Things you'll want to know about the Disneyland Hotel

host hotel for run disney tinkerbell half marathon
When we went to California for the Tinkerbell Half Marathon you may have seen us mention several times that we stayed at the Disneyland Hotel.  This was one of the best decisions that we made and I would not hesitate staying there again if we should decide to do another race weekend. Unlike Disneyworld, Disneyland only has three on property Disney resorts, The Disneyland Hotel, The Grand Californian, and Paradise Pier.  All are with in walking distance to the parks and to the race start and finish.

Transportation:
Also unlike Disney World, Disneyland resorts do not offer the magical Express. You have to arrange your own way to and from the airport. My mom and I flew into Sana Ana (John Wayne) airport which is actually the closest airports to Disney and when we arrived at Ground Transportation the Disney Express was already there waiting for passengers. We did not have to purchase tickets ahead of time. Tickets were $20 per passenger and the Disneyland Hotel was the first stop. The ride took about 20 minutes.  Lacey flew into LAX ( Los Angeles ) airport and she took Prime Time Shuttle which cost about $18.

Hotel/Room:
We arrived around 10:30 am and we figured our room wouldn't be ready yet and we were prepared to just check our luggage and go to the expo.  There were no rooms available yet, but as luck would have it the cast member worked his magic and found one. As we walked away, he whispered to me that he had upgraded us to a premium room.  This was our view!

The Disneyland hotel is divided into three towers. The Fantasia Tower (the tower straight ahead in this picture)which is the main building where the lobby, check-in and the gift shops are, the Frontier Tower (The tower we were in and where this picture was taken from),and the Jungle Tower (which would have been to the right of this picture).  Straight ahead and to the left would be the convention center where the race expo took place. In the middle is the swimming pool area with waterslides and a hot tub.
run disney host hotel
Isn't the Minnie Mouse shaped hot tub so cute? We also loved looking down at the Mickey as Daniel Boone (or perhaps Davey Crocket?) landscaping. I wonder if we can try to do that at home with our landscaping?

light up headboard
A peek inside our room. Even the carpet had hidden Mickey's on it.  The headboards had a castle carved in it.  The room was actually a lot larger than what is pictured. We also had a nice big closet and a desk area that we did not photograph.
light up headboard

And then of course with a flip of a switch the fireworks lit up and a lullaby could be played.  I hate to admit that we were so tired each night of our stay that we only remembered to turn the headboard on the last night to enjoy it.
There were even some Mickey touches in the bathroom.  We weren't loving that we only had one sink when most Disney World hotels usually have a double vanity, but for what it's worth the bathroom was nice.

Restaurants:
The eating options ate the Disneyland Hotel are excellent.  For sit down dinners there is Goofy's Kitchen  which is a character meal and Steakhouse 55 and Lounge.  There is a Coffee shop that was open during race mornings but the only real food they had were muffins (and a few power bars). Our favorite spot to eat was Tangaroa Terrace which was kind of like a quick service restaurant. Everything on that menu looked so good. I could have ate here everyday!  If for some reason you didn't care for any of the restaurants at the resort, you are only a short walk ( just across the walkway) to Down Town Disney  where you will immediately see Earl of Sandwich and Rainforest CafĂ© (and then many other restaurants).  FYI: Although there is a entrance to DTD from the Grand Californian, the Disneyland Hotel is actually closer to DTD then Paradise Pier.

                                                  Below are maps that you may find helpful.

restaurants at Disneyland hotel


This map shows the grounds of the Disneyland Hotel and where things are located.  We stayed in the Frontier Tower which is the most convenient location to the race staging area and finish line.  The brown hut near the middle of the map is Tangaroa Terrace

Anaheim California adventure map

This map shows the proximity of each hotel to the Downtown Disney Area and theme parks. The darker blue boxes in the upper right hand corner are the Disneyland Hotel, the peach boxes are Paradise Pier, and the Green boxes are the Grand Californian!

The start line for the Pixie Dust Challenge races  was just north of that yellow section on the map, which is actually an overpass over Disneyland Drive.  In this instance, all three of these hotels have easy access to the start line.

I really like the convenience of where everything was located to the Disneyland Hotel. It saved us a ton of time getting around. Also, it made it easy to go back to the park  real quick if we forgot something (like we did twice).

Tell us what you look for in a Hotel? Is it convenience? Location? Theming? Something else?


20 comments:

  1. We love staying at the DL hotel. For the three race weekends I have spent it CA, that has been my spot. It just feels old Disney to me and the monorail pool is really cute!

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    1. We just loved how convenient it is to everything. Unfortunately we didn't get to try the pool!

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  2. This is the only DL resort I haven't stayed at yet (of the three) but hope to remedy that next year! Great review!! :)

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    1. If I go again I wouldn't mind trying another resort, but this one is so great that it would be hard to not stay there again...lol

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  3. That looks like a great resort! I am adding it to my hotel Bucket List.

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  4. I can't believe I've never been to Disneyland. I'd like to do one of the Disney races there, so I can say I've done one at each park.

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  5. Such a great hotel, will always be our favorite Disneyland hotel.

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  6. I haven't stayed at the Disneyland Hotel but I like that DL has so many hotels around it. It's nice not to have to wait for transportation and I can just walk, not only to Disney and DTD, but to the restaurant near there too.

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  7. I haven't been to Disneyland, but you got me interested!! When I pick a hotel, its about convenience and comfort. When we travel with Ashton, it's also important for us to have living space so he can take a nap in one room while we can sit and do things in another.

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  8. I haven't stayed at any of the Disneyland hotels. We were out there a couple years ago but stayed at one of the offsite hotels that was in walking distance. It was pretty basic but we weren't in the room much and the location was great :)

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  9. I love the Disney hotels. They truly add so many awesome touches!!

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  10. I haven't stayed at the Disneyland hotel, but totally would sometime! The great thing about Disneyland the hotels that are right across the street from it, are in some ways closer to the park entrance and even easier (less crowded) access:) But then again, you don't get the perks that the Disneyland Hotel gives you if you stay in them:)

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  11. The details that Disney adds to it's resorts is amazing! We make a game of finding all the special touches in our room when we visit DW, but someday a trip to DL is in order. I want to see those amazing headboards!

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  12. I've been looking into the Disneyland hotel a lot recently. Have you checked out their themed suites? They are insanely expensive, but so beautiful and a Disney lovers dream!

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  13. mmm... Disney dreams floating through my head now...

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  14. Loving the fireworks on the headboard - how fantastic!

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  15. Price is probably the first thing. Convenience is second. With a race, I love to roll out of bed right to the start line. I don't mind short walk, but the closer the better.

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  16. this is a great post! I haven't stayed there mainly because of the cost since I am pretty local but maybe one day. It is so close to both of the staging areas they use at DL

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  17. I rarely stay on property at Disneyland because even the cheapest hotel is super expensive. There's several hotel choices right across the street at the entrance that I believe might even be closer to the park entrances than Paradise Pier hotel. The only problem is that it's a serious hike to the race start lines when you stay on that side of the parks. But I guess I'd rather have a shorter walk back and forth to the parks than a race start.

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  18. I love staying at the Disneyland Hotel! It's the only one I've stayed in at DL and it's always been great. I love the convenience of being near the park, expo and race starts!

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