On- vs off-site hotels About This Page:

[amywma]

Hi, all.

Does staying on-site at Disneyland add significantly to the experience? We'll be there 4 nights in November with our 3-year-old son, and have tentatively booked a room at the Disneyland Hotel. However, I'm not convinced that staying on-site is worth the extra $650 vs the Sheraton Anaheim, which looks to be a pretty darn nice hotel. We will be doing the Goofy's Kitchen character breakfast, so that will allow us to check out the public areas of the hotel (right?).

Since we live in Massachusetts and probably won't be making this trip again any time soon, we want to have the best experience possible, but also don't need to break the bank to do it. You can buy a whole lotta Mouse ears for $650! So, all of you experienced Disneyland visitors, what say you?

Thanks!
Amy

[DebiDebiDebi]

I don't think you have to stay in a Disney hotel to have a grand time at DLR. Unlike WDW, there are so many wonderful hotels right within walking distance, (or many offer shuttle to and from the parks).

[amywma]

Thanks for the response, Debbie!

[crazydisney]

I agree,

We stayed at the CCI and had a wonderful time for about $107 a night. It was clean and comfortable and had a free continental breakfast. Also the dedicated shuttle was winderful evern if the hotel is walking distance to the park.

[loobyoxlip]

Having done both (on and off) I must say it totally depends on the off site hotel to me. Only one hotel (out of 6) that we have stayed at offsite was as magical to me as staying at the Grand Californian. The offsite hotel we loved was Candy Cane Inn. It just had its own magical feel to it. The very best part of staying onsite (at GCH) was walking right to your room after a long day in the parks. Have fun deciding. Maybe you need to do 2 trip to try out both options?!?

[Joy J]

Our last trip to DLR we stayed on site at the Disneyland Hotel and absolutely loved it. This time around, we're doing a budget trip so are staying at the Desert Inn & Suites right across the road from DLR. The one thing I've missed already by doing so is the ability to use the Disney Vacation Planners service which is free to all guests staying at any of the three Disneyland hotels. One quick call or e-mail to them and they will book everything for you - meals, tours, special viewing for fireworks & parades, etc. Not only that but when you check in, you're presented with a printed out itinerary that they make up for you. I also know I'm going to miss the feeling of being totally immersed in the magic and the perk of having all our Disney purchases delivered to our hotel. Oh well, I keep consoling myself with all the money we'll be saving.

Joy

[Cinderella_68]

If you will not be staying at a DLR Hotel, I recommend going with a deluxe hotel, instead. We often stay in Garden Grove, which is just a mile down Harbor Blvd, to do so. Our favorite hotels are:
Hyatt Regency Orange County--Starbucks, Pizza Hut Express, restaurant, full service, free shuttle to/from the parks.
Hilton Anaheim--Starbucks, restaurant, full service, ART shuttle to/from parks.
I've also heard great things about the Anaheim Marriot across the street from the Hilton.
If we can't find a good deal at the DL Hotel, you'll find us at one of these. I don't recommend going from a deluxe hotel to a motel.
HTH,

[snoozy]

On site all the way for us. We came to that conclusion on our last trip when part of our stay was off site. We didn't like it one bit. Saving the extra $$$ to stay on property is worth it to us.

[Diz]

Originally Posted by amywma

Hi, all.

Does staying on-site at Disneyland add significantly to the experience? We'll be there 4 nights in November with our 3-year-old son,

You can buy a whole lotta Mouse ears for $650! So, all of you experienced Disneyland visitors, what say you?

Well I'm not an experienced DL guest, but we did the 50th Anniversary trip and fell in love! When I scheduled the trip, I thought "this will be the one and only time I get to DL so let's go for it!" We stayed at the GCH. I did cut the cost of the room view, though. And I don't regret that decision. My reasoning is the same as yours - you can buy a whole lot for the $$$ saved.

For our first and only trip (so far ) I truly felt the Dmagic from beginning to end. Was it heightened staying onsite? I think so. I compare it to WDW. How do I feel onsite vs at our timeshare? Onsite rocks! Call me spoiled, but if there was any financial way possible, I would go back to the GCH.

But I know that there are a lot of people who have found the neighboring hotels to be a great deal and magical! I almost tried the Candy Cane Inn! From reading the trip reports, it sounded like a great place to stay. And there is always the argument - just how much time do we spend in our hotels? Some people spend a lot of time - others just enough to sleep! This may help you decide to save the $$$ too.

[amywma]

Thanks for your input, everybody!

Amy

[doombuggy]

Usually, I stay on site, but last August, we decided to stay off. We stayed at the Desert Inn & Suites and it was fine. We were three ladies staying in a parlor suite, which was quiet (even though it was next to the elevator) and clean. I think the walk to the park entrances was even shorter than some of the Disney hotels. We thought about the Candy Cane Inn, but when our third friend decided to meet us at SNA (she flew in from PHL, we came from MCO), that was not going to work.

I have stayed at the DLH 2x and loved it. But the cost of the room last August, even at a discounted rate, was more than I wanted to spend. You might want to keep your ressies at a hotel within walking distance, in case you want to go back to the room so your boy can nap.

Have a great time!

[Alice in wonderland]

Hi

i am from Australia so it costs about $4000 for 2 adults to get to DL. Concequently i have never stayed on site as i am already broke by the time i get there. Although i cant compare the two options, i dont think that staying off site would spoil your time.

I have stayed at the sheraton. It was a great hotel, free shuttle great location.

I have also stayed at the Carousel Inn and Suites. This was my favourite as it was cheap, you dont need to get a shuttle to DL as it is right across the road. It was clean, had a fridge, 2 double beds, rooms were a decent size. Breakfast was included (a muffin and coffee) and it has a pool aswell.

hope this helps
Jess

[TLisi]

If you stay off site I would just make sure that you really are staying at a hotel that is walking distance. Some of the off site hotels are actually closer to the front gate than Disney's Paradise Pier and maybe even the Disneyland hotels. My kids and I stayed off site once at a place they called a resort (The Peacock) and advertised as "Anaheim's most beautiful" AND said they were right across the street from Disneyland. Well, the Red Roof Inn was a better looking hotel, "across the street" was 3 miles away and they charged and extra $12 per person per day to use their shuttle service. We ended up parking at the Red Roof Inn because they only had about 20 parking spaces that were not valet (another $10/day) AND...oh never mind, you get the point. Just be sure you really do get something across the street and pay attention to the extra charges...you might not be spending that much more to stay in a resort hotel once you add all the extra costs.

If you're going for a resort hotel, the Grand Californian is the quietest. It doesn't have a disney theme except for the Bambi shower curtain...it has an outdoorsy wilderness type theme. Paradise Pier has a total "breazy California" feel to it...only thing Disney is the Goofy statue in the lobby and a Mickey Mouse lamp in the room. The Disneyland Hotel...totally Disney! From the giant Mickey Mouse statue outside the main entrance to the Tinkerbell and pixiedust wall borders. Accoustically speaking, though, it's very easy to hear people in the hallways, next door and the elevators in this hotel.

Did I confuse you more?

Let us know what you decide and how it goes.

[larissamorn]

a couple of people mentioned location and i wanted to point out that, though the sheraton is a very nice hotel, it's a little bit of a trek: definitely not within walking distance. i would set aside a good half-hour to forty-five minutes to use the hotel shuttle to get to the parks, maybe twenty minutes to drive and park, plus ten or so to take the parking lot shuttle to downtown disney, so about the same time to drive as to shuttle. while this is apparently business as usual at WDW simply because of the size of the property there is no reason to spend this much time traveling about a mile and a half down the street from your hotel to the parks. if you're wanting to stay in a deluxe hotel that's not disney and still within walking distance, consider the mariott and the hilton, both more or less adjacent to the convention center and no more than a fifteen minute walk from the security entrance (depending on how tired your feets are!). good luck!

[Disneybine]

Staying off-site at DL can't be compared to staying off-site at WDW, IMO. There are tons of hotels right next to DL (since it's SO much smaller than WDW) - just make sure you pick one that has a shuttle service (one that runs often!) or is within walking distance. While at WDW or DL Paris, I'd NEVER stay off-site, at DL Anaheim I wouldn't mind staying off-site again. I've only been to DL once (in September 05, during a very slow season) and we stayed at the Radisson Resort - can't recommend that hotel, by the way. There are a lot of so-called "Good neighbor hotels" around DL that sell tickets, have a few "Disney-touches" (like pictures of Mickey Mouse on the wall, for example) etc. so you don't feel like you're completely "out of the Disney bubble"

Hope that helps. Let us know how you decided!