Where to stay?

[disny_luvr]

We are planning a two-week trip to California next summer and we would like to visit Disneyland for part of the trip. We are in the really early stages, so nothing is set in stone yet, but we are hoping to spend three full days in the parks and stay for four nights. My question is about hotels. Ideally I’d love to stay at a Disney hotel. We are from PA and while I think we’ll visit again someday, this will probably be our only visit with our boys (they’ll be 18) and our only visit for several years. Obviously, Disney hotels are expensive. Does anyone have any thoughts on renting points to stay at either VGC or DLH? We are not new to renting, but I’m not sure if renting is better than staying in a good neighbor hotel. If we go the good neighbor hotel route, which ones should be look at?

 

[ttintagel]

I've always wanted to stay at the Howard Johnson's next door to Disneyland ever since I saw it.

 

[MartyParty]

We are planning a two-week trip to California next summer and we would like to visit Disneyland for part of the trip. We are in the really early stages, so nothing is set in stone yet, but we are hoping to spend three full days in the parks and stay for four nights. My question is about hotels. Ideally I’d love to stay at a Disney hotel. We are from PA and while I think we’ll visit again someday, this will probably be our only visit with our boys (they’ll be 18) and our only visit for several years. Obviously, Disney hotels are expensive. Does anyone have any thoughts on renting points to stay at either VGC or DLH? We are not new to renting, but I’m not sure if renting is better than staying in a good neighbor hotel. If we go the good neighbor hotel route, which ones should be look at?

I don't think the board rules committee allows us mentioning specific companies but if you Google DVC rentals you'll find companies listed. My preference is to rent from a broker / company as I know its legit. You can also rent on this board from private individuals.

But renting from a DVC company is really easy. You tell them the dates and resorts you want. If they have inventory then great. If not then they'll start looking for you. Often times I find rental DVC points to be around the same price as a hotel or maybe a little hire. Depends on the room type and time of year.

The only drawback I know if is you do lock in your dates, no cancellations, etc. When you commit you commit.

Good luck.

 

[ahhhshmatthew]

Disneyland is our home base. A few thoughts:
1. I'm not sure how the new tower at DLH will alter this, but renting points at GC is typically very difficult, even at the 11 month window - there are a smaller number of DVC rooms and it can be hit and miss;
2. IME, newer DVC resorts also have less availability on the rental market, so that may be the case with DLH too - it makes sense, usually people who have just bought their points are looking to use them, but I'd recommend scanning the boards and/or talking to rental companies to see what the inventory has been;
3. The good neighbor hotels and many of the surrounding hotels are fantastic - FWIW, many of them are also closer to the entrance of the parks than DLH (especially the ones located adjacent on Harbor Boulevard;
4. We have recently become big fans of The Anaheim Hotel on Harbor - I find it nicer than the other motels directly across the street from the entrance on Harbor - big fans of the lobby bar and the connected restaurant; and
5. We have stayed at both GC and DLH, and probably 8-10 other good neighbor hotels over the years - IME since you are able to walk to the parks, they're so much more affordable than the Disney hotels, and how close you are to the magic even when you stay off-property, good neighbor hotels are the way to go on average

Hope this helps!

 

[chezcurrie]

If this is likely your only DL trip, and you are WDW vet I would personally find a way to splurge on an onsite hotel and save elsewhere on a 2-week trip (ie an airbnb for the beach portion or whatever). As PP have said availability while renting pts can be scarce, but the new tower may help things. I like being in the disney bubble, and yes it is a thing.

 

[ComeToSocialize]

If a once in a lifetime thing, and it's in your price range, I'd really recommend GCH (either VGC or just regular hotel). There's something special about just walking in from literally within the hotel. While some of the Harbor BLVD hotels are probably similar walking distance to Disneyland as some of the outer rooms of GCH, it still doesn't feel the same crossing the busy street as rolling through DTD. There's nothing quite like the DCA entrance in the US (monorail resorts at WDW are closest but even then not the same.

We've done good neighbor hotels, and always wished we'd just paid more to do GCH.

 

[disny_luvr]

If this is likely your only DL trip, and you are WDW vet I would personally find a way to splurge on an onsite hotel and save elsewhere on a 2-week trip (ie an airbnb for the beach portion or whatever). As PP have said availability while renting pts can be scarce, but the new tower may help things. I like being in the disney bubble, and yes it is a thing.

I love being in the Disney bubble, too, and I'm sure if we do not stay in a Disney hotel I'll be wishing we did. That said, we also don't want to go over our budget as there are a lot of other things that we want to do in CA, too. We are just happy to get to Disneyland even if it means staying at a good neighbor hotel.

 

[disny_luvr]

Disneyland is our home base. A few thoughts:
1. I'm not sure how the new tower at DLH will alter this, but renting points at GC is typically very difficult, even at the 11 month window - there are a smaller number of DVC rooms and it can be hit and miss;
2. IME, newer DVC resorts also have less availability on the rental market, so that may be the case with DLH too - it makes sense, usually people who have just bought their points are looking to use them, but I'd recommend scanning the boards and/or talking to rental companies to see what the inventory has been;
3. The good neighbor hotels and many of the surrounding hotels are fantastic - FWIW, many of them are also closer to the entrance of the parks than DLH (especially the ones located adjacent on Harbor Boulevard;
4. We have recently become big fans of The Anaheim Hotel on Harbor - I find it nicer than the other motels directly across the street from the entrance on Harbor - big fans of the lobby bar and the connected restaurant; and
5. We have stayed at both GC and DLH, and probably 8-10 other good neighbor hotels over the years - IME since you are able to walk to the parks, they're so much more affordable than the Disney hotels, and how close you are to the magic even when you stay off-property, good neighbor hotels are the way to go on average

Hope this helps!

Yes, this is helpful. Thank you!

Have you ever stayed at the Candy Cane Inn? I see that one mentioned often on message boards and also on some FB groups I'm in. It looks nice and includes breakfast, but seems a little farther away than some other hotels that are directly across the street.

 

[ahhhshmatthew]

Yes, this is helpful. Thank you!

Have you ever stayed at the Candy Cane Inn? I see that one mentioned often on message boards and also on some FB groups I'm in. It looks nice and includes breakfast, but seems a little farther away than some other hotels that are directly across the street.

We stayed there years ago, and I know it has been changed and updated since then, so I'd defer to someone else for a more recent review As to the Disney bubble - while I agree with everyone's sentiments that the bubble isn't matchable off-property, I think an important distinction (for us) is that you feel "less" out of the bubble when staying off-property at DL compared to WDW. You're leaving the park, walking 5-15 minutes, going to sleep, waking up and walking back. At WDW it's so much more of a slog. Still not the 24/7 bubble, but better than usual IMO.

 

[Curiousporpoise]

I would definitely stay on Disney property if this is a one and done trip for your family. We always stay at the Grand Californian or Disneyland hotel as we go back often with little ones. If you want to rent points, there are several large companies that offer point rentals, or if you want to chance it there are Facebook pages where people people offer VGC and soon VDH reservations for rent. I was always too afraid to do this, but if you hang around the FB pages long enough, you can tell who is legitimate and some have refund or rebooking policies. The Villas at Disneyland Hotel will open in September 28, 2023, so I’m sure many people will be offering reservation rentals there for next summer.