1st Trip To Disneyland in 2020

myheartisinFlorida

Mouseketeer
Joined
Apr 19, 2017
Making our first trip to Disneyland next year and I need some advice. Paradise Pier hotel or Courtyard by Marriott Theme Park Entrance? There's about $1,000 difference in costs. Is it worth it? Or should I look at another hotel as well? Looking for advice from those that have actually stayed at any of these places or maybe even offer another suggestion? TIA!
 
Hi, there. I haven't stayed at those properties (note: I work for Hilton), but in my opinion DLR does not quite have that feel of the "Disney Bubble" as WDW and staying onsite is less important to me. There are a lot of great choices along Harbor Blvd that are very close to the entrance. That said, if you have the money, then staying with Disney would certainly be nice. I'm sure others can chime in on the specifics of these particular hotels.

Also, I take it you are a WDW visitor so I highly recommend this tips thread by @HydroGuy as it is invaluable: https://www.disboards.com/threads/a-dlr-guide-for-wdw-vets.1162599/

Have fun!
 
Making our first trip to Disneyland next year and I need some advice. Paradise Pier hotel or Courtyard by Marriott Theme Park Entrance? There's about $1,000 difference in costs. Is it worth it? Or should I look at another hotel as well? Looking for advice from those that have actually stayed at any of these places or maybe even offer another suggestion? TIA!
Will you be using EMH? If not i would chose Courtyard. We just stayed at PPH and if i was booking a future reservation i would book Courtyard if it was significantly lower priced. If staying on site we prefer DLH.
 
Just go with a nice hotel along Harbor. Many are closer anyways, and will cost you a lot less money. I love DL, and staying on site isn't a requirement there. If you get a multi-day ticket it should include one early morning entry anyways.
 


Making our first trip to Disneyland next year and I need some advice. Paradise Pier hotel or Courtyard by Marriott Theme Park Entrance? There's about $1,000 difference in costs. Is it worth it? Or should I look at another hotel as well? Looking for advice from those that have actually stayed at any of these places or maybe even offer another suggestion? TIA!
Disneyland Hotel.
 
If Early Morning Hours aren’t important to you then I would definitely stay at the Courtyard for that price difference. I have stayed at both and they are both nice, but Courtyard is much newer and more spacious. I am actually trying to decide between the 2 for our next trip but the difference is only $400.
 


Agree with other posters, stay at a place on Harbor and you’ll be fine. You'll save a lot of money and won’t miss any part of the “Disney” experience.
 
Stayed at Paradise Pier once, and while it was nice enough, none of the onsite Hotels (IMO) are worth the extra cost. It's not like WDW where there is an obvious benefit (the "bubble" and transportation). I prefer to save the money on accommodations so we can do more in the parks/area.

We have stayed at Castle Inn the last couple of times and it was perfectly fine. Plus, with multi-day tickets you get one Early Magic Hour day to use.
 
Thanks everyone for all the suggestions. We have narrowed it down and decide to stay literally across the street at the Best Western Park Place Inn and Mini Suites. The reviews were great and the location is obviously perfect! And the cost allows me more money to spend on needless souvenirs and Mickey shaped food!
 
Thanks everyone for all the suggestions. We have narrowed it down and decide to stay literally across the street at the Best Western Park Place Inn and Mini Suites. The reviews were great and the location is obviously perfect! And the cost allows me more money to spend on needless souvenirs and Mickey shaped food!
Just want to add-in an opinion from someone who has stayed at both properties.

If you can afford it, PP Hotel was surprisingly nice and exceeded my family’s expectations. Also, it preserved the immersion (Disney Bubble) that none of the Harbor Blvd properties can.
 
I've stayed at Paradise Pier hotel. It's nothing spectacular. The only real benefit is getting into the parks early for magic hour. This hotel doesn't provide transportation to the parks. You have to walk which takes about 20 minutes. IMO it's also very overpriced for what you get. WDW hotels are definitely better than DL hotels. Staying at marriott will have a shorter walk to the park but the security line may be a little longer in the mornings.
 
EMH is not really a factor. Anyone have any thoughts on the Best Western Park Place Inn & Mini suites?
Lame. I stayed there almost a year ago. Motel noise. I’ve stayed there many times. A former fave. But I’m too old to deal with that style room now. 🤦‍♀️ We usually stay at homewood suites convention. 💕
 
but the security line may be a little longer in the mornings.
This is actually the single biggest drawback of staying on Harbor. You may end up squandering your magic morning waiting on bag-check. So definitely don't bring bags and snake your way up to the front (in the center, there is a dedicated "no-bags" line). Don't worry about stepping outside of the pylons, get past the crowd-with-bags, and then get back into the middle half way through for the no-bags line.
 
This is actually the single biggest drawback of staying on Harbor. You may end up squandering your magic morning waiting on bag-check. So definitely don't bring bags and snake your way up to the front (in the center, there is a dedicated "no-bags" line). Don't worry about stepping outside of the pylons, get past the crowd-with-bags, and then get back into the middle half way through for the no-bags line.
Since the expansion and improvement of the Harbor bag check area earlier this year, the experience there has been greatly improved. Notice the lack of "I hate the Harbor bag check" threads here lately? Things move much more quickly there now -- generally, the Harbor bag check is much more efficient than it used to be.
 
Since the expansion and improvement of the Harbor bag check area earlier this year, the experience there has been greatly improved. Notice the lack of "I hate the Harbor bag check" threads here lately? Things move much more quickly there now -- generally, the Harbor bag check is much more efficient than it used to be.
I guess there may still be some rush hour pile ups (depending on when you go). It was a Fall Break Monday morning this month on the 7th when we experienced a line that stretched to the entry gate on Harbor.
 
We are also doing our first trip to DL for four days in late Feb 2020. Does anyone know if Disney has released discounts for Feb 2020 yet? If not, is there a usual timeline for when they would? I also am wondering what is a good price for the three DL hotels. The dates I am looking at the rates per night are as follows for standard rooms (tax not included):

Paridise Pier: $371
DL Hotel: $508
Grand Californian: $642

As far as where they fall on the price range, are these low, normal, or high? Honestly, it's more than we want to pay. But since it's probably our only trip we'll take to DL in the next 10 years or more feeling like splurging. If there is a good chance of discounts coming out that knock a decent amount off those I'd be more inclined.

Thanks for any thoughts and all the great tips!
 

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