to have a nice hotel but folks at DLR tend to spend more time at the parks and less at the hotel. Hence many find that paying more for a nice hotel which you only use for sleeping is not worth it. Personally we like the proximity of the walking distance hotels more than the luxury of nice hotels that might be further away.

Keep that in mind and check the links in this thread:

"HydroGuy's Hotel Rule" www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1199862

 

[nunzia]

Grand Californian..beautiful and location can't be beat.