what do you think of Paradise Pier Hotel ?

[DISfanboy]

I just cancelled our reservations at Hojo and booked Paradise Pier. Since I hardly ever go to DLR i firgured I might as well go all out Disney. For the people who have stayed at PPH before what did you think?

 

[l’amore bella]

I love it there! The entire hotel has a beach theme which is really fun. The rooms are very spacious and some have a view of California Adventure.

 

[teatime]

my favorite disneyland hotel !! classy, clean, and updated. you will love it and you can go thru the grand californian for a short cut.

 

[lisadoll93]

I agree. Its a great hotel. I love the beachy feel. We prefer it DLH.

 

[dbanzai]

I like it a lot: The theme and Yamabuki especially.

Although I may be flamed for this, being a WDW person first and foremost, I consider this the value hotel of the DLR, at least of the on-property hotels. But you pay more than the AS hotels at WDW, and you definitely get your money's worth, compared to what you don't get staying at the no-frill values at WDW.

What I don't like about PPH are two things: The pool area I find less enjoyable than the other hotels, and the distance/routes to the parks. You either have a longer walk to either the monorail/gates past the DLH, or you have to cross a city street to go through the GCH. I like that you don't have to feel you leave property when staying at the resort hotels compared to PPH. As for the pool, this is the one place I do feel like PPH is no frill. Slide's just okay IMO, but little theming compared to the other hotels, smaller pool and hottub.

 

[Sherry E]

Dbanzai - Yamabuki is gone! They closed it down. I think it was economy-related (lack of business, that sort of thing).

Here is a link to some PPH room pictures from December:

http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=29331933&postcount=103

I like the cute beach/ocean touches around PPH and in the rooms - the prevailing 'sun' theme, the surfboard room number signs, the surfer Goofy statue in the lobby, the lifeguard Mickey lamp in the rooms, the seashell soap dish, the Mickey ears bath products, the pastel bedspreads, the beach chair wall paper, etc. I even like the little coffee bar/lounge just off of the lobby. I think the PPH seems shiny and new-ish, and I enjoy it. It lacks the sprawling grounds that the DLH possesses or the spaciousness of the GCH, but I think it gets a bad reputation because it is across the street from the main hub of activity, so it somehow seems disconnected. If it were the same size hotel it currently is, but on the same side of the street as the GCH and the parks, I think more people would welcome it! But really, the walk across the street (Disneyland Drive) using the short cut (cutting through the GCH lobby) is nothing big. It seems farther away than it is.

I have only had one not-so-great experience at the PPH (read about that in my Trip Report - link below in signature), but I have stayed there many times and will go back again. Yes, I would prefer to stay at the GCH once in a while, or even the DLH, but the PPH is perfectly fine and I can still get the perks of staying onsite as well as feeling like I am immersed in the Disney feeling from beginning to end.

 

[disney_love<3]

I stayed there last August and I loved it! Its clean and its got the cute beach theme. The staff was very friendly, the rooms are great as well.

Yes, the pool is kind of small compared to the other 2 hotels. It also has a small water slide, which I loved!

 

[Zane21]

We have stayed at the Pier several times...in a Family Suite...and we LOVE this place. Everything is in one building.
The slide at the pool is really awesome. Both my boys prefer this pool to the DLH, which we have stayed at twice...

I know people moan about the walk some..but it's never been a problem in my book.

 

[Golfing Goofy]

Can you get food around the pool at PPH?

 

[Zane21]

Can you get food around the pool at PPH?

Depends on the time of year....but yes, you can.
We have gone in Sept and it's never been open on the weekdays..but on weekends, YES.

 

[Sherry E]

We have stayed at the Pier several times...in a Family Suite...and we LOVE this place. Everything is in one building.
The slide at the pool is really awesome. Both my boys prefer this pool to the DLH, which we have stayed at twice...

I know people moan about the walk some..but it's never been a problem in my book.

I agree - I think a bigger deal is made out of the walk than is necessary. I was having some major back/orthopedic-related pain last December and that extra walk didn't make it any worse. Walking in the parks all day and back and forth to character meals will be more exerting than hopping across Disneyland Drive from the PPH to the GCH or vice versa. Chances are there will be tons of walking (miles and miles) done in the parks on any given day while at DLR, so the extra footsteps to get across the street from the GCH to the PPH are not that susbtantial. Now, if you do not take the short cut from PPH through GCH and onto DTD and instead follow the signs on the PPH property as to how to get to DL/DCA, then the walk will be more curcuitous and seem endless. But the short cut is more fun because you can cut through GCH and admire the lovely lobby and then land right out on DTD.

 

[Golfing Goofy]

Depends on the time of year....but yes, you can.
We have gone in Sept and it's never been open on the weekdays..but on weekends, YES.

Thanks

 

[victorandbellasmom]

We've only stayed there once but we liked the hotel a lot, granted that Lilo & Stitch's is our favorite character meal. The room was nice and spacious and we were upgraded to a DCA view. Staff was friendly and the hotel was nice and clean. I remember reading something about elevators being slow and having to wait during peak times, but we never experienced that. There's 2 banks of elevators one that is glass and one regular. The price was right so we're booked again at PPH next month.

 

[yupikgal]

Thanks everyone for posting your opinions and reviews...we are staying there for the first time next month (8/8-8/13) and you all made me feel better, I'm always sort of afraid to stay somewhere new if I've never been before...we will be attending the Lilo and Stitch meal because we are getting a "free" character meal by booking through Costco!

VictorandBellasmom, I used to have a friend from Kirkland years ago!! Her name was Anne...I often think about my days at CWU and wonder where people are now that I knew then...Anyway, our kids are teenagers, 17 and our son will be 14 by the time we go, so the "pull out" sofa will be nice. I just hope he fits in it, he's tall for his age. Oh and we are also going to San Diego afterwards!

Kelly

 

[pixiewings71]

I like the PPH very much!! In fact if we hadn't got the Ent Rate for part of our HoJo stay this week I was going to book at PPH. It's nice, the rooms are huge and comfy and the hotel itself is fun. The walk is not bad at all.....just a little farther than the HoJo IME.

 

[yupikgal]

Thanks PixieWings! As far as the walk, we will want to visit California Adventure first anyway, and I think we are closer to that park, correct? We've never been to it before, the last time we were there, they were just building it! We will probably just take the monorail from DTD to DL, that's my understanding of how it works, at least...thanks again!

 

[bumbershoot]

Anyway, our kids are teenagers, 17 and our son will be 14 by the time we go, so the "pull out" sofa will be nice. I just hope he fits in it, he's tall for his age.

He might need to scrunch a bit. See pictures on this page of my trip report to see 1. how to get the sofa to turn into a couch (it's not what I expected!) and 2. that it's not very very long.



FWIW, the street you cross for the GCH shortcut doesn't feel like a city street. Yes it's 4 total lanes wide. But it's also full of pedestrians and CMs if you're going early enough, you're well protected by that and lights and all that. Definitely make sure you know that way, so you don't fall "prey" to following the PPH signs that make you go the LONG way.

 

[pixiewings71]

Thanks PixieWings! As far as the walk, we will want to visit California Adventure first anyway, and I think we are closer to that park, correct? We've never been to it before, the last time we were there, they were just building it! We will probably just take the monorail from DTD to DL, that's my understanding of how it works, at least...thanks again!

Gotcha, well the thing to remember is DCA doesn't open until 10 am where DL will open at 8 am. As a PPH guest you also qualify for EE the days it's offered so you could get into DL at 7 instead of at 8. What you'd want to do to get to DCA is just walk out the front door of the PPH, walk to the corner and cross to the GCH, walk thru the GCH following the signs for DCA and enter there. Once inside DCA don't go back to DTD to catch the monorail, just walk out the main DCA entrance, cross the esplanade and enter DL. It's about a minute to go between parks tops, if you walk slow, but if you went back to DTD you'd walk a lot farther. Really staying at the PPH and riding the monorail isn't the best idea, it's faster to just walk it.

 

[yupikgal]

Thanks for those pictures and the explanation, bumbershoot! It actually looks like a regular twin sized bed, and he used to have one and then we got him an XL twin, so yes, he may have to scrunch, but oh well! ; ) it's better than the floor, right? It's great that I got to see exactly how it will work, thanks so much!!

 

[yupikgal]

Thanks everyone for posting your opinions and reviews...we are staying there for the first time next month (8/8-8/13) and you all made me feel better, I'm always sort of afraid to stay somewhere new if I've never been before...we will be attending the Lilo and Stitch meal because we are getting a "free" character meal by booking through Costco!

VictorandBellasmom, I used to have a friend from Kirkland years ago!! Her name was Anne...I often think about my days at CWU and wonder where people are now that I knew then...Anyway, our kids are teenagers, 17 and our son will be 14 by the time we go, so the "pull out" sofa will be nice. I just hope he fits in it, he's tall for his age. Oh and we are also going to San Diego afterwards!

Kelly

I'm revising my post here...after much thought and after talking to my husband, we decided to forgo going through Costco and booking the PP. I found a MUCH better rate directly with fairfieldinn.com, which is right across the street, and although we won't get the character meal or $20 gift card, (he doesn't really care for the character meal, and our kids are teens anyway) I couldn't resist the savings! The rate I got is $501.50 including tax for 5 nights, it was $87 per night + tax. They also have 2 queen beds and a pull out sofa, and the availability of less expensive food is abundant there, with Pizza Hut Express, Seattle's Best coffee and Mcdonalds, Millie's and Mimi's next door. We would have paid $1554 for the package through Costco, but when I priced it out separately, by buying the "buy 3, get 2 free" tickets directly through disney.com it came out to $1217 total, which saves $337!! That's a lot of extra meals (or whatever) to buy with!

I also discovered that although we would get extra EE/MM by staying on Disney property, we would only be able to take advantage of it twice with their schedule and ours. Oh well! I guess I'll have to be an "outsider" this time, but who knows? Maybe we could do the GCH in the future...lol...I'm happy with my decision now. I read lots of great reviews, and after seeing recent pictures of the hotel and rooms, it looks great! Now I can start concentrating on the Angels baseball game tickets, Amtrak tickets to SD, San Diego hotel, etc.