Which of the 3 on-site hotels? About This Page:

[HakunaMatata]

Hi everyone:

We visit WDW fairly often, but are new to DL. My mother and her husband are swapping their time-share for a week in San Diego, and have invited us. I am hoping to take a break mid-week to visit DL.

Which of the three Disney hotels would you recommend?

Thanks!
Carole

[bradk]

i personally wouldn't, but...

Paradise Pier - least expensive and probably least desirable of the bunch. it does get music for fireworks piped in though.

Disneyland - probably best themed for Disneyland, very nice pool area. a bit of a trek to the parks (you can get on the monorail which is halfway through DTD). most hotels on harbor blvd are closer.

Grand Californian - designed by the same group that did wilderness lodge and animal kingdom lodge. the flagship hotel.

[MelissaL]

As Brad indicated, it is not as much of an advantage to stay on-site at Disneyland as it is at WDW, because many off-site hotels are walking distance to the parks, and many others have convenient shuttles.

That said, I've walked through all three Disney hotels, and if money were no object, I'd go with the Grand Californian for the atmosphere and the direct entrance into California Adventure. The Disneyland hotel did feel "Disney" and had a well-landscaped interior pool area similar to those at the WDW hotels. The Paradise Pier hotel to me looked as if Disney had bought it from another company and "converted" it relatively recently, which they did.

Happy planning,
Melissa

[chezp]

I can tell you that we loved our stay at the Disneyland Hotel - we found it full of Disney magic and wonderful Disney touches.

[bradk]

something to keep in mind which i usually mention but neglected to. the GCH is the only one of the 3 entirely built by disney. the other 2 were later acquired by disney and have somewhat been retrofitted.

[Tink and co.]

We love to stay at the GCH. You're right in the middle of the action, but you can't tell, it's so peaceful and beautiful. It's pricey, though.
If we're doing a budget trip, we stay offsite.

[HakunaMatata]

Thank you for your advice, everyone

I think we'll price GCH and Disneyland Hotel. We really loved WL, so maybe we'll try GCH to see how it compares

Carole

[marisag]

I recently stayed at both DLH and DGC. I have to say that while the Grand Californian is beautiful and I did love the entrance into DCA (which by the way- all on site guests can use- not just those at the Grand Californian), I LOVED the Disneyland Hotel. I really felt it had a little more Disney magic. I loved all the Disney touches from the Mickey hands holding the lights to the Tinker Bell Glow in the dark Border around the room.

[NanaTink]

I've only stayed at GCH, but I LOVED it! It was so beautiful!

[Kaoden39]

Hands down. The Disneyland Hotel! We love it. As a matter of fact I will be going to stay there in two weeks! Yay! The magic feel is where is at for me. The kids can hardly wait to go swim in the Peter Pan swimming pool. We are taking our niece who has never had a chance to stay onsite before and she is as excited as I am.

[snoozy]

We have been fortunate to stay at all three hotels. If you got the cash definately do the Grand. If you have little ones do the DLH. The one we like the most is PPH. This coming up trip in Nov will be our third time staying there. A room with a view of the park is awesome, espeially at night. They do pipe the music for the fireworks into the hotel as well as the music for the Electrial Parade when it is showingl, you can also see the parade from your room. They are all very nice hotels with that wonderful Disney service.