WWYD: resorts

[WDWNY]

We're going to DL for the first time in April for 5 days. The difference between staying at a good neighbor hotel that is walking distance and Disneyland hotel is around $1500- we would use Disney gift cards so a little less because of the 5% off.
We don't really have a budget, but we don't necessarily want to just throw money for something that might not be worth it.

Thanks

 

[Darkbeer1]

Disneyland is a lot different than WDW.

I would stay off property, and since you aren't too worried about cost, I would look at the Courtyard or a bit farther walk, the three new Hotels at Harbor and Katella.

Much more bang for your buck.

 

[gottalovepluto]

"Worth it" is very difficult to determine with hotels & DL. We love GCH but in earlier days we didn't have the budget and would stay at a nearby hotel and still loved our DL trips. Every trip we felt like we made the proper decision and the hotel was "worth it". Here's my 2 cents for you.... What do you expect from your hotel on this trip? Are you willing to pay $1500 for: extra magic hours every day (this perk is MUCH more useful at DL than it is at WDW! We love it!!), closer location, ability to charge to your room, package delivery, & better hotel theming? Because that's what you'll get. Or for 1500 more do you expect a wonderful hotel room and maybe some free food and first class service? Because you WON'T get that from DLR hotels and might spend the whole time feeling like you're being ripped off.

 

[MacMama0930]

If you don't have to be super budget conscious - I think staying onsite is definitely worth it! I've said off site once and on site twice, and once again next weekend. I find a lot of value in the close proximity and the early entry and just the overall resort feel - the "Disney Bubble" so to speak. I absolutely love staying onsite and it'll be difficult for me to stay off site any time in the future.

 

[ParkHopper1]

Do you just want a bed and shower and don't really care about the experience outside the parks...then $1500 is not worth it.
Do you like to remain totally immersed in the "Disney Bubble" from the time you walk on property to the time you leave your vacation?...then $1500 is totally worth it.

To me it is a night and day experience walking back to the the DLR Hotels via DTD and never leaving the "bubble" vs exiting the property on the Harbor side where it feel like a cheapened Vegas strip to me once you step outta the park. It is totally different feel.

If that is a value to you for your overall vacation experience...stay on site. If that money is gonna cut into your vacation budget and you will be resentful that you are spending so much for a hotel room...stay off site. There is no universal right or wrong answer, all depends on what you want outta your experience.

I opt to stay on site every chance I can.

 

[WDWNY]

Do you just want a bed and shower and don't really care about the experience outside the parks...then $1500 is not worth it.
Do you like to remain totally immersed in the "Disney Bubble" from the time you walk on property to the time you leave your vacation?...then $1500 is totally worth it.

Are you willing to pay $1500 for: extra magic hours every day (this perk is MUCH more useful at DL than it is at WDW! We love it!!), closer location, ability to charge to your room, package delivery, & better hotel theming?

We do primarily use our hotel just for a place to sleep and shower (at least in WDW) but have always stayed onsite there. We stayed at Swan & Dolphin there once which I guess would be the closest thing to a good neighbor hotel at DL. We weren't fans. We didn't feel like we were in Disney in the rooms.

Since the magic hours are in the morning, if it was WDW I would say yeah right, Ill be sound asleep. We're coming from NYC, so with the time difference it won't really be that early.

We don't plan on coming back for a long time so we definitely want to see and do everything, so maybe it is worth the price. The Grand Californian is a little cheaper than DL Hotel but the theming doesn't appeal to us. I think we will go the DL Hotel route, but I will sleep on it! Thank you

 

[ParkHopper1]

The Grand Californian is a little cheaper than DL Hotel but the theming doesn't appeal to us. I think we will go the DL Hotel route, but I will sleep on it! Thank you

The DLH is by far the most "Disneyfied" of the the properties and will give you the most inclusive feel IMO. GCH is an awesome property, but much less overt Disney theming. The vaue of the GCH is proximity...you are spitting distance from Disneyland and almost right in DCA.

It is rare that GCH is cheaper...check your room categories you are comparing when looking that the two properties.

 

[WDWNY]

The DLH is by far the most "Disneyfied" of the the properties and will give you the most inclusive feel IMO. GCH is an awesome property, but much less overt Disney theming. The vaue of the GCH is proximity...you are spitting distance from Disneyland and almost right in DCA.

It is rare that GCH is cheaper...check your room categories you are comparing when looking that the two properties.

Theres an enchanted offer that is showing up for GCH. DL Hotel standard is 3888. GCH doesn't have standard available, the cheapest is deluxe-partial view which is coming out to 3818.

We're from NYC the wilderness/ wood theme is not our cup of tea. Lol.

 

[MacMama0930]

Theres an enchanted offer that is showing up for GCH. DL Hotel standard is 3888. GCH doesn't have standard available, the cheapest is deluxe-partial view which is coming out to 3818.

We're from NYC the wilderness/ wood theme is not our cup of tea. Lol.

The DLH is much better themed! I prefer GCH for the proximity as sometimes the walk through DTD to get back to DLH can feel very long at the end of the day! But the hotel itself is much better I think! The light up headboards are positively precious!!

 

[WDWNY]

But the hotel itself is much better I think! The light up headboards are positively precious!!

Oh trust me. If it wasn't for the headboards there would be no discussion of where we were staying LOL.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Seeing more info in your reply, I'd recommend DLH too! This is your only Disneyland trip for awhile so stay in the bubble and enjoy all the magic. As for the extra magic hour here's my comparisons: I was so used to EMH at DLR I thought WDW would be the same. I went to Epcot EMH and was in shock. Like I literally stood there staring at all the crowds flooding future world and apologizing profusely to my best friend for dragging her rear out of bed early that morning. We waited half an hour for Soarin and we're among the lucky ones! At DCA last trip I did RSR twice (single rider line! Totally recommend it!!), Soarin, TSMM & got to TOT right as the park opened. That is what I expect from a good EMH at DLR! In DL you can do Matterhorn (single rider!! although sometimes Matterhorn is slow opening in the morning), Alice & all the dark rides except Peter Pan in one EMH. Sometimes EMH doesn't work so well if multiple rides are down but my last trip we had 4/4 great EMHs. (Be there at opening.)

Oh- wanted to add the pools at DLH are pretty neat. It's hard to beat a Monorail water slide if you have kids! (And be aware GCH is under construction. No pools there right now [literally they have been ripped out to be completely re-done] so I really wouldn't stay there!)

 

[WDWNY]

Seeing more info in your reply, I'd recommend DLH too! This is your only Disneyland trip for awhile so stay in the bubble and enjoy all the magic. As for the extra magic hour here's my comparisons: I was so used to EMH at DLR I thought WDW would be the same. I went to Epcot EMH and was in shock. Like I literally stood there staring at all the crowds flooding future world and apologizing profusely to my best friend for dragging her rear out of bed early that morning. We waited half an hour for Soarin and we're among the lucky ones! At DCA last trip I did RSR twice (single rider line! Totally recommend it!!), Soarin, TSMM & got to TOT right as the park opened. That is what I expect from a good EMH at DLR! In DL you can do Matterhorn (single rider!! although sometimes Matterhorn is slow opening in the morning), Alice & all the dark rides except Peter Pan in one EMH. Sometimes EMH doesn't work so well if multiple rides are down but my last trip we had 4/4 great EMHs. (Be there at opening.)

Oh- wanted to add the pools at DLH are pretty neat. It's hard to beat a Monorail water slide if you have kids! (And be aware GCH is under construction. No pools there right now [literally they have been ripped out to be completely re-done] so I really wouldn't stay there!)

Seems like if i can make everyone promise me they will get their butts out of bed for the extra magic hour it will be worth it (I'm actually the late riser so i need to tell myself I WILL GET UP lol) I would think RSR would be what I should try to get fast passes for. But single rider works for us, so what rides would you recommend getting fast passes for?

We probably won't go swimming unless we see majority of what we want to see. But we might have to take a mid day break get on the water slide quickly and go back to the park if its as good as you say it is!

 

[Aladora]

When in April are you planning? If the dates are right, you might be able to participate in the Spring Dapper Days and get a really good rate at either DLH or GCH.

There is an April check in thread, you should pop in and chat!

 

[WDWNY]

When in April are you planning? If the dates are right, you might be able to participate in the Spring Dapper Days and get a really good rate at either DLH or GCH.

There is an April check in thread, you should pop in and chat!

10-14th!

 

[ParkHopper1]

Seems like if i can make everyone promise me they will get their butts out of bed for the extra magic hour it will be worth it (I'm actually the late riser so i need to tell myself I WILL GET UP lol)

Meh....rope drop even with EE and MM is overrated IMO. I would rather sleep in and close the park out at night. You can get a LOT done the last hour before park close.

 

[WDWNY]

Meh....rope drop even with EE and MM is overrated IMO. I would rather sleep in and close the park out at night. You can get a LOT done the last hour before park close.

We're usually able to close out the park at WDW but with the time difference I'm not sure if we will be able to stay that late. Depends on how quickly we adjust

 

[gottalovepluto]

Seems like if i can make everyone promise me they will get their butts out of bed for the extra magic hour it will be worth it (I'm actually the late riser so i need to tell myself I WILL GET UP lol) I would think RSR would be what I should try to get fast passes for. But single rider works for us, so what rides would you recommend getting fast passes for?

We probably won't go swimming unless we see majority of what we want to see. But we might have to take a mid day break get on the water slide quickly and go back to the park if its as good as you say it is!

Pull FPs for RSR at nighttime too (watch the app to see return times through the day, it's a different experience at night!), Soarin doesn't have SR if you want to do it again pull FP. We like to FP Splash so we can see our ride photo together, Indy is also good for FP because the cue itself is neat. If you all want to ride GRR in the same boat FP it but FWIW SR on that ride is usually very fast even during peak times of day (you can get soaked).

When we stayed DLH in Nov we put in our mobile order for the Starbucks by the monorail. That way we picked up our caffeine to drink as we walked to the front gates. Without caffeine I would never make an EMH! The to-go only Starbucks by the monorail is a lot faster than the main one by the gates.

Have a wonderful trip!

 

[ParkHopper1]

The to-go only Starbucks by the monorail is a lot faster than the main one by the gates.

With the change in security procedures pushing PPH and off site guests through that end of DTD, that statement is not necessarily still true anymore. Last three treks to Starbucks the main one was less line and quicker then the monorail location!

...but yeah, mobile order is the way to go! Wish they did that in park!

 

[Darkbeer1]

"Worth it" is very difficult to determine with hotels & DL.

...Are you willing to pay $1500 for: extra magic hours every day (this perk is MUCH more useful at DL than it is at WDW! We love it!!), closer location, ability to charge to your room, package delivery, & better hotel theming? Because that's what you'll get. Or for 1500 more do you expect a wonderful hotel room and maybe some free food and first class service? Because you WON'T get that from DLR hotels and might spend the whole time feeling like you're being ripped off.

First off, don't forget that the GCH is currently undergoing a major refurb of the pool areas and the rooms (a few at a time), the Lobby gets a major remodel this summer.

But it seems like Disney is doing you a favor, more expensive,won't even offer a reserved type of bed ("Request" only, no guarantee). The off-property Full Service Hotels have much nicer and faster check in, 24 hour room service, etc.

Staying off-property can save you money too, as stated, most offer a free Hot Breakfast, options to eat nearby at lower prices than the Disney options, places like CVS and Walgreens to get some basic groceries you can take to your room (most have a small fridge and microwave) and souvenirs.

Also, Hotels/Motels that are the same basic distance as the Paradise Pier to the Main Entrance Plaza offer some sort of shuttle if you are tired of walking, instead of the 3/4 mile walk from the PPH each way, with no other option offered. (places like HoJo's and the Courtyard, Candy Cane Inn and the Hotels at the corner of Harbor and Katella. Also, the chance to earn Frequent Stay points with the major chains.

To me, in Anaheim, the "Disney Bubble" isn't worth the amount the charge as compared to the other nearby choices.

In Florida, IMHO, for most folks, it pays to stay on Property, but then Disney has a lot more price options in its Hotel offerings, due to the size of the place, and many more Hotel rooms in their inventory.

But everyone travels differently, and I can do a lot with an extra $1,500, extend my stay/vacation, visit other attractions like Knott's Berry Farm (about $50 per person for a day), a nice dinner out, or a Dinner Theater show like Medieval times and Pirate's Dinner Adventure. Heck, even better seating on the flight to/from Anaheim, that is usually worth it to me. (The low cost upgrades, such as early seating on Southwest, not the First Class fare option).

 

[gottalovepluto]

With the change in security procedures pushing PPH and off site guests through that end of DTD, that statement is not necessarily still true anymore. Last three treks to Starbucks the main one was less line and quicker then the monorail location!

...but yeah, mobile order is the way to go! Wish they did that in park!

What?! Wow. Thanks for passing that on! (Mobile order in the park would be awesome. Especially for after fireworks on those cold winter nights!)