STAYING AT THE DISNEYLAND RESORT
So you decided to stay at the Disneyland Resort in California…now what? In today’s post, we will go over where we recommend to stay, the average prices of the hotels, and area transportation to get to the parks. We will go over the Disney World Hotels in another post (and be forewarned, there are a lot more options there!). Today we will cover the 3 Disneyland owned resorts, as well as our favorite off-property resorts to save money.
Official Disney Hotels
There are 3 properties that are official Disney hotels:
- Disneyland Hotel
- Paradise Pier Hotel
- Grand Californian Hotel
Paradise Pier Hotel
Disneyland’s Paradise Pier Hotel Is a 481 room resort hotel featured on the south-west end of the resort, overlooking Disney California Adventure park and the newly-rebranded Pixar Pier (formally known as Paradise Pier). The hotel has rooms with park views where guests can see partial views of the nighttime spectacular World of Color.
The theme of the rooms are 1920’s costal-beach resort, and may come off as a “cheaper” feel out of the three Disney hotels. Room rates for this hotel start at around $269/night via the Disneyland website, however, you may be able to find cheaper rates through third party sites like Hotels.com.
Disneyland Hotel
The Disneyland Hotel is the classic, and is a perfect choice for anyone looking to have the full Disney vacation experience (if it is within your price range). The hotel consists of 3 hotel towers, an expansive Monorail themed pool in the center, and has 990 rooms. The hotel is situated on the west end of the resort, with direct access to and from Downtown Disney.
Current average room rates begin at $418/night. The rooms in this hotel have a more modern theme, with subtitle Mickey elements (hidden Mickey), and includes a musical, light up headboard that displays a firework show.
The hotel also features the famous Trader Sams tiki bar, situated at the pool area of the resort. We LOVE Trader Sams, and it is a highly rated, go-to spot. Be sure to stop inside this bar, even if you are not staying at the resort! Certain drinks, such as the Uh-Oa or the Krakatoa Punch, cause the whole bar to change!
Grand Californian
Disney’s Grand Californian is the highest end of the 3 resorts and has recently undergone a property-wide refresh. This hotel is also the only one with direct access into the parks, with a private entrance into California Adventure for guests staying at one of the 3 Disneyland hotels.
This hotel has a theme of a high end lodge, with nods to California’s art-deco Renaissance. Room rates begin at $470/night. The resort’s pool also features a rustic, woodland theme and features a waterside that goes around a redwood tree.Also note, this hotel is the most magical during the holidays, as the grand lobby is garnished with decorations and a giant Christmas tree in the lobby (something to note if your goal is to stay at a nice resort during the holidays).
Staying Off Property
Disneyland has partnered with many of the hotels that are across and a down the street from Disneyland and California Adventure. There is an extensive list of “Good Neighbor” hotels that you can choose from. They are not official Disney hotels, but they partner with them, and you are able to book through their website.
We are going to go over our top 3 off property resorts. These resorts are ones that we would choose personally and can fit any budget.
Holiday Inn Anaheim Resort Area
One of the biggest reasons why we love this resort is that it has an ART shuttle stop right on property! The ART shuttle system, or Anaheim Resort Transit, stops at many of the hotels around the Disneyland area and takes guests to the Disneyland main-gate entrance. These shuttles run for a small fee, but the benefit of the Holiday Inn Anaheim Resort Area hotel is that the shuttle route from this hotel almost always goest directly to and from the park, with it rarely making one other stop.
The rooms in this hotel are very clean and comfortable. This is the hotel we find ourselves staying at most trips, with its nightly rate ranging anywhere from $90/night to $189/night (book earlier and save!). We recommend booking this hotel directly though it’s website, where you will find the best rates.There are many Holiday Inn hotels in this area, so make sure you choose the one on Manchester Ave.
Tropicana Inn and Suites
This hotel is directly across the street from the pedestrian entrance of Disneyland, which is a huge perk. With parking at Disneyland going up to over $20 a day, staying at a hotel that is walking distance can save you a lot of money.
This hotel is decent, and you are definitely paying for the location. It is often the cheapest of the hotels that are directly across the street, which is why we are putting it on our lists of favorites. Average rates are currently around $159/night.
Motel 6 Maingate
Some people book a hotel for their Disneyland experience with the intention of it being part of the magic in their trip. Others book their hotel as a place to put their head at night and that is it. For the latter, we suggest the Motel 6 Maingate. This is one of the remodeled (or “orange” as we call it) motels and it’s key highlight is that they have free parking. It is also cheap, which can be a huge factor for some when booking their trip
For a Motel 6, this hotel isn’t bad: it’s clean, safe, and has what anyone would expect out of a Motel 6. The average room rates for this hotel are currently $73-96/night, depending on when you book. It is within 1 mile of Disneyland, so it is technically walking distance, although we would suggest asking about the ART shuttle or driving your car (if you booked here, you will still be saving money even if you pay for parking at Disneyland!).
We hope these suggestions help you in making your decision on where to stay on your next Disneyland trip! Be sure to visit the Disneyland website, or other third party websites like Hotels.com, to check your best rate.Stay tuned for more information about the parks, and our next post about hotel choices at Walt Disney World in Florida. See ya’ real soon!