WDW vet/DL newbie needs help...on site DL hotel vs off site hotel for summer 2018

[Little E]

I need some advice from my Disboard friends about a first time trip to Disneyland. I consider myself a WDW vet, as I have taken my family to WDW 8 times since 2011. We have always stayed onsite at a variety of values, mods, and deluxes.

We live in the midwest and are planning an RV trip to the Yosemite and Sequoia National parks in California for the summer of 2018, and we're thinking we'd like to end our trip in Anaheim, so that we can visit Disneyland. I'm thinking, with the timing of our RV drop off, we'll need three nights in a hotel in Anaheim, and we'll do Disneyland in two days during that time.

Since we have always been a stay onsite kind of family for our WDW trips, I started pricing out a three night two park day package at the three Disneyland hotels for July, 2018, and I discovered they are so very expensive. This will probably be our only trip to Disneyland, and I'm trying to decide if staying onsite is worth it? I just need some feedback from Dis friends. For DL vets, tell me which Disneyland hotel is not to be missed. Or, tell me it's OK to take a pass on staying onsite, and make a recommendation for an extremely close offsite hotel that offers a hot breakfast as part of the cost of the room. If it helps, it will be me, DH, DS16 and DS 14. We'd prefer three sleeping surfaces (as youngest DS is a blender!), but we could possibly make two queen beds work.

In advance, thank you so much for your knowledge and feedback!

 

[MermaidHair]

There are a lot of less expensive, nice hotels (motels) in walking distance from Disneyland. You do not need to spend the money to stay on-site. While the Disney hotels are nice it is not the same as staying on property at WDW because of how easy it is to get to the off-site hotels. I cannot give you a recommendation for one that includes a full hot breakfast, maybe someone else will, but I will direct you to the newbies sticky thread in this forum. There are some great links and tips in that thread, including info on Disneyland for WDW vets. Your RV trip sounds awesome and ending it at DLR is great!

 

[HydroGuy]

Things are different at DLR. Spoken by someone (me) who only stays onsite at WDW (if you count Swan/Dolphin as onsite - which I do!).

The DLR hotels are pricier than the comparable WDW hotels. Heck Southern California is in general pricier than Orlando.

If you hang around this forum awhile you will find lots of dual DLR/WDW vets who only stay onsite at WDW but always or frequently stay offsite at DLR.

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

 

[Elima2015]

Best Western Park Place Inn has a hot breakfast. I don't know if three beds are possible - but worth a call to ask if they can add a roll away. This motel is directly across the street from the entrance to the parks. We also liked Candy Cane Inn - the breakfast wasn't hot, but they did have cereal, pastries, hardboiled eggs, yogurt, coffee. CCI is on the same side of Harbor as the parks. Easy 10 min walk, also a free shuttle if you prefer.

 

[smartlabelprint]

If it was my only trip I would highly consider staying at the Disneyland hotel.

That being said I've never stayed on site. My go to as a couple was best western park place in. I priced it for a solo stay last week and it's $170 a night. If it's the same as 3 years ago its 2 queens and a sofa bed. Mediocre breakfast

We regularly stay as a family at the Homewood suites convention center. Really nice full breakfast. They have a king suite with bunk bed for $220/night. But we stay for a week. That may be a discounted rate.

 

[GenGen22]

I have been to WDW twice and only stayed onsite but when visiting DL I always stay offsite. I usually get a hotel close by that has a shuttle service as my feet are tired from all the walking at the end of the day. Two hotels I can recommend are Embassy Suites Anaheim South (my top pick) which has an amazing breakfast free of cost. I would also recommend Wyndham Anaheim Garden Grove. They also have a free breakfast if you book it through getawaytoday.com. they also have a free shuttle. A lot of people will probably recommend the Marriott hotels in the area as well. I would look at Getawaytoday.com and look at the map of the hotels in the area to get a better idea of how close the hotels are. There are many within walking distance.

 

[smartlabelprint]

Bwppi is about a 5 min walk. HomeWood is 15 min.

 

[pblack]

We stayed at the BW Anaheim Inn last month and really enjoyed it. There in the process of remodeling their rooms, but should be done way before your trip. They had a hot breakfast which we enjoyed and plenty of space in their "dining room." You could either eat inside or outside on their balcony. Here's my Yelp review that I posted if it helps at all.

We really enjoyed this hotel! It was a quick 5 minute walk to the main gates/security area. The breakfast they provide is pretty decent. Saturday morning they had: eggs, sausage patties, french toast sticks, potatoes, pastries, yogurts (both Greek and regular), oatmeal, apples, bananas, cereal, juice, coffee. Sunday morning was pretty much the same except instead of sausage patties they had ham. We had room 109 which was first floor, just past the lobby and next to the elevator. At first I thought being directly next to the elevator would be an issue noise wise, but we actually never even heard it! It was also right next to ice and a soda vending machine. There was a snack vending machine near the lobby.

I had two very minor complaints, neither of which ruined or impacted my experience at all. The first was that I was only able to book a 2 double bed room. It was just my husband and I, and let's just be honest...a double bed for two adults is just a little tight. The hotel is going through a refurbishment though, and it sounds like the new rooms will have 2 queen beds which I would definitely be happy with. Second minor complaint was that every so often the room had a rotten egg smell and we couldn't tell if it came from the A/C or the bathroom. It didn't last long enough any particular time to complain about and it really wasn't that huge of a deal. Would we stay here again? Definitely!

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

Sounds like a wonderful trip. Love Yosemite and Sequoia, and visit/camp at those places almost every year. (We do a podcast and I have a couple of segments talking about them if you're interested) There are a few threads on our California Board if you'd like to talk to others with experience going to these two parks.

For recommended hotels my top choices to consider would be Park Place Inn - mini suite (2 doubles and a sofa sleeper - I think they're doubles, might be queens), Residence Inn Maingate is a little farther away, but I like how it's set up and the room offerings, Embassy Suites South is another really nice place, however, there are 3 or 4 hotels in that area and parking may be a little tight. Grand Legacy at the Park is also within walking distance and has a decent sized pool.

You might consider last night at the Disneyland Hotel if you can swing it - I would only recommend this if you plan on spending any time at the hotel/pool to take advantage of the atmosphere. Otherwise, save your money for a Disney adventure, like World of Color Dessert Party, or Fantasmic dinner at River Belle Terrace, etc.

 

[dsny1mom]

IMHO it depends how important or not important being inside the "Disney Bubble" is to you. If it is important then stay on site. If not then you have many options to choose from. It never ceases to amaze me how people who stay on site at DW choose to stay off site at DL then complain how DL is not as magical or immersive. lol

 

[smartlabelprint]

We stayed at the BW Anaheim Inn last month and really enjoyed it. There in the process of remodeling their rooms, but should be done way before your trip. They had a hot breakfast which we enjoyed and plenty of space in their "dining room." You could either eat inside or outside on their balcony. Here's my Yelp review that I posted if it helps at all.

We really enjoyed this hotel! It was a quick 5 minute walk to the main gates/security area. The breakfast they provide is pretty decent. Saturday morning they had: eggs, sausage patties, french toast sticks, potatoes, pastries, yogurts (both Greek and regular), oatmeal, apples, bananas, cereal, juice, coffee. Sunday morning was pretty much the same except instead of sausage patties they had ham. We had room 109 which was first floor, just past the lobby and next to the elevator. At first I thought being directly next to the elevator would be an issue noise wise, but we actually never even heard it! It was also right next to ice and a soda vending machine. There was a snack vending machine near the lobby.

I had two very minor complaints, neither of which ruined or impacted my experience at all. The first was that I was only able to book a 2 double bed room. It was just my husband and I, and let's just be honest...a double bed for two adults is just a little tight. The hotel is going through a refurbishment though, and it sounds like the new rooms will have 2 queen beds which I would definitely be happy with. Second minor complaint was that every so often the room had a rotten egg smell and we couldn't tell if it came from the A/C or the bathroom. It didn't last long enough any particular time to complain about and it really wasn't that huge of a deal. Would we stay here again? Definitely!

Nice review. DH and I ended up in a double double at some point. We each took a bed. Lol

 

[KBinCO]

We just stayed at the Hyatt House which was nice. Our family had no issues with the walk- even at 1am when it was just me and my two little girls after my husband and mom went back early. There are some loud homeless people on the streets but no one bothered us too much and we didn't feel unsafe.

Besides the nice room set up and good location (and a decent price- $183/night after adding all taxes and fees), we really enjoyed the included hot breakfast. It was a great spread and everyone was full before heading to the parks in the morning. Eggs, bacon, sausage, fruit, toast, cereals, yogurt, and pancakes or waffles or french toast each morning, plus coffees and juices. What we ate every morning would easily cost us at least $50 for the 5 of us in any restaurant, more at the parks.
Besides that, there is a Walgreens right at the entrance of the hotel as well as a Starbucks. The Walgreens came in handy a few times- be it for water or toiletries or ice cream or booze. It was nice to have that right there.

We didnt get a car because parking was expensive and one day I needed to get to Target and it was $8 round trip for an uber.

Having the close drug store and the hot breakfast was better than an onsite hotel for us.

 

[gottalovepluto]

With just two days for DLR in July I'd splurge & stay onsite. Take advantage of EMHs (hated WDW EMH- so much better at DLR where you only compete against 3 hotels worth of crowds!) and end your trip immersed in Disney magic. Disney won't run discounts on the rooms in July but sometimes Orbitz/Cheaptickets run 15%+ off codes that will work. If you like WL GCH is probably your style, DLH is the most "Disney" with monorail water slide & priced less than GCH, & if you intend to spend most of your time in the park save money & do PPH. It's kinda out of the bubble but if it's the only way your budget can swing it do it.
ETA: better odds of 3 sleeping surfaces at DLH or PPH than GCH.

 

[pblack]

Nice review. DH and I ended up in a double double at some point. We each took a bed. Lol

We probably should have done that, but we managed on just one of the double beds. We have shared a twin bed before...that I will never do again lol. Hoping for at least a queen bed when we stay for one night next month, but if not it's not a big deal since we'll be checking into the DLH the next day.

 

[HydroGuy]

IMHO it depends how important or not important being inside the "Disney Bubble" is to you. If it is important then stay on site. If not then you have many options to choose from. It never ceases to amaze me how people who stay on site at DW choose to stay off site at DL then complain how DL is not as magical or immersive. lol

I think an equal number of WDW vets stay onsite at DLR then comment (sometimes complain but more often just comment) that the DLR bubble is not like WDW. And IMO they are right. DLR is in the middle of a large metro area. From the parks (more so at DCA but also a little from DL) you can see outside the bubble (i.e., the real world). From the hotels you can definitely see outside the bubble.

My advice to WDW vets in this regard is to not expect the WDW bubble at DLR. But do get their head wrapped around the fact that the closer distances at DLR (yes, and the smaller size) does have some significant advantages. Among those are not having to depend on buses, boats or monorails to get to the parks. Only depend on your feet. Much more flexible. Plus with the closer hotels at DLR, much, much MUCH shorter transit times from hotel door to the turnstile at a park. Like 5-10 minutes at DLR vs. 45-60 minutes at WDW (depends a lot of which hotel and which park you are comparing at WDW - the Contemporary to MK is similar to the DLR hotels).

WDW vets out there, do not assume I am knocking WDW because I am not discussing the advantages WDW has over DLR. Those advantages exist but are not the subject of this thread.

 

[Little E]

Thank you, wise Disboard friends! I knew I could count on you for the straight scoop. After much back and forth, lots of searching for hotels nearby, and carefully considering the info you all shared, we decided to stay onsite. We figure this is probably our only time to go to Disneyland, and figured we'd regret not being fully immersed in the Disney magic there. So, we decided to stay at the Disneyland Hotel.

The trip is still so far away, but it feels great to have a package booked at DL for next summer! Thank you all for you advice!!

 

[Nevada Jen]

Paradise pier is the least Disney like of the hotels but you would get 3 sleeping spaces there. And might be able to get a theme park view room for the same price as dlh. The view rooms are just amazing. I think the best in all the us Disney parks