Disneyland
Hotel |
Reviewer's Name: |
Lori |
Reviewer's Email Address: |
edslas@earthlink.net |
Rate / Night (for your stay): |
$120 - Expedia special rate |
Date(s) of Stay: |
Jan. 21-24 |
Accommodation Used: |
Standard Room / Studio |
Accommodations Review: |
The room was extremely large and comfortable. Very nice
Disney touches like: Disney character wallpaper with
Tinkerbell and her pixie dust on the wallpaper border; Mickey
Mouse hands holding the lights in the bathroom, etc. The
toilet was enclosed in a separate room from the tub, sink and
vanity area, and there was an additional vanity area with
mirrors outside the bathroom. The room includes an empty
refrigerator that you can fill with your own goodies (which
you will probably need, given the restaurant situation
described below). Oddly enough, the TV only offers local
channels, including the Disney channel (of course!), but there
are no pay-per-view movies or Playstation. The beds were
comfortable, plenty of pillows, and so high off the ground
they made my daughter feel like the princess in the "princess
and the pea" fairy tale. |
Why Did you Select This Resort for your Stay? |
We'd never stayed at the Disneyland Hotel before and we
wanted to try it out; the rate we found was too good to pass
up the opportunity. |
Room # and Location Description: |
2026, 8th floor, Marina Tower -- view of Neverland Pool
area and Fantasy Waters. Not noisy at all. |
Room Location Pros & Cons: |
The Marina Tower location was close to everything we
wanted: the Neverland Pool entrance, Goofy's Kitchen, the
Monorail station and the walkway to Downtown Disney (and
through here, the parks). |
Check-In / Check-Out Comments: |
Check in was very quick, with only two guests ahead of us
in line. We used the quick checkout feature: our bill was
slipped under our door on the day of departure, we left the
charges on our credit card and simply left our keys in the
room. |
Disneyland Resort Transportation Comments: |
The monorail was not operating on two of the days of our
visit except in the evening. This meant we had to walk through
Downtown Disney to get to the park. Let me warn you: this is
quite a hike, especially for children not in strollers, and
particularly if you plan to return to your hotel for a break
midday, and return to the park afterward. It is about a 5-10
minute walk, each way. Even when the monorail is operating,
the walk from one's hotel room to the monorail station is
fairly substantial. We experienced waits of about 15-20
minutes whenever we used the monorail. All in all, I'd say the
monorail is LESS convenient than the shuttle service offered
by the non-Disney hotels. As an example, the Hilton shuttle
picks you up right outside the hotel and drops you off very
near the Disneyland front gate on a regular, half hour
schedule with no waiting in line. Of course, the monorail does
let you off inside Disneyland, in Tomorrowland, so this does
save you walking down Main Street. For a short trip of a day
or two, the extra walking you have to do if you stay at the
Disneyland Hotel probably wouldn't wear anybody out other than
young children, but for longer visits it really does add up,
together with all the walking you do in the parks
themselves. |
Restaurant / Lounge Review: |
We were extremely disappointed in Minnie's breakfast at
the PPH. The buffet was nothing special, with an extremely
limited selection of items, and the show with Merlin the
Magician that had been so praised has been cancelled. Goofy's
Kitchen breakfast, by comparison, had a lavish buffet with
many different and tasty items to choose from. The characters
included the Mad Hatter who was especially wonderful, sitting
at our table and chatting at length with my daughter. Other
than the character breakfasts, note that there is no place on
premises that you can get a hot breakfast other than by room
service. You can, however, pick up pastries, juice and coffee
at several locations. The room service menu is quite limited,
expensive, and the food is not that good. Downtown Disney,
with its restaurants, is nearby but we did not find any good
options for a hot breakfast there, either, especially for
children. We did eat lunch at the Rainforest Cafe which is
next to the Monorail plaza, and I found the food to be awful,
inedible. By comparison, when we stayed at the Hilton in 1999,
the food at their Cafe Oasis, which provides room service, was
wonderful, with extremely large portions and reasonable
prices. |
Pool Description / Comments: |
The Neverland Pool is kid heaven. The pool is a maximum 4
feet deep, with a small slide for little ones and a larger,
curving slide for the more daring. Two Disney lifeguards keep
an eye on things. Disney classic music plays continuously in
the background, not too loudly, to keep you in that Disney
frame of mind. There is a large spa themed to the Little
Mermaid. There are also two smaller pools in a different area
that are kept warmer than the large Neverland pool. |
What Suggestions Would you Give Anyone that is Considering
This Resort? |
I'd suggest staying at another hotel for the days you plan
to go into the park, and then stay at this hotel afterwards to
rest and relax. It was difficult to tear my daughter away from
the Neverland Pool to go to Disneyland! |
Other Comments: |
One little publicized feature of this hotel is that next
to Goofy's Kitchen is Goofy's Theatre: a small room with bench
seating and continuously running Disney movies. We spent time
here while we were waiting for our airport bus, after we had
checked out of our room. As an added bonus, we were given
complimentary tickets to California Adventure when we checked
in. |
