GCH OR DLH worth it?

[kittyklawz]

We are considering splurging and staying at GCH or DLH in March for 4 nights and wondering if it's worth it? We could also stay at one of the other hotels on Harbor. We usually stay at Candy Cane Inn which I have considered as well because it's so nice, but the walk is staring to be a bit much for me (I have an autoimmune issue that causes me to have fatigue) and I ended up having to rent a scooter last trip. We have never stayed on Disney property and would love to surprise our kids but I don't know if its better to save some money and just stay at one of the ones right across the street on Harbor. Help me decide!! Kids are ages 3 and 7. We want to take advantage of the 3 day kids special tickets. The rooms at each hotel are about the same price for the dates we are looking at which is making the decision hard!

 

[BlueGreen5]

I just asked this same question (essentially) a few days ago and the responses were great! Following to see if I get any additional insight!

 

[starry_solo]

GCH

 

[OneThree]

Worth it is subjective. If price is not an issue we would stay on property every time and have done so our last few trips.

Given your kids age, I would say the DLH for the theming, the pool and the overall Disney feel of the hotel. For location, the GCH cannot be beat. Shorther walk to/from the park which is particularly helpful if your kiddos need a break. Yes, you can take the monorail to shorten the walk.

Be warned. Once you stay on property, you may find it hard to return to Harbor hotels

 

[OlliePop27]

The on site hotels are great, but no one on here can provide you the "right" answer. The "worth" of on-site hotels is purely subjective.

I love staying on-site, but to me with my current situation in life they are not "worth" the incredibly high prices. The only real benefit is 30 minutes of EE per day, which requires you to expend considerable effort to benefit from (like being at security check by 6:45 am).

I plan to stay on-site more often in a few years when my kids are older (i.e. no longer napping). Right now, I can stay 5 minutes away from the gates on Harbor in a multi-room suite hotel for significantly less cost. When my kids are older and it's not a huge deal to all stay in the same room, the "worth" of staying on-site will be greater.

 

[kittyklawz]

The on site hotels are great, but no one on here can provide you the "right" answer. The "worth" of on-site hotels is purely subjective.

I love staying on-site, but to me with my current situation in life they are not "worth" the incredibly high prices. The only real benefit is 30 minutes of EE per day, which requires you to expend considerable effort to benefit from (like being at security check by 6:45 am).

I plan to stay on-site more often in a few years when my kids are older (i.e. no longer napping). Right now, I can stay 5 minutes away from the gates on Harbor in a multi-room suite hotel for significantly less cost. When my kids are older and it's not a huge deal to all stay in the same room, the "worth" of staying on-site will be greater.

Which hotel off harbor do you prefer? I think my kids would like either GCH or DLH and the nice pool areas, but I keep reading people saying the DLH is such a far walk compared to other hotels. I've walked to it before but that was walking all the way from the candy cane inn lol

 

[RockyMtnMouse]

We're doing a split stay in March for spring break. We'll do DLH and Anaheim Desert Inn on Harbor. We did the same thing last year with DLH and Best Western. My kids loved DLH and have been asking to go back. The rooms were big and bright, beds were comfy and the pool was awesome. I've done GC before but I felt the rooms were smaller and I couldn't justify the price. The rooms at Desert Inn are $289 and DLH is around $600. We want the magic and theming of DLH but saving $300 a night is significant. If you can swing it, DLH is awesome. I'll admit, the walk feels far at the end of the day. Depending on your room in GC, that can also be a long walk. A scooter might be worth it no matter where you stay.

 

[OlliePop27]

Which hotel off harbor do you prefer? I think my kids would like either GCH or DLH and the nice pool areas, but I keep reading people saying the DLH is such a far walk compared to other hotels. I've walked to it before but that was walking all the way from the candy cane inn lol

I mean, DLH is far compared to GCH, but I don't personally find it to be very far. With the monorail to DL it helps and the PP entrance to DCA.

We've stayed at many Harbor hotels. Our current favorite is Tropicana. We get the Park View Suite and they also have a Family Suite.

To be clear, you cannot compare Tropicana (or any Harbor hotel) with DLH. I personally love DLH the most of the on-site hotels - I love the retro Disneyland theming. You just have to decide if the pools and theming is worth the cost difference. We don't really swim when we go to DL. We live in TX and go to the pool all summer steps from our house, so it's just not a priority for my kids when we are at DL. The only time we spend at the hotel is nap and sleep.

 

[BlueGreen5]

Which hotel off harbor do you prefer? I think my kids would like either GCH or DLH and the nice pool areas, but I keep reading people saying the DLH is such a far walk compared to other hotels. I've walked to it before but that was walking all the way from the candy cane inn lol

FWIW, we looked at the Best Western Stovalls, Best Western Park Place, Tropicana, Candy Cane Inn, Hyatt House, and Hotel Indigo pretty intensely. I couldn't really distinguish between any of them in any significant way, other than the hotel/motel setup and price point. All probably per suggestions of @OlliePop27 and others on these boards, lol.

 

[juxtapose]

I find the walk from DLH to be similar or the same as from the closer Harbor hotels. If closeness is your main factor, I'd do GCH. If we are trying to save money, we stay at a close Harbor hotel but don't really love any of the ones we have stayed in. I'm not a fan of motel style rooms, the closer one's pools are meh, and we love to have a balcony which we haven't seen as an option at any of those hotels. If money isn't a huge issue on a trip, we all love GCH and it does seem a lot closer for us than DLH. My kids were 10 and 7 last time and loved everything about it.

 

[kittyklawz]

We're doing a split stay in March for spring break. We'll do DLH and Anaheim Desert Inn on Harbor. We did the same thing last year with DLH and Best Western. My kids loved DLH and have been asking to go back. The rooms were big and bright, beds were comfy and the pool was awesome. I've done GC before but I felt the rooms were smaller and I couldn't justify the price. The rooms at Desert Inn are $289 and DLH is around $600. We want the magic and theming of DLH but saving $300 a night is significant. If you can swing it, DLH is awesome. I'll admit, the walk feels far at the end of the day. Depending on your room in GC, that can also be a long walk. A scooter might be worth it no matter where you stay.

I actually looked at booking Anaheim dessert Inn but they are randomly closed one of the days of our trip and we are only doing 3 days at Disney, then heading off to Legoland so I didn't want to do a split stay.

 

[kittyklawz]

Also, have any of you booked your package through getawaytoday? I can do a partial view room on GAT for the same price as a woods view if I do it through disney/costco.

 

[OlliePop27]

Also, have any of you booked your package through getawaytoday? I can do a partial view room on GAT for the same price as a woods view if I do it through disney/costco.

I would personally recommend Woods/Courtyard at GCH over Partial View. I had a partial view once and it looks over Paradise Park/Goofy's Sky School. It's quite loud on the balcony. I would rather have the woods view and you are closer to the lobby. If you get the partial view by Goofy's, it's a long haul over to the lobby and main park entrances (although the PP entrance into the back of DCA is right there).

 

[OlliePop27]

I find the walk from DLH to be similar or the same as from the closer Harbor hotels. If closeness is your main factor, I'd do GCH. If we are trying to save money, we stay at a close Harbor hotel but don't really love any of the ones we have stayed in. I'm not a fan of motel style rooms, the closer one's pools are meh, and we love to have a balcony which we haven't seen as an option at any of those hotels. If money isn't a huge issue on a trip, we all love GCH and it does seem a lot closer for us than DLH. My kids were 10 and 7 last time and loved everything about it.

Yes, the irony with the Harbor hotels is the closest ones have the worst pools. The best offsite pools are further away, so you trade off convenience.

 

[LAS2AMS]

Nobody on this forum can answer that. Disneyland and Disney World have added very few hotel rooms over the past 25 years. There’s huge demand for travel at the moment. Huge demand for Disney + little inventory = high prices.

Are the prices worth it? I love Disney hotels but my day job is advising high net worth people on the best use of their money. And spending $700/night on then GCH when you can get a better hotel elsewhere - just without the Disney overlay - for half or even a third of the price is hard to justify. Disney hotels have Disney Magic, but investing the savings and watching it grow is even more magical.

Remember, everyone on this forum has a different level of discretionary spending. A young family that needs more space (home/ apartment), a larger vehicle, etc. shouldn’t be taking advice from a senior who’s financially comfortable and saved for this moment.

 

[kittyklawz]

I would personally recommend Woods/Courtyard at GCH over Partial View. I had a partial view once and it looks over Paradise Park/Goofy's Sky School. It's quite loud on the balcony. I would rather have the woods view and you are closer to the lobby. If you get the partial view by Goofy's, it's a long haul over to the lobby and main park entrances (although the PP entrance into the back of DCA is right there).

Ooh thanks, I guess thats prob a better deal anyways through Costco with the gift card they give you. Also do you know, god forbid something happens and we have to reschedule, will Disneyland let me change my tickets & pay the difference since the kids tickets are that special promo that expires in March? I have never booked a package directly through Disney before.

 

[TinkAgainU]

Grand California will be far less walking than the Disneyland Hotel. Disneyland Hotel is about the same walking distance as Candy Cane Lane Inn. That said, you can pickup a scooter offsite at Best Western Park Place (which is closer than either of those) and then you have close to zero walking to get into the Parks and a quick run back to the hotel is easy too. I assume you can get a company to deliver a scooter to Grand California or Disneyland Hotel to save that walk TO/FROM the parks. If you decide you don't need it all day, park it or let someone else in the family use it to go back to the room as needed. Sometimes just knowing you don't have that long walk at the end of the day might be enough to give you joy lol.

 

[kittyklawz]

Nobody on this forum can answer that. Disneyland and Disney World have added very few hotel rooms over the past 25 years. There’s huge demand for travel at the moment. Huge demand for Disney + little inventory = high prices.

Are the prices worth it? I love Disney hotels but my day job is advising high net worth people on the best use of their money. And spending $700/night on then GCH when you can get a better hotel elsewhere - just without the Disney overlay - for half or even a third of the price is hard to justify. Disney hotels have Disney Magic, but investing the savings and watching it grow is even more magical.

Remember, everyone on this forum has a different level of discretionary spending. A young family that needs more space (home/ apartment), a larger vehicle, etc. shouldn’t be taking advice from a senior who’s financially comfortable and saved for this moment.

What hotels across the street would you consider to be better? We already own our home and 3 vehicles so we don't expect to have any major purchases coming up anytime soon. I want to be as close as possible due to not being able to walk far.

 

[kittyklawz]

Grand California will be far less walking than the Disneyland Hotel. Disneyland Hotel is about the same walking distance as Candy Cane Lane Inn. That said, you can pickup a scooter offsite at Best Western Park Place (which is closer than either of those) and then you have close to zero walking to get into the Parks and a quick run back to the hotel is easy too. I assume you can get a company to deliver a scooter to Grand California or Disneyland Hotel to save that walk TO/FROM the parks. If you decide you don't need it all day, park it or let someone else in the family use it to go back to the room as needed. Sometimes just knowing you don't have that long walk at the end of the day might be enough to give you joy lol.

When I rented a scooter last time they delivered it to the Candy Cane Inn which was really nice!

 

[Pluto468]

I've stayed on property and on Harbor over the years and I definitely prefer the resort hotels. So if it's affordable for your March trip I'd do that. GCH has more of a resort feel, but the DLH pools might be more fun for your kids. Plus the light up head boards, of course You can't go wrong either way. Have fun!