Lodging Suggestions?

[UncleScrooge477]

We are toying with a May visit to Disneyland - only been once before, for a whirlwind, about 10 years ago. We stayed "across the street", which was okay.

Any ideas of hotels/resorts to consider OR ones to avoid???

Thanks Much!

[Amy]

We very much enjoyed our stay at the Disneyland Hotel. We managed to upgrade to the concierge level for a reasonable price. And we more than offset our spending at the hotel by having the free continental breakfast, and bottles of water and pop. Not sure if we would be able to swing it anymore, I think the prices have gone up. I would definitely recommend the hotel though ~ and it has been completely remodeled since we were there.

[UncleScrooge477]

Thanks! We're going to have to price things out, obviously, as we will also be at WDW this summer, too!

[UncleScrooge477]

By the way, anyone have any recent experiences at Paradise Pier Hotel? Thanks!

[theBIGyowski]

Not sure if you have seen my post about renting DVC...but you could stay in a DVC Villa at the Grand Californian for less than what you would pay to stay at Paradise Pier booking through Disney.You can probably stay in a hotel near DLR cheaper than anything you'd get from Disney...but if you want to stay in a Disney Resort...I'd look into renting DVC. PM me if you have any questions.

[UncleScrooge477]

Thanks! I've done DVC in WDW before - I had forgotten they were out there, too!

[horizons1]

A friend of mine stayed at the Paradise Pier hotel not long ago. If you get a park view it's great but the rooms and the hotel don't have quite the Disney feel as the others. Makes sense since Disney didn't build it.

I have stayed at both the Disneyland and Grand Ca hotels and they are both very nice and keep you in the magic.

If you decide to stay "across the street" I did the Ramada (I think) and it was an easy walk across Harbor to the entrance plaza.

[Len90]

I was in DLR from 11/28 - 12/2 and I stayed across the street. We go to WDW yearly and this trip to California was just a bonus and keeping the costs under control was a key concern. The Disneyland hotels are definitely great in terms of being on the property, but they are a bit on the expensive side. The benefit they have is you can get into the parks early, but with a three day hopper you get a magic morning, which is pretty much the same thing. I stayed at the Fairfield Anaheim, which is one of the across the street hotels. The place was just recently refurbished so the rooms were clean and the bed was pretty comfortable. I personally feel that if you are going to stay "off property" keep it to the places just across the street. That would include the Fairfield, Carousel, Camelot, Best Westerns, Ramada, and Tropicana. From the Fairfield it was about a 10 minute walk from my room to the bag check stands and that was with missing the traffic light on Harbor Blvd. and walking slowly. You also have easy access to the 24 hour Denny's, IHOP, and McDonald's staying across the street as they are all there.

As horizons1 said, it is not a Disney hotel if you stay across the street. However, some of them have Disney themed rooms and you can also get a park view. We ended up with a park view and were able to see the roof of Space Mountain and the monorail. It was nice, but just like in WDW I was never really in the room except to sleep. I did stay in the Grand Cali. when I was there last in 2001. It was really nice, but it has since gone up a lot in price.

The only thing I didn't like was you had to put up with panhandling outside the property gate and by the bus stop. Besides that it was great staying off property and it saved us a lot of $$$.

[UncleScrooge477]

Thanks everyone - I'm leaning towards something "across the street" at this point, mainly for cost containment.

Anything out there to be aware of, or to avoid?

[cy1229]

Never having been there myself I have NOTHING to offer here.

I did make us reservations at the Hampton down south of the Convention Center. I can use my Hilton Honors points there, and breakfast is included. However, they charge $12 a day for parking (!!!).

Anyone know or have experience with the shuttle service that runs to DLR? I'm thinking it might be less expensive than the $15 we'd pay for parking at Disney (in addition to the $12 we're already going to pay at the hotel!).

[Amy]

Never having been there myself I have NOTHING to offer here.

I did make us reservations at the Hampton down south of the Convention Center. I can use my Hilton Honors points there, and breakfast is included. However, they charge $12 a day for parking (!!!).

Anyone know or have experience with the shuttle service that runs to DLR? I'm thinking it might be less expensive than the $15 we'd pay for parking at Disney (in addition to the $12 we're already going to pay at the hotel!).

How far away is the Hilton? And do they offer a shuttle service themselves?

[Wizzard419]

The hotel itself may offer a shuttle free of charge but there is also the ARTS shuttle. Depending on how many people are in your group, it may be cheaper to just park at DLR.

[cy1229]

Nah, it's just the hubby and me. I don't think the Hampton has its own shuttle. (Did I say Hilton? I meant Hampton.) It's really not that far in real distances, just a block or so south of the Convention Center. There is a shuttle stop (ARTS?) very close by. It seems silly to rent a car for those days and not use it, but getting from the airport and back by cab will probably exceed the cost of the rental car. The Hampton is one of the "Good Neighbor" hotels so I can't imagine that it's that far.

[UncleScrooge477]

If you google "map of disneyland hotels" and check the image results, you can "see" where all the hotels are. And then, if you want, google maps can tell you how far it is to the entrance gates! A lot of times I use google maps to see just how far away hotels are - and then I use the street view to see what is actually on the street (restaurants, bars, etc) to confirm location, distances, etc.

And while I am on the topic, be careful with overseas low cost airlines and exactly WHICH airport they fly into - a lot of major european cities have the close-in airport, and then another one that could be an hour or more away by bus, but with a similar name, but with a modifier - city-north, for instance. Sorry - soapboxing there..or monologging, as per the Incredibles...

[Len90]

Nah, it's just the hubby and me. I don't think the Hampton has its own shuttle. (Did I say Hilton? I meant Hampton.) It's really not that far in real distances, just a block or so south of the Convention Center. There is a shuttle stop (ARTS?) very close by. It seems silly to rent a car for those days and not use it, but getting from the airport and back by cab will probably exceed the cost of the rental car. The Hampton is one of the "Good Neighbor" hotels so I can't imagine that it's that far.

Good Neighbor hotels can be far. The convention area may only be a couple of blocks away but those are long blocks since you are walking the perimeter of DCA.

As for getting to DLR from the airpot, if you are flying into either LAX or SNA you can take the Disneyland Express shuttle. It is a $32 round trip from LAX or $27 from SNA. It is definitely something you may want to look into as an option besides the taxi. I honestly have no comment on either as I ended up getting an amazing deal on a rental through costco travel.