Staying at Disney hotel vs. Off property About This Page:

[Kaitlyn mom]

We are trying to determine if it makes more sense to stay at one of the Disney hotels on property or one across the street. When looking at the maps it seems the ones across the street may be just as close as either Disneyland HOtel or Disney Grand? We will have 4 children with us, including an infant. Some friends have said you will really want to be on property for ease of getting tired children back to the hotel, I'm just not sure this is true. Any help?

[Colexis Mom]

I think that holds true for WDW, but not necessarily for DL. We went to DL this summer and stayed at the Howard Johnsons. It wasn't a far walk, and we saved a bunch of money. The hotel was decent enough (clean).

[Tigger71]

For DL I'd stay across the street (or at the Super 8 round the corner...) but WDW -it's on property or not at all. Have fun!

[Teresa R]

At DL you'll do just fine with one of the off site hotels nearby.Many of the off site hotels are 5-115 minute walks. For me, the on site hotels are more for the experince of staying in them but you also pay more $$$ to do so.

[Tink8726]

With kids in tow, there are a lot of great hotels with family suites around the DL Resort area that are WAY cheaper than staying on property. And typically the walk to the main gate is equal from the HoJo as it is from the Paradise Pier. Like every one else has said, WDW on property, but DL off property is a better bet monetarily. My advice save the $$$ for a special dinner @ Ariel's Grotto with priority seating for WOC

[mechurchlady]

Our evaciuation from heat ended up with us on Katella about 4 to 5 miles east of DLR over by Western. We had two huge beds without begging or changing rooms like at Disneyland Hotel. There was a huge fridge that held all of our food. Cable television with the Food Channel which Disney never had and Disneyland Hotel channels are not many. We had a microwave and each morning at 5:30 am I could go in and use the toaster. I got fresh fruit, juice, coffee, hot water, tea, buckets of ice, Svenhart pastries, muffins, a toaster with bread and more from 6 to 9am each day. Daily newspaper also.

Disney hotels did not have that precious microwave for making coffee, popcorn and heat food. The fridges were smaller. Best part was that 2 nights cost about $135. I could stay there for 5 days and save over Grand Californian and 2 is cheaper than Paradise Pier. I love staying onsite but the walk is just as far unless you are at GCH. I love the Disney Hotels but when I can get a microwave, fridge, and parking right outside my door why go to Disney hotels GCH parking is down the hill and across the street in the lot next to Paradise Pier. We were parked in the covered area right in front of the door and if I parked in a regular spot we were only 20 feet from our car.

love Disney but I am on a tight budget because of my car so no more Disney hotels for a long time.

[w-steele]

Everyone is totally correct. Unless you don't mind spending a lot more money than is needed, staying off propery is the wise move. W only stay on property because we use our DVC points. If push comes to shove and we find that we can not use our points, we stay off property, almost always at the Ramada Inn-Maingate, which is a short 5 minute walk down Harbor Blvd. This link will show you the differences in distance the 'on property' hotels are compared to the 'off property' hotels.

Wikimapia - Let's describe the whole world!

[Kaitlyn mom]

Thanks everyone. We will do that. When we were at WDW for 9 nine days we stayed at the Animal Kingdom and I know that made more sense than an off property, just have never been to DL so this was helpful

[Papa Mouse]

My opinions are NO, NO, YES and YES.

I use several different maps for different questions and for my opinions on your questions I am using the below map. I believe this map which is slightly 3-D will let you see and understand the answers a little better than a flat map.

Anaheim California Hotel Aerial Location Photo and Reservation System

For two of the three hotels on property I would say NO and No. These are the Disneyland Hotel and the Paradise Pier Hotel which are across Disneyland Dr. from Disneyland and located, and marked, on this map slightly above center at the left margin and about 1/2 inch at 4 o'clock, using the top of the map as a clock.

For the third on property hotel the Grand Californian directly right of the Disneyland Hotel by about 2 inches I would say Yes.

Access to the ticket booths from the Grand Californian Hotel is through a walkway which enters the ticket booths and both park entrances (DLR and DCA) area about 1-2/2" above the "l" in the word Hotel in the word Grand Californian. A short walk.

The off property hotels, inns, etc. mentioned by others above are across Harbor Blvd. or about 7" at 3 o'clock from the Disneyland Hotel. Our last Yes.

Basically everything is in line from left to right on the map from the Disneyland Hotel.

Additional hotels, inns etc. are located on Katella Ave. which run from left to right at 6 o'clock from the Disneyland, Paradise and Grand Californian Hotels.

The Grand Californian is the closest for tired children, hey dad?

Of course you have to consider if you are walking and/or an auto.

[mechurchlady]

Another drawback of Grand Californian Hotel is the walk to the elevator. There are three banks of elevators; in the corner between Storyteller's and Napa Rose, main lobby, and DVC are on the far south side. If you get a room at the end of a wing it is along walk to the elevator. The walk from an elevator is farther to Main Gate than the tram stop. Monorails are fun and a great ride but they drop you off in Tomorrowland, can shut down for construction, can break down, and stick to park hours. If you miss the last monorail then you walk to Main Gate.

I love the hotels but at WDW you get a hotel for a week at the cost of her for 2 to 3 nights. Mom said no more overnight trips until next year, too much hassle. Disney hotels are great but I have other things on my trip to do with the money. I think we will just skip the overnight trips for a long while. Go home to our home even if I forgo Food Channel, a working bathroom, and a clean warm bed. I can buy me a new mattress with the money saved.

[w-steele]

Your Mom sounds like she has a good idea. If you live so close it could pay in the end to not spend the money and stay overnight. Be it on or off property. So far this year we have only 'paid' for our weekend stay 2 times and the third will be in Nov. Three times out of 12 is not bad, the rest of the time we've used our DVC points and have stayed at the Grand Californian. Heck, we’ve stayed there so often most of the staff knows us by name now which makes your stay even nicer. This weekend we’ll be in a Studio and then over New Years Eve we’re there for 3 days in a 1-bedroom Villa and again in Jan we’re there for 4 days, again in a 1-bedroom Villa. For the longer stays we stay in the 1-bedroom so we can save on food expenses and cook in the room.

As far as the elevator location goes, I feel they are positioned just fine. A person can always request a room as close to one of the elevators as possible, knowing that not all requests can be honored but unless a person is afraid of the answer NO, it never hurts to ask. Being limited to my ECV, I always ask for certain room locations and usually get it too unless I am in a big hurry to get into a room in which case I'll take the first one open. LOL.

The way I look at it is if you have stayed at a hotel either on property or off property and find you don't like certain things about it, don't stay there any more. We had stayed at the Ramada Inn Maingate North, 921 Horbor, and both stays were BAD. Dirty rooms, bugs in the rooms, you name it. We complained to Ramada Corp and have never stayed there again. My suggestion to any one, make your visit to Disneyland happier and stay where you have no complaints about.

[Bee]

thanks for the tips and links.

[chillepepa]

Staying across the street at DL is literally across the street. Unlike WDW where across the street is like 4 blocks down the street from DTD. With that said, we have stayed at the Marriott a couple of blocks south of the DL/DCA. Adults & teens could walk it but with little kids I wouldn't walk. But they had a really nice shuttle trolley that went back and forth every half hour. We have also stayed at the Super 8 around the corner. At the end of the night it sometimes seemed long but wasn't too bad. I always wanted to stay in the Fairfield Inn across the street. It is litterally across the street. Also, Anahiem has a bus system that drops off near hotels and DL, for a few bucks a day.

[DANAinSACTOWN]

Use Priceline and get deep discounts off of regular rates at local hotels near the parks. Virtually ALL of them are nicer than the ones right across the street and WAY cheaper (you are paying for the convenience of being so close). The convenience is over-rated as virtually all area hotels provide free shuttles to the parks that typically run every 30 mins.

I do not work for Priceline. LOL! My wife has been using them for the last 2 or 3 years and we have saved THOUSANDS on accommodations and stayed in nicer hotels, for the most part.

Hope this helps.