We've stayed at the Castle Inn several times in the past years. It's a nice place. If you have small children, the castle decor is fun for them. No extra Disney atmosphere there, but fun exterior scenes.
There's one pool, and it's located in the middle of the parking lot, so not real private and not conveniently located near any room your reserve. It's small, but clean, heated and well maintained. There's also a small laundry area available in the pool area.
We've always stayed in what they call the Family Suites. They sleep 6 people, 2 queen beds in one room, and a king bed in the other, both areas have their own TV, and the bathroom is between the two rooms. There's an additional sink and vanity area in the room that has the 2 queen beds. This motel is older than some of the other area motels, but it is always clean, and the beds are comfortable. The rooms are very basic, small table, couple of chairs, and dressers.
There's a small refrigerator, small microwave, and a coffee maker in the Family Suites that we've stayed in. All are clean and come in handy.
Also, there are several big elevators you can use for the higher level rooms. The rooms all exit outside towards the parking lot.
We've never had problems with finding a parking space close to our room, no matter how late we came back from the parks. A lot of the motels on Harbor Street have parking problems. The Castle Inn parking lot is very well lit up at night. It has a very safe atmosphere, although, I can't recall seeing security around. (not to say there isn't any)
The staff there have always been very friendly and helpful. Check in is quick.
The walk to Disney Resort isn't bad, but it's very tiring returning to the Castle Inn after being at the parks all day. It's down a few blocks, on the opposite side of the street, and takes about 15 minutes to get to the DLR security entrance. Also, keep in mind that there is still quit a walk to and from the parks, even after you enter or exit the Disney Resort entrance on Harbor Street. And Downtown Disney is even further. You can see some of the California Adventure rides from the Castle Inn, so it looks like the park is just right there, but the Castle Inn is not directly across the street from the resort entrance.
I'm not sure if the bussing system stops at Castle Inn, it may be something to look into for the return back. On our last 2 trips, we stayed at Howard Johnson's, and used the busses for the ride back. It was so worth it!!! The Castle Inn is about the same distance away from the park entrance as HJ's. I think the tickets cost $2.50 each back to HJ.
There is no restaurant on the Castle Inn site, but there are several places to eat along Harbor Blvd, including a McDonalds and some sit down coffee shop style restaurants, a Denny's, and a nice family restaurant called Mimi's. Most are a short walk from the Castle Inn, Mimi's, you may want to drive to.
The Castle Inn is worth the money you pay. It's not our favorite off-site motel, but we've never been disappointed with our stays there.
Have a grand time!
