Disneyland Hotel or Paradise Pier Hotel?

[MagicMouseGirl]

We've stayed at both PP and DLH and liked them both for different reasons. The PP "secret entrance" to CA is fun for the kids and the room was very nice. The DLH however brings me back to the days when I was little and went to DL for the day and I absolutely DREAMED of staying at the DLH someday. It took me 36 years!! LOL!! The pool is FAB - great for kids of all ages.
We are staying next month at the GCH for the first time. VERY excited!!

[MoKat72]

I am trying to gather for reasoning for people staying on property, because it sure seems to cost alot more!!!!
It definitely does cost a lot more, and if you don't value staying on property, it's definitely not worth the extra cost.

For me, however, it's almost not worth staying anywhere else. I stay on property because it makes me feel like I'm at Disneyland even when I'm not in the parks. Rather than killing myself with marathon days in the park, I can go back in the afternoon and swim and take a nap and still be at Disneyland. I don't get that wonderful feeling of immersion when staying off property.

Of course, that does mean that I don't get to go as often as I'd like, since I need to replenish the vacation fund between trips. :crying:

[twindaddy]

It definitely does cost a lot more, and if you don't value staying on property, it's definitely not worth the extra cost.

For me, however, it's almost not worth staying anywhere else. I stay on property because it makes me feel like I'm at Disneyland even when I'm not in the parks. Rather than killing myself with marathon days in the park, I can go back in the afternoon and swim and take a nap and still be at Disneyland. I don't get that wonderful feeling of immersion when staying off property.

Of course, that does mean that I don't get to go as often as I'd like, since I need to replenish the vacation fund between trips. :crying:

I figure I added an extra three days to my trip by staying off property, but I understand. The first time I went to Vegas, I stayed at the bellagio (got a killer deal through Costco). The next time, I stayed off strip. Prices sure went up! But man, getting up in the morning to the site of the fountains and the eiffel tower was cool. I can imagine getting up to look out your window at DLR is pretty cool.

However, Camelot here we come.

BTW, greetings to a fellow Sacramentan.

[Malcon10t]

It definitely does cost a lot more, and if you don't value staying on property, it's definitely not worth the extra cost.

For me, however, it's almost not worth staying anywhere else. I stay on property because it makes me feel like I'm at Disneyland even when I'm not in the parks. Rather than killing myself with marathon days in the park, I can go back in the afternoon and swim and take a nap and still be at Disneyland. I don't get that wonderful feeling of immersion when staying off property.

Of course, that does mean that I don't get to go as often as I'd like, since I need to replenish the vacation fund between trips. :crying:The way I present it to the kids is like this: We have $xxxx. We can stay 4 days and stay on property, or we can stay off property and stay 11 days? They always vote to stay off property. And because we are there so long, no problem going back for naps/swim/etc... And some days, we just hang out in the room and go to Disneyland to have dinner and fireworks!

We prefer staying longer and going more often. I recently asked MDM if we hit the lotto and could stay anywhere, where would she vote for... She wants the Carousel Inn in a View Room. I think I prefer that too.

[Malcon10t]

We've stayed at both PP and DLH and liked them both for different reasons. The PP "secret entrance" to CA is fun for the kids
Are you talking about the GCH entrance? Or the old PP entrance (they closed it a couple years ago.)

[MickeyDogMom]

We prefer staying longer and going more often. I recently asked MDM if we hit the lotto and could stay anywhere, where would she vote for... She wants the Carousel Inn in a View Room. I think I prefer that too.

They have the BEST beds. And I get my own room with plenty of space for puppies. There is a Quiznos right there, with MickeyDs and now Cold stone just down the street.

I've been in my Aunt's hotel room at the DL Hotel and they're not worth it to me but I know other's are different. Even had I all the money in the world, I would still stay off site, for the simple reason that there is less people. Unless EVERYONE (all 4) can have their OWN queen size bed AND have 2 fridges, 2 sinks, microwave, breakfast in the mornings, plus space for the dogs to run ALL within an eight minute walk of the park, I wouldn't stay on property.

I so love that View room. If I could buy it, I would, and keep it as a DL condo.

If I had to pick a hotel. I would pick the DL because they have that pool but there's a lot of people in that pool. :| ::shudder::

[MoKat72]

11 days isn't going to be an option for me no matter where I stay, so I go where I'm happiest. In fact, I'm having trouble finding a room at DLH on 12/3, so I may end up shifting our trip a bit to stay at GCH. At that price, I'm going to spend a lot of time enjoying the hotel amenities. :)

Also...hi twindaddy...Sac neighbor! I remember your post about living near I-5. I work downtown and live along 50...the construction hasn't bothered my commute at all.

[twindaddy]

11 days isn't going to be an option for me no matter where I stay, so I go where I'm happiest. In fact, I'm having trouble finding a room at DLH on 12/3, so I may end up shifting our trip a bit to stay at GCH. At that price, I'm going to spend a lot of time enjoying the hotel amenities. :)

Also...hi twindaddy...Sac neighbor! I remember your post about living near I-5. I work downtown and live along 50...the construction hasn't bothered my commute at all.

You are going 12/3? That is right when we will be there, say hi if you see us on I-5!

Yeah, the construction has been fine. A little more traffic around the side streets, when I want to hit our favorite parks downtown, but no biggie. I drive opposite way of traffic, out towards Folsom, so no big issues.

I was thinking of staying at DLH atleast once for the pool, it looks REALLY cool. However, Camelot here we come!

[jazzysmom]

For me DLH, hands down...more magic.

[MoKat72]

Yup, we're arriving either 11/30 or 12/1, leaving 12/4. It'd be too sad to leave Disneyland on my birthday! I'll wave to you from the plane. We've got Southwest vouchers, so we're flying this time.

And yep, the pool is pretty awesome. Also, it looks crowded, but it's so big that you can usually find your own spot to swim in.

[lovindisney]

I need help in choosing where to stay when we go in October. I'd love to stay at one of these, but am also considering The Carosel (sp?) and The Tropicana. Anyone here stay at both the DLH and the PPH and can recommend one over the other? Differences? Pro's and Con's. I'd appreciate any input. Thanks.

[jazzysmom]

For me, I prefer DLH or PP because it holds a lot more charm, and if you are staying on property for walking distance purposes.

I have also stayed at the Tropicana. It is a good location, average property. The reports I have gotten back lately from Carosel have been mixed. There are a few others that I would probaby recommend in that region too.

Have a wonderful visit!

[Toocherie]

I'm hoping Malcon pops in here--I know she really likes (along with MickeyDogMom) the Carousel, but a friend of mine stayed there a couple of months ago and was really unhappy with the staff's attitude. They basically told her to leave her luggage unattended in the lobby and they would "take care of it later." She ended up lugging it and her 3-year old around until their room was ready rather than go to DL like they had originally planned.

I just wondered what their experience has been at the Carousel with the staff? My friend indicated there was not a lot of customer attention. I've seen some pictures of the Carousel rooms and they look beautiful--just a little worried about the attitude thing. Of course, in my case I can leave my luggage in the car so wouldn't be worried about that as much . . . but also do want some TLC from a customer standpoint!

[foolishmortal]

I am in the PPH over DLH camp , it's my kids favorite hotel and we cut thrugh the GCH to get to PPH so the walk is not bad at all for the 5yr and 9yr olds. They love the PPH for the cartoon room , really cute with wood beach chairs.
The rooms are a good size and the kids love the water slide and roof top pool, and if they don't want to stay in the park for the fireworks we often watch them from the pool area and the music was piped in the last time we stayed there.(nov 07)
It's my kids favorite hotel. We get upper level park view and open the windows and look at DCA all night long! The kids love to watch out the window to spot night time activites around DCA and to watch the morning testing of the rides., They are also big fans of the PP grill, with lilo and stitch!
The kids feel more at home in PPH then DLH and always want to stay there instead.(have asked every year and that is where DH and the kids want to go!*sigh* would love to have stayed at the GCH more then just once) The staff at PPH has always been our fav!! they have helped us with just about everything we need!

We have stayed at the DLH too and it has a great pool for the kids, is somewhat close to the monarail(depends on witch tower). has a great gift shop area, and goofy's is nice. It has a lot more themeing to disney then PPH does but I feel the rooms are smaller and the service and rooms have been hit or miss for us. The worset room we ever stayed in was at DLH. It was a handicap room and they would not move us and the beds were soo hard and miserable that none of us got any sleep at all. We were very glad we only had to stay there 1 night and then got our room at PPH!

Now We have only stayed off prop. once and that was not a good exp. for us I can't even remember what one it was , other then it had a dennys and was a deep peach in color directly across from DL.

Now this is just our experences, someone else may have had more fun at DLH then PPH so it is all in your taste in hotels! If we want croc bites food we just walk on over!;)(we love to walk all over so that is really not an issue for the kids or us, gives us time to find all the little hidden "gems" around pph, GCH and PPH! (like if you go out the back of PPH to the monorail(sp?) there are the biggest bird of paridise I have ever seen! and if you cut across to DLH there are really cute cut outs of Donald, a bear, and a camping scene that the kids love to take pictures with!
It's always fun to walk through the big doors of GCH and cut through to the private entrance to DCA!! esp when you are wet and need new clothes!

hope this helps you some!
kat

[lovindisney]

Thanks for the replies. I have one more question now. I called and got some prices for DLH and PPH and for the DLH the difference between the city view room and the Downtown Disney/Pool view was $30 per night and for the PPH it is a $20 difference between the city view room or a room with a pool view so my question is "Is it worth the extra money to have either of these views?" I've heard that the Downtown Disney view is pretty nice and at night you can listen to the music from the balcony. What's your opinion?

[Cat H]

Are you sure the PPH view room was a theme park view and not a pool view? It has always been my experience that they have two views-standard and theme Park view. I really love the PPH. We always stay in the theme park view rooms because in my opinion the extra money for the view is worth it. You can see all of CA Adv and at night the view is gorgeous!. I have only stayed a the DH once and Paradise Pier about 8 times and I like PP more the DH because the staff seemed friendlier, the pool is less crowded, the rooms seem more updated. Our kids are in college so we don't need the whole disney themed pool and stuff that the DH has. We usually walk to the DH once or twice during our stay and enjoy the lost bar and croc and bits and the waterfalls and koi pond.

[Malcon10t]

We like the Carousel and never had an issue with the front desk. We never had them hold our luggage (we leave it in the car til check in.) We've never had issues that we had to ask them to resolve. The rooms have always been great. Housekeeping has been friendly and helpful (we request extra towels and a flat sheet for the dog.) The rooms (we have stayed in the View Suite, Resort Suite, and the 2 queen room) have always been clean and fresh.

[disneyochem]

We stay at both the DLH and PPH frequently. I have one DD who loves PPH the most and the other one absolutely loves the DLH! So what is a good mom to do? We alternate between the two!

Previous posters have already described what we enjoy about PPH--DCA view, pool, Lilo and Stitch, cartoon room. I do want to say that the customer service at PPH has always been stellar! DLH is great too but I think that (maybe due to the volume of people at DLH?) you just don't get the same level of attention and service that you get at PPH. There is always a little bit more intimacy at PPH than DLH. It even starts at the front desk check-in. Very low key and one-on-one. Not the huge counter of CMs working! My favorite room of all time at the PPH--the cabana room! You get a patio with a table and are on the same floor as the pool.

One downside--my favorite hotel is GCH! I only get to stay there when it is a mom-only trip!

[foolishmortal]

Thanks for the replies. I have one more question now. I called and got some prices for DLH and PPH and for the DLH the difference between the city view room and the Downtown Disney/Pool view was $30 per night and for the PPH it is a $20 difference between the city view room or a room with a pool view so my question is "Is it worth the extra money to have either of these views?" I've heard that the Downtown Disney view is pretty nice and at night you can listen to the music from the balcony. What's your opinion?

At the PPH the park view is the best and for us is totally worth the extra 20 a night!!! you can open your window a tiny bit late at night ,and here music from DCA (not all the time but on most nights late) I'm a night person so i'm up late a lot. (I think most mom's are LOL!) and get a kick out of seeing disney workers , polishing up stuff or working on the lights of the sun wheel and other stuff. And in the morning it's fun to watch all the carts devilering stuff to the gift shops and venders. All the testing of the rides in the morning, and watching the water being turned on GRR!
If you have the choice go for an upperlevel DCA park view!!! the pool view just looks out at the city.
Oh like everyone else said the staff is wonderful!!!!
hope this helps some!
kat

[leota's necklace]

my question is "Is it worth the extra money to have either of these views?" I've heard that the Downtown Disney view is pretty nice and at night you can listen to the music from the balcony. What's your opinion?

It really depends on what is important to you. I know I like to be somewhat immersed in Disney and so a room with a view of the fabulous parking lot bums me out a little, even if I'm only in the room for a few hours a day.

I love the Downtown Disney view but you WILL hear any musicians that are performing, especially if you like to leave your balcony door open for a breeze like I do. From DLH you're probably going to hear the Andean band that plays in front of the Rainforest Cafe, and since that is a special kind of hell for me, I didn't have my balcony door open much. Similarly, the pool view will include pool noise until the pool closes. I was able to drown out most ambient noise for naps with judicious use of closed doors and air conditioning. Earplugs help, too.

It is really nice to be able to look out of your room and pick out DL landmarks at night. I've yet to stay on the resort side of PPH but I bet it's gorgeous.

[DizMe]

Have you checked out the AP7 rates? I just checked our dates in Oct and PP was going for $159/park view and $139/standard. That's a whole lot less than what we are currently holding at DLH ($275/upper level DTD view). Unfortunately, no rooms were available at DLH or GCH for our nights, which are not flexible. My dh insists on staying at DLH but I could convince him to try GCH :)

To get the AP7 rate, call the hotel and ask for AP7, either through regular reservations or by pressing 1 when the voicemail asks you to do so if you're an AP holder. If you are not currently an Annual Passholder, you can still book the room and buy a pass--you can even add it to your reservation. Only one member of your party needs to do so. We are getting 5-day hoppers anyway, so we would just upgrade one of them to an AP for an extra $50. It would save us over $500 (price difference of the room plus the 15% tax) but as I said, my dh is afraid to try it, sigh.

[lovindisney]

I did end up making a reservation at PPH for $159 per night with the park view. We are buying and AP for the trip so we did get the AP7 rates. Thank you everyone for your help. It seems like the PPH gets the more possitive reviews from all of you and from the review websites.

[foolishmortal]

I hope you love it too! Us PPH fans love the view rooms!~ Didn't have to use the ap7 rate got a better one with the "card" promtion they had this year.

The cartoon room is really fun after the parks have closed helps the kids calm down from running around all day!

have lots of fun on your trip!
kat