Can't decide between PPH or Offsite - Need input!

[8lovesmickey]

Hi Everyone! I am a frequent DLR visitor and have stayed at all three on-site hotels but never off-site (we used to stay with relatives when we needed to save $).

This spring we're taking a family trip to SoCal and our budget is a little tighter with kids in college. We are booked at the Paradise Pier for 3 nights because it's the least expensive on-site and we enjoyed it a lot last year. BUT... one of the big draws was the short walk to the parks, and now we can't cut through the GCH because of the new security. (It looks like we can cut through from DTD to the hotel but not the other way around.)

So now we just can't decide!!! Do we keep our reservations? Or do we move to an off-site hotel and save like $600? Here are my pros and cons - help me out with yours!

Pros of PPH - Like the hotel, like the Disney feel (more in the bubble), use the early entry every day, it's familiar, close walk from DTD, 5 beds for 4 people, fridge, coffee

Cons of PPH - Longish walk to parks, price!, so-so pool

What would you do? Are these pros worth $600 over 4 days/3 nights? If not, which off-site hotel do you love?

Thanks!!

 

[Nevada Jen]

I'm a loyal pph customer but with the security changes I decided to try off site. Last time I stayed at hojo. Not remotely comparable or acceptable to me. Although the walk using the side of the street with no driveways was not noticeably worse. I didn't miss early entry but we are frequent visitors and have a das. Still pph over hojo any day. Next week we are staying at courtyard. I will be sure to update with my thoughts afterwards.

 

[Darkbeer1]

OK, lets look at Hotels/Motels that will not have a longer walk than the PPH using the shortcut one way (Park to Hotel) and the new longer walking
in the AM (Hotel to Park).

I am not going to mention Motels (inns) but the newer Limited Service Hotels (No Valet or Room Service).

Courtyard is nice, close to the parks and some decent food options (Mimi's, Pizza Press and Panera Bread, plus McDonalds for those who want a low cost fast food option. plus the McCafe in the same building) Small water park and pool area. High ranking at TripAdvisor.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_R...m_Theme_Park_Entrance-Anaheim_California.html

Next door is the Holiday Inn Express on Manchester (Not the Full service farther down Manchester, make sure you get the right one).

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_R...isneyland_Resort_Area-Anaheim_California.html

On the edge of walking distance is the new Country Inn and Suites.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_R...ry_Inn_Suites_Anaheim-Anaheim_California.html

So you have nice large rooms, the HIE has the best free breakfast, Country Inn isn't bad, and for the Courtyard, you have to go next door to Mimi's Cafe and pay for it, but then it is the best breakfast and cooked to order.

I like all three, I might go with the Country Inn since it is the newest, and might come in the cheapest on your dates.

So those are three to compare.

And I usually prefer off-property Hotels in general, since you get more bang for your buck. But for some, i do recommend the Disney owned ones. Based on the little I know, I see no reason to stay at Disney

 

[Nevada Jen]

Country inn looks pretty good actually and the prices are so much less you could take a cab to and from the parks. But it doesn't appear to offer lots of beds in a room like hojo and courtyard. And I should be clearer. My problem with hojo is that the price is not enough less to make up for what you lose at pph.

 

[emmybee]

I lobbied hard to get my husband to consider the Marriott's Courtyard because the price of its theme park view seemed comparable to PPH's regular view. It also seems to be a shorter walk now that the GCH shortcut has been taken away. Plus, it's pretty new, and the room seems to have more space. These were enough to convince me, but not him, so we booked our stay at the PPH today.

 

[Pintail]

It is really a choice of how you and your family feel about it.
Where you stay can factor in to your overall vacation happiness.
I would stay at the new Marriott Courtyard before I booked at PPH, but it may be worth it for your overall vacation experience to stay at PPH.
I have stayed at the Fairfield Inn when we are just going to Disneyland for a day, and just are interested in a good close reasonably priced mattress.
The fact that PPH is operated by Disney seems like it has mattered considerably for you in the past, so stick with it and enjoy the magic.

 

[Malcon10t]

Hi Everyone! I am a frequent DLR visitor and have stayed at all three on-site hotels but never off-site (we used to stay with relatives when we needed to save $).

This spring we're taking a family trip to SoCal and our budget is a little tighter with kids in college. We are booked at the Paradise Pier for 3 nights because it's the least expensive on-site and we enjoyed it a lot last year. BUT... one of the big draws was the short walk to the parks, and now we can't cut through the GCH because of the new security. (It looks like we can cut through from DTD to the hotel but not the other way around.)

So now we just can't decide!!! Do we keep our reservations? Or do we move to an off-site hotel and save like $600? Here are my pros and cons - help me out with yours!

Pros of PPH - Like the hotel, like the Disney feel (more in the bubble), use the early entry every day, it's familiar, close walk from DTD, 5 beds for 4 people, fridge, coffee

Cons of PPH - Longish walk to parks, price!, so-so pool

What would you do? Are these pros worth $600 over 4 days/3 nights? If not, which off-site hotel do you love?

Thanks!!

We stayed off site a couple weeks ago. One big drawback for me? The amount of time we were in the security line on Harbor side. It was frequently exceeding 10-15 mins. It was during Christmas vacation. Last weekend, we stayed at DLH and PPH. Loved walking thru security. $600? That is your call. I think it would really depend on which hotel you were at.

 

[dadofnicholas]

Just found out that the GCH shortcut has been taken away. It was a big selling point for me. We also are staying 5 nights so we can take our time (magic morning less important). We also have been to Disneyland on several occasions in the past 3 years so we know the park very well and we know which rides we don't care for. Putting this all together, we'll stay off-site - the money I save, the kids can use to buy stuff to make the experience "more Disney" ... although we do like the beach balls in the PP rooms The Candy Cane Inn is the only off-site hotel we've stayed in at Disneyland - we enjoyed it very much. Given that we do rest after lunch, we'll choose a hotel that's closer.

 

[mom2rtk]

I hadn't realized that some offsite guests were using the GCH shortcut as well. I think they should have at least tried continuing to let PPH guests use the DTD passthrough, but not offsite guests.

Still not sure what we'll do if we make it back this year. We'll definitely be considering offsite alternatives for the first time.

I hope everyone not happy with the change takes the time to write DLR guest services. I did, and while I don't expect it to change anything, I felt I had to express my opinion on the matter.

 

[lcp9]

We are Marriott associates and most of the time can't pass up associate rates in favor of staying on property, so we're usually at one of the Residence Inns, Fairfield, or Courtyard. the new RI on Katella/Harbor is killer...so nice, brand new, and we like having a huge free breakfast so we don't have to pay for tons of park food. Not as close as PPH, but we also enter on Harbor side and have never had security lines longer than 5 minutes. Fairfield Inn is super close, nothing particularly special. We stay there when we can get it cheap and can't reasonably pass up the price. Otherwise we prefer RI for free breakfast, larger rooms (3 kids under 5), and full kitchen so we can have groceries and pack in food for the stroller. Distance isn't a huge factor because we don't take breaks during the day.

 

[Nevada Jen]

Wanted to come back and update on courtyard theme parK. I would say it is very comparable to pph. Actually better for our family. Rooms seem about the same size but you know what you are booking. The two queen bunk bed room was perfect for us. Make sure you add in 20 buck a day parking. Pph would have been the same cost for us because of the parking. This will be out first choice from now on over any of the Disney hotels. Will write more later when I am at a real computer.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Have you tried making a list of what you'd do with the extra $600 and compared that to the PPH benefits? Would you plus up your dining? Extend your trip? Or is this money you already have budgeted for vacation but deep down you know you could you really use it to help with tuition & living bills right now? Many people have wonderful off site trips, you just have to go in with different expectations. If you could use the money in other parts of your life right now stay offsite. Disneyland will still be there after college and your family has already enjoyed the onsite experience so you're not missing out on that experience.

Personally I love splurging on vacations but I'm very strict with my budget. If GCH is what we can COMFORTABLY afford we do it, if offsite is what is we can afford we do that! We never stayed within walking distance though so I can't comment on those hotels. Actually- our second to last trip we did GCH but we couldn't stretch our budget past 3 nights so we came into town the night before and stayed offsite, checked in by EMH to GCH and on our last day in the parks we stayed until like 10pm and then slept at Castle Inn & Suites. I liked that because we got the EMHs we were after and instead of our usual half park day when leaving town we got the whole day and crashed cheep that night! Have you considered doing just one or two nights offsite?

 

[Nevada Jen]

So just a bit more about the Courtyard. The staff was noticeably kinder than any place I have ever stayed. They made me feel like a guest, rather than a customer. I can't say that has ever happened anywhere I stayed including much nicer hotels. The rooms worked really well for us. The bellman said most of the rooms have two queens and bunk beds. There are two showers. One with a tub and one in the toilet room. Not sure how that would be useful since you have to walk through the one with the tub (and double sinks) to get to the one in the toilet room but I guess I could be bathing my daughter while my husband showers. We had a fireworks view without even requesting it. Room 307 in case anyone cares. There was a really good amount of storage. 4 2.5 feet long dresser drawers, plus two cabinets that were deep and square (who stored two rolled air mattresses in one), plus a larger than normal closet with built in shelving. There was space on either end of the bunkbeds that was perfect for suitcases. Large dorm fridge and microwave. There was banquete seating in one corner with a round table that worked really well for us because we could pull my daughter's wheelchair up to the empty side. One of the best parts of the layout was that there was space next to the door for my daughters wheel chair that got it totally out of the way when she wasn't using it. There was a gift shop with snacks, wine and beer and the usual gift shop souveniers that closed around 10, and a separate little walk-in drink and snack shop that seemed to be open all night. Starbucks in the hotel with the usual starbucks stuff and free refills on coffee. And my personal favorite part was that there was patio along the entire side facing HOJO that had a firepit and they specifically told me it was for smoking. I actually sat out there and smoked and made friends! The downsides, the pool with the water park is not as big kid friendly as it appears in photos. Its really more for kids under age 9. The elevators were frequently took longer than I wanted them to (although not horrible, maybe a 2-3 minute wait almost every time). And while the beds were fine, the sheets were worn out. The first night mine were so "pilly" I thought they were dirty and finally got up and turned on the light to look. They were just really worn down. Like a tshirt from target that has been washed way too many times. I've never even seen sheets that bad. I called and had them changed the next day and they were better but still had a bit of unintended built up texture going on. I don't know if that was just a freak thing from a mass washing accident or if the sheets are normally like that. The walk to the parks felt shorter than PPH (especially if you walked on the side of the street without the other hotels and resteraunts). Hope that info helps someone. I know it would have been helpful to me.

 

[Crazy4Disney72]

I have stayed at all three DLR hotels in the past. I just got back yesterday from a 4 night stay offsite at Best Western Park Place Inn & Suites. I doubt I will ever stay anywhere else. The room was clean and spacious, the free breakfast was far more than I expected, I was thinking donuts and cereal but it was like a Hampton Inn without the waffle iron, and the location can't be beat! Definitely my shortest walk ever into the parks, I think even shorter than Grand Californian because it seemed like we had to walk forever just to get from our room to the entrance. The furniture is dated and it's an exterior corridor motel, the pool is unimpressive but we were there solely for the parks so clean, comfortable beds and close were all I cared about.