When choosing where to live, it’s up to you disneyland Over the holidays, the first big decision you have to make is whether to stay at the official Disneyland Hotel or one of the many nearby hotels.
Connected: Best hotels near Disneyland: Where to stay on and off property
Disneyland has three on-site hotels: the Disneyland Hotel, Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa, and the recently reimagined Pixar Place Hotel. When you choose one of these properties as your “home away from home” during your Disneyland vacation, you’ll enjoy special benefits you won’t find anywhere else.
Disneyland Resort Hotel Basics
Before we get too far into the benefits, here’s a little information about each of the three Disneyland hotels to help you choose which one is best for your vacation.
disneyland hotel
disneyland hotel It’s from 1955 – the same year that Disneyland opened. Although the hotel feels sophisticated and modern, you’ll find design details around every corner that are reminiscent of Disneyland past.
The main pool’s waterslide is modeled after a monorail car, and large chairs in the lobby look like Mad Tea Party tea cups. Murals in the guest room towers depict classic Disneyland attractions.
Villas at Disneyland HotelA new Disney Vacation Club tower, opened on September 28, 2023. Disneyland Hotel villas come in a variety of sizes, ranging from studio rooms for two guests to three-bedroom villas that can sleep up to 12 people.
Room rates at Disneyland hotels average around $600 per night.
Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa
Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa Traditional California Craftsman style is blended with luxury lodge features such as a massive stone hearth fireplace, rustic furnishings, and an eclectic color scheme.
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This hotel is also the closest to Disneyland. It offers a private entrance to Disney California Adventure park and a separate entrance to Downtown Disney (which you can use to access Disneyland park from the monorail).
Room rates at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa average around $700 per night.
Pixar Place Hotel
Pixar Place HotelThe Paradise Pier Hotel, formerly Paradise Pier, is the newest accommodation option at Disneyland. It is also the most economical. At this hotel, you’ll find nods to every Pixar movie, including a meet-and-greet with Bing Bong from “Inside Out” and a “Finding Nemo” themed waterslide and splash pad.
Pixar Place Hotel also has a private walkway and entrance to the Paradise Garden area of Disney California Adventure park. The rooftop pool deck is also a prime spot to watch the fireworks.
Room rates at the Pixar Place Hotel average around $450 per night.
Early Theme Park Entry
Guests staying at any of the three Disneyland hotels can enjoy 30-minute early admission to Disneyland Park or Disney California Adventure Park (valid park admission required). This allows guests to get a look at popular attractions before the park opens to regular daytime visitors.
Which parks open early varies daily, but the current schedule is as follows:
- disneyland park: Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday
- Disney California Adventure Park: Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday
Thirty minutes may not seem like a lot, but it could mean the difference between only five minutes versus an hour to get to Space Mountain. At Disneyland, you can start creating lightning lane multi pass Make “skip the line” reservations earlier than other guests because Disneyland requires you to be inside the park before you can begin selecting rides.
convenient access to parks
All three of Disneyland’s on-site hotels are within walking distance of the resort’s two theme parks. Thanks to its walkable footprint, you can reach the park early in the morning or stroll back to your hotel for an afternoon break.
Disneyland Hotel guests can follow the walking path to Downtown Disney shops and eateries. You can either walk through Downtown Disney to the Esplanade between Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure Park or take a short walk to the Downtown Disney Monorail Station to reach Disneyland Park.
If you’re staying at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa, you can go directly to Disney California Adventure Park from the hotel’s private theme park entrance. You’ll enjoy a much shorter wait at security than guests who use the main entrance. If you want to go to Downtown Disney or Disneyland, there is a separate path and entrance.
Last but certainly not least, Pixar Place Hotel guests can access Disney California Adventure Park using a dedicated walkway across the street from the hotel or exit the hotel’s rear entrance towards Downtown Disney.
Fireworks, characters and entertainment activities
When you stay at the Disneyland Hotel, the fun doesn’t stop when you leave the park each day.
You can meet your favorite characters without even stepping inside a park. You can often find Bing Bong from “Inside Out” welcoming guests outside the Pixar Place Hotel, and you can hear the musical stylings of Joe Gardner from “Soul” playing the piano inside the lobby.
Disneyland hotels offer character meals at Goofy Kitchen in the Disneyland Hotel as well as Storytellers Café in the Grand Californian and Napa Rose. You might even be lucky enough to meet characters in the Disneyland Hotel lobby.
There is no set time for this surprise meet and greet, but your best bet is at Goofy’s Kitchen between meal times when the characters leave or leave from the restaurant.
If you love fireworks but your kids get tired before nightfall, Disneyland hotels offer several fireworks viewing options. If you stay on the Concierge Level at the Disneyland Hotel, you can watch Disneyland’s fireworks from the E-Ticket Club Lounge. The lounge also serves complimentary food and beverages throughout the day.
Grand Californian guests have access to a viewing deck on the sixth floor that offers spectacular views of the World of Color at Disney California Adventure park. Those staying in Club-level rooms can enjoy a partial view of the Disneyland fireworks from the Concierge Lounge balcony.
As mentioned above, the rooftop pool deck of the Pixar Place Hotel is a great spot to watch the Disneyland fireworks. Music from the show is also played throughout the property to give a closer experience to what you’ll find inside the park.
Each hotel also offers a calendar of weekly activities ranging from fitness classes to arts and crafts. Some of our favorites include the educational walking tour of the Disneyland Hotel, free drawing classes at the Pixar Place Hotel, and morning yoga at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa overlooking Disney California Adventure Park.
You can view the full hotel activity schedule Here,
It’s not as expensive as you might think
There are some easy ways to add credit cards or rewards points to your Disneyland plan to pay less out of pocket for a Disneyland hotel stay. TPG has a full guide on this Best Credit Cards for DisneyBut below are some of our best tips.
If you have a card that comes with access City Travel Portal – As Citi Strata Premier℠ Card (Look Rates and Fees) or the no annual fee option Citi Double Cash® Card (Look Rates and Fees) Or Citi Rewards+® Card (Look Rates and Fees) – You can often book Disneyland hotels this way. Yours Citi Thank You Rewards Points are worth one cent when you redeem them for a hotel stay through the portal.
Similarly, if you have such a card Capital One Venture Rewards Credit CardThe Capital One VentureOr Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Cardyou can cash out capital one mile At the rate of 1 percent through each Capital One Travel Portal To stay at the Disneyland Hotel.
If you have a card that comes with an annual travel credit, you can apply it to purchases with the code “travel.” For example, you can use this Chase Sapphire Reserve®annual of $300 travel credit At the Disneyland Hotel if the charge is coded as a visit. To be sure, book your room or hotel-and-ticket package directly through a travel agent like Disney or a TPG partner. mouse consultant,
Same goes for the Capital One Venture $300 annual travel creditBut you can use it only for bookings made through the Capital One Travel Portal.
with Disney® Premier Visa® Card and this Disney® Visa® CardYou can earn rewards dollars that you can redeem for Disney hotel stays. One Reward Dollar is worth $1 toward your bill.
Among the various ways you can save using points, miles, and travel credits, Disneyland regularly offers 25% to 30% off hotel stays. You can check the latest offers Here,
ground level
There’s no denying that Disneyland’s on-site hotel options are more expensive than most off-property hotels, but nothing can match the feeling of being in the middle of the magic. The benefits of staying on property are obvious, and with a few points and miles of pixie dust, you can reduce the out-of-pocket cost of your Disneyland vacation.
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