There are a lot of choices out there for guests visiting Disneyland Resort and where they will lodge. For a first time guest it can be confusing when trying to determine the right place for your family. Cost vs. location vs. facilities. vs. ya da ya da ya da to much information to sort through! I thought I would try and break it down into 10 different categories to consider when making your final decision.
1. Disneyland Resort Hotels: The resort offers three hotels on their property for guest to choose from The Grand Californian, Disneyland Hotel, and Disney’s Paradise Pier. One of the primary benefits to staying in one of their exclusive hotels is the early admission to the parks utilizing the Extra Magic Hour perk. Guests at the resort hotels gain entrance one hour earlier than general guests into one of the parks. This extra hour can really pay off during the busy seasons allowing you to get on rides quickly that you would otherwise wait in long lines for (Guests of the Good Neighbor Hotels who book a vacation package with Disney will also receive an Extra Magic Morning.) The other benefit to staying on their property is the close proximity to the parks and Downtown Disney. Everything is within walking distance. They even have exclusive private access into the parks for Hotel guests to use. This means you don’t have to wait in the lines at the front of the park’s entrance. And of course the wonderful Disney Theming through out the hotel only makes your stay all the more magical. You might even spot a Disney Character roaming your halls. The hotels have their own gift shops that sell Disney merchandise so you are able to shop with less crowds. They also include their own restaurants and Character Dinning experiences.
2. Walking Distance: How close do you want to be to the parks? Is it important for you to be within walking distance? One of the things I like about being walking distance from the parks is how easy it is to go back to the hotel in the middle of the day for a break. This is a very nice treat on a warm Summer day when the park is very crowded. Being within walking distance also allows us a little more freedom when we need to split up because the baby is needing a nap and the older one wants to still ride rides. It means I don’t have to pay extra for the shuttle or live by the shuttle schedule. I also avoid paying the fees to park in the parking garage and don’t have to wait in the extremely long lines for the tram when I’m coming and leaving at peak times. We have enjoyed staying at the Howard Johnson on Harbor Blvd. directly across from the parks. They have an incredible pirate themed water play area for the kids to cool off in and a great pool for me to relax by on those hot Summer afternoons. You can also see the fireworks from some of the balconies. However, there are many hotels to choose from along Harbor Blvd. that are within walking distance and among the Disneyland regulars they could all name off their favorites for various reasons. Check out the Good Neighbor Hotels listed on the Disney Website you can use the filters on the left hand side to find one within walking distance from the parks.
3. Parking Fees: Here is something to consider when looking at hotels. Many hotels in the Disneyland area now charge a parking fee for you to park your car on the premises. This fee varies but can be as much as $15.00 per day. Couple that with the parking fee at the theme park which is $16.00 and that can really add up. I can remember how shocked and bummed we were one year when we scored a great deal on Priceline for a 5 star hotel near Disneyland only to find out our savings were swallowed up with an unexpected parking fee for our car.
4. Shuttles: Many of the hotels provide shuttles for their guests to the parks. Some are free and some charge a fee for this service. The Anaheim Resort Transit System also offers a shuttle between many of the hotels and the parks for a fee based on the number of days you wish to purchase. A one day pass is $5.00 per adult and $2.00 per child. When we compared the cost of paying for the shuttle vs. paying the parking fee in the theme park garage we found that it was cheaper for us to pay the parking fee. Make sure you look at what the cost are to use the shuttle for your family when booking your hotel.
5. RVs: We have taken our RV many times to Disneyland it is a great way to bring a little bit of the comforts of home with you and save a bit on lodging as well. One of the first times we brought our RV I also brought along our crock pot and I can remember how wonderful it smelled and felt to step into our trailer after a full day at the park with dinner ready to go. It was almost as good as maid service! There are actually several RV parks in the area to choose from. Those that are closest to the park are generally the older ones and have very small spaces for your RV. They typically are mostly pavement with very little or no grass in between spaces. We have stayed at a few of them and find that most of the time we are not able to open up our awning because they are so small, which makes dinning outside not quite as comfortable. In the Winter these places are just fine because we are not outside our RV much. In the Summer it is nice to have a little bit more space around you and in order to get that we have had to find RV parks a little further out from the resort. This website has a great list of RV parks in the area.
6. Free Meals: Who doesn’t love a free meal? One of the things I always look for when booking a hotel is those that offer a free breakfast in the morning. Many of the economy hotels in the area offer some sort of complimentary breakfast. It can vary from just being fruit and Danishes to a full scale hot meal. One of my favorite complimentary breakfasts is the one offered by Embassy Suites Anaheim North. They serve omelets cooked to order along with bacon, sausage, and pancakes. Their breakfast beats most sit down restaurants in the area and when you can find a good deal for this hotel using one of the many discount travel sites this can be a very good value. One year when we were on the shuttle headed back to our hotel I overheard a gentlemen next to me talking about the free dinner the hotel he was staying at was serving that night. I bravely interrupted the conversation to find out about this place. It was the Homewood Suites by Hilton! Needles to say on our next visit we stayed here. They do indeed offer a free dinner to guests Monday thru Thursday evenings. What a great way to save money. Not only do they offer dinner but they also have a full kitchen in their suites so you can cook your own dinner on the nights they don’t offer it. Many of the hotels will offer Manager’s Specials two or three nights during the week that might include drinks, snacks, or even meals.
7. Dinning Options: The great thing about Disneyland Resort is that it is surround by the city of Anaheim and there is never food very far away. However, it is good to consider what dinning options are near by and convenient for a quick breakfast, lunch or dinner and at what types of price points. Although I love to stay at the Disneyland Resort Hotels one of the draw backs I find is there are not enough quick service dinning places near by for breakfast. Your nearest dinning options are on the Hotel property, Downtown Disney, or inside the park. Since most of the restaurants in Downtown Disney aren’t open for breakfast my options are even more limited and the resort hotel doesn’t serve complimentary breakfast. My preferred location for a hotel is somewhere on Harbor Blvd. most of the affordable dinning options are on that side of the Disneyland Resort property. If I am staying within walking distance I will have a good choice of restaurants to choose from as I walk to the Main Gate each morning. Another great thing to remember is that the Monorail is a short ride to Downtown Disney. We have easily hopped on to it in Tomorrowland and got off in Downtown Disney for lunch and diner. One of our favorite places to go is Earl Of Sandwich. They are generally pretty quick very tasty and a good value. Using the Monorail makes this a very easy place to eat.
8. Number Of People In Your Party: My family consist of four, my husband, myself and two children. Generally we don’t have to think about the size of the hotel room we rent as long as we have two beds. However, I realize that many families don’t come that size some are much larger and a room that only sleeps four is not going to cut it. I found a great list for hotels near Disneyland that will accommodate families of all sizes and price ranges.
9. Staying Further Away From The Park: There have been many times where we decided to go to Disneyland at the last minute but only if we could scrape up enough loose change to do so, literally. In order to make our change go further instead of staying close by and only being able to afford the equivalent of a one star motel we chose to Priceline our stay and ended up staying at a four star Sheraton about 10 miles away. It was worth it to us to have a nicer room and give up staying so close by. Sometimes the trade off of staying further out can be worth it if you are dealing with limited budget dollars like we were.
10. Traveling With A Car Or No Car: Most of the time we drive to Disneyland. It’s about a six to seven hour drive for us and we like the convenience of having our car. A couple of years ago we scored some great prices on plane tickets for us all to fly to Disneyland. We were excited to experience the transportation from the Airport to the Resort in Disneyland. We were very familiar with Walt Disney World’s complimentary transportation from the airport and around their parks and property. We love how easy it is to get around once you land at the Orlando airport and step onto the shuttle to your hotel. First of all unlike the Magical Express in WDW where they claim your bags for you and take them straight to your hotel we had to claim our own luggage and haul it to our bus stop. The shuttle ride cost us about $60.00 per person round trip to travel from the airport to our hotel. Which is about $240.00 more than ZERO dollars in WDW. We also had to make a transfer at one of the hotel stops along the way to reach our destination. We didn’t do a ton of research ahead of time to find the cheapest most efficient way to get from the airport to our hotel. So, there may be some other alternatives out there. For the rest of the trip we found we did not need our car and really didn’t miss having it.
I hope this list gives you some things to think about and a better understanding of where you think your family will be most comfortable for your trip to Disneyland Resort. For some other great tips in Disneyland Check out these links.
10 Ways To Avoid Long Lines At Disneyland Resort
10 Things To Know For A Better First Visit To Carsland
My Top Five Things To Experience At Disneyland Resort During The Christmas Season
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