Which Disneyland Hotel? And Why?

Which Hotel? And Why?

  • Disneyland

  • Explorer’s Lodge

  • Hollywood


Results are only viewable after voting.
We really enjoyed Disney Explorers Lodge. Disneyland Hotel and Hollywood Hotel both seemed very nice but we liked how immersive and transportive Explorers Lodge felt. We're big fans of Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge and Explorers have similar vibes.
 
I stayed in Hollywood Hotel for 3 nights in 2016. I will be staying in HK Disneyland Hotel and Explorer Lodge in 3 weeks. I will take the poll after I return. Based on just my researching online, I would vote for Explorers Club.

I chose Hollywood Hotel last time since it was so much cheaper than HKDL Hotel. It’s our first visit to HKDL, so we would not be staying in the hotel much. It served the purpose of being close to the park. However, its dining options are limited. We ate dinner at Enchanted Garden so we were not eating at Chef Mickey again. Studio Lounge was expensive with a limited menu. I ate the most expensive curry beef brisket soup noodle with HK fast food quality. I am not a burger/sandwich person. We had breakfast at Hollywood and Dine on our last day and it was ok. We didn’t use any other amenities (the pool or free arcade). The decor was underwhelming. Service was attentive and up to Disney standard though.

Explorer Lodge seems better themed and more fun with 3 interesting dining venues that we plan to try them all on this trip. It’s also cheaper than HKDL Hotel. That’s why we will be spending two nights there. We have a late flight leaving Hong Kong, so we can explore the hotel a bit before heading to the airport if we can stand the heat outside.

Also, I decide to splurge on spending one night in a Kingdom Club room this time. HKDL Hotel definitely has a more elegant feel and we love Crystal Lotus. Can’t wait to try the Disney dim sum again! I justify the extra costs with having all the perks: reserved seating for Mickey and the Wondrous Book, 4 Priority admission passes and money saved on two meals, dinner and breakfast. If we were a family of 4, the Kingdom Club Room would definitely be our choice with savings on food, special character meets, closest to the park and piano in the lobby. Yet it’s only me and DD who doesn’t drink. I guess I can justify my over-drinking in the lounge as a way to get my money’s worth!:hyper: We will begin our adventure with Disney dim sum for lunch and then spend the rest of our arrival day enjoying the hotel amenities. It will be a relax day without the park.

I will definitely return to report, thinking of a live report of some sort since I would be busy at work after the trip. HKDL had so much to offer. Yet there is not much info or trip report on Disboards. Hope this helps for now!

Have fun planning!!
 
Thank you both! This is very helpful!

We have never been to Hong Kong before and are planning to spend two nights at Disneyland.

We have looked online at all three hotels, as well as some nearby hotels. We are thinking two nights at a Disneyland hotel will be great.
We are open to other suggestions.

We are considering Hollywood Hotel, but really don’t like the pictures we’ve seen because it looks too bright & busy for us. We are only considering staying here based on price.

Explorer Lodge looks really nice and relaxing. We are seriously considering staying here.

HK Disneyland Hotel looks luxurious and we have been looking at the Kingdom Club rooms as well as other rooms here. If money were no object, this would be our first choice.

We are considering booking Three Magical Days package.
Any thought on this?

It’s just DH & myself on this trip.

Thanks for any advice.

Happy travels
 


We stayed at the Hollywood for two nights in 2016 and enjoyed it. We also stayed in Kowloon for three nights. Although we didn't spend a lot of time at the Hollywood we did eat at Chef Mickeys one night and spend a few hours in the pool. We also walked around the DLH one morning before the park opened. It looked nicer but unless the prices were pretty close, I'd pick the Hollywood again except that I really want to try the Explorers next time. The distance to the park isn't an issue since we just took the shuttle bus. I don't think you can wrong with any.
 
I went to HK in January, and I did an overnight stay in DL. I stayed at the Disneyland Hotel. Very nice property, quick little peaceful walk to the park.

Couple things to keep in mind:

1) The park opens late in the morning, it opened at approximately 10am during my days.
2) The park does NOT open early for hotel guests. So you're on an even playing field with everyone else.

So if you're going to spend multiple days at Disney, it probably still makes sense to stay at a property. I'm going to go again next year but I won't do a Disney hotel. I'll just leave early from my mainland hotel. With the park opening so late, it's not difficult at all to do it this way.
 
Thank you both! This is very helpful!

We have never been to Hong Kong before and are planning to spend two nights at Disneyland.

We have looked online at all three hotels, as well as some nearby hotels. We are thinking two nights at a Disneyland hotel will be great.
We are open to other suggestions.

We are considering Hollywood Hotel, but really don’t like the pictures we’ve seen because it looks too bright & busy for us. We are only considering staying here based on price.

Explorer Lodge looks really nice and relaxing. We are seriously considering staying here.

HK Disneyland Hotel looks luxurious and we have been looking at the Kingdom Club rooms as well as other rooms here. If money were no object, this would be our first choice.

We are considering booking Three Magical Days package.
Any thought on this?

It’s just DH & myself on this trip.

Thanks for any advice.

Happy travels

Are you over 45 days out? Have you checked the 2 night plus offer with 20% off and free room upgrade? I would price out what’s included in the three magical day package separately with discounts for comparison. I believe I did that and for me booking separately costs less.

As hotel guests, I inquired and pre-ordered discount coupons for Dragon Wind breakfast probably with 10% off.

Two-day tickets are on sale for $699 plus $80 voucher in total if you are a Disney Fan member.

2-in-1 meal voucher is $130 each if you purchase with the park tickets online.

I think the Three Magical Day package works better if you are less than 21 days out and cannot take advantage of the other room offers.
 


We stayed at the Hollywood for two nights in 2016 and enjoyed it. We also stayed in Kowloon for three nights. Although we didn't spend a lot of time at the Hollywood we did eat at Chef Mickeys one night and spend a few hours in the pool. We also walked around the DLH one morning before the park opened. It looked nicer but unless the prices were pretty close, I'd pick the Hollywood again except that I really want to try the Explorers next time. The distance to the park isn't an issue since we just took the shuttle bus. I don't think you can wrong with any.

Thank you for your response. This makes me feel better about Hollywood Hotel, if we end up staying there.
 
I went to HK in January, and I did an overnight stay in DL. I stayed at the Disneyland Hotel. Very nice property, quick little peaceful walk to the park.

Couple things to keep in mind:

1) The park opens late in the morning, it opened at approximately 10am during my days.
2) The park does NOT open early for hotel guests. So you're on an even playing field with everyone else.

So if you're going to spend multiple days at Disney, it probably still makes sense to stay at a property. I'm going to go again next year but I won't do a Disney hotel. I'll just leave early from my mainland hotel. With the park opening so late, it's not difficult at all to do it this way.

Thank you for your response. What mainland hotel would you choose? We are open to staying off property as well. We do want to make sure we see other things in Hong Kong, besides Disneyland.
 
Are you over 45 days out? Have you checked the 2 night plus offer with 20% off and free room upgrade? I would price out what’s included in the three magical day package separately with discounts for comparison. I believe I did that and for me booking separately costs less.

As hotel guests, I inquired and pre-ordered discount coupons for Dragon Wind breakfast probably with 10% off.

Two-day tickets are on sale for $699 plus $80 voucher in total if you are a Disney Fan member.

2-in-1 meal voucher is $130 each if you purchase with the park tickets online.

I think the Three Magical Day package works better if you are less than 21 days out and cannot take advantage of the other room offers.

Thank you for the information.

We are only 15 days out. We know we really need to make a decision asap, like TODAY! We have all our flights and other hotels booked, for our trip to Hong Kong and Thailand. This part of the trip has been difficult for us because we can’t decide if we should stay on property or not, if we should go to Disneyland one or two days, do we want time to relax a little....

How do you become a Disney Fan Member?

I will price out Three Magical Days separately. I think it made sense for Hollywood & Explorer. I can’t remember if it was a good deal for Disneyland Hotel. Kingdom Club Room would be a total splurge. The only reason we are considering Kingdom Club is to totally relax and spend time at the hotel and pools. We thought it might be convenient to have food & drinks available from the lounge.

Just when one of us makes a decision, the other is leaning a different way lol! And we haven’t completely ruled out staying off property, but then we don’t have any idea where to stay, so we just say stay on property.

Thanks for any and all help. I really appreciate it.
 
Thank you for the information.

We are only 15 days out. We know we really need to make a decision asap, like TODAY! We have all our flights and other hotels booked, for our trip to Hong Kong and Thailand. This part of the trip has been difficult for us because we can’t decide if we should stay on property or not, if we should go to Disneyland one or two days, do we want time to relax a little....

How do you become a Disney Fan Member?

I will price out Three Magical Days separately. I think it made sense for Hollywood & Explorer. I can’t remember if it was a good deal for Disneyland Hotel. Kingdom Club Room would be a total splurge. The only reason we are considering Kingdom Club is to totally relax and spend time at the hotel and pools. We thought it might be convenient to have food & drinks available from the lounge.

Just when one of us makes a decision, the other is leaning a different way lol! And we haven’t completely ruled out staying off property, but then we don’t have any idea where to stay, so we just say stay on property.

Thanks for any and all help. I really appreciate it.

You can become My Disney Fan member by creating an account on the HKDL website.
https://www.hongkongdisneyland.com/login/
 
Thank you for your response. What mainland hotel would you choose? We are open to staying off property as well. We do want to make sure we see other things in Hong Kong, besides Disneyland.

There are all kinds of hotels that fit different budgets in HK. A lot of tourists stay in Kowloon which is where I stayed when I went in January. Next year, I'm going to stay at a different hotel called Cordis. It's a 5 star hotel in the Mong Kok area. It has really high marks on TripAdvisor and I've heard the neighborhood is a little more authentic. I also got a pretty good price of under $200 per night for a studio room (very good view of Hong Kong city).

I've been all over the world and the HK subway system is as good as it gets. Everything is written in English so it will be extremely easy for you to get around. Getting to Disney from mainland is super easy.
 
Thank you all so much for sharing your thoughts!

I created an account on the HKDL website and booked the Three Magical Days Signature Package at Explorers Lodge. We are looking forward to our trip!

Thanks again!
 
I really, really enjoyed the 3 magical days package when we visited in November. While the reserved parade and fireworks seating wasn't really needed, it was a nice bonus, as was having so many meals pre-paid. It was one less opportunity to have to deal with foreign currency. :)

And while we ended up not using a lot of our extra FastPasses, we liked the security of having them there 'just in case.' I know we could've save a bit of money by not booking the package, but we figured this was almost certainly a once-in-a-lifetime trip, so any extras like that to make the trip a little more special would be worth it.
 
Is the extra FPs work for all rides? From what I read, only Space Mountain, Pooh and Iron Man have regular FPs
 
Is the extra FPs work for all rides? From what I read, only Space Mountain, Pooh and Iron Man have regular FPs

Your Disney hotel gives you something called a PP (Priority Pass). Which you can use at most of the rides such as Mystic Manor. The FPs that you can get in the park for select rides only includes the ones you mentioned.
 
The number of Priority Admission Passes entitled to guests staying at designated room types are as below:
-Kingdom Club Room of Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel: 4 attractions
-Sea View Room at the three hotels: 3 attractions
-Other Room Type: 1 attraction

Eligible rides may change without notice:
-Big Grizzly Mine Cars
-Hyperspace Mountain (FP)
-Iron Man Experience (FP)
-It’s a Small World
-Mystic Manor
-Slinky Dog Spin
-Winnie the Pooh (FP)
-Toy Soldier Parachute

Reserved seats for shows:
-Sea view (HKDL Hotel and
Explorer Lodge) to Festival of the
Lion King
-Kingdom Club to Mickey and the
Wondrous Book
(First show on the day of visit)
 
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We are just back from HK Disneyland where we spent 3 nights in the Explorers Lodge - we booked standard view but had a package that upgraded us to ocean view. We received 3 passes, one for each night of our stay, despite only holding park tickets for one day. They were good for 5 attractions - Philharmagic, Mystic Manor, Hyperspace Mountain, Runaway Mine Cars and Ironman.

42894112724_4d5022d033_z.jpg
 
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Thanks for the great info.I just booked my flights. Will be in Hong Kong 9/18-9/20. Trying to decide if I should do a package or not.
 

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