Which On-Site Hotel For The Whole DL Experience?

[jhaig]

We will be making our first DL trip hopefully next year and wanted to get everyone's opinion on what DL hotel should we stay at for our first time at DL. I have been reading reviews about each of the three hotels but wanted to get my info straight from the experts here. We plan on spending a decent amount of time in our hotel, but the majority of time will be at the parks. Which one is the quietest, cleanest, with the best dining options and would give us the full, immersive "Disney experience"?

 

[mom2rtk]

It's really hard to pass on GCH because of its proximity to the parks. As in RIGHT there.

But for the best overall DL feel, I'd go with the DLH.

 

[Malcon10t]

Everyone here has their own personal favorite. Some will tell you the GCH because of the how close it is, but realistically, DLH and PPH are 4 minutes further. Some feel GCH has a more upscale feel. To me, the lobby does.

It really depends on what you are looking for. PPH is a nice hotel. Rooms are large and bright with a surf motif. I hate the elevators, but others aren't bothered by it. To me, it doesn't have a resort feel to it. The new dinner buffet there is pretty good, but it is limited to that restaurant. That said, if you stay there, you still have access to the other hotels. Trader Sam's and Hearthstone Lounge are a 5 min walks and Steakhouse Lounge/restaurant is maybe 7. Same with Napa Rose, and Storytellers.

Disneyland Hotel - Has a resort feel, love the pools, love having characters on site to meet the kids, rooms are large, Mickey motif, love the light up head boards. One of the nice parts is you walk out of the hotel and you are step from DTD and while you have Steakhouse 55, Goofy's, the Lounge, Tangaroa Terrace and Trader Sam's right there, you also have Jazz Kitchen, Tortilla Jo's, Catal, Uva Bar and many others, steps away.

Grand Californian - Has a resort feel, pools are good, slides are better at the DLH, beautiful lobby, love listening to Jaime, one of the piano players, has Hearthstone lounge, Napa Rose, Storytellers, and Whitewater Snacks. If you exit from DCA, your room can be close. Exiting from Disneyland, the walk is about 4 mins shorter. The rooms all have a small balcony, the rooms are smaller and to me, they are dark. They are done in a woodland motif. Think Yosemite Awhanee Hotel. I've stayed here about 6 times, and the last time (about a year ago) I asked myself why I kept doing it when I don't like it? Because everyone keeps saying it is great, and I was trying to see it. So, I quit trying. It isn't my favorite. But everyone is different. I like a room with 2 queens and a sofa sleeper, they are really limited on those. you either get 2 queens or a queen and a bunk bed set. There are 39 rooms with the 2 queen/sofa set up. Otherwise, you get 2 queens and a sleeping bag.

All 3 can use the entrance to DCA for EE, but I recommend the main entrance.

You need to try the hotels for yourself as your needs and mine will vary.

 

[ParkHopper1]

You have kids?...Disneyland Hotel, hands down
Just adults? Grand Californian

I LOVE the GCH and stay both there and at the PPH hotel quite a bit, but the DLH in my opinion is the most Disnyfied of the three.

The GCH has proximity going for it and is a nice upscale place, but of you want full Disney immersion and atmosphere, I would choose the DLH

 

[ADLFAN]

I think the Disneyland Hotel is a pretty awesome place, and it's where I was lucky enough to stay on my first visit!

There are 3 towers, and it's a bit further from the parks, so fewer non guests swing through to check it out. I found the lobbies and grounds to be very peaceful and quiet. We even watched a peaceful and beautifyl fairytale wedding from the room!

Steakhouse 55 was awesome for breakfast, and affordable! There are also more dining options, and the entire DTD area as well. We treated ourselves to room service for dinner one night, because honestly I have never stayed in a hotel nice enough to even offer it! It was super fun, and we felt all privileged! One of my favorite tips circulating is to order a treat from room service to be a surprise upon arrival, like Mickey crispy treats.

I loved loved loved the atmosphere around the pools, and their design. Drinks can be purchased to go from Trader Sams and enjoyed poolside, along with food from Tangaroa Terrace.

Have fun planning!

 

[bethwc101]

This is something I will keep an eye on. I have never been lucky enough to stay at a DLR hotel. But we might be able to for dapper day. So it sounds to me like Paradise Pier is in dead last, and it's just between the Disneyland Hotel and Grand Californian.

 

[Malcon10t]

This is something I will keep an eye on. I have never been lucky enough to stay at a DLR hotel. But we might be able to for dapper day. So it sounds to me like Paradise Pier is in dead last, and it's just between the Disneyland Hotel and Grand Californian.

Here's the thing. I am not you. I am not Whoever. We all have vastly different needs and likes. Whoever LOVES GCH. It is honestly because he kept saying how great it is, I kept retrying it. For me, that extra 4 mins just isn't worth it for a smaller room and longer hallways. (I got completely lost one trip!) I didn't care for the set up of the room. One thing I did like about GCH over the DLH? They have lights in the closet! Weird, I know. Honestly, if I didn't have so many problems with the elevators, I'd probably have a little more of a vote towards PPH.

Everyone has different needs/tastes/likes.

 

[Aladora]

This is something I will keep an eye on. I have never been lucky enough to stay at a DLR hotel. But we might be able to for dapper day. So it sounds to me like Paradise Pier is in dead last, and it's just between the Disneyland Hotel and Grand Californian.

We have stayed at all three and even if the hotels were to cost the same, we would still pick PPH over the other two.

 

[ArchOwl]

I have stayed at all three and prefer GCH. We have stayed there the most and our love of it probably stems from the fact that each and every time we have gotten a lovely Woods/Courtyard room right next to the elevators by Napa Rose. So we have always had a very easy walk to the parks. And we love both Storyteller's and Napa Rose, so it is super convenient. I don't find the rooms to be small or cramped, we like the design. Maybe because we like the Ahwahnee Hotel as well, it feels familiar.

We stayed at DLH once and that was enough. We were in the Frontier Tower, we just felt like it took forever to get there. The room was bigger, but that didn't do much for us. The monorail was useless as transport. We just didn't care for it and we were looking forward to staying there. The pools were fine, but we liked the GCH pools better.

We have stayed at the PPH multiple times. It is ok. We normally stay there when the GCH is just too expensive for us or they ran out of rooms. The elevators are terrible, though. The rooms are bigger than GCH, but again, for two adults that is not really an issue for us. We find the PPH to be noisier. But the employees here have always been really excellent. We cut through the GCH to get to the parks and it works out great. For some reason this bothers us less than schlepping through DTD. Maybe because walking through DTD you can't really go your full pace because it is crowded at night. Not sure. It is probably completely illogical, but there you are.

I would probably rather stay at PPH than DLH, but i fully admit to being weird about that.

 

[mikedoyleblogger]

The Disneyland Hotel, which has lots and lots of whimsical, Disney-themed touches and historical art and references, as well as the best pool area of the three on-site hotels, and the most original (tiki) bar. (And that illuminated headboard that plays A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes...) The Grand Californian is basically a less-magical version of Wilderness Lodge from WDW, and Paradise Pier Hotel has almost no theming. Grand Californian and Paradise Pier also have a separate management team, and you can tell--in my experience GCH staff are not as friendly and don't care nearly as much about the guest experience as do Disneyland Hotel staff.

 

[jhaig]

DLH has character meets? This is almost unheard of at WDW. Tell me more...

 

[ktlm]

Looking at your line of stays above, you have WL on there twice. We are WDW vets, and we have also stayed at WL multiple times and love it, BUT to us GCH is pretty much a scaled down version of WL, and we like a different experience at DLR. For that reason we like to stay at DLH. GCH is beautiful and it does have an entrance directly into CA which is nice, but we love DLH because in our opinion it is just different than any of the WDW resorts. (Of course, if you are going to splurge on a theme park view room at GCH that means you are actually looking down into the walkway of the park- you can't get closer). By WDW standards, it is a short walk to the parks from DLH. Plus the walk to the park is a walk through DTD so you stay in the Disney bubble. DLH has all sorts of Disney touches throughout. Goofy often shows up in the lobby. We have stayed at DLH every summer for the last 5 or 6 years and we have seen Goofy in the lobby at some point every year. There is also Goofy's Kitchen for a character meal. One year, DD was laying across an ottoman watching cartoons while I checked out, and I turned around and Goofy was lying next to her watching cartoons with her! Trader Sam's is there. The gift shop is large. The rooms are nice and in our experience have always been very clean.

 

[Malcon10t]

DLH has character meets? This is almost unheard of at WDW. Tell me more...

I wouldn't call them "Meets" as much as characters roaming. They aren't in one place.

 

[DizMe]

I'm pretty even on DLH and GCH. I love features about each and have stayed many times at each of them; sometimes I want to stay at one and sometimes the other. I will say, however, that I don't love PPH. I don't like the theming and my 2 experiences there were both extremely disappointing. I also stayed there many years ago, before it was a Disney hotel (it was Pan Pacific then) and to me it still feels like a wannabe Disney hotel.

 

[jenmiller114]

I haven't stayed at GCH because I just can't get over the price, even with a pass holder discount. I don't think that the slightly shorter walk is worth the extra money, but as many have said, it is purely personal preference and how much you are willing to spend. It did remind me A LOT of the Wilderness Lodge but I don't think it had near as much to offer for three times the price. I will admit, I always wish I am staying there when the park is closing and we have to walk through the hotel to get to DLH after watching World of Color.

We have stayed at PPH once and we liked it well enough. It is worth staying there simply for the EMH benefit, they sleep 5 (which we need) and the significant price difference from the other two hotels. My kids enjoyed the water slide at the pool.

We have stayed at DLH many times and I love it because it does feel like the "most Disney" of the three hotels and we like their pool the best. We always take a break mid-day for a little swimming before hitting the parks again at night. I do agree that the Frontier tower is not the best and there is a 1 in 3 chance you will get it. We usually stay in standard rooms because we want the EMH and the proximity to the parks, but we like to save money where we can. Last time, they put us in the Frontier tower and I asked if there was another room available. Turns out, there wasn't and I am glad I did not make a fuss because they had upgraded us to a premium view room that had a view of the park and the pool. We got to watch the fireworks every night from our window (they pipe in the music in the tv). Unfortunately, once you have had that experience, it is hard not to pay for the premium rooms because staring at a parking lot sucks when you could be watching fireworks! And I will never snub the Frontier Tower again. LOL. Someone mentioned that the monorail is useless but we like to take it into DL on EMH days because it gets us right to Space Mountain. We also try to finish our day there so we can ride it back and finish up a lot closer to the hotel after a long day of walking. But you have to plan your day right for that to work and you need to make sure you get there at the right time because they only run one before the park opens to everyone else.

Jennifer

 

[MamaJY]

I would recommend the DLH. We just spent the weekend there for my daughter's 6th birthday. There are hidden Mickey's all around the room. Plus everyone loved the light up headboard. MyBFF has stayed at the DLH and DGC and she liked the DLH better. And she doesn't even have kids. She found the rooms to be bigger and more comfortable. The monorail water slide is pretty cool at the DLH too.

 

[TalkDisnerdytome]

I love the GCH ever since the first time my grandparents booked that hotel they say they will NEVER stay anywhere else. The staff is super nice and we love being so close to the park and it feels great knowing you don't have far to walk when the day is done and your feet are killing you. We have stayed at many locations including hotels/RV parks further away where you needed to take a bus to get to Disneyland, to hotels across the street, and we've stayed at all 3 Disney hotels. GCH is still the favorite of all of them.

 

[Astylla]

As you can see everyone has their preferences and favorites based on differences in what they want and expect from accomodations.

I can't speak for the other two hotels but DLH is our "home" when we can manage it. We have stayed 3 times - one standard , one deluxe and one premium room. Honestly I would take any of them for a good rate.
I absolutely love the DLH for the immersion , the grounds , the restaurant options and the views in some can't be beat too. I've encountered several characters walking around which just adds to the fun. One time my poor DH got so sick he was bedridden for nearly 2 days but I was thankful I booked a view room and we got our request facing DTD from the 8th floor Adventure tower. The view was beautiful and I could hear the entertainment which I LOVED. We could see the monorail go by..etc.
I admit at the end of the day the walk FEELS so much longer but it's really not overall. I'm a little kid and love the headboards LOL.

My DH loves the monorail slides and could do that all day. We always found the pools very comfortable even on a busy weekend. Everyone we've ever encountered from bell services to wandering CM's to maintenance services have been amazing.
This is just my experience though.

 

[alvernon90]

I wouldn't call them "Meets" as much as characters roaming. They aren't in one place.

Nice photos, and a nice reminder of what makes DLH so great. I can't think of a single day where I have stayed there and not seen a character roaming around. We're not one of those "meet the characters" families, but it does add to the atmosphere to see them wandering around.

 

[tlovesdis]

I've stayed at all three and my order would be...

1. DLH
2. PPH
3. GCH