Where To Stay For Our First DL Trip

[jhaig]

Our plan is to visit CA sometime either late July / early August in 2018. This will be our first ever trip to DL, and first trip to California as well. The plan is to spend the first half of our trip doing Beverly Hills, Hollywood, do a movie studio tour, Santa Monica Pier, a day at the beach, and all of the other necessary stuff that a first-timer should do. Then we will spend four days at DL, which should be enough to see everything we want to do.

In doing the research of the hotels on-site and off-site, I am leaning towards staying at the Disneyland Hotel. It's our first time out there so I figure just bite the bullet financially and do it. However, at 550-ish per night, that's a pretty big bullet. The off-site ones that look like they would be worth a shot would be the Candy Cane Inn and Desert Palms. These check in at around 200-ish with just a short walk (we have stayed at the Contemporary at WDW before and the walk seems comparable).

Since it's our first time there, do we stay at the Disneyland Hotel and be immersed in the "Disney bubble" while at the same time hoping for a room discount? Or is an off-site place like the ones above just as good?

 

[smartlabelprint]

I would stay near the Hollywood attractions for that part of the trip. I would stay at one of the newer complexes near dianeyland. If you have a family I’d get a suite like Hyatt House, staybridge Suites or HomeWood Suites convention Center. There’s also another suite country something or other. All about 15 min walk or 5 min walk to free toy story shuttle lot.

There are also closer places about 5 min walk but they’re motels. Of those Park vue inn and best western park place inn Get great reviews. I also really like Camelot inn.

We stay at HomeWood suites. We prefer the amenities to the close walking distance for about the same price.

 

[smartlabelprint]

Maybe it’s not staybridge Suites but Spring Hill Suites!

 

[lalasmama]

The so-called "Disney Bubble" isn't as big of a deal at DLR compared to WDW. To get to 2 of the 3 on-site hotels, you will walk the full length of Downtown Disney coming and going. Staying at one of the closest off-site motels is actually CLOSER too the main gates than staying at DLH or Paradise Pier Hotel.

Clearly, we stay off-site, lol. For my family, it comes down to price. Let's say you get a great rate at DLH for $300/night. Or you can stay across the street at Park Vue for $200. The walk is closer, and you're saving $100/night. Over the course of 3 nights, that's $300... Or:

60 Churros -or-
60 Dole Whips -or-
2 dinners for 3 at Blue Bayou -or-
A special dining experience for 3-4 people -or-
6 sweatshirts -or-
10+ t-shirts -or-
15 coffee cups -or-
10 Starbucks "You Are Here" mugs -or-
Another night at the hotel

If you consider a motel like Tropicana, the savings is even more, since their rooms average around $150/night, and you Are still across the street from the pedestrian entrance.

Of course, its not all Disney-fied, and you may pass the saxophone player looking for some tips, or the light-copter guy selling his flashy copter thingys 3/$10... But they don't hassle you, in my experience, and I'm still high enough of my Disney Day that I barely notice them.

 

[azdisneylover]

Our plan is to visit CA sometime either late July / early August in 2018. This will be our first ever trip to DL, and first trip to California as well. The plan is to spend the first half of our trip doing Beverly Hills, Hollywood, do a movie studio tour, Santa Monica Pier, a day at the beach, and all of the other necessary stuff that a first-timer should do. Then we will spend four days at DL, which should be enough to see everything we want to do.

In doing the research of the hotels on-site and off-site, I am leaning towards staying at the Disneyland Hotel. It's our first time out there so I figure just bite the bullet financially and do it. However, at 550-ish per night, that's a pretty big bullet. The off-site ones that look like they would be worth a shot would be the Candy Cane Inn and Desert Palms. These check in at around 200-ish with just a short walk (we have stayed at the Contemporary at WDW before and the walk seems comparable).

Since it's our first time there, do we stay at the Disneyland Hotel and be immersed in the "Disney bubble" while at the same time hoping for a room discount? Or is an off-site place like the ones above just as good?

I would bite the bullet and stay at the Disneyland Hotel. Magic Morning, Early Entry daily during the summer will be a great way to get to popular rides before the big crowds. You can send purchases back to your hotel. The rooms are nice, the Monorail is close by to get you into DL (Tommorowland by the Autopias), the walk through DTD is nice. You can stop and get something to eat, drink, etc. Have fun planning!

 

[Frozen2014]

We did similar to you this past August. We started in Hollywood (stayed at Hollywood Orchid Suites) and did the Hollywood stuff, plus a tour and Santa Monica Pier. Then we switched to Desert Inn & Suites across from Disney. Like you, Disney was part of a longer trip so we were watching our budget. It's nothing special but it was fine for us and the location was amazing (next door to Park Vue).
P.S. - I have a trip report in my signature you may be interested in as we did a similar trip to you.

 

[Geemo]

I would bite the bullet and stay at the Disneyland Hotel. Magic Morning, Early Entry daily during the summer will be a great way to get to popular rides before the big crowds. You can send purchases back to your hotel. The rooms are nice, the Monorail is close by to get you into DL (Tommorowland by the Autopias), the walk through DTD is nice. You can stop and get something to eat, drink, etc. Have fun planning!

Something must have changed.....
When we tried to have our purchase sent to our room at the GCH from in Disneyland, the CM said they couldn't do that.
This was the first week of October, so not too long ago.
I know we use to be able to have this done.

For a first trip or any trip for that matter, staying on-site is always nice. The EE for on-site is so nice. It can really help get through some of the busier rides in DCA.

For a summer trip or any trip where you want to use a pool, we do not choose Desert Inn and Suites. Their pool is an indoor pool. The ventilation can lack at times. The chlorine smell is too strong for me.

geemo

 

[gottalovepluto]

Imho: can you afford DLH? be honest with yourself. I get YOLO and all but sometimes YOLO just doesn't fit today's budget. IF you answer yes... are you returning to CA anytime soon? If no- DLH. If yes- compare to off-site. One of the best benefits to on-site is EMH. At DL only 3 hotels have EMH vs 20+?idk at WDW. With 4 days you can definitely enjoy some EMHs. They are the quietest times in the parks. It is bubbly at DLH. You don't see the rest of Anaheim besides from the monorail so it does keep the bubble feel. The pool is fun, monorail slides are cute. The theming can't be found anywhere else stateside.

I had many enjoyable DL trips off-site but I'm practically addicted to on-site after falling in love with EMH & the ease of staying in the bubble. BUT- you can still have a great trip offsite if that's what your budget says! My offsite tip: stay as close as possible to avoid the complete disaster parking at DLR has become OR stay within walking distance of the Toy Story lot so you can easily hop the shuttle!

 

[gottalovepluto]

Something must have changed.....
When we tried to have our purchase sent to our room at the GCH from in Disneyland, the CM said they couldn't do that.
This was the first week of October, so not too long ago.
I know we use to be able to have this done.

What?!!! In Sept I had my purchases sent back to DLH. They don't deliver to the room at DLR but they've always delivered to DLR hotels- except they aren't available until 7am at bell services the next day. (Handy tip for night owls <as long as this is still a thing & you just had an uniformed CM> bell services at DLH told me they have the packages by midnight or within an hour of park close. Sure enough we picked them up 90 mins after park close which was great because we were leaving the next morning and 7am pick-up would have been super annoying.)

 

[wench]

Something must have changed.....
When we tried to have our purchase sent to our room at the GCH from in Disneyland, the CM said they couldn't do that.
This was the first week of October, so not too long ago.
I know we use to be able to have this done.

For a first trip or any trip for that matter, staying on-site is always nice. The EE for on-site is so nice. It can really help get through some of the busier rides in DCA.

For a summer trip or any trip where you want to use a pool, we do not choose Desert Inn and Suites. Their pool is an indoor pool. The ventilation can lack at times. The chlorine smell is too strong for me.

geemo

According to the DLR website, package delivery is still a perk of staying on site. So, I’m not sure why they told you no, but it is still available.

 

[aliceindisneyland]

There is no bubble at Disneyland. That's just snotty, and we always smell cat poop when we walk from DLH past ESPN zone, so "bubble" popped. $500/night for DLH vs. $180/night in summer to stay right across the street (and perhaps even closer) doesn't make sense, unless you're just dying to visit DLH, which is totally cool.
EMH is great, but if you don't know how to work it or rides are down, is it really worth an extra $400 per day? We love DLH, but we go to DL all the time, so we don't mind taking time out of the Parks to swim all afternoon. If you are at Disneyland to experience the Parks, any walking distance hotel is perfect. $603 per night on a $500 room after 17% taxes and $18 parking vs. $220 per night on a $180 room after taxes and $10 parking.
ETA we just drive from DL when we go to Hollywood and Universal Studios. It only takes 45 min to Universal on a weekend, and easier than a split stay for us because we pack heavy.

 

[Frozen2014]

Something must have changed.....
...

For a summer trip or any trip where you want to use a pool, we do not choose Desert Inn and Suites. Their pool is an indoor pool. The ventilation can lack at times. The chlorine smell is too strong for me.

geemo

Yes true. We didn't use the pool at Desert Inn as we just stayed at the parks all day. But if swimming is part of the plan, then the pool there is indoor and very basic. I've heard other negative comments about it on here too. For us, it was a non-issue though and not a factor.

 

[jhaig]

Yes true. We didn't use the pool at Desert Inn as we just stayed at the parks all day. But if swimming is part of the plan, then the pool there is indoor and very basic. I've heard other negative comments about it on here too. For us, it was a non-issue though and not a factor.

A pool is definitely part of the game plan, which is partly drew us to the Disneyland Hotel.

 

[jhaig]

There is no bubble at Disneyland. That's just snotty, and we always smell cat poop when we walk from DLH past ESPN zone, so "bubble" popped. $500/night for DLH vs. $180/night in summer to stay right across the street (and perhaps even closer) doesn't make sense, unless you're just dying to visit DLH, which is totally cool.
EMH is great, but if you don't know how to work it or rides are down, is it really worth an extra $400 per day? We love DLH, but we go to DL all the time, so we don't mind taking time out of the Parks to swim all afternoon. If you are at Disneyland to experience the Parks, any walking distance hotel is perfect. $603 per night on a $500 room after 17% taxes and $18 parking vs. $220 per night on a $180 room after taxes and $10 parking.
ETA we just drive from DL when we go to Hollywood and Universal Studios. It only takes 45 min to Universal on a weekend, and easier than a split stay for us because we pack heavy.

We are early risers and do rope drop at WDW all the time, so doing the parks early and knowing how to use the FP system is not a problem.

 

[smartlabelprint]

http://www.marriott.com/hotels/trav...ce/?scid=bb1a189a-fec3-4d19-a255-54ba596febe2

Check this one out for a close place with better pool than the motels. I can’t handle DI&S it’s bare bones and there’s no way I’d go in their pool. We used to stay at best western park place inn ($170) before we needed another bedroom (therefore HomeWood suites convention 1 bed for $220). The suites at Camelot inn are also $220 I think but include no food.

Park vue inn is also a nicer motel.

 

[whoever]

FWIW, I just got 25% off the cost of the DLH stay for being a Disney Visa Holder.

 

[BlueSuitDonald]

Is the 25% off for the summer months at DLH? I am also a Disney visa holder and we are debating staying there first part of July next year

 

[brockash]

Our plan is to visit CA sometime either late July / early August in 2018. This will be our first ever trip to DL, and first trip to California as well. The plan is to spend the first half of our trip doing Beverly Hills, Hollywood, do a movie studio tour, Santa Monica Pier, a day at the beach, and all of the other necessary stuff that a first-timer should do. Then we will spend four days at DL, which should be enough to see everything we want to do.

In doing the research of the hotels on-site and off-site, I am leaning towards staying at the Disneyland Hotel. It's our first time out there so I figure just bite the bullet financially and do it. However, at 550-ish per night, that's a pretty big bullet. The off-site ones that look like they would be worth a shot would be the Candy Cane Inn and Desert Palms. These check in at around 200-ish with just a short walk (we have stayed at the Contemporary at WDW before and the walk seems comparable).

Since it's our first time there, do we stay at the Disneyland Hotel and be immersed in the "Disney bubble" while at the same time hoping for a room discount? Or is an off-site place like the ones above just as good?

I'm not against staying at one of the Disney resorts, we have and it was fine, but please don't spend the money to be "in the Disney bubble, because at Disneyland you're not, it's just nowhere near the same as at World. I totally know what you mean and love it at World and always stay onsite there, but it just doesnt really exist at Land. Also, the walk from the Disneyland hotel is not going to be any closer than the ones right across the street on Harbor Blvd. - you'd just be entering the opposite side.

I'd say the biggest perks of staying at Disneyland hotel over one of the ones on Harbor would be the pool, if you're going to schedjle enough down time to take advantage of it- it's pretty neat, and possibly security, although I'm really not an expert on the differences since the changes, but the security coming from Harbor can get long. In our opinion, it's probably not worth the extreme difference in cost, so we now generally stay on Harbor, but I totally get wanting to try it out.

 

[whoever]

Is the 25% off for the summer months at DLH? I am also a Disney visa holder and we are debating staying there first part of July next year

My booking was for March, so not sure if it will apply to the Summer.

 

[LTiffany]

A pool is definitely part of the game plan, which is partly drew us to the Disneyland Hotel.

The pool at DLH is amazing. I highly recommend renting a cabana if you'll spend a day, or half day, at the pool.