aliceindisneyland
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jul 6, 2008
I'll just hit the highlights/strategies that may help others with planning, though as summer winds down the strategy parts will change.
Disneyland Hotel
We stayed 4 nights at the Disneyland Hotel 8/15-8/19. Paid $260/night with AP discount. I originally booked 3 nights through the AP calendar. Only 2 of the nights showed AP rates available but we did get the AP rate for all 3 nights. I assume this is because the calendar rates were only 10% off for our stay. Decided to add a 4th day; called 2 nights before our trip and got it, same rate, no room-moving, no problem.
Booked a standard room. Checked in around 10am; was told our pool view room would be available after 3pm and that I would get a text when the room was ready or possibly a call earlier if a different room became available. Got a call around noon that we could check into a different room one floor below; great!
Room 2270 is Frontier Tower [farthest tower from DL] 4th floor. Looking at the Frontier Tower, it is 3 windows from the left. We enjoyed a great view from our "non-view" room of the pool and waterfall/geyser (non-obscured), and could see the fireworks (non-obscured though far away, looking to the right side out the window.)
We stayed at DL Hotel in 2010 and love (and prefer) the new room design! The lighted musical headboard was a hit with the kids, and there are many more Disney touches than I had expected -- even subtle Mickey heads in the shower tiles. 2270 has a sleeper sofa and is very spacious -- lots of room to walk around, which may be due to sleeper sofa clearance.
Housekeeping was top notch; requested extra coffee packs (single serve coffee maker can make 2 cups at a time) and extra towels/washcloths each day and the housekeeper left more than we requested. We were too rushed to straighten up each morning, so we'd just hang DND sign, then take it off when we headed to the pool in the afternoon. Housekeeping was completed each time we returned from the pool. I caught the housekeeper working once when I ran up to the room; she very nicely requested my key and made sure it worked for the room -- love that security!
My only issue is that DL Hotel no longer offers turndown service for Standard rooms, which to me is one of the few perks of staying on site. I didn't know turndown had been discontinued so after the 1st night I called the front desk and was told that they do turndown service "at random" now. OK, I'd like to be one of the "random" recipients! The operator told me she would schedule our room for turndown. No show that night. Called Housekeeping the next day and again requested turndown. Housekeeping stated that they discontinued turndown after What Will You Celebrate? year and now it is only offered to concierge level rooms and suites. She said they are happy to do turndown by request, but again, no show. So I called again the next day, was given the same info but was asked what time I'd like them to come. Again, no show. Went to the lobby to pay my bill around 9pm and asked the clerk what the deal is with turndown now as I had been told I could get it 3 times but no one ever came. I told her that if they had just said turndown wasn't available for my room type I would have been fine, but I was told they would come, got the kids excited about how the housekeepers set up their stuffed animals and leave them chocolate coins, and no one showed. The clerk (Malia) was so nice, and before I made it back to the room, she had sent up a housekeeper with a little bag of the chocolate coins. So if you stay Standard, buy a bag of coins (only $3) and run back to the room to DIY turndown to make the kids' day!
Bell service was great. Bags were delivered to our room within 5 minutes of our arrival, and bags were picked up within 10 minutes of my call at 6:45am, which allowed me to catch up with DH and kids for EMH in DCA. I expected a longer wait for morning pickup since so many guests were checking out on Sunday.
DL Hotel Pool
We swam at the pool each day for several hours, plus all day on Saturday (APs blocked). The new pools are amazing -- it was hard to get the kids out to go back to DL!
The pool area is huge now. If my kids weren't strong swimmers and as old as they are (nearly 6 and 8.5) I would have had a very stressful time trying to keep up with them. There are plenty of lifeguards, but no lifeguard at either hot tub, and lifeguards are no substitute for watching your kids! [If your kids are little, a better choice may be the Grand Californian as you can see everything from one spot!]
As it was, DH and I were able to have a great time switching off to keep track of the kids as they went back and forth between the slides, pools, and hot tubs.
Life jackets are allowed on the slides, which is great for little ones who want to do the big slide.
There is no pool side bar, but there are cocktail servers. We found it was much quicker to go out the gate to Trader Sam's to get drinks. The drink prices are very reasonable -- we paid $8.50 for mixed drinks (including one of the specialty drinks Piranha Pool) and $6 for tap beer. I took DS into the bar to see the tiki tap handles -- they have light up eyes and play drums when the bartender pulls a beer. All you need to take to the pool is your room key and ID.
There are tons of lounge chairs, but tons of guests too; we got chairs more easily around 1pm than around 3pm when the pool got busier. Many lounge chairs are shaded with umbrellas. As far as I could see, cabana rental would only be useful if you had a baby who required shade and you were committed to staying at the pool all day. All foot traffic goes in front of the cabanas; traffic is lighter on the lobby side than on the entrance/slide side.
The pool closes at 10pm, but the slides close at 8pm. Shortly after 8pm we noticed there weren't any lifeguards. They apparently do not staff lifeguards from 8pm-10pm which was not posted or announced. You can't see the entire large pool from the Mickey spa, so unless you can get your smaller kids to stay in the small pool or in the visible area of the large pool, you'll have to leave the hot tub to sit pool side after 8pm.
Bottom line: Great stay but it's an expensive swim! The hotel is beautiful and fun, but for our family, the premium price to stay on site is only worth it in summer when it's certain to be hot enough to use the pool.
Disneyland Hotel
We stayed 4 nights at the Disneyland Hotel 8/15-8/19. Paid $260/night with AP discount. I originally booked 3 nights through the AP calendar. Only 2 of the nights showed AP rates available but we did get the AP rate for all 3 nights. I assume this is because the calendar rates were only 10% off for our stay. Decided to add a 4th day; called 2 nights before our trip and got it, same rate, no room-moving, no problem.
Booked a standard room. Checked in around 10am; was told our pool view room would be available after 3pm and that I would get a text when the room was ready or possibly a call earlier if a different room became available. Got a call around noon that we could check into a different room one floor below; great!
Room 2270 is Frontier Tower [farthest tower from DL] 4th floor. Looking at the Frontier Tower, it is 3 windows from the left. We enjoyed a great view from our "non-view" room of the pool and waterfall/geyser (non-obscured), and could see the fireworks (non-obscured though far away, looking to the right side out the window.)
We stayed at DL Hotel in 2010 and love (and prefer) the new room design! The lighted musical headboard was a hit with the kids, and there are many more Disney touches than I had expected -- even subtle Mickey heads in the shower tiles. 2270 has a sleeper sofa and is very spacious -- lots of room to walk around, which may be due to sleeper sofa clearance.
Housekeeping was top notch; requested extra coffee packs (single serve coffee maker can make 2 cups at a time) and extra towels/washcloths each day and the housekeeper left more than we requested. We were too rushed to straighten up each morning, so we'd just hang DND sign, then take it off when we headed to the pool in the afternoon. Housekeeping was completed each time we returned from the pool. I caught the housekeeper working once when I ran up to the room; she very nicely requested my key and made sure it worked for the room -- love that security!
My only issue is that DL Hotel no longer offers turndown service for Standard rooms, which to me is one of the few perks of staying on site. I didn't know turndown had been discontinued so after the 1st night I called the front desk and was told that they do turndown service "at random" now. OK, I'd like to be one of the "random" recipients! The operator told me she would schedule our room for turndown. No show that night. Called Housekeeping the next day and again requested turndown. Housekeeping stated that they discontinued turndown after What Will You Celebrate? year and now it is only offered to concierge level rooms and suites. She said they are happy to do turndown by request, but again, no show. So I called again the next day, was given the same info but was asked what time I'd like them to come. Again, no show. Went to the lobby to pay my bill around 9pm and asked the clerk what the deal is with turndown now as I had been told I could get it 3 times but no one ever came. I told her that if they had just said turndown wasn't available for my room type I would have been fine, but I was told they would come, got the kids excited about how the housekeepers set up their stuffed animals and leave them chocolate coins, and no one showed. The clerk (Malia) was so nice, and before I made it back to the room, she had sent up a housekeeper with a little bag of the chocolate coins. So if you stay Standard, buy a bag of coins (only $3) and run back to the room to DIY turndown to make the kids' day!
Bell service was great. Bags were delivered to our room within 5 minutes of our arrival, and bags were picked up within 10 minutes of my call at 6:45am, which allowed me to catch up with DH and kids for EMH in DCA. I expected a longer wait for morning pickup since so many guests were checking out on Sunday.
DL Hotel Pool
We swam at the pool each day for several hours, plus all day on Saturday (APs blocked). The new pools are amazing -- it was hard to get the kids out to go back to DL!
The pool area is huge now. If my kids weren't strong swimmers and as old as they are (nearly 6 and 8.5) I would have had a very stressful time trying to keep up with them. There are plenty of lifeguards, but no lifeguard at either hot tub, and lifeguards are no substitute for watching your kids! [If your kids are little, a better choice may be the Grand Californian as you can see everything from one spot!]
As it was, DH and I were able to have a great time switching off to keep track of the kids as they went back and forth between the slides, pools, and hot tubs.
Life jackets are allowed on the slides, which is great for little ones who want to do the big slide.
There is no pool side bar, but there are cocktail servers. We found it was much quicker to go out the gate to Trader Sam's to get drinks. The drink prices are very reasonable -- we paid $8.50 for mixed drinks (including one of the specialty drinks Piranha Pool) and $6 for tap beer. I took DS into the bar to see the tiki tap handles -- they have light up eyes and play drums when the bartender pulls a beer. All you need to take to the pool is your room key and ID.
There are tons of lounge chairs, but tons of guests too; we got chairs more easily around 1pm than around 3pm when the pool got busier. Many lounge chairs are shaded with umbrellas. As far as I could see, cabana rental would only be useful if you had a baby who required shade and you were committed to staying at the pool all day. All foot traffic goes in front of the cabanas; traffic is lighter on the lobby side than on the entrance/slide side.
The pool closes at 10pm, but the slides close at 8pm. Shortly after 8pm we noticed there weren't any lifeguards. They apparently do not staff lifeguards from 8pm-10pm which was not posted or announced. You can't see the entire large pool from the Mickey spa, so unless you can get your smaller kids to stay in the small pool or in the visible area of the large pool, you'll have to leave the hot tub to sit pool side after 8pm.
Bottom line: Great stay but it's an expensive swim! The hotel is beautiful and fun, but for our family, the premium price to stay on site is only worth it in summer when it's certain to be hot enough to use the pool.
