The Disneyland Hotel - To Stay or Not to Stay...that is the question...

[pokee99]

We've been to Disneyland 2 times as a family, and once as a couple. Each time we've been, we look into staying at the Disneyland Hotel, only to be turned off completely (to the point of being insulted) by the prices. We are planning a trip for early March 2017, and are having the exact same quandary this time around.

The cheapest price for a basic, no view, 2 bed room (for 4 people) is $512 + tax + exchange rate (for us Canadians) - which works out to be about $800CAD a night. Like, that makes me want to vomit. We love Disneyland, but I just don't know if I can spend that money - and if the "magic" will be ruined by the knowledge that we're being ripped off. It doesn't help that most of the reviews I read indicate that the rooms are becoming outdated again (last renovated in 2011 - yeah, it's been a while Disney) and that something always seems to be wrong or broken inside the room, due to that lack of recent updates. There's also reviews that state that requests for room types, bed configurations or views (even for the most expensive suites) cannot be guaranteed. I see that as a flaw in their reservation system - that they should be able to breakdown the room types more efficiently so that guests can have more confidence when making a reservation for a premium room (and THOSE are close to $900US a night PLUS tax PLUS exchange). Then there's the bother of putting a one night deposit down and having a less than appealing cancellation policy (I'm comparing this to say reserving at my typical Marriott or Hilton, where I put no money down and have a 24 hour cancellation policy). Annoying, but I get that it's necessary for them. I just have trouble with attaching my money now to something I won't be doing for 7 months.

What makes my decision even harder is that reviews on Trip Advisor seem skewed, and clouded by Disney pixie dust! People complaining incessantly about their bad service or broken stuff in their room or spending waaaay to much to stay there, given the type of room and service they're getting, still give a 4 star review - simply because it's THE Disneyland Hotel. And, of course, there is no hotel manager responding to these less than favorable reviews, promising to look into it, or use feedback as a learning experience (which is typical for hotels all over the world that value their guests' opinions). And why is that? Because they don't care what any of us have to say. That's what happens when the hotel name draws the customers in. They don't need to work at improving anything, really, do they?

BUT....man, it's still THE Disneyland Hotel. And any self-respecting Disney fan has to stay at least once, right? So maybe one or two nights? Yeah, but what a pain to have to change hotels. I hate that more than overspending for a hotel.

So I guess what I am looking for is advice - perhaps reassurance, that our Disneyland dreams WILL come true staying here, and just suck it up and pay the money! It's only money right?! Just breathe....hahaha! I'd also love to hear some true Disney lovers experiences staying at the Disneyland Hotel and any tips or tricks to have just a positive attitude about staying there and not let the money thing get in the way, and perhaps also how it compares to some of the higher-end good neighbour hotels that are also fairly close-by the park. Thanks in advance for any advice, and for reading the long rant, as well!

 

[NJlauren]

I'm happy to give you a review in a few weeks after my stay.... But I can tell you why I ended up booking there and see if that helps you at all.

- early entry, when we go parks don't open till 10am and that extra hour is a huge things for me
- discount we ended up getting 20% off so it hurt a little less
- amenities, pools, and some other cool features were small selling points for us, walk in the morning through DCA etc.
- it's the Disneyland hotel, I have had 3 different hotels booked and really wasn't planning on staying here, however it's the Disneyland hotel and it's my first Disneyland visit in 15+ years
- reviews are opinions, I always read the worst ones and judge by that, we are easy to please, clean and safe is about all I ask, (obviously price point can dictate amenities). I find if the worst reviews are not bed bugs everywhere, mold growing, and other extremes I'm usually ok.....I also think most reviews are shared by a small percentage of people. I try to always review, but most of my friends don't review.... I guess my point is don't take to much stock in reviews. I also take no stock in a review of the person has written no other reviews....

Honestly for 512 a night I probably wouldn't have stayed there.... But as you say its just money....

 

[ParkHopper1]

I am spoiled and get to stay on property quite a bit. I just for the first time in many years stayed on the Harbor Blvd side...Just my opinion...but there is a HUGE difference. There is such the thing known as the "Disney Bubble" and being fully immersed. Walking back to to hotel via Downtown Disney and not entering civilization or coming to the parks and having Starbucks and Jamba Juice right there is what you are paying for. You never leave the environment and are on vacation from the second you step on property to the second you leave. Reality is left behind.

Harbor side is nice, clean and safe but I really felt like I left the park and was on the Vegas Strip with people peddling cheap Disney crap, folks handing out leaflets, a few panhandlers, signs for buffets...just a MUCH different feel from the other side of the park.

Now, nothing wrong with that and not necessarily a negative but it is a different experience staying on site. If staying on site is going to cut into and affect your vacation finances...stay off site hands down. Another day in the park is more valuable than staying on site...but of you can swing it, it is defiantly worth staying on site to see what it means to you. To some people it does not matter, for others is is well worth the extra expense for the experience and won't do Disneyland any other way.

Many of the online reviews seem to come from people that have unrealistic expectations based solely on the price they are paying. I have stayed in hotels literally hundreds of nights from dives to Five Star resorts and the Disney Properties are right up there. Yes, there will always be bad experiences but most of the negativity seems to come from people having set themselves up for failure not on Disney's ability to deliver a great product...albeit an expensive product!

 

[smartlabelprint]

My personal budget is $200 a night. I simply can't go over it. And for this price I can stay in some really nice brand new hotels in the area. Some are walking distance, some a shuttle is more prudent.

I too always want to stay at DLH but when I do it will be during a dapper days event with heavy discounts. Plus my kids are young
and need a separate area to fall asleep.

For now, I'll settle for the Homewood suites.

 

[HappiestHaunt]

The only property I have stayed on site in was the Grand California, in a standard non-view room. The stay was gifted by a friend using DVC points. But even then (2005) I would have never paid for it. Back then there was no early entry, so the only real benefit was being Downtown and the package service in my eyes. Numerous trips later (now with the family), and I still cannot put the money in to stay on property. We love staying at the properties across the street at the crosswalk and thereabouts and use the savings on fun extras. We always want to stay at the Disneyland Hotel or the Grand Californian (especially here for the closeness) but the cost to value ration at this time is just not good enough.

 

[Wilcojoe]

Yeah, I hear ya. We are going in mid-September for four nights and I just this week pulled the trigger on switching from HOJO to DLH. The driving force was the "end of summer sale" which comes out to about $318 per night. I had to find a way to justify paying those prices and that was it. Since we are traveling from Texas and this is our first time with our two young boys, I figured it was worth it.

I really value the EMH, but am starting to think it might not be as big of a benefit since crowd levels are suppose to be light (for Disney standards). If it was during a busier period of time, I could really see it having a considerable benefit that would help justify the premium we would be paying to stay onsite. I really do love the idea of being able to take the Monorail back to our hotel every day though. I really wish they could find a way to ensure that it got you to the gates quicker at rope drop or EMH though. Or even bring back the trams to take guests directly to the main gate? Easy access (less time on foot) would go a long way to helping justify those rates, IMO.

Also if you plan on spending more time at your hotel during breaks or on your arrival day, that is something to consider as well. We will be spending our arrival day at the hotel, so that was instrumental in my making the change as well.

I will say this much, if I was someone who would make yearly (or more) trips to Disney, I would not be staying onsite. As it is, who knows when we will be back? I guess this trip will go a long way towards answering that question.

 

[5forMickey]

I LOVE LOVE LOVE staying at the DLH, it's the only way I want to go. That being said, I've noticed that when people go back and forth about staying on site and the price is the main thing they debate, they are usually not happy with their trip. I think it plays into the "if I'm spending that much it better be perfect" mindset and then nothing really ever is as good as they want it to be for the price they paid for the Hotel. Sets them up for disappointment. Yes, the DLH is highly priced, but I think all the lodging in that area is. Do you really think the other motels would be able to charge what they do if they weren't right next door to Disney. That is a big part of what you are paying for.

as PARKHOPPER1 said "Many of the online reviews seem to come from people that have unrealistic expectations based solely on the price they are paying." -- This 100%

If you are already worried "it's going to ruin the magic" then it probably will.

 

[planningjollyholiday]

Although TripAdvisor is a good tool to use sometimes, take the reviews with a grain of salt. I find that the negative reviews of Disney are often from guest with unrealistic expectations.
I'm fine with disney not responding to negative comments on TripAdvisor because if these guests truly had an issue then they should have contacted disney directly instead of whining about it after the fact on a third party website. Whenever I have had feedback (both good and bad) and contacted disney they have responded to me in a timely fashion, and I have always felt heard, as well as satisfied with the outcome. In a bad situation they do try hard to rectify it, and win back their customers.
I have never had a room that felt worn or outdated, in fact I've always been very happy with the rooms at the disneyland hotel.
The service for us has always been amazing, and I would go as far as say that at times and they have gone above and beyond for my family.
The DLH is my favourite hotel, and I love it there. However, $800 CAD a night is expensive, and I would say that it is not worth it for a standard room at that price. If you find a discount, and the dollar gets better than I would revisit the idea of staying there, but in the meantime I would book somewhere else for now.

 

[5forMickey]

I will say this much, if I was someone who would make yearly (or more) trips to Disney, I would not be staying onsite. As it is, who knows when we will be back? I guess this trip will go a long way towards answering that question.

Awe be very careful, famous last words of many who are now hooked completely on staying only onsite!

 

[GatorChris]

I would never ever stay at DLH or anywhere for the price you listed. No hotel room is worth that much. 3 nights of that are more than a mortgage payment. You could stay at Courtyard w/water park (the priciest on Harbor) for half that. And it's new and updated!! I always looked at it like this: for what a week at a DL hotel would cost me, I could stay two weeks elsewhere. Which means return trip! Or a longer trip.

I've stayed at PPH, where there really is no magic. And I've stayed at DLH with a great deal (that was still way more than HoJo). And as nice as it was, I really didn't feel the "bubble" there that others have felt. After that, I decided that I'll never pay rack rate for DLH, and I'd be hard pressed to at the discount rate.

 

[jammyjam25]

Not sure how flexible your plans are but maybe you could try to plan a trip to participate in an event like Fall/Spring Dapper Days or Gay Days weekend when rooms are significantly discounted (For example, I am headed to my second Gay Days weekend this October and am paying $194/night for the DLH) that way if you do end up disappointed in the experience, well at least you didn't pay $500/night but rather something closer to what you'd normally pay to stay across the street?

I personally think the DLH is great. The rooms are big, they are clean, the staff has never been anything short of wonderful, and we love the on-site pools and restaurants. That being said, I would NEVER stay on-site paying the normal price of $400-$500/night. We simply can't justify spending that much no matter how much we love it. Extra Magic Hour, convenient location, the "Disney Bubble", etc. still aren't enough to woo us into spending that much. We simply stay off site if we go other times during the year (other than Gay Days) as the hotel we are at doesn't make or break our vacation.

IMO - I think if someone goes in with the attitude that they're being ripped off, and nothing there is worth the price they are paying, they are not going to have a good time. Period. No matter how wonderful their stay ends up being they'll be looking at everything through the hypercritical lens of "I paid a fortune for this" and they'll manage to find a negative in nearly anything that doesn't exactly live up to their expectations of what $500/night should grant them. - This is not an attack on you OP because I totally get the trepidation of paying such a high price for a hotel only to get an "average" hotel experience, because that sucks. I'm just saying if you do decide to pull the trigger and go for it, don't let the price dictate all your expectations and cloud your experience. Once you're there you'll hopefully be having so much fun with your family that what you paid for the trip will be the last thing on your mind!

 

[Angrose]

Hey there, I feel your pain. It's a lot of money to stay onsite, there's no doubt about that! We stayed at the DLH for the first time in Nov 2014. I REALLY wanted to stay there, especially since it was during the holiday season and wanted the whole Disney experience, but man, the PRICE! What I did was join every travel site I could: Orbitz, Cheaptickets, hotels.com, LMTClub, etc. because they often send out promo codes. I don't know how this happened but I received a 30% off one-time use promo code from Orbitz. You can bet I jumped on that one! It was still not cheap, but it was better than paying full price. So, here's the kicker...I didn't LOVE it the first time I stayed there! I was put off by the long walk through DTD, our double queen room felt a little cramped, and we didn't bring swimsuits so we didn't take advantage of their awesome pool...d'oh! Don't get me wrong, we still enjoyed staying there. Being in the Disney bubble was really special, taking the Monorail back to the hotel was great, and we had a fantastic view of the fireworks even though we only booked a standard room, which was in great condition so no complaints there. But, I still left thinking that we paid too much and probably wouldn't do it again.

Fast forward 7 DLR trips and two APs in the past year and a half...I have stayed on Harbor Blvd 5 times now, once on Katella, and another stay at DLH this past March. All I have to say is that after staying at the DLH that first time, it was really hard to go back to staying on Harbor. There is no magic on Harbor. Sorry, but it's true. The night I stayed at the DLH was for my birthday, only one night and boy did I take advantage of it! Trader Sam's, pool, hot tub, early entry...and I LOVED IT!! It felt like a true mini vacay. My room was in the Frontier tower and it was huge. I also got a great room rate, again on Orbitz...I accidently booked an accessible room that was much cheaper than a standard room. I didn't want to give up the great rate, so I called DLH to let them know my mistake and they said no problem, they removed the accessible room requirement from my reservation.

I just checked on rates in March/April and they are REALLY high. Keep in mind that's spring break season. I went in early March so that probably made a difference too. Watch for DLR to put out promos in early Feb. It looks like last year they released one that was 20% off room rates on select Sun-Thu nights thru 3/31. You can stack that with an Orbitz promo (typically 15%) but you have to pay the entire bill upfront if you book with them. Some other options to consider for lower rates: go during Dapper Days or Gay Days to get almost half off! We are planning on going for Gay Days this year which is the first weekend of Oct. They also have a mini-Gay day in March, but that date hasn't been announced yet for 2017. Dapper Days will be in Nov this year and in April next year. There is no official registration required to book their rates, but you should participate in the festivities. We will wear red for Gay Days to show our support!

In 2013 we stayed at the Marriott Suites which is WAY down Harbor so we drove in to the parks. It was nice, and we needed a suite since my mom came with us, but in no way did it compare to DLH! It was a pain to drive back and forth to the parks and obviously lacked the "magic". I haven't tried any of the other upscale hotels, but I'm toying with the idea of either the new Homewood Suites or the Courtyard Marriott by the convention center if we decide to go around Christmas time. We would need a suite again so DLH is out of the question. Plus, those places are pretty new and close to the Toy Story parking lot so easy to take the shuttle to the parks, or so I heard. Sometimes we just need to make compromises when it comes to Disney!

Good luck with your decision!

 

[ADLFAN]

We splurged on the DLH for our first 5 day trip and I really loved it. The bed and bedding were heavenly, the on site restaurants and of course Trader Sam's are all good options plus it is very close to Downtown Disney and all those choices. I loved the pool area with it's soundtrack and plenty of space to swim around. The giftshops even had a good selection! We did room service one night because I had never stayed somewhere nice enough to offer it before and it was very good.

As far as the Disney Bubble feeling, I may be unique in that I got tired of walking through the sprawl of DTD everyday. We found the monorail to be unreliable with long waits of 2-3 trains everytime we tried using it. It is definitely true that the scenery is better! I did like the live music at night, but I was so beat all I wanted to do was collapse on that heavenly bed!

Aside from that, I can only think of one minor detail that I didn't enjoy which was that the vending machines were card only and I found them unreliable and a pain to use. Like, it would only read the card every 5th scan and sometimes it cancelled without vending. I got the Disney bug and I had to keep arguing with the thing while trying to give Disney 4 bucks a bottle for water and Sprite!

The price can get prohibitive though, and we have been able to stay just as long for half the price at the neighboring hotels. I really didn't understand how many there were until I looked on Google Earth. And there have been multiple new places built in the last few years who could never get away with charging Disney's crazy rates. I would look at some of the competition and see if something intrigues you. I bet even if you paid for Uber to shuttle your group to and from the park it would still be less expensive than the DLH.

Others will have to help list the nicer and newer chain places, the only one I can think of is the Courtyard with the roof top waterpark...

 

[ktlm]

We have stayed at DLH every year for the last 6 years. We love the Disneyland hotel. We have never had anything wrong with, or broken, in our room. We don't feel like the rooms are outdated. We love them. It has a wonderful Disney feel We have never gotten anything but great service there. A few years ago, we had a couple of weeks where we had a rash of tornados near us. The night before our trip we spent some time in a shelter because a smaller one got near our house and there was also one that hit very close to the airport. Flights were cancelled and our flight around 9:00 in the morning was the first flight that actually left the airport that day and had only a very short delay. When we checked in, I mentioned how glad we were to be there because we had been in our tornado shelter the night before and way too many times in the last few weeks (and my husband showed them a video of one he had taken from our front yard) and that we didn't think we were going to get there because one hit near the airport and a ton of flights were cancelled. We came back to the room from being in the park that night and we had a plate of rice crispy treats and milk in the refrigerator with a very nice note from the staff. It was the sweetest gesture! We have always felt totally immersed and wrapped in the Disney bubble there--- but when we started going to DLH we were WDW vets who stayed on property there and were used to being in the Disney bubble.

A few weeks ago, we wound up flying in a day early and the DLH was booked that night. We stayed at the Fairfield Inn. The Fairfield Inn was clean, nice, the staff was great and it catered very well to the DL crowd. We had a Princess decorated room and it even had glow in the dark sparkles on the ceiling- DD loved the room. It was close to the gates. I would not hesitate to stay there again. Even so, it was night and day from being on property. Also entering the parks from that side as opposed to walking through DTD was a whole different experience. While if we couldn't stay at DLH, I would be fine at the Fairfield Inn again, it really reinforced that our preference is by far the DLH and that for us, being on-property WDW vets- it is worth paying the extra money to stay in the Disney bubble. Another thing that was great a few weeks ago, about being on property was the ability to use the GCH gate and avoid the long security lines. The security lines are pretty crazy right now. We discovered that we could come about 10 minutes or so after rope drop-- go through GCH and use their CA entrance (even if we were going to DLH since we had hoppers) and the most we ever had was one or two families ahead of us. When we came in from the Harbor side- which was around noon as it was arrival day-- we waited about 20 minutes or more in line for the metal detectors.

That said- from your post-- it sounds like you may not be happy with DLH. It is a lot of money and if the whole time you are there you are going to be focused on how much it is costing you, then it may not be the place for you. I have to go in with the mindset that I am just going to enjoy it and not think about the cost- I just focus on the memories we are making instead. I'm not big on changing hotels, but at least when we did it- we had only been at the Fairfield one night- so I just had everyone only unpack what they needed and set their clothes out for the next day, so we could pack up quick and get to DLH as close to rope drop as possible. We just dropped our bags at bell services, checked in, and headed out to the parks. They text or call you when your room is ready. You don't have to go back to the resort then unless you want to- we did want to go check it out and get our bags in the room, so we did make a quick trip back.

My gut tells me from your post that you might be better off just staying off property, but the DLH really is a great place-- at least to us!

 

[spokanemom]

I agree with being torn. It IS the DLH, but I have a really hard time justifying the price. That being said, I did justify it to myself for my upcoming trip... but as a split stay. We are closing out of vacation at the DLH after spending a couple of nights on Harbor. I feel better knowing that I have not spent my children's inheritance on one trip, and I still get to experience the DLH again. Best of both worlds in my opinion.

 

[smartlabelprint]

New hotels
http://visitanaheim.org/press-releases/2015/01/07/nine-new-hotels-opening-anaheim-resort-district

 

[Wilcojoe]

One other justification for staying at the DLH for us is the fact that the parks have less hours when we're there, so more time at the pool, restaurants, and in the room. Though I think the pools close around the same time as the parks (or much earlier during peak season) so that is a negative. I need to add that to my suggestion box. Keep the pools open later!

 

[cruisehopeful]

I was going to just post to not stay there because the cost is way too high. By the time I got to the bottom of your post, it sounded like you really want to stay there. My suggestion is to stay one night there. You'll get a good idea of if it is worth it or not. I think it is not worth that price myself. In my case, I stay at the parks all day and only use my room to sleep and shower. I will often go to the hotels for the bars and/or restaurants, even the gift shop, but I'll pay a lot less to sleep and shower somewhere else.

 

[kathy040690]

I personally wouldn't stay there for that price.. our dollar is awful right now. Personally i dont find we lose any magic staying offsite

 

[Aladora]

We've been to Disneyland 2 times as a family, and once as a couple. Each time we've been, we look into staying at the Disneyland Hotel, only to be turned off completely (to the point of being insulted) by the prices. We are planning a trip for early March 2017, and are having the exact same quandary this time around.

The cheapest price for a basic, no view, 2 bed room (for 4 people) is $512 + tax + exchange rate (for us Canadians) - which works out to be about $800CAD a night. Like, that makes me want to vomit. We love Disneyland, but I just don't know if I can spend that money - and if the "magic" will be ruined by the knowledge that we're being ripped off. It doesn't help that most of the reviews I read indicate that the rooms are becoming outdated again (last renovated in 2011 - yeah, it's been a while Disney) and that something always seems to be wrong or broken inside the room, due to that lack of recent updates. There's also reviews that state that requests for room types, bed configurations or views (even for the most expensive suites) cannot be guaranteed. I see that as a flaw in their reservation system - that they should be able to breakdown the room types more efficiently so that guests can have more confidence when making a reservation for a premium room (and THOSE are close to $900US a night PLUS tax PLUS exchange). Then there's the bother of putting a one night deposit down and having a less than appealing cancellation policy (I'm comparing this to say reserving at my typical Marriott or Hilton, where I put no money down and have a 24 hour cancellation policy). Annoying, but I get that it's necessary for them. I just have trouble with attaching my money now to something I won't be doing for 7 months.

What makes my decision even harder is that reviews on Trip Advisor seem skewed, and clouded by Disney pixie dust! People complaining incessantly about their bad service or broken stuff in their room or spending waaaay to much to stay there, given the type of room and service they're getting, still give a 4 star review - simply because it's THE Disneyland Hotel. And, of course, there is no hotel manager responding to these less than favorable reviews, promising to look into it, or use feedback as a learning experience (which is typical for hotels all over the world that value their guests' opinions). And why is that? Because they don't care what any of us have to say. That's what happens when the hotel name draws the customers in. They don't need to work at improving anything, really, do they?

BUT....man, it's still THE Disneyland Hotel. And any self-respecting Disney fan has to stay at least once, right? So maybe one or two nights? Yeah, but what a pain to have to change hotels. I hate that more than overspending for a hotel.

So I guess what I am looking for is advice - perhaps reassurance, that our Disneyland dreams WILL come true staying here, and just suck it up and pay the money! It's only money right?! Just breathe....hahaha! I'd also love to hear some true Disney lovers experiences staying at the Disneyland Hotel and any tips or tricks to have just a positive attitude about staying there and not let the money thing get in the way, and perhaps also how it compares to some of the higher-end good neighbour hotels that are also fairly close-by the park. Thanks in advance for any advice, and for reading the long rant, as well!

So, here is my advice from a fellow Canadian. (Hi from Vancouver Island!)

First off, the rates you are seeing are direct from the Disneyland website. Don't book there. Expedia or Orbitz will have a much better rate and you can sometimes luck out and get a discounted room from Disney plus stack a discount from Expedia or Orbitz for an amazing rate! Also, the cancellation policy is better on sites such as Expedia and Orbitz.

Second, and this tags on to my first point, you are checking too early. Expedia does not even have the DLR hotels available yet for March, I know because we are planning a trip for March 2017 for my birthday so I have been checking obsessively! I can't find any of the three Disney hotels on Expedia past the end of 2016. So you will have to be a bit patient and wait a bit longer! By being patient and checking the sites often, I managed to get 5 nights at the GCH last February for $239 USD/night!

We've now stayed at all three DLR hotels and while I love all three of them, DH and I both actually prefer PPH. We found the room at GCH was smaller and we were almost at the very end of the furthest hallway so the walk was seemingly endless! DLH is amazing, for full-on Disney immersion, it really cannot be beat but we all loved the relaxed feeling at PPH. The PPH room was really nice and large and even though others have mentioned issues with the elevators there, we didn't experience any problems at all.

My 45th birthday is next March and I keep telling myself that we will stay at the DLH because...well, it's the original one but I'm pretty sure that we will end up at PPH because we just like it better. Besides, with the money we can save by staying at PPH, we can go all out and do the Napa Rose chef's counter again!