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View Full Version : Resort hotels vs those close by?



JBarb
01-21-2003, 12:13 PM
I'm curious what people think about the resort hotels at Disney vs those close by. Is it worth paying a little extra for Paradise Pier or the Disneyland? I have two kids (5, 10) and we're planning an early March trip.
Thanks

Mickeyslittlehelper
01-21-2003, 01:25 PM
I have never stayed at a "Disneyland" hotel. But, i have stayed at quite a few near-by hotels and they were great. For the amount of time we spent at our hotel (basically just to sleep) it was a better choice to save our money. The most recent hotel i stayed at was the "Desert Inn and Suites" which was excellant. but the pool didnt look too good, that didnt matter though. It depends on how much time you would be spending at the hotel and what you would be doing. If you have the money, you might want to stay at the Grand Califonian, which has access right into DCA.

Hope this helps,
John

YellowMan
01-21-2003, 01:33 PM
^^I too now stay at the Anaheim Desert Inn & Suites and I am very pleased with it (especially its location which is a shorter walk to the parks than from the Paradise Pier Hotel. It is located almost directly in front of the crosswalk across Harbor Blvd and into the resort, so it is very close to Disneyland.

While I have never stayed in the Paradise Pier Hotel, my friend who often travels with me now has and he was raving about how much better the Anaheim Desert Inn & Suites was than the Paradise Pier Hotel. He said the location alone made it a much better choice.

As for the Disneyland Hotel, the grounds here are very nice and if you are looking for the extra Disney Magic to follow you into the resort then I would suggest staying here.

Overall, I prefer to stay in the Anaheim Desert Inn because it is just as close as the Disney hotels but not at the same price.

kranders
01-21-2003, 02:00 PM
Since we got our annual passes we've stayed at the Disneyland hotel about 8 or 10 times and we love it! They priced us out once and we stayed at the Paradise Pier and enjoyed that hotel, also.

If you can afford it and you want to carry the Disney magic into the night I think that the DL properties are the way to go.:)

HBTiggerFan
01-21-2003, 03:36 PM
Paradise Peir is a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG walk from the main gate of DL. I have never stayed there though so I have no reference to what the inside is like.

disneynut
01-21-2003, 05:58 PM
I've never stayed on property, nor have I ever checked into the prices for each hotel but just for look value and the ability to stay real close to the parks I would pick either the GC or the DLH.

We stayed at the Westcoast Anaheim over Thanksgiving and thought it was a great hotel. We had a view of the parks that was really pretty night. The walls weren't paper thin, so even though the hotel was packed, we couldn't hear our neighbors. The rooms all have balconies you can go and sit on. (Although we had a toddler and did not want her to know the big window opened, so we never did that.) They also have lots of parking available as well as awesome room service hot fudge sundaes. (OK, now you know why I really liked it! :D )

I guess it just all comes down to what you want out of the hotel. Nearness, atmosphere. I don't know if DLR hotels do it, but when we stayed on property at WDW, all of our soaps, lotions, shampoo, came in Mickey Mouse packaging. They put chocolates on our pillows at night as well as left different sayings from different Disney movies on our pillows. It was pretty neat. At WDW, we've stayed both on and off property and I would not stay off property again. The hotels at DLR never have grabbed my imagination enough to want to stay or put out the extra money to stay on property.

Let us know what you decide! And have a great trip!

kranders
01-22-2003, 06:05 AM
Originally posted by HB Tigger Fan
Paradise Peir is a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG walk from the main gate of DL. I have never stayed there though so I have no reference to what the inside is like. It's not that bad really. :) You can go across the street and cut through the GCH if DCA is closed or use the private DCA entrance if DCA is open. If you go through the GCH into DDD you'll be at DL in no time!!:D

If you look at that walk as compared to all the walking you'll do at the parks, it's not really all that bad! Besides that, walking is good for you!:D

tjrj
01-22-2003, 06:13 AM
Here's my $.02: I think that you must weigh how much time you are going to be spending actually in your hotel room. If all you are going to do is use it to fall exhausted in bed at night and to grab a quick shower on your way out the door in the am, then off property, and much cheaper, is the way to go.

If you are going to be spending more time in your room-naps, swimming, hanging out-especially with young children,then really think about spending the money to stay on property.

I haven't stayed at the PP but I have stayed at the GCH and the DLH. Enjoyed both-doses of the Disney magic, ease of movement. Both of them have pluses and minuses.

nhasler
01-22-2003, 03:15 PM
We usually bid on Priceline when we go to Anaheim because we go fairly frequently. We have always been pleased and we know that we saved money.

One time we did stay onsite for a long weekend. We stayed at the GC. It was so great to be so close to everything. It was so nice. The special entry into DCA was neat, too. It was pricey though even with our APs.

At the beginning of this month we stayed at the Westcoast (now Coast Hotel) from a Priceline bid. We were so pleased. We had a theme park view from the 12th floor. We could see all of the fireworks. At night DCA was pretty. I'd think about paying to stay here. It was that fun.

teri
01-22-2003, 03:35 PM
I have stayed at all 3 onsite hotels multiple times and they are all nice. PPH is right across the street from DCA-Paradise Pier, or you can walk across the street and go through the Grand Californian and Downtown Disney, Or you can walk the walkway by Disneyland Hotel and take the monorail. It isn't that bad. We Love Disneyland Hotel, and Grand Californian is very nice and convenient. When we are doing a budget trip, we stay offsite, but when we are doing special or family trips, we stay onsite. Westcoast Anaheim was a fine place, with a very nice pool. The hotels across the street from the main entrance are not resorts by any stretch, and if you plan on having relaxation and pool time, you might as well find a place that will be nice to hang out when you are not in the parks.

Lani
01-22-2003, 03:53 PM
We almost always stay in the Best Western Park Place Inn. It is directly across the street from the pedestrian entrance to Disneyland... in fact, it is closer to the main entrance than any of the other on-property hotels!

MickeyD
01-22-2003, 03:57 PM
Originally posted by HB Tigger Fan
Paradise Peir is a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG walk from the main gate of DL. I have never stayed there though so I have no reference to what the inside is like.

:confused: :rolleyes: It's not that long!! Plus (assuming it's running) you can just walk to the Monorail station in DTD or go any of the ways kranders or teri mentioned. :p

I've stayed at PP once, and really liked it, but I've never stayed at any of the other two resort hotels, so I have no comparison.

Darkbeer
01-22-2003, 05:25 PM
AH, the dreaded "Why doesn't Disney offer shuttle service" issue...

Let me steal from myself, and post some comments, most of which will be revised previous posts of mine....


First off, let's look at Marcie new Mouse Info article from this week...

http://www.mouseinfo.com/columns/marcie/20030118/index.php


The busses offer a valuable service at the Resort for guests staying at Disney’s Paradise Pier Hotel or the Disneyland Hotel who prefer not to walk to either theme park. They can take the bus to the Mickey and Friends Tram Station and ride the tram to the main entrance of the theme parks. The busses also offer a service on overflow nights at Downtown Disney when guests have to park in the Pinocchio Parking Lot over next to the parking structure. Instead of walking to Downtown Disney from the overflow parking lot, the busses provide transportation. Enough is enough, it is time to restore the Double-Decker Bus operation after making some relatively minor safety changes to offer a valuable guest service at the Resort.

So I am not the only one who thinks that Disney should offer this service....

It is surprising, but the Disney hotels do NOT offer tram service, even though the walk from the PPH to the Main Entry Plaza is about a half-mile. They do offer the Monorail, and that does cut the walk to about a 1/4 mile between the DtD station and the PPH. I am shocked that Disney does not offer the tram service.

Part of the problem is that they would be required to use city streets, and therefore would have to use vehicles (more than likely a bus) that is licensed for the streets (The parking lot trams remain on private property, and have little to no regulation).

The Disney CM/employee trams are run under contract with Super Shuttle, and are licensed busses with properly licensed drivers, that travel between the park and the employee parking lots, like the one on Katella.

I am also surprised that Disney did not join the ART system....

You would think with all the other NON-Disney hotels (many closer to the main entry plaza than the PPH) that offer tram/bus service, that Disney doesn't.

They could have a route that starts at the Lion King Loading area, then goes down Harbor Bl, makes a right onto Katella, then a right at Disneyland Dr. The Tram could have two or three stops, the first stop could be the GCH, as the bus pulls into the Valet area, loads/unloads, then goes across the street, and then pulls into the Wedding Pavilion Parking Lot next to the DLH Bonita tower, and could suffice as a load/unload for both hotels, but the bus could just as easily also pull into the PPH valet area, and another load/unload. Then the bus could retrace its route back to the Lion King tram area.

If they agreed to be part of the ART (Anaheim Resort Transit) hotel system, the busses would only stop on the street, but still would be a lot closer of a walk than the current hike from the Main Entry Plaza.

But why offer guests additional services, even though they are paying a premium to stay on property. Heck, Cedar Point this year offered "early entry" for the first time, and their hotel revenue is up over 10%.... It takes more than just placing the "Disney" name on a hotel to make people want to stay there.....

Now, lets look at an aerial photo...

http://www.beachcalifornia.com/dlmp.html

First off, notice how much farther the Paradise Pier hotel is from Downtown Disney. Also, look at the fact that the farthest point of the Grand Californian down Disneyland Drive ends before the Paradise Pier even starts!!!

To get to the Grand Californian from the DtD Monorail stop requires you to walk down DtD back towards the Main Entry Plaza, and then use the entrance that is built between the shops at DtD.

The walk to the Disneyland Hotel isn't bad, in fact, it is probably shorter that the GCH walk for two of the three DLH towers, you basically go in the opposite direction (away from the park) down the main DtD path.

The Paradise Pier walk on the other hand is not even a direct walk. (Remember that Disneyland Drive is "sunken" to allow the DtD main pathway to stay level.

First, you must walk towards the DLH and walk down the side of the Sierra Tower, then follow a pathway that crosses parking lot roads multiple times before you end up at the back entrance to the PPH.

Let's look at the Mapquest mileage for the trip down Disneyland Drive from the Rainforest Café (the neighboring location to the Monorail Station) and the Paradise Pier...

It claims a quarter mile.

Lets use another program called Accuroute...

And by using the trial version of it, I got about one-fifth of a mile, which is equal to over 350 yards!!!

Now, when the Lion King tram went across Disneyland Dr., the tram basically stopped next to the back entrance of the PPH, and it was the folks at the DLH that could have a bit of a walk.

Also, the monorails have broken down, and with a bus, it is easy to replace it with another one, if a Monorail is stuck on the track, the entire system is shut down. Plus the limited hours of operation, those who want to be one of the first into the park is limited to just the one train, and at closing, they cut off the line BEFORE the park closes! What does the person who saw the second showing of Fantasmic! during the summer on a Friday going to do, they can't take the monorail, since it would be closed by the time they get to the station after the show......

The changes from "just" Disneyland to the "resort" brought many changes, both good and bad, and one of the "bad" changes is that there are less options in transportation between the hotels and the parks (No more trams, or even the Double-Decker Bus) and the increased distances that the guests have to walk. The Disneyland Hotel always offered both Tram and Monorail service when DCA was still a parking lot, and was the only Disney Hotel.

Well, lets see, the WDW hotels that aren't on the Monorail offer bus/tram service, in fact, you can get bus/tram service at all hotels, even if they have a Monorail stop, the guests have choices, and are offered options, which the DLR guests are NOT offered at the present time.

I personally enjoy walking, and is one of the reasons I like attending Theme Parks, to get outside and walk, but not everybody is between 10 and 60 years of age, and not everybody can handle walking distances like the approximate 1/2 mile from the PPH to the Main Entry Plaza. Take a family of four, with a stroller, plus another little one about 4 years old, you expect this family to walk all the way from the PPH, thru the courtyard and wedding area between the PPH and DLH to the start of DtD, then have them walk all the way to the Main gate (This family wants to be at the main gate at opening, to maximize the amount of time at Fantasyland before the lines get outrageous). Then all the walking thru the park, then back to the hotel for a mid-day nap, then back for a second evening visit, this is now 2 extra miles (not including the miles walked in the park). This is an inconvenience, at least the park could do is offer a tram between the Lion King Loading area and the PPH and DLH hotels, this would be a wonderful gesture, and would be similar to the services offered at the WDW resorts

If you look at the distances the Non-Disney hotels like the Park Vue (et al) that are located on Harbor Drive right across the street from the resort, plus the loss of the early entry, no wonder many people recommend staying at one of the Non-Disney hotels, for cost savings, and the fact that they are closer to the park's entrances than the actual Disney hotels are.

In fact, you can even take the new ART from the Lion King Tram loading area to the hotel, cutting the distance even more.

The lack of transportation choices to and from the Disney hotels is a valid complaint, but, gee, isn't is nice that all the Disney Hotel guests get the chance to walk by all the lovely stores and restaurants of Downtown Disney multiple times a day.... So which is more important, additional revenues in the stores of DtD, or providing guest services such decent transportation to and from your hotel room.... heck places like the Howard Johnson (basically the same distance from the main gate as the Paradise Pier is) provides it.....

By the way, go check out the ART list of hotels by the Lion King tram loading area, next to the information stand. EVERY hotel (even the Park Vue, the closest hotel the Main Entry Plaza) is on that list, and you can ride it across the street if you want to.

So,

chelbell
01-25-2003, 08:34 AM
Hi. I've stayed at Paradise Pier 2 times, both times with a view of California Aventure, and I've stayed several times at Disneland Hotel, with a view of the pool. In my opinion, it is worth the extra $$$ to stay on property. I booked my room each time thru Expedia.com and got a great rate. In fact, I paid only $99.00 per night for Paradise Pier, with a park view, in August, which was a lot cheaper than some of the off-site hotels, like the Anaheim Hilton. For us, it is so convenient to just walk thru Downtown Disney to the parks and be able to walk back and forth throughout the day to swim or rest. Yes, Paradise Pier is a little bit of a walk, but heck, it's not that far and you're at a Disney hotel! For us, the Disneyland Hotel was the funnest for the kids....the pool is great, but if you stay at Paradise Pier, you can use the pool at Disneyland Hotel also. We haven't stayed at Grand Californian yet, but plan to do that in August. I say go for the on-site hotels....it's magical for the kids!!!:)

robsmustang
01-25-2003, 10:28 AM
i stayed at the desert inn & suites in 2000. it was clean and very close to disneyland. i will be staying at this same hotel when i go to dlr again this may