4 reasons why staying at the Disneyland Hotel is worth it
When choosing where to stay on your flight Disneyland On vacation, the first big decision you’ll need to make is whether to stay in an official Disneyland hotel or one of the many hotels in the surrounding area.
Related: Best hotels near Disneyland: On- and off-site accommodations
Disneyland has three on-site hotels: the Disneyland Hotel, Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa, and the recently redesigned 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.
Basic information about the Disneyland Resort hotel
Before diving into the benefits, here’s some information about Disneyland’s three hotels to help you choose which one is best for your vacation.
Disneyland Hotel
the Disneyland Hotel starting in 1955 – the same year that Disneyland opened. While the hotel feels sophisticated and modern, you’ll find design details around every corner that hark back to Disneyland’s past.
The main pool’s water slide is modeled after a Monorail car, and the oversized chairs in the lobby resemble Mad Tea Party teacups. Murals in the guest room tower depict classic Disneyland attractions.
The villas at the Disneyland hotela new Disney Vacation Club tower, opening September 28, 2023. Villas at the Disneyland Hotel vary in size, from studios for up to two guests to three-bedroom villas with maximum capacity Maximum 12 guests.
Room prices at Disneyland Hotel average about 600 USD/night.
Disney’s Grand California Hotel & Spa
Disney’s Grand California Hotel & Spa blends traditional California Craftsman style with luxury lodge amenities such as large stone fireplaces, rustic furnishings, and outdoor tones.
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This hotel is also the closest hotel to Disneyland. It has a separate entrance to Disney California Adventure Park and a separate entrance to Downtown Disney (you can use this entrance to take the Monorail to Disneyland Park).
Room prices at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa average about 700 USD/night.
Pixar Place Hotel
Pixar Place Hotelformerly Paradise Pier Hotel, is the newest lodging option at Disneyland. It is also the most affordable. At this hotel, you’ll find every Pixar movie, including a meeting with Bing Bong from “Inside Out” and a “Finding Nemo”-themed water slide and splash pad.
Pixar Place Hotel also has a private entrance and entrance to the Paradise Gardens area of Disney California Adventure Park. The rooftop pool deck is also a top fireworks viewing spot.
Room prices at Pixar Place hotel average about 450 USD/night.
Enter the amusement park early
Guests at any of Disneyland’s three hotels can take advantage of 30-minute early admission to Disneyland Park or Disney California Adventure Park (valid park admission required). This allows visitors to get a head start at popular attractions before the park opens to regular visitors during the day.
Which parks open early will vary each day, 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 sound like much, but it could mean the difference between waiting just five minutes versus an hour to get up to Space Mountain. At Disneyland, you can get started Lightning Lane Multi Pass Reserve your “skip the line” spot ahead of other guests because Disneyland requires you to be in the park before you begin selecting rides.
Convenient to the parks
All three hotels on the Disneyland property are within walking distance of the resort’s two theme parks. Thanks to its walkable footprint, you can quickly get to the park in the morning or stroll back to your hotel for a mid-afternoon break.
Guests at the Disneyland Hotel can walk to the shops and eateries of Downtown Disney. You can walk through Downtown Disney to the promenade between Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure Park or take a shorter walk to the Downtown Disney Monorail station to get to Disneyland Park.
If you’re staying at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa, you can walk directly into Disney California Adventure Park through the hotel’s private theme park entrance. You will also enjoy much shorter security wait times than guests using the main entrance. If you want to visit Downtown Disney or Disneyland, there is a separate walkway and entrance.
Last but not least, Pixar Place Hotel guests can use the dedicated walkway across the street from the hotel to get to Disney California Adventure Park or walk out the back entrance of the hotel toward Downtown Disney.
Fireworks, characters and fun activities
When you stay at a Disneyland hotel, the fun doesn’t stop when you leave the park each day.
You can bump into your favorite characters without even stepping foot into the park. You can often find Bing Bong from the movie “Inside Out” greeting guests outside the Pixar Place hotel, and you can hear the musical style of Joe Gardner from the movie “Soul” playing the piano inside the lobby.
Disneyland hotels offer character meals at Goofy’s Kitchen at the Disneyland Hotel, as well as at Storytellers Cafe and Napa Rose at the Grand Californian. You may also be lucky enough to meet the characters in the Disneyland hotel lobby.
There’s no scheduled time for this surprise meet-and-greet, but your best bet is during mealtime at Goofy’s Kitchen as the characters move to or from the restaurant.
If you love fireworks but your kids get tired before nightfall, there are several fireworks viewing options from Disneyland hotels. If you stay on the concierge floor at the Disneyland Hotel, you can watch Disneyland’s fireworks from the E-Ticket Club lounge. The lounge also serves free food and drinks throughout the day.
Guests at the Grand Californian can access the 6th floor observation deck, which offers breathtaking views of the World of Color at Disney California Adventure Park. Those staying in club level rooms can see part of Disneyland’s fireworks from the concierge lounge balcony.
As mentioned above, Pixar Place Hotel’s rooftop pool deck is a great spot to watch the Disneyland fireworks. The property even plays music from the show to give you an experience closer to what you would get in the parks.
Each hotel also offers a weekly schedule of activities, from fitness classes to arts and crafts. Some of our favorites include an educational walking tour of the Disneyland Hotel, free drawing classes at the Pixar Place Hotel, and a morning yoga session overlooking Disney California Adventure Park at the Hotel Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa.
You can view the hotel’s entire operating schedule This.
It’s not as expensive as you think
There are several helpful ways to incorporate credit cards or rewards points into your Disneyland plan to pay less out of pocket for your Disneyland hotel stay. TPG has a complete guide on Best credit cards for DisneyBut here are some of our best tips.
If you have the card that comes with access to Citi travel portal — like Citi Strata Premier℠ Card (see exchange rates and fees) or free annual options like Citi Double Cash® Card (see exchange rates and fees) or Citi Rewards+® Card (see exchange rates and fees) — you can often book your Disneyland hotel that way. Your Citi ThankYou Rewards Points are worth 1 cent each when you redeem them for hotel stays through the portal.
Similarly, if you have a tag like Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Cardfemale Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Cardor Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Cardyou can change Capital One Mile at a rate of 1 cent each through Capital One travel portal for stays at the Disneyland Hotel.
If you have a card that comes with an annual travel credit, you can apply that card to purchases coded as “travel.” For example, you can use Reserve Chase Sapphire®annual of $300 travel credit on a Disneyland hotel if the charge codes are like tourism. To ensure that, book your room or hotel and ticket package directly with Disney or through a travel agent, such as a TPG partner Mouse advice.
The Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card has similar features $300 annual travel creditbut you can only use it for bookings made through the Capital One Travel portal.
With Disney® Premier Visa® Card and Disney® Visa® Cardyou can earn bonus money that you can then redeem for Disney hotel stays. A bonus dollar is worth $1 toward your bill.
In addition to the many different ways you can save using points, miles, and travel credits, Disneyland regularly offers discounts of 25% to 30% on hotel stays. You can see the latest offers This.
Bottom line
There’s no denying that Disneyland’s on-site hotel options are more expensive than most off-site hotels, but nothing can compare to the feeling of being in the middle of the magic. The benefits of staying at a hotel are obvious, and with a little pixie dust points and miles, you can reduce the out-of-pocket costs of your Disneyland vacation.
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