Wish I could justify a DL resort hotel!

[Belle83]

Totally disagree with everyone so far. We have stayed at HOJO, FFI, and BWPPI and none of them compare to DLH or Grand Californian. To me if its a vacation once a year then spend the extra money and stay where you want. We tend to spend more time at the pools, slides, hot tubs and places to eat around the hotel when we do the resort hotels. There really is such a big difference. I understand to each their own though. I just don't like the busy Harbor Blvd, buses, traffic, McDonalds and all the outside commotion. When I'm on vacation I want to be away from all that. Downtown Disney is so much more relaxing to walk through.

Now If I could go more than once a year I would stay just about anywhere. Still trying to come up with the funds to go this Christmas.

I'm not sure what there is to disagree about? People are saying they wish they could afford it... I don't think anyone is saying that staying off-site vs. at a Disney hotel is the same experience.

I would love to stay at a Disneyland hotel, but never have. My trips to CA always seem to be off-site. Maybe next time!!

 

[Mom2Christina]

I personally LOVE staying on site at the Disney resorts. I pretty much now refuse to go to Disney if we can't afford the hotel. It is all part of the magic for me, not having to leave the resort and see your car, traffic, etc. The atmosphere is just all part of the magic for me!

 

[OrcaPotter]

I'm not sure what there is to disagree about? People are saying they wish they could afford it... I don't think anyone is saying that staying off-site vs. at a Disney hotel is the same experience.

I would love to stay at a Disneyland hotel, but never have. My trips to CA always seem to be off-site. Maybe next time!!

This. I think the OP was not intending to start another "which is better" thread but just voicing what many of us feel, and that's frustration that we can't afford the crazy rates for on-site hotels.

Personally, I would LOVE to stay on-site for my first visit. As an Orlando resident, the only times I've had a hotel room at WDW were for very special occasions--since I live no more than 40 minutes away via the toll roads. Because of this, whenever I have stayed on-site at WDW (with the exception of just getting an All-Star for sleeping/changing for Not-So-Scary) it's with the purpose of enjoying everything the hotel has to offer and the parks are secondary. This is rare for me, so I was really hoping an affordable rate would pop for DL so I could experience an entire Disney immersed vacation for the "first" time.

However, my friends and I are on very fixed budgets. To comfortably afford the whole trip, our split hotel stay had to be as close to under $200 for 5 nights as possible. For what extra we would have to spend to stay at the PPH, we can afford two premium meals in the parks, souvenirs, and the general food budget. We're affording the flight from Orlando with deeply discounted buddy passes and splitting taxi fares. So in the end, we rationalized that we would want to spend the most time in the parks for our first visit, so Mickey's face on walls and toiletries where we slept/changed ultimately is not worth the extra significant cost right now. I'm making door magnets to decorate our room to jazz up the Disney, so I'm content with our decision.

I'd love to return to DL during the holidays to see all the ride overlays, and hopefully if we go during a slow time the hotel costs will be less so we can afford it. Not to mention save enough for the sole purpose of staying on-site.

But yeah, it ultimately comes down to this:
- If it's that important, you budget for it
- If it's not that important, it's not worth it

 

[disneyrand]

The extra cost just isn't worth it to me and my family. I don't spend enough time in the room to justify the cost (and I wouldn't even if I stayed on-site). We've stayed at a couple of the hotels on Harbor that work just fine for us, and we're actually a shorter walk to the main gate from there than we are from the DLRH.

It's all a matter of preference. I prefer to spend my money in other ways on my vacation. Others would rather pony up for the lodging. One isn't necessarily better than the other. I've looked at staying on site a couple of times and the price is just way too ridiculous to justify for us. I don't go on vacation to sit around my hotel any way. I don't sit around when I'm at home. I'm sure the heck not doing it while on vacation.

 

[sjw4870]

Just got back from 4 wonderful days at Grand California....loved it. When I initially booked I was at the Marriott Suites a few miles away (really nice place too - stayed there in past when in the area for work). Even though when at WDW I would never even consider staying offsite, I had thought that at DLR it really didn't matter as much. At last minute I changed my mind and figured I wanted the DLR experince from an on-site perspective. Can't say enough about how much I loved it. I could probably walk from my room to the entrance of DL in about 5 minutes (DCA even closer!) The convenience couldn't be beat. While some people napped in the room, others could easily remain in the parks or go to Downtown Disney since it was all so close (where at WDW, we all tend to stay in the parks together since getting back to the hotel involves a bus, boat or monorail). I know it's expensive, but I just really loved it.

 

[dalstitch45]

I have never stayed at a DL resort hotel, but I would like to. As many times as I have been WDW, I have stayed onsite for the last ten years. I would not even think about not doing it. I have been coming for the last four (4) years to DLR, and want to try onsite. The prices are really high right now, though. Even with the passholder rate, it is still high. I like my Hiltons and Marriotts, so these are the ones I usually go with. I just take the ART bus.

 

[Caseystigger]

I totally agree. With a captive audience they can basically charge what the market will pay.

I just love the feeling on property. So enjoy strolling through DTD on the way to the parks in the morning; sometimes we take the Monorail out though I prefer to enter and leave through the gates. Tears streaming down my face after the last stroll down Main St, walking slowly through DTD, stopping at the World of Disney for some final shopping, then entering the beautiful GCV for a final evening and enjoying a glass of wine on the balcony.

I wake up far earlier than the rest of my family. I love to sit by the fire place in the lobby and sip my coffee. Ahhh.......

I sooooo agree with you (and I love how dreamy you make it sound---wonderful! ) and the OP's about staying on property. There is nothing like it. I love the all inclusive feel, the closeness of everything. Living in the midwest we only get to go once a year so we want to make it count and just feel relaxed and pampered.

 

[Caseystigger]

Yes, I think staying onsite - no matter which part of 'onsite' it is - somehow encourages us all to spend more time there. We don't feel like we are missing out on the Disney fun so much if we are staying in the bubble, I suppose. We may not be in the parks, but we are still in Disney to some degree.

Ooh I love this! So true and a great way to put it. The Disney Bubble!

 

[rbbs]

My job has me evaluating investments everyday and trying to realize true value and perceived value etc. To me I go through this process on a similar level when booking a place to stay and have determined that it is just not worth it with the more than suitable alternatives available. We are very active when we are at Disney and literally drop to the bed and sleep as soon as we get back from the park so it doesn't make sense for us to pay for things we aren't going to use or benefit from anyways. I know that many of the prepackaged deals come with the resort hotel stays bundled so I can see why many people end up staying onsite and there is nothing wrong with that. We never buy packaged or bundled holiday plans to Disney so control our costs and decide where we want to allocate our funds. I think our next Disney adventure will be to Disneyworld so may actually go back to a prepackaged holiday for that trip? But this year we are more than happy to be staying at HoJo's and although we are sleeping most of the time we are there we always enjoy our stay there. As the prices go up at Disney there will be more and more threads like this as I know many families that simply can't afford to go to Disneyland anymore and that is truly more unfortunate than my family making a small sacrifice on where we sleep in Anaheim. We are truly fortunate to be in a position to even evaluate this.

 

[DangerMouse]

We don't feel like we are missing out on the Disney fun so much if we are staying in the bubble, I suppose.

ITA. Staying onsite keeps me in that bubble. That's a perfect way to describe it.

Ooh I love this! So true and a great way to put it. The Disney Bubble!

To quote Elphaba: "Well, we can't all come and go by bubble!"

 

[rentayenta]

I sooooo agree with you (and I love how dreamy you make it sound---wonderful! ) and the OP's about staying on property. There is nothing like it. I love the all inclusive feel, the closeness of everything. Living in the midwest we only get to go once a year so we want to make it count and just feel relaxed and pampered.

Clearly I'm beer bonging the Disney kool-aid.

To quote Elphaba: "Well, we can't all come and go by bubble!"

 

[Sherry E]

Ooh I love this! So true and a great way to put it. The Disney Bubble!

It does feel bubble-esque, doesn't it? But it's a nice, happy bubble to be stuck in!

To quote Elphaba: "Well, we can't all come and go by bubble!"

Clearly I'm beer bonging the Disney kool-aid.

Me too! Roll out the truckloads of Kool-Aid!

In fact, aside from the PPH rate I am using for 7 nights in December, I just got a PIN offer yesterday - $163 for PPH, $247 for GCH and I think it was $186 for DLH. (There's no reason why PPH should only be $23 less than DLH - it should be much cheaper than that!) This PIN is only good for 2 weeks in October - 10/16 - 10/31 - which is really at a time in October I didn't want to go because I think it will be more crowded. I wanted early October.

But now the wheels are spinning in my mind, and I find myself trying to crunch numbers and justify making a multi-night Halloween trip.....because I just can't let a good PIN code go to waste, after all. I have to return to the Bubble!

I have until July 20th to book the room with the PIN or lose it. Hmmm....

 

[disneyfam2000]

@ SailorJen and Crystals well you know the only time I could justify staying at the DLH was this last June but that was because I called in the same day the Walt Disney Travel Co. released their special offers for staying at any of the resort hotels .. for 3 adults 2 children and for 7 nights and 9 days we were booked for the standard view room but upon registration we were luckily bumped up to a pool resort view just because the hotel needed to balance out their inventory yay that was a plus...but as I was saying with the special offers offered through WDTC it helps reduce the price of the entire package our last package would of been $ 3,900 but was reduced to $ 3,100 with the special offer but keep in mind that just because they have offers for packages that doesn't mean that the offer is applicable to your reservation that is only if the rooms taht are set aside specifically for the special offers aren't sold out so example if they have 50 standard view rooms set aside and they already have 50 booked then that means that you the special offer is not applicable to your reservation ...but here is the numbe rif you ever want to call the WDTC they will help you and answer any questions or concerns regarding your travel needs. 1-714-520-5060 .