Originally Posted By MrDisneyGeek I booked a trip for April 25th - 30th and ended up with the Disneyland hotel being my best price without being too far away. Never having stayed there before I am looking to my experts for any tips. I booked a standard room and will be contacting them to confirm the King bed and request a Crib. Are there any tips on other requests or any other tips for this hotel? I see some info on new character quarters referb on some rooms. Any info on these? A couple of questions as well. We are going with my wife’s brother his wife and their 2 kids who are unfortunately staying at the Best Western Park Place Inn but we were unable to join them there and ended up at the DLH. Can they join us in the pool? When staying at the DLH can we use other resort amenities? How can we tell if everything will be open when we go? I have seen some pool closures in the past. Thank you all in advance.
Originally Posted By amazedncal2 I hope you really enjoy the hotel The rooms with king beds that we have stayed in have been in the Sierra/Dreams tower. They were much smaller than the rooms with 2 queens and a daybed. There are probably others throughout the towers just an FYI to be prepared if your room seems small. A pack and play is standard in all rooms, it's in the closet. They don't have many king rooms available. If you end up with 2 queens and the daybed, it's all that was available on check in. Just keep in mind that extra room you'll have Decide what is most important before you make other requests. If the king bed is your first choice, make sure that is indicated, THEN add a choice of tower, non connecting room, not next to the ice machine, high floor, low floor, what ever you like. Since you have a standard room, you will be in the Wonder or Magic tower unless they upgrade you The Magic might be more convenient for you. The Wonder is a bit further of a walk but it is over the waterfalls Have fun! When staying at any of the 3 resort hotels we have never been offered the use of the other hotels pools, exercise rooms, etc. I think this only happens if something is down for refurb.
Originally Posted By dlkozy The Magic is my least favorite tower. In a standard room you most likley end up looking over the parking lot-nothin' too magical about that!
Originally Posted By amazedncal2 I was kind of thinking about the walk. The Magic standard has the view of the parking structure, the mountains (in the distance) and if you peek at a certain angle you can see the top of Splash. The view isn't terrific compared to a DTD or pool view but it's something. The standard view from the Wonder is more of a city view and you might be able to catch a glimpse of DCA, PPH or the mountains. I'd take the Magic over the Wonder to save the extra steps
Originally Posted By dlkozy All we had was the parking lot. Nothin' else. I have much better views from HoJos for MUCH less $$$.
Originally Posted By amazedncal2 Ah, dlkozy, I just remembered that we were on the top floor. I guess that's why we could see more.
Originally Posted By WOWOregon We are hoping to go to DL hotel in September. Someone said Paradise Pier was better. Any fedback? We have always stayed at CandyCane because it has a great breakfast, small hotel meaning fewer people at the pool. Very clean., good size rooms, and free shut;le (or just a short walk)
Originally Posted By mater4 Paradise Pier is nice but I would only stay there if you can get a good rate. We stayed in the theme park view room and it was fun to see the park every morning before it opens. I am a Hojo's fan and have a hard time staying anywhere else now because of their "heavenly beds". The kids love the Pirates Cove too.
Originally Posted By mickeynewe I used to only stay at the Disneyland hotels and think to myself, "why would anyone stay anywhere else?" Then, we stayed off property for a last minute trip and ever since I've been saying, "why would anyone stay on property at those rates?" LOL I'm with you Mater, I love Hojos. They are nice clean rooms at a decent rate, and the extra money I save means more money I can spend in the parks!
Originally Posted By WOWOregon I agree on the cost issue! How packed are the trams going back to DL Hotel? I think we are going to pay the little extra to stay at DL Hotel this year. personally I would love to be able to afford Grand California for the location (I have a little one who LOVES playhouse disney!)
Originally Posted By mater4 >>why would anyone stay on property at those rates?" LOL << I say the same thing. Even with an AP rate I have a hard time paying the price. Especially if Hojo's has the entertainment discount.
Originally Posted By piperlynne I personally love staying on Disney property for the extra Disney touch. I have had nothing but good luck at the Disneyland Hotel and the Grand Californian. The staff tends to go out of its way to accomodate requests etc. Best piece of advice - enjoy the grounds and do some hotel exploring. As far as the pool, I think if they are with you, it shouldn't be a problem. But this may have changed and they may have instituted different rules since I was last there.
Originally Posted By mater4 There are no trams that take you to the hotel. There is the monorail but it is not very reliable. It does not drop you off directly in front of DLH and is not the quickest way into the parks at opening IMO. The walk to the front gates from the hotel is about 10 minutes but could be longer depending on where your room is at DLH.
Originally Posted By dlkozy There have been times that the wait to board the Monorail into the park first thing in the morning has been upwards of 25 minutes. I would rather walk to the main gates and get in right away than stand in a line waiting and waiting to board the Monorail.
Originally Posted By 73baloo I too love the DH. I have stayed at HoJo's 4 times in the last 18 months and everytime wonder what people see. So funny how we are so different. I did try it. Have had park views at PPH and it is great seeing CA late at night and in the morning.
Originally Posted By 8 ilovemickey 8 Mr. DisneyGeek....we have stayed at the DLH hotel 3 times in the past year...one time in each tower. The Dreams tower is definitely the nicest and I prefer the Magic over the Wonder tower....slightly shorter walk and I thought the Magic seemed in a little better shape. You can call and request a tower as well as room configuration....I would call multiple times to make sure they have your request. A couple of times I have gotten...oh we didn't have that in the computer. I would make the last call a few days before your trip. The self-parking is really easy and close so don't bother with valet. Also, Steakhouse 55 is AWESOME for breakfast. Everyone lines up for the ridiculous $30/person Goofy's Kitchen when the food at Steakhouse 55 is way better and cheaper. My boyfriend ate there last weekend for 30 bucks including tip! I agree that waiting for the monorail in the morning isn't worth it but the monorail is nice for coming back later in the day.
Originally Posted By dlkozy IF it is running and IF it is not too hot as it is very uncomfortable in the Monorail cabins if it is. In otherwords, don't count on the Monorail as a means to get to and from the Disney Hotels. It is a nice ride, but not a transportation vehicle like WDW's.
Originally Posted By Jenasweetemotion I love staying at Paradise Pier hotel it is always been so convenient for our family and I've been upgraded twice out of the four times I've stayed there. We have always been told we could use the services at the other Disney Properties and have the business services in Paradise Pier aren't open as much as the one in the Grand Californian and so we've used it. We were told we could use all of the pools at the other properties even though are hotel pool was open, although I know that they have said only guests of the hotel could us the pools, so I suppose that wouldn't allow you to bring guests that are staying off property, but you could always ask, it doesn't hurt.
Originally Posted By WOWOregon How far is the walk from the monorail to the hotel? Do you cross the street? I am leaning more and more toward Grand California after this dicussion! We have 2 wheelchairs in our group and it could be a pain with the Monorail from the sounds of it
Originally Posted By mater4 You do not cross a street to get to the monorail from DLH. With wheelchairs you would have to take an elevator to get to the loading station. I would guess that the walk is approximately 5 minutes depending where your room is at DLH. Paradise Pier would be about 10 minutes. When I stayed at PPH I would cross the street and cut through the Grand California Hotel and walk to the front gates from there. It was a bit easier than walking all the way through DTD.
