Originally Posted By Jenasweetemotion The walk to Disneyland from the Disneyland Hotel is farther then the walk from Paradise Pier.
Originally Posted By WOWOregon You all are sure making me think! It seems more and more that the DL hotel may be a poor choice given the issues with the mono rail and distance. Is it worth the stay for what the hotel itself offers in atmosphere? How are the rooms theme wise?
Originally Posted By 8 ilovemickey 8 WOWOrgeon...the walk from the Disneyland Hotel or the Grand Californian to the entrance of Disneyland is really about the same due to the way the GCH rooms loop around and where you have to exit to downtown Disney. (I actually measured it on the Google Earth) The monorail has been operating every time I have been at the DLH hotel recently. We LOVE the GCH but have chosen to stay at the DLH recently. I would see if you are planning to spend some time in the hotel room and the hotel it is worth it to stay at the GCH as the decor is much nicer. If you don't plan to spend much time there I think the DLH is worth it since you are paying less. Or upgrade to a Downtown Disney view in the Dreams tower as that is definitely the nicest tower with the nicest, largest rooms. I would look at the pictures on the Disneyland.com website to get an idea of the rooms theme wise.
Originally Posted By dlkozy I disagree that the Dreams tower is the nicest. For us we find the pool view to be noisy as well as the DTD view on some weekend nights. We like the tower with the waterfalls-it is a bit further but not by much at all. When we were there 2x in November and then again in December the Monorail was down multiple times. And you won't find me wanting to be anywhere near it when the weather really gets warm. Can't even imagine stuffed into the Monorail and then baked to a crisp!
Originally Posted By 8 ilovemickey 8 Really I just stayed in the Wonder tower (waterfalls) last weekend and found it as well as our room to be much more run down....funny. Never found the DTD view noisy but we were pretty high up. I think its one of those things that everyone prefers slightly different things. I haven't ridden then monorail in the summer (or warm weather) so I don't know about that. We usually walk as we find it more convenient for us than the monorail.
Originally Posted By dlkozy I do like the stroll back to the room at night. Especially if there are some fun bands to listen to on the way back!
Originally Posted By amazedncal2 Here is a website you might like to check out. <a href="http://www.family-vacation-getaways-at-los-angeles-theme-parks.com/Disneyland-Hotel-Photos.html" target="_blank">http://www.family-vacation-get...tos.html</a> Near the bottom you can choose a different hotel. We like all 3 hotels for different reasons. Considering the wheel chairs and the walk I'd contact the Grand directly and check to see where their rooms would be. I agree that some rooms at the Grand can be as far as the rooms at PPH. We've timed it I don't know the specifics but it seems that if you are a guest in a wheelchair and you are unable to transfer to a seat there is a specific car that you ride in. I believe only one wheel chair can be accomodated per monorail. Either way, I agree that I wouldn't count on it being a mode of transportation. For our 4 trips in '08 the monorail ran about 50% of the time.
Originally Posted By 8 ilovemickey 8 A Happy Haunt....I haven't actually timed it but I would estimate 5 minutes if you are walking really fast and there are less people, 7-8 mins average, and 10 mins if you are walking really slow.
Originally Posted By gottaluvdavillains With two wheelchairs in the party and the crowds that can congest DTD I would say 10 min would be optimistic to the DLH.
Originally Posted By dlkozy Yes, they limit the number of wheelchairs on any one monorail. Sometimes we have waited for as many as 3 monorails to come and go until there was room for ours.
Originally Posted By WOWOregon After reading all the feedback and checking out the suggested site...we are going to stay at DLH. The walking trails look prety cool! If we have to walk through downtown disney...thats OK! Have people done the Goofy breakfast and how does it compare to Minnie? We LOVED minnie aside from where we were seated
Originally Posted By A Happy Haunt Good at WDW you have to walk at least 10 mins to get to the front of any hotel to catch a bus/monorail/boat! this will be easy!
Originally Posted By WOWOregon At WDW we rented a car because you can park free at the parks. It was sooo worth it to not need to take the busses. The again...the week we went it was over 100 3 of the days. I always recommend people rent a car if they are staying at a WDW resort!@
Originally Posted By Jenasweetemotion WOWOregon, I love the Goofys Breakfast it is something that we do each time we go. I like it more then the Minnie Breakfast, I feel that I've seen more Characters at the Goofy Breakfast then at the Minnie at Plaza inn, on average I've seen 5 characters at the Goofys breakfast. When you get there, and are called to be seated you get to take a picture with Pluto right off the bat, then of course you will see Goofy as he is always in the center of the kitchen area about every 10-15 minutes. The food is also very tasty and of course the service is great. I've found that the best time to go is 9:00 am-9:30 am it is not overly crowded and yet the characters are all there and awake. If you have not checked it out it is definitely worth it to try, I'm sure you would love it.
Originally Posted By Jenasweetemotion I forgot to add that if you are celebrating something special like a birthday let them know. We celebrated my birthday breakfast there and got a cupcake and a character (Ba lou) there to help sing happy birthday.
Originally Posted By nemopoppins I highly recommend DLH. It feels so Disney and the grounds are fun and beautiful (not as great as Wrather years, but best now at DLR). The monorail is a wonderful experience for the fun of it but it isn't dependable and probably not very efficient timewise, but you should love the hotel on its own merits, not for convenience. The walk through DTD is beautiful and fun and by staying at the DLH you never have to see the real world your whole vacation. Goofy's Kitchen is my favorite restaurant in the whole world. This is for the atmosphere and the great moments and memories, but the food is decent. There is much more variety in food and the food is better than Minnie's, but I, unlike Jenasweetmotion, think the character experience is better at Minnie's, maybe because of variety because it seems that the Goofy's character offerings are pretty repetitive if you go frequently. GK offers a couple of song/games for the kids to gather and participate in. I agree with 8...8 about Steakhouse 55's breakfast. But I think you should go there as well as GK, not instead. And, if it's open, dinner at Hook's Pointe is very good and reasonable also.
Originally Posted By jodiefra Gotta say we LOVE the Disneyland Hotel. Maybe it's because when I was a kid we always stayed at my grandma's house in Anaheim and did the "drive-get there at opening-walk until you drop-leave at closing" tour and I always dreamed of staying right there in the magic. Once I finally did, I don't want to do anything else! We've tried all three hotels; I wasn't crazy about the PP just because of location...if you're going to walk that far, it's much cheaper to stay off property! The Grand Californian was beautiful but my kids didn't appreciate its subtlety, so for us it's DLH. We love the pool, the grounds are peaceful, the staff is awesome, and we can't wait to get back!
