Paradise Pier Hotel or Offsite

Minnie404

Mouseketeer
Joined
May 13, 2012
Hi, we have a trip planned to San Diego in early February. We are huge WDW fans but have never been to Disneyland. Anyway, since we are going to be so close the hubby wants us to bring the kids up for a couple of days. The plan is to come in and spend two nights there in early Feb. We would hit the parks all day Thursday and maybe Friday too before heading back to San Diego,

I have been looking over and over again at the hotels that are nearby, etc, trying to go through trip advisor and the reviews as well as look at Hydro's recommendations. I am having a hard time deciding on where to stay. I do have a room booked right now at Paradise Pier but not sure if the cost is worth it. I am not sure when we will ever get back there and I did get a pretty good deal with the 25% off plus Orbitz discount.

I know it will be cheaper to stay someplace else but for some odd reason the first night we are scheduled to be there, the hotel prices are really expensive and/or not available compared to the next night. Ideally I would like to be close to the entrance of the parks but it seems a lot of the hotels that are nearby don't always have the best reviews. I just can't figure out what is true and what is not. I know we will be primarily using it to sleep but I would like it to be a little bit on the nicer side.

If anyone has been there recently and can recommend a place that would be great.
 
Candy Cane is more than adequate for sleeping and a simple breakfast. It's pretty much the same distance as Paradise Pier to the main entrance. If you can afford it, the extra hour in DCA is a huge perk of Paradise Pier.
 
If I were only going to be there for a few days I'd stay onsite. It just gives you that extra hour each day and for a few nights the cost is not that big of an issue. Our Disneyland vacations are always at least a week long and we do other stuff on our off days so staying onsite can get pricey pretty fast.

As far as proximity - staying at Paradise Pier is not that much closer to the parks compared to staying at the Howard Johnson across the street. You can enter through the Grand Californian to go into DCA but it's still a good walk. The idea is that you are sort of in a "Disney bubble" if you are onsite though so there is that to consider.

Disneyland is very different than WDW though - the offsite hotels are closer to the parks than the Disney hotels in WDW - so staying offsite isn't that inconvenient - it's just you don't get the extra perk of the extra magic hour.
 
As far as proximity - staying at Paradise Pier is not that much closer to the parks compared to staying at the Howard Johnson across the street. You can enter through the Grand Californian to go into DCA but it's still a good walk. The idea is that you are sort of in a "Disney bubble" if you are onsite though so there is that to consider.
This is NO longer the case.
GCH security will only allow people through the front entrance that appear on the reservation list.

You can exit through GCH to PPH just fine.
 


This is NO longer the case.
GCH security will only allow people through the front entrance that appear on the reservation list.

You can exit through GCH to PPH just fine.

Oh wow - I thought that as long as you had a hotel key for any of the three hotels you could take the short cut? That sucks and that would certainly turn a lot of people off from staying at Paradise Pier I would think - it truly is an off site hotel then with onsite perks!
 
Oh wow - I thought that as long as you had a hotel key for any of the three hotels you could take the short cut? That sucks and that would certainly turn a lot of people off from staying at Paradise Pier I would think - it truly is an off site hotel then with onsite perks!
Yes. We stayed off site but had breakfast at paradise pier late one morning. We were allowed to go through GCH to get to paradise pier, but not the other way around. Had to walk all the way through DTD. It wasn’t all that bad but we were staying at hojo and I think our walk to get to the parks was closer.
 
Personally, I'd rather stay offsite than at Paradise Pier. While the rooms are nice, the lobby feels like a Holiday Inn and the pool is terrible. It doesn't have the same "Disney" feel of all other Disney hotels, especially the ones at WDW. It may seem petty, but I HATE how they have a TV in their quick service location that shows local news --- I feel like it totally breaks the Disney feel. If this is going to be your only Disneyland trip, I'd spend the extra money to stay at the DL hotel or GCH, or just stay offsite. Have a great time!
 


Hi, we have a trip planned to San Diego in early February. We are huge WDW fans but have never been to Disneyland. Anyway, since we are going to be so close the hubby wants us to bring the kids up for a couple of days. The plan is to come in and spend two nights there in early Feb. We would hit the parks all day Thursday and maybe Friday too before heading back to San Diego,

I have been looking over and over again at the hotels that are nearby, etc, trying to go through trip advisor and the reviews as well as look at Hydro's recommendations. I am having a hard time deciding on where to stay. I do have a room booked right now at Paradise Pier but not sure if the cost is worth it. I am not sure when we will ever get back there and I did get a pretty good deal with the 25% off plus Orbitz discount.

I know it will be cheaper to stay someplace else but for some odd reason the first night we are scheduled to be there, the hotel prices are really expensive and/or not available compared to the next night. Ideally I would like to be close to the entrance of the parks but it seems a lot of the hotels that are nearby don't always have the best reviews. I just can't figure out what is true and what is not. I know we will be primarily using it to sleep but I would like it to be a little bit on the nicer side.

If anyone has been there recently and can recommend a place that would be great.
If you are looking for a place right at the cross walk on Harbor, I recommend the Tropicana.
This is the place we stay when not staying on-site.
http://tropicanainn-anaheim.com/
For February it looks like they have availability. Feb 16th looks like the only night not open.
Geemo

info on park
https://www.disboards.com/threads/2018-calendar-of-events-school-breaks-and-dlr.3635162/
 
If you are looking for a place right at the cross walk on Harbor, I recommend the Tropicana.
This is the place we stay when not staying on-site.
http://tropicanainn-anaheim.com/
For February it looks like they have availability. Feb 16th looks like the only night not open.
Geemo


I did look at Tropicana but my dates of feb 7-9 keep coming up as not available ;-(
 
DSC03478-XL.jpg
 
Will you use EMH? If so, I'd keep PP. That's the quietest time in the parks all day, and since this might be your only trip you might really get an advantage out of that extra hour ahead of the crowds. Also, check into MaxPass!
 
Yeah that view is amazing but we only got the standard view so I'm sure we won't be that lucky.
 
I'm curious to know how often people who book Standard rooms get upgraded to ones with view like @blackjackdelta ?!?
The 3 times I've booked a room at PPH in the winter months, for one night mid week, I've been assigned a view room.
When I've booked a standard room my only request has been a floor near the top.
 
This is NO longer the case.
GCH security will only allow people through the front entrance that appear on the reservation list.

You can exit through GCH to PPH just fine.
Where exactly do you cut through to the Grand to get to PPH? I"ve never stayed at or been inside either hotel...do you have a map you could share?
 
Where exactly do you cut through to the Grand to get to PPH? I"ve never stayed at or been inside either hotel...do you have a map you could share?
Here's a view of the area.
The red line is the path you'll follow to go to the parks.
The red circle on the left at Downtown Drive is Disney security you'll pass though.
The blue line is the short-cut going back to PPH through GCH from DTD.
2018-01-12 001.JPG
 
Here's a view of the area.
The red line is the path you'll follow to go to the parks.
The red circle on the left at Downtown Drive is Disney security you'll pass though.
The blue line is the short-cut going back to PPH through GCH from DTD.
View attachment 294116


If that red path is actually how one has to now get to the parks from the Paradise Pier then that is crazy! We will never book there if that is the case! I am sure there must be a LOT of people who are shocked to find out this is now their new route after paying a ridiculous price to stay in that hotel.
 
If that red path is actually how one has to now get to the parks from the Paradise Pier then that is crazy! We will never book there if that is the case! I am sure there must be a LOT of people who are shocked to find out this is now their new route after paying a ridiculous price to stay in that hotel.
It's really not as crazy as it looks. That map makes it look like the walk is forever. For those who've done it's how much longer now? 10 mins at a very leisurely pace? Also, security is much faster at the DtD DLH entrance than at the GCH DtD entrance! Two tables & 1 metal detector from GCH to DtD vs multiple tables and multiple metal detectors for DLH/PP guests to DtD. If they allowed anyone else into GCH security into DtD would be a nightmare for everyone! Things have changed a lot in the last year and a half and you cannot compare being able to cut through GCH as a PP guest in the past to today very accurately with the security changes. I think anyone staying at PP discounts that miserable line at GCH DtD entrance on DL EMH mornings if they've never experienced it.
 
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It's really not as crazy as it looks. That map makes it look like the walk is forever. For those who've done it's how much longer now? 10 mins at a very leisurely pace? Also, security is much faster at the DtD DLH entrance than at the GCH DtD entrance! Two tables & 1 metal detector from GCH to DtD vs multiple tables and multiple metal detectors for DLH/PP guests to DtD. If they allowed anyone else into GCH security into DtD would be a nightmare for everyone!

It really wasn’t that bad of a walk and we didn’t notice it really because we enjoyed the sights of downtown Disney while walking. It’s kind of smart if you ask me. It requires anyone who stays at paradise pier or who goes to the character breakfast there to walk through DTD right past all the stores. We got sucked into face painting and the LEGO store haha.
 
It really wasn’t that bad of a walk and we didn’t notice it really because we enjoyed the sights of downtown Disney while walking. It’s kind of smart if you ask me. It requires anyone who stays at paradise pier or who goes to the character breakfast there to walk through DTD right past all the stores. We got sucked into face painting and the LEGO store haha.
The LEGO store has a magic spell drawing you to it I swear!
 

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