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View Full Version : Need help w/Disney Resort Choice - best transportation



VJC715
07-07-2004, 01:25 PM
Hi All ~
I haven't been to disneyland since 1999 - during the construction of CA.

I had always stayed at the Disney Pacific Hotel aka Paradise Pier now. They had a tram running from the Parking lot behind the resort to Disneyland. Do they still have it? I've been reading that the walking anywhere from Paradise Pier is a hike.

Can anyone help me with the mode of transportation from the resorts? :D
I am between booking at Paradise Pier and DL Hotel.

Thanks so much!!!!!

Dlandmom
07-07-2004, 01:47 PM
I'm not 100% sure, but I don't think there's tram service from the hotels any more. From Paradise Pier, you can walk directly into DCA. To get to Disneyland, thhere is a walk...I guess it could be long if you're not into walking!

From Disneyland Hotel, you can take the short walk to the Downtown Disney monorail station and take the monorail straight into the Park. To get to DCA, you'd have to walk all the way through Downtown Disney to the Esplanade area.

Looks like it's 6 of one, half dozen of the other!

MrsG
07-07-2004, 01:52 PM
These isn't a tram from Paradise Pier; you will have to walk to the driveway entrance to Grand Californian Hotel to get into DCA, or walk to DL entrance. Best/quickest resort entrance to DL/DCA is Grand Californian, but if you don't want to pay those BIG bucks, DL Hotel is your best choice - a short walk to the DTD monorail station.

VJC715
07-07-2004, 02:50 PM
If I stay at PP....can I enter through CA walk through there...and get to the enterance of Disneyland Mainstreet? I really love walking through the front enterance.

How far do you think the walk from the PP main doors are to DL? I just remember that HUGE parking lot that you would have to take a tram through in 1999. Any maps I can look at so I can get resituated?
Thanks again ohhhhh sooooo very much!

Forbin
07-07-2004, 02:58 PM
No more trams at all. Sorta sucks.

It's a bit of a walk...when you use the PP entrance to DCA (Which is different than the Grand California Entrance) you end up somewhere near the back end of DCA. I think near the Food Shops.
Then it's a walk of the entire DCA to the front then through the gates to the entrance of DL.

Basically it's the same distance if you walked the entire length of Downtown Disney. Quite a long way.

Another way is to walk to Downtown Disney and then take the Monorail. Which lands you in Tommorrowland.

annemerson
07-07-2004, 05:03 PM
Hi All!
My daughters and I wanted to stay at both the DH and PPH since we had never stayed at either. We were in the DH Sierra Tower facing Downtown Disney (AWESOME!) for 2 nights and the P.P. facing the pool and parking lot the other night. (we would have liked to have been on the DCA side) DH is much more convenient to the monorail and Downtown Disney, but it was also very convenient to go in and out of DCA using the PPH. private entrance. (Especially in the morning when the lines at the main gate can be very long) Since Disneyland is open later than DCA we still ended using the monorail at the end of the night. It's only a 5 minute walk if you're with older kids. It would probably be slower with younger kids. If you walk from the DH to the PPH and vice versa, the grounds are quite pretty and there are some fun photo spots.
Even though we favored the DH (the rooms and beds were bigger, the bathrooms were bigger, the Tinkerbell border was cool, the Captain Hook pool was great, and everything was closer and more classic Disney ) we're really glad we stayed at the PPH too since the room decor , the lobby, the gift shop etc. were really neat...beachy and more modern...which really appealed to us too. It was pretty easy to switch hotels half-way through, but we were there mid-week. It might be a little harder on the weekends. I wouldn't recommend it for everyone. We were just trying to "squeeze in " as much as possible in a short amount of time.
Two other really important things we learned are that you can use the pool even after you've checked out of your room at 11 as long as you go before 1; and if you forgot to buy something in Disneyland or DCA after you already fully used your park hopper you can get a 1 hour shopping pass at the guest service window...that made our day as we had forgotten to buy an Alladin t-shirt that was only available in one store in DCA.
P.S. If you book early through the official Disneyland Resort website or use Expedia the PPH is usually less expensive than DH.

VJC715
07-07-2004, 05:13 PM
Thank You Very Much!!!!