Paradise Pier Hotel
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Reviewer's Name:
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Celeste Hari |
Reviewer's Email Address:
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celestehari@hotmail.com |
Rate / Night (for your stay):
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$265/free |
Date(s) of Stay:
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Aug. 4 - Aug. 6 |
Accommodation Used:
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Standard Room / Studio |
Accommodations Review:
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Let me start by saying that we won this little trip on a
radio contest. We upgraded (and paid for ourselves) to
Concierge level. Got a great room on the 15th floor. The
hotel is of course well kept and beautiful. Everything was
as one would expect it to be in a Disney property. I have
only two complaints. One is that you are given this little
room charge slip that is very important when using the
monorail. We don't use these slips and don't carry them with
us. Big Mistake! This card is your ticket to the fast lane
at the monorail. We were denied entrance because we did not
have it in spite of the fact that we did have our hotel key.
A most frustrating experience. The second complaint will be
addressed in the transportation section. This hotel has its
own entrance to DCA, which was a nice perk. We could see the
Electric Light Parade from the hall window. The two gift
shops are pretty well stocked. I shopped there instead of
inside the parks. They have alot of the same merchandise. |
Why Did you Select This Resort for your Stay?
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To be honest, we wanted the Grand Californian, but since
this part of the vacation was won on a contest, they gave us
the Paridise Pier. I am actually glad because I wonder about
the noise from the park, monorail, and Downtown Disney in
the Grand Californian. Paridise Pier also allowed us to get
out of the theme park sensory stimulation and relax. |
Room # and Location Description:
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Room 1505. Top floor and Conceriege service.It was on the
pool side and that was just fine because it's quieter. The
park side has a lovely view but the park is pretty loud. Our
room was larger than the regular rooms since it was
conceriege. Had a refrigerator and iron and ironing board
included. The beds were comortable and we all slept well.
The decor is Disney, but not overwhelming. It is also a
peaceful decor. We had a spare chair for sitting and also a
table and chairs for eating or other table-friendly things.
The chest of drawers held everthing we needed it to. The
room was clean and there were enough towels for eveyrone and
then some. |
Room Location Pros & Cons:
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The location of this room was great! No one running over
our heads! We were on the poolside and figured out that it
was much quieter than the parkside. This was more important
to us than the park view. May not be the case for everyone. |
Check-In / Check-Out Comments:
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Check-in was a breeze. The kids hung around the Concierge
lounge and had a snack, actually we all did. They didn't
have a room at that time (9:30 am) and that was OK since it
was quite early. We just stowed our luggage with the Bell
Desk and went over to the park. When we came back at 2:00,
we really needed a rest. A park view room was not ready but
the pool view was. We took it and later were happy about
that choice. Check-out? We had to check-out on the last day
of the free portion and check back in. This was all taken
care of in about two minutes. We did not need to change
rooms. I didn't check-out at all on our last day. We stowed
the luggage again and went over to the park. Just for kicks
I tried to re-enter after check-out time and sure enough,
the card didn't work. Of course this method doesn't allow
you to see the final bill so I hope there are no suprises
when the Visa bill comes! |
WDW Transportation Comments:
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What transportation?! This is my second complaint. There
is no longer tram service to the front entrance of the
parks. You must walk through DCA to get to Disneyland proper
or walk over to the monorail and ride over to Tomorrowland,
bypassing Main Street. You can also walk through Downtown
Disney, but this is also quite a hike. Starting out with a
20 minute hike (at a minimum) is not my idea of a good time.
Coming back is even worse since everyone is hot and tired.
And lets not forget the charge slip fiasco. Without out it,
you have to wait in the regular monorail line, which can be
huge! I thought my husband would explode on the spot and I
thought my son would just wither away before they got on the
monorail. Very unpleasant indeed. They REALLY need to
provide tram service again. Disney gets a big fat ZERO on
this one! |
Restaurant / Lounge Review:
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We ate at the PCH Grill the first night. The food and
service was very nice. Again it gives people a chance to get
away to some quiet for awhile. Portions were generous. If
you are having one of the salads, order the half order. It
is huge. I can't imagine what a whole order would be like.
The kids' meals came with neat keeper cups. We didn't eat at
the other restaurants in the hotel. They have a character
breakfast there also but we did not participate (kids
thought that was for babies. They are 7 and 10, go figure!) |
Pool Description / Comments:
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The pool here is large and standard in design. We used it
every day. Sometimes there was a lifeguard and sometimes
there was not. There is also a spa, but we never used it
since it was very hot outside. You can also use the pools at
the Disneyland Hotel. We went to the Neverland pool one
time. It has a nice little waterslide. It was terribly
crowded and noisy so we stayed only a short time. There was
a lifeguard here also. We never made it to the cove pool. I
know from past experince that it is smaller than the
Neverland pool and has a sand beach. The towels at both
hotels were fabulous. Big, thick and absorbent. They were
also well stocked. I wish all pools were stocked like these
were! |
What Suggestions Would you Give Anyone that is
Considering This Resort?
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If you want a break from the parks, but still want Disney,
this is a good place for you. It is very nice if you can
afford it. We paid for an extra night ourselves and it was
$190 without the Concierge service. The total with it was
$265. That's alot of money. We did it because two of the
three days were already paid for by winning the trip. We
moved to another place on the fourth day. My kids really
enjoyed the Concierge lounge and service. This really is a
wonderful hotel and a treat even without the extras of
concierge. But you have to consider how much it costs. Is it
worth the money to stay here? Sometimes it is and sometimes
it's not. We moved on to other theme parks after the first
three days so proximity to Disney was no longer as
important. |
Other Comments:
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There was a recent column about Concierge service and it
was right on the nose with description! They were wonderful
to us. We got all of the extras and more. We ate breakfast
every day in the lounge and managed to catch two wine
evenings. One we even considered dinner since they had
chicken strips, fruit, cheese and crackers, and even chips.
The first night there were those chocolate dipped ear-shaped
rice krispie treats in our room. Along with those the ice
bucket was filled, the beds turned down, and Disney
chocolate coins on the beds. This thrilled the kids. Our
last night we got the krispies again along with a rose in a
vase. It was all very nice. The lounge is open all day with
snacks and drinks. We stopped in every day before our swim
break. Someday I would like to have Concierge service again.
It's probably not something the average family can afford
all of the time but it sure is nice at least once! We had no
problems with the service and everyone was very helpful. |
