Best GN hotel for those who tend to stay onsite?

gpjacobs

Mouseketeer
Joined
Jul 2, 2019
Hi there! So, we've been incentivizing our soon-to-be-five-year-old daughter with a return trip to Disneyland if she reaches a very important, long-term goal. Over the weekend, she proved she's much, much closer to accomplishing this task than we EVER expected and we may be returning to the DLR after the holidays (seems we picked the right prize!). This is in addition to a November "mommy and daddy" trip we already have booked. While this basically solidified our decision to get the Flexpass vs. Park Hoppers, it's opened up a lot of other conversations, like accommodations.

Ever since having DD, we've stayed onsite. We'll probably try to catch a SW deal and won't rent a car ... but splurging to stay onsite twice in three/four months is tough to justify. So, offsite it is!

With that context, where do you recommend offsite newbies with one young kiddo stay? It'll probably be late winter, so the pool isn't a deal breaker. Cleanliness, having a bathtub (not just a shower) and extremely close proximity to the park gates are our top concern. Thanks!

UPDATED: Having a room configuration with a king bed + a sofa sleeper or daybed is another consideration.
 
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I stay on site as often as I can, but when I just need a bed and shower near by Courtyard or Fairfield Inn my go to stays. Other than the Holiday Inn Express, not impressed with everything else on Harbor.

FYI, the GN desination is virtually meaningless other than the front desk sells tickets.
 
I stay on site as often as I can, but when I just need a bed and shower near by Courtyard or Fairfield Inn my go to stays. Not impressed with everything else on Harbor.
That's encouraging. The Fairfield caught my eye and it looks like they have tubs. Is it really a "seven minute walk," like they advertise? If so, can't complain about that!
 


I just did a trip with my 4 year old and we stayed at the Park Vue Inn. Get the room with a Queen bed and bunk bed as they are at the front of the property. My little guy LOVED the bunk bed and the hotel is right across the street from the Harbor crosswalk. We did not take a stroller and he was able to walk the whole time. They have a traditional shower over tub setup in the bathroom so that works well for your requirements too.
If you are booking the park vue, call and get pricing. It is consistently $5-10 cheaper a night if you call directly versus using their website... not sure why.
 
We like the Candy Cane Inn. It is a <10 minute walk but they have their own dedicated and reliable shuttle (if you don't feel like walking). On the same side of Harbor as the parks, Free parking, free expanded continental breakfast, pool, hot tub, good customer service, comfortable..... and they do offer some discounts.
 


I believe any of the "crosswalk hotels" will have traditional tub/shower combos. If closeness and cleanliness are more important than fancy, definitely start comparison pricing with the ones right there at the crosswalk. Check Tropicana, Best Western Park Place Inn, Park Vue, Desert Inn, Grand Legacy at the Park. Look at Trip Advisor for recent reviews. We've done Desert Inn twice and it's been okay, clean and usually the least expensive (lame breakfast, low shower pressure, noisy A/C). We'll probably do BWPPI or Park Vue next time. You really can't beat being right there, 5 minutes to the turnstiles. We just got back yesterday and we stayed at the DLH for the first time, and while it was a great hotel and a gorgeous pool, I really hated that long walk all the way back through DTD, especially at night when we were tired! Harbor hotels are a cinch by comparison, and generally 1/3 the price.
 
That's encouraging. The Fairfield caught my eye and it looks like they have tubs. Is it really a "seven minute walk," like they advertise? If so, can't complain about that!
I really like the Fairfield and we stay on-site often too. It’s close (6-8 minute walk for us), the staff are really friendly, the rooms are updated and have the sink separated from the rest of the bathroom. The only thing I don’t like are that the outdoor concrete walkways can be loud. We just use a sound machine app and that problem is solved.
The Courtyard Marriott Theme Park Entrance is fantastic but it’s fairly close in price to staying on-site....so we usually choose on-site over this hotel. It is really nice though!
Candy Cane Inn is our other go to. Basic, but clean and reliable. They offer a nice free breakfast and the grounds of the hotel are beautiful and quaint. The biggest downside to Candy Cane is it’s a longer walk than the others. Probably 10-12 minutes. They do have their own reliable shuttle that runs every 30 minutes though. The walk isn’t bad but it is definitely a little longer than the other 2 I mentioned.
 
I really like the Fairfield and we stay on-site often too. It’s close (6-8 minute walk for us), the staff are really friendly, the rooms are updated and have the sink separated from the rest of the bathroom. The only thing I don’t like are that the outdoor concrete walkways can be loud. We just use a sound machine app and that problem is solved.
The Courtyard Marriott Theme Park Entrance is fantastic but it’s fairly close in price to staying on-site....so we usually choose on-site over this hotel. It is really nice though!
Candy Cane Inn is our other go to. Basic, but clean and reliable. They offer a nice free breakfast and the grounds of the hotel are beautiful and quaint. The biggest downside to Candy Cane is it’s a longer walk than the others. Probably 10-12 minutes. They do have their own reliable shuttle that runs every 30 minutes though. The walk isn’t bad but it is definitely a little longer than the other 2 I mentioned.
Thank you - so helpful!
 
We have a time-share now, but when we would go out to Anaheim when the kids were small, we liked to stay at Embassy Suites. Big rooms, medium price range, free hot breakfast and booz in the evening after a long day at the park. They also had a dedicated shuttle to the parks back then.
 
Can I ask why, please? Just curious!

I have read some bad recent reviews, ie old, dirty, bad breakfast. It’s relatively cheap though. We stayed there before the remodel, and it looked like nothing had happened to it since the 80s. I have read here that the original section still looks about the same. This is the hotel that has convinced us to pay the extreme up charge to stay onsite at DLR.
 
Hojo is our favorite off site within walking distance. They have great customer service! Free parking and lots of restaurant choices near by =)
 
Closeness and cleanliness are our top priorities, and PVI wins at both of these. We only go to our hotel to sleep around 1:30/2:00 and after the shows at night. Otherwise, we're at the parks.

avalon451's post is bang on. After being spoiled with the closeness of the Harbor hotels relative to DLH, I wonder why I would ever want to stay on site again :)
 
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PVI seemed like a well-loved, solid option. I don't think the room configurations would work for us, unfortunately ... My husband is 6'5', so he absolutely need a king bed to sleep soundly. Then we'd need a day bed, bunk bed or pull-out sofa for our little one.

I just updated my requirements above, since king beds suddenly became a priority. They're requestable at DLR hotels, and we've never had an issue securing one, so it didn't initially register.
 
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I'm currently leaning toward the Fairfield Inn, since they offer a room with a king bed + sofa bed for ~$200 less per night than the Disneyland Hotel.

The only things we're sacrificing is early entry, so I think it's the right call ... thoughts?
 
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I'm currently leaning toward the Fairfield Inn, since they offer a room with a king bed + sofa bed for ~$200 less per night than the Disneyland Hotel..

The only things we're sacrificing is early entry, so I think it's the right call ... thoughts?

My only thought is distance, at least compared to the BWPPI, Park Vue, and a couple of others. It's about 1200 ft from the front of the BWPPI to the turnstiles at Disneyland Park. It's about 2400 ft from the front desk of the Fairfield to the turnstiles. So it's twice as far.

We all value things differently, so maybe that's worthwhile to you for the other advantages of Fairfield, but I just want to go in with your eyes open.
 
I'm currently leaning toward the Fairfield Inn, since they offer a room with a king bed + sofa bed for ~$200 less per night than the Disneyland Hotel..

The only things we're sacrificing is early entry, so I think it's the right call ... thoughts?
Fairfield gets consistently good reviews on these boards. It's a bit farther but not bad. HoJo is across the street (Manchester) and tons of people swear by it. I stayed at HoJo in 2008, and can attest that the walk in the morning seems fine. By night time, though, when you're wiped out, it looks like a LOOOONNG way up Harbor!

As far as early entry, if you are getting a 3-day or more parkhopper, you will get one Magic Morning early entry to Disneyland for your trip. You can put that to good use early in your trip and knock out all of Fantasyland and most of Tomorrowland in the first hour or two.
 

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