Where should you stay when you're planning your Disneyland vacation? Well, that depends on what you're looking for. Do you want all the Disney magic? Are you willing to splurge or do you want to save a little? Keep reading for all of my notes and recommendations.
My favorite Disneyland Resort hotel where you're going to get all the Disney magic is the Disneyland Hotel. If you don't go to Disneyland all that often, or you're just a super fan like me, this is where you'll receive the most magical experience. It is a splurge to stay here, but in my opinion, so worth it (William would disagree - haha)! Some of my favorite elements to this hotel is their attention to Disney detail, you won't find it to this extent at any other Disneyland property hotel, Goofy's Kitchen (character dining) right on-sight, calm Disney shopping in the lobby (because the park shops can get crazy), the monorail slide at the pool, and Trader Sam's Enchanted Tiki Bar for cocktails. Other perks to staying at this hotel is being right at the start of Downtown Disney and as a guest at the Disneyland Hotel, you can get into the parks 30 minutes before everyone else.
Pictured below are Addison and Alexis Christmas 2017. They do a gingerbread house setup right when you walk into the front entrance of the hotel at Christmas time.
All of the Disney Resort Hotels offer "in-room celebrations" at an additional cost. You can order disney themed gifts, balloons, treats and more to your room if you are celebrating something special. We did this for William's birthday when we did the Disney Cruise. We ordered the birthday package and it was above and beyond what I expected, it was great! Disney Cruise blog series coming soon!
Next up would be Disney's Grand Californian Hotel. The best feature to this hotel is that it is the closest to the parks. There is even a private entrance from the hotel into California Adventure for hotel guests. The standard rooms at this hotel feel like a Marriott to me, nothing all that elevated/special. There's not as much Disney magic here as you would think. I do love their big, open lobby. Even if you aren't staying at this hotel, you must walk through the lobby, especially if you visit at Christmas time. They also have their own location to meet Santa if you want to skip out on the one inside Disneyland near Splash Mountain and The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh ride. Inside the lobby there is a fireplace you can cozy up next to and they have a grand piano with pretty ample amount of seating. We do like the Hearthstone Lounge for dinner or cocktails if you want to escape the park madness.
At this hotel, there are two different locations that you can character dine for breakfast. Napa Rose for breakfast with the princesses or Storyteller's Cafe for breakfast with classic characters. Storyteller's cafe breakfast is buffet style while Napa Rose is a three course breakfast.
We loved the pool when we stayed here a couple years back. The girls went down the slide ALL DAY LONG while I laid pool side sipping cocktails and snacking. There is a restaurant down by the pool and pool side service. It's fabulous!
Like the Disneyland Hotel, staying here means you can get into the park 30 minutes before everyone else. You just show your key card upon entrance. This usually means you can walk on one ride before the masses enter the park, or you can go get your photos with no one in the background which I like. Going first thing in the morning is my favorite, we call this "rope drop." The crowd builds as the day goes on, the mornings are pretty calm in the park after the inital rush to get in.
There is the new Pixar Place Hotel. I have yet to stay here or even walk through this hotel so I will have to report back once we have explored this more.
Keep an eye out for Disney Resort hotel sales. It usually happens between the new year and spring time. The Disneyland Resort Hotels will run a 10%-20% off promotion. Passholders can also use their discount toward hotel stays. Pricing for hotels are typically cheaper Sunday thru Thursday during the week if there aren't any speicial events going on and of course the prices go up during holidays and peak seasons. Peak seasons tend to be Spring Break (all of March & April), Summer (June & July) and Christmas time (Thanksgiving thru the first week in January).
OFF PROPERTY HOTELS
My favorite off property hotel is the Anaheim Marriott off of Convention Way (be aware, there are multiple Mariott locations in Anaheim). This hotel is about a mile from the Disney parks near the convention center. I like how grand and clean this hotel feels. They have multiple dining options on property and a great pool area. You can watch my TikTok video here on some footage I took of the hotel.
My next pick would be the Anaheim Sheraton. I stayed here for a work conference. Again, I love how grand and clean this hotel feels. Mutliple dining options and a nice pool setting. I also recordered some footage of this hotel as well. You can watch that on Tiktok here.
After this, we go to "basic" hotels. They don't have all of the bells and whistles. These wouldn't be my first choice because they usually don't feel as clean as the others, but for those looking for a convenient place to sleep...
Fairfield by Marriott Anaheim Resort is right across the street from Disneyland. At the end of a long Disney day, it is nice to be able to just walk across the street and go to bed. We didn't use any of the amenities when we stayed here, but I can usually trust a Marriott for a decent experience.
The Desert Inn & Suites was our go-to when the girls were younger because it is affordable and some of their rooms had bunk beds, the girls loved that. It's just a couple of blocks away from the parks. I probably wouldn't stay here now because I'm pretty picky of where we stay now. It's mostly just a cleanliness thing. If that doesn't bug you and you're just looking for a good deal, I would pick this one over some of the other "random/cheaper" hotels we have tried around Disneyland.
Most of these hotels are owned by Marriott. If you travel or do hotel stays a lot, I recommend becoming a Marriott member to accumulate points for member perks and rewards.
HOTELS I WANT TO TRY NEAR DISNEYLAND...
The Westin Anaheim Resort I would like to do an adult Disney trip here with William.
Courtyard by Marriott this would be the place to stay in the summer. You can go to the Disney parks first thing in the morning, take a break and play at the hotel water park and then go back into the Disney parks for night time activities.
If you have a favorite hotel to stay at near Disneyland, leave it in the comments below with your notes for other readers.
Thank you for reading, I hope this is helpful for your future Disney stay.
Have a magical day!
XOXO,
Jodi Snowden
Comments