Disney Explorers Lodge or Disneyland Hotel?

holo

Earning My Ears
Joined
Sep 20, 2017
Hey everyone! I'm going to Hong Kong Disneyland in November and was wondering if those that have been, have an opinion between the Explorers Lodge and the Disneyland Hotel. I've stayed at the Grand Californian before, which I think is similar to Explorers, but never the Grand Floridian. I'm wondering if the Disneyland Hotel will feel a bit dated compared the Explorers. Let me know what you guys think!
 
The Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel isn't really like the Grand Floridian although it is the same in theme and overall external appearance. The Hong Kong Disneyland hotel is more luxurious and rooms more appealing than the Grand. It also has a Disney essence that the Grand Floridian doesn't particularly have.

Explorer's Lodge is more reminiscent of Animal Kingdom Lodge than the Grand Californian.

Personally I think the Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel is one of Disney's finest hotels (alongside the Tokyo and Shanghai Disneyland Hotels) and as a result I would stay there. In fact I've just booked a 5 night stay there early next year.
 
I haven't stayed at the Explorer (mainly because it didn't exist when I went :rotfl2:), but my family did spend Christmas 2013 at the Disneyland Hotel. It was great! It was all beautifully decked out for Christmas, so I don't know what it's like normally, but our ocean view room was lovely and very spacious for our family of four. The staff were also extremely nice. I would definitely stay there again. I have been in the lobby of the Floridian at WDW, and would say they were on par (though HKD hotel was smaller). The Disneyland hotel has a fantastic maze in the grounds, and was an easy walk to the parks.

We're returning to HKD in January and will be staying at the Hollywood Hotel as there weren't any rooms available at the Disneyland Hotel for every night of our stay. I considered the Explorer Lodge as well, but it didn't really appeal. It just didn't seem "Disneyish" enough for me (ditto why the Grand Californian and Wilderness Lodge have never appealed). We had a quick look around the Hollywood Hotel on our last visit and thought it looked very appealing, so I'm looking forward to staying.
 


Explorers Lodge looks beyond beautiful!

The Disneyland Hotel does give me the Grand Floridian vibe.

I say go with Explorers Lodge, plus theres a lot of promotions going on for it right now. Probably because its a new hotel!
 
Explorers Lodge looks beyond beautiful!

The Disneyland Hotel does give me the Grand Floridian vibe.

I say go with Explorers Lodge, plus theres a lot of promotions going on for it right now. Probably because its a new hotel!

Also just wanted to add, if you want something totally different, the Hollywood Hotel looks like a hotel you cant get at any other Disney park, looks unique to Hong Kong.
 
I vote for Explorer Lodge. You can resort hop now (not allowed before). Since Explorer is in between DLH and Hollywood hotel, you can simply walk to each one and enjoy all they have to offer.
 


I was torn - and may yet change - but just found a price I was happy with at explorers for a sea view room on an external website, for our 2 night stay in February 2019. I'll check the official site nearer the time and might cancel this booking (hurrah for free cancellation) if we can get Disneyland Hotel at the same price. I think I'd happily stay at both, but I'm staying at Disneyland Hotel in Disneyland Paris this November so it might be nice to have something totally different in HK.
 
I was torn - and may yet change - but just found a price I was happy with at explorers for a sea view room on an external website, for our 2 night stay in February 2019. I'll check the official site nearer the time and might cancel this booking (hurrah for free cancellation) if we can get Disneyland Hotel at the same price. I think I'd happily stay at both, but I'm staying at Disneyland Hotel in Disneyland Paris this November so it might be nice to have something totally different in HK.
What’s the discount? HKDL offers 20% off when booking more than 45 days in advance if you book a minimum of 2 nights.
 
I got 2 nights for 2 adults in a sea view room at Explorers for £400 GBP which is roughly what I wanted to pay - but as I say, I'll keep an eye out when HKDL releases its own offers for Feb 2019 and will change if I can get a better deal that way! The site I've booked with offers free cancellation.
 
I got 2 nights for 2 adults in a sea view room at Explorers for £400 GBP which is roughly what I wanted to pay - but as I say, I'll keep an eye out when HKDL releases its own offers for Feb 2019 and will change if I can get a better deal that way! The site I've booked with offers free cancellation.

hows the planning going?
 
I think Explorer's Lodge is one of the best Disney hotel in Asia.

Explorer's Lodge's theming is amazing and being a new hotel, it has this new hotel smell (which I love!) and also there's little details that you don't get elsewhere. Even my brother who is anti-Disney loves his stay so much, he keeps on talking about staying at Explorer's Lodge again just to relax. And the elevator is worth taking over and over again!!! :Pinkbounc

I think Disneyland Hotel is overrated. I stayed in the Club level and the CL room even feels outdated. The Club Lounge is small. Food keeps on running out. It's just not worth it. I actually preferred to be back at Explorer's Lodge by that time.

Also, staying at any of the Disney resorts mean you can take advantage of the other resort's activities. So you can resort hop actually and use other pools and amenities.

My suggestion is for you to stay at the Explorer's Lodge then hop on to the other resorts if there's anything you would like to do there. I would definitely do that the next time I go to Hongkong.
 

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