Disneyland Hotel: What's your opinion...is it worth it?

I am planning to go to DIsneyland on the last week of September. It is for my son%26#39;s 5th birthday. His only request is that they have a nice pool, which Disneyland Hotel does have. HOwever I have read so many negative reviews (and positive as well) that I would love to get some feedback. Is it worth it? Is it really as bad as people describe or are they just being picky?

Disneyland Hotel: What's your opinion...is it worth it?

Disneyland Hotel is an older hotel - but is a fantastic experience to be on site at a Disney property. Its easy walking from the hotel to the theme park. and you always have the Disney feeling. Personally I tend to stay all day (and I mean all day) at the parks when I go so I tend to pick a neighbor hotel such as Candy Cane Inn - which is a very nice motel experience with a nice continental breakfast in the morning and free shuttle to the park. Its generally cheaper...If you are a member of AAA be sure to check the prices there as they give you a nice rate. Between the 2, Disneyland Hotel definitely has a larger pool and is more ';theme'; oriented. If just looking for a nice place to get some sleep and rest, off site is fine to save some $. Perhaps spend the $ instead on one of the character breakfasts. I celebrated my 5th birthday at Disneyland (yeah....a few years back), and the best thing to do is be sure to take some pictures to share with him later on. My favorite is to see the picture of myself in front of Disneyland Castle....

Disneyland Hotel: What's your opinion...is it worth it?

My neighbours have a 6 yr old boy and they absolutely raved about the pool at the Paradise Pier. It is also on Disney property. Check out their website.

Well, IMHO, the current Disney Hotel prices are overpriced for what they offer.

You are planning to show up in September, a much cheaper option, and one of the top hotels in Anaheim, is Howard Johnson%26#39;s.

I wrote about the new ';water play area'; in my weekly column today, including a couple of artist renderings... (Currently scheduled to open in Early July, so long as their are no construction delays.)

http://micechat.com/forums/blog.php?b=334

For a young child, between the new Castaway Cove, and Speedy%26#39;s Sprayground, the child should have a great time. Plus there is a large pool in a seperate part of the property.

I can%26#39;t think of any other Anaheim Hotels that have major play area for kids other than HoJo%26#39;s or the Disney owned hotels.

If you can afford it, and the son requested a ';nice pool'; - you can%26#39;t go wrong with the Disneyland Hotel. The pool is definitely geared towards kids.

I enjoy the fact that when staying at the DL Hotel or the Grand Californian that I never have a stop light, a crosswalk, or a car to worry about. My best friend feels the same way... when the 7 year old is feeling his 7 year old energy and wants to race ahead as they walk to the parks, she can let him without yelling ';stop at the crosswalk'; or ';watch for cars!'; (if it isnt that crowded in Downtown Disney, then it is ';watch for people';). The immersion in ';Disney'; is worth it to us (although in the past, I have loved Howard Johnson%26#39;s)

By the way, if the cost of the DL Hotel has you choking a little - check out Paradise Pier (the 3rd Disney hotel there). If you stay there... you can still use the Disneyland Hotel pool (at least as of a year ago). That is what my friend did as they didn%26#39;t want to splurge on the DL Hotel or the Grand Californian.

We love the Disneyland Hotel!

We stayed there in February and had a ball. Just a short walk to the monorail and bingo, you%26#39;re in Disneyland. The Saturday of our stay was VERY busy at Disneyland, we just hopped on the monorail and spent the day at the pool, recommend Croc%26#39;s Bite for their beef nachos and if you ask nicely, cheese fries. We have AP%26#39;s, so we received the AP rate of $149 per night which is high but it is a lot better than the rack rate. This was a special birthday trip, so we splurged a little.

In Sept 03, we stayed at the Howard Johnson%26#39;s for 9 nights and had a great room. It is only a 5-7 minute walk to Disneyland and maybe a 10-12 minute walk home at night. I highly recommend Hojo%26#39;s for an off-site stay.

The Disneyland Hotel is really nice; from the rooms, to the pool, dining, shopping, and the staff. The Neverland theme pool is really cool, specially to the young kids (and the young kids at heart).

I see nothing bad in the Disneyland Hotel, we have had great rooms and great times staying there. My kids are water babies also. But they enjoyed the pool at Hojo%26#39;s as much as the Disneyland pool. This has been debated to death, off-site or on-site, and it always come down to economics. If I can get a really good deal on the Disneyland Hotel, I would stay there again in a heartbeat. If I can%26#39;t get a good deal, I know that I can get a great room at Hojo%26#39;s and still have a great Disneyland visit.

Hope this helps!

We have stayed at the Disneyland Hotel many times and have always enjoyed it, the Grand Californian is also very, very nice. It opens right out to the Downtown Disney area and they have a great restaurant, Napa Rose where we enjoyed dinner this past Dec. after our day in Disneyland. Have fun! :)

We tried to save money last year and stayed at the Anaheim Sheraton which was advertised as being one block away. Well, maybe it was a ';block'; away, but it was one VERY long block that went over a big overpass! The shuttle thing was a hassle as well, we always were running to catch it. That said, we are going back to the GC. The convenience is so great and you really feel like you are at more of a resort. It is expensive, but heck...it%26#39;s so nice being able to walk right out to Downtown Disney and into California Adventure. Also, the pool area is nicer that a lot, I think.

Either way, you will have a blast!

Thank you everyone for their responses. Makes me feel much better about staying there. I think I will ';splurge'; this time and stay at Disneyland Hotel. I have also stayed at off-site hotels and enjoyed Disney just as much. But I think I%26#39;ll just go for it.

Second question: my dates are still kind of up in the air. I%26#39;m thinking last week of September or October 10-13 which is during columbus Day holiday? are the crowds really bad? Thanks for any input.

The last of September should be OK. Whenever there is a three day holiday, Disneyland can be vey busy. When we went in February, it was over Lincoln%26#39;s Birthday weekend (the next weekend was President%26#39;s Day holiday). O.C. schools had the monday off (my birthday, the reason for the trip) and Saturday was VERY busy, thus spending the afternoon at the pool, Sunday and Monday was busy.

Our family loves the Disneyland hotel. Go for it :)