secret entrance?

[DLRfan31]

We have reservations at a hotel on Harbor for our Oct visit, but I am still cruising around seeing if we can get a better place for a good price. I came across this on the Holiday Inn website. This is located on Walnut which is NW of DLR I'm guessing about a mile from the esplanade.

Their site has this posted:

Ride the Anaheim Resort Transit shuttle that runs to Disneyland® Resort, which is a half-mile from our hotel's location in Anaheim, CA. We are within walking distance to Downtown Disney® and the "secret" park entrance at the Monorail Station next to Rainforest Cafe! Hungry after your fun day at the parks? We are now serving great pizza and appetizers until 1am throughout the summer!

Anyone know what they're talking about?

If this shortens the walk to the parks, I just may switch.

 

[ArchOwl]

We have reservations at a hotel on Harbor for our Oct visit, but I am still cruising around seeing if we can get a better place for a good price. I came across this on the Holiday Inn website. This is located on Walnut which is NW of DLR I'm guessing about a mile from the esplanade.

Their site has this posted:

Ride the Anaheim Resort Transit shuttle that runs to Disneyland® Resort, which is a half-mile from our hotel's location in Anaheim, CA. We are within walking distance to Downtown Disney® and the "secret" park entrance at the Monorail Station next to Rainforest Cafe! Hungry after your fun day at the parks? We are now serving great pizza and appetizers until 1am throughout the summer!

Anyone know what they're talking about?

If this shortens the walk to the parks, I just may switch.

That is hilarious. They are just talking about the monorail station in Downtown Disney. It is not a secret. And you should be aware it only takes you DL, there is no monorail station for DCA.

 

[DLRfan31]

That is hilarious. They are just talking about the monorail station in Downtown Disney. It is not a secret. And you should be aware it only takes you DL, there is no monorail station for DCA.

Thanks archowl, I figured as much but just in case, I thought I'd ask.

So how far is it to the esplanade from this hotel? Would you walk to Magic Way and through DD?

I know I read on some thread that there were spots in the hedges you could get through and go to the trams at Mickey's parking lot and wouldn't have to go all the way down to Magic Way, but even getting through and having to hop on the tram is hardly time saving.

 

[ArchOwl]

Thanks archowl, I figured as much but just in case, I thought I'd ask.

So how far is it to the esplanade from this hotel? Would you walk to Magic Way and through DD?

I know I read on some thread that there were spots in the hedges you could get through and go to the trams at Mickey's parking lot and wouldn't have to go all the way down to Magic Way, but even getting through and having to hop on the tram is hardly time saving.

Measuring the distance using the wikimapia here: http://www.wikimapia.org/#lat=33.809979&lon=-117.9200148&z=16&l=0&m=b&gz=0;-1179190921;338049244;0;95742;858;0

It looks to be about a mile from the Holiday Inn using Magic Way through DTD to the Esplanade.

The mile to the parks isn't bad, it is the mile back!

 

[DLRfan31]

Measuring the distance using the wikimapia here: http://www.wikimapia.org/#lat=33.809979&lon=-117.9200148&z=16&l=0&m=b&gz=0;-1179190921;338049244;0;95742;858;0

It looks to be about a mile from the Holiday Inn using Magic Way through DTD to the Esplanade.

The mile to the parks isn't bad, it is the mile back!

Yeah, very true!

Damn, the hotel looks really nice. They have a great restaurant and the pool area looks awesome, cute little covered pool lounge chairs.

but we want to stay close enough for an easy walk.

 

[Malcon10t]

That is hilarious. They are just talking about the monorail station in Downtown Disney. It is not a secret. And you should be aware it only takes you DL, there is no monorail station for DCA.

And be aware, during some peak times, only hotel guests can ride (such as first thing in the AM and after fireworks.)

 

[bumbershoot]

And be aware, during some peak times, only hotel guests can ride (such as first thing in the AM and after fireworks.)

And, in my family's experience, the times you want that monorail the most will be the times it goes down and you can't ride.

 

[ArchOwl]

And be aware, during some peak times, only hotel guests can ride (such as first thing in the AM and after fireworks.)

And, in my family's experience, the times you want that monorail the most will be the times it goes down and you can't ride.

True! Better to think of the monorail as an attraction, not a reliable form of transportation.

 

[DLRfan31]

I sure miss the "good ol' days" when we RV'd at the disney Vacationland, walked down to the DLH, had breakfast at that cute little place by the monorail, and anyone with a ticket could hop on the monorail and head into DL....sigh

but anyway, I wasn't thinking about the monorail for early access...I know better.

 

[Brumbie13]

Thanks archowl, I figured as much but just in case, I thought I'd ask.

So how far is it to the esplanade from this hotel? Would you walk to Magic Way and through DD?

I know I read on some thread that there were spots in the hedges you could get through and go to the trams at Mickey's parking lot and wouldn't have to go all the way down to Magic Way, but even getting through and having to hop on the tram is hardly time saving.

We always stay at the HI there and always hop on the Mickey and Friends tram.

As someone else mentioned, it's not the walk there that gets you, it's the walk back.

The tram has proven to us to be a huge time saver over walking all the way to DL from the HI.

 

[ParkHopper1]

The Walnut HI is also my go to when not staying on site...love that its tucked back away from everything else. It is RIGHT behind Mickey and Friends Parking garage....but there is no way through...I checked...may times! You can easily walk down Walnut, around the garage, and hop on the Tram. It is an easy walk.

I suspect the "secret" entrance they may be referring to could be the walkway that goes to the Parking garage has a small gate that you can duck out of DTD and follow the sidewalk along the tram route rather than hiking all the way through DTD then cutting over to the garage...and on to the Hotel

 

[sechelt]

Something to keep in mind is that the monorail only has two stations, one in Downtown Disney and one in Tomorrowland by the subs and autopia. If you're wanting to get to some of the other areas of DL, you could be walking just as far as if you'd gone through the main entrance. It's not really a shortcut, just an attraction to ride.

 

[jlmarr]

Here's a map of the route from HI to the M&F Tram Stop. It's about a half mile.

 

[chrissiecutie]

I sure miss the "good ol' days" when we RV'd at the disney Vacationland, walked down to the DLH, had breakfast at that cute little place by the monorail, and anyone with a ticket could hop on the monorail and head into DL....sigh

but anyway, I wasn't thinking about the monorail for early access...I know better.

Picture #5- AH...the good ole days! Growing up my family always spent the day before DL at the DLH. We couldn't afford to actually eat there, let alone STAY there (family of 5 on a teacher's salary) but we always went and walked around the pool, the waterfalls, ran around the Monorail loading area, drove the boats, bought our souviners in the gift shop and watched the Looking Glass Elevator. Such great childhood memories- that sadly, I can no longer pass along to my own son because they changed it so drastically!

http://www.yesterland.com/dlhotel-tram.html

And BTW- some of the "on-site" hotels are actually further away then those outside Disney's gates.

IMO- go for a Good Neighbor or something along Katella.

 

[DLRfan31]

Here's a map of the route from HI to the M&F Tram Stop. It's about a half mile.

Thanks jlmarr!

 

[DLRfan31]

Picture #5- AH...the good ole days! Growing up my family always spent the day before DL at the DLH. We couldn't afford to actually eat there, let alone STAY there (family of 5 on a teacher's salary) but we always went and walked around the pool, the waterfalls, ran around the Monorail loading area, drove the boats, bought our souviners in the gift shop and watched the Looking Glass Elevator. Such great childhood memories- that sadly, I can no longer pass along to my own son because they changed it so drastically!

http://www.yesterland.com/dlhotel-tram.html

And BTW- some of the "on-site" hotels are actually further away then those outside Disney's gates.

IMO- go for a Good Neighbor or something along Katella.

Wow what a great link! I must be getting old...I remember a lot of those things in the pictures! ahhh the good ol' days indeed....sigh.

Thanks for the link. oh how the DH has changed!

WA state here too. Howdy neighbor

 

[chrissiecutie]

Wow what a great link! I must be getting old...I remember a lot of those things in the pictures! ahhh the good ol' days indeed....sigh.

Thanks for the link. oh how the DH has changed!

WA state here too. Howdy neighbor

Howdy!!

Boy, I sure do miss the way DLH used to be! This website is pretty neat- check out the Looking Glass Elevator and old pics of the actual land. Fun!!

 

[hootey]

We use the "Secret Entrance" part of the time when we stay at the DLH. We use it a lot late at night going back to the DLH. However, we usually walk to the main entrance, go through the turnstyles, walk under the RR, and either get on the train or go down mainstreet. For us , nothing says DisneyLand quite as well as the MainStreet Train Station....