What would make the resort hotels “worth it”?

[Shinrai]

I’ve seen a lot of comments about the reduced experience at the resort hotels (no house keeping, no Extra Magic Hour, etc.). We’re staying onsite for the first time in June, and the “newness” of the experience makes it worthwhile for us, but I have to admit that if this wasn’t a new experience for us I’d probably feel the same as many of you and stay at a cheaper hotel near by.

The one major “perk” right now seems to be the apparently bottomless hotel bucket for park reservations. To me, if Disney were smart, they would be more open about this “hotel perk”, and advertise that hotel guests have open access to the parks. They could even do one better, and allow park hopping all day for hotel guests with park hopper tickets. No need to increase staff for housekeeping or Extra Magic Hour, just utilize and maximize a system that seems to already be in place.

 

[smartlabelprint]

It would take EMH for me to even consider staying there.

 

[CodeGoddess]

What do you mean by bottomless hotel bucket? As in if you are at the hotel you are assured a park reservation on those dates?

 

[Shinrai]

What do you mean by bottomless hotel bucket? As in if you are at the hotel you are assured a park reservation on those dates?

The impression I have gotten from our experience with it and from many comments is that the hotel bucket doesn’t fill up very often. For me, if Disney extended it so that hotel guests didn’t have to make reservations at all and could park hop at any time, that would make staying onsite super attractive.

 

[bwvBound]

The one major “perk” right now seems to be the apparently bottomless hotel bucket for park reservations.

This is exactly the 'perk' I was going to mention! We've been using Disney Resort Hotel reservations to snag those hard-to-get-Theme-Park-reservations such as Re-Opening Day, Candlelight Processional, Superbowl Cavalcade, MSEP/WOC return, F! return, etc. I can't believe how fortunate we've been snagging the Grand Cal through DVC and how I've used nearly every "hotel" stay to pull a scarce Theme Park reservation from the hotel bucket. Phew!!

They could even do one better, and allow park hopping all day for hotel guests with park hopper tickets. No need to increase staff for housekeeping or Extra Magic Hour, just utilize and maximize a system that seems to already be in place.

GREAT IDEA! I love it!

 

[katyringo]

The price is really out of range for us.. however if they brought back early entry I might consider a stay a paradise pier or a split stay with the Disneyland hotel.

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

They don’t need to add any perks. The hotels are full.

 

[Shinrai]

They don’t need to add any perks. The hotels are full.

All three have some availability next week.

And, the trip we have planned for June is basically the same trip we had planned for March 2020, including hotel stays. Eventually, people will move on from making up lost trips, and Disney might need more than discounts to sell hotel reservations.

 

[Mike_M]

Considering that resort hotels can be up to 4x more expensive (or more) than off site hotels, they would have to really tie the hotels into the park experience even more for me to give them any consideration. By that I mean, something more in line with the original WestCot idea where the hotels were actually inside the park, not just adjacent to them.

To me, all of the value of the trip is inside the berm. A hotel for me is just a place to sleep; so all I’m paying for there is comfort and security. Any amenities that the hotel offers would require me to leave the park to experience, and thats not the point of the trip for me. The backside of my eyelids look exactly the same in DLH as it does in Tropicana or Kings Inn. Lol

 

[smallbutmighty]

We chose to stay onsite bc we won’t be visiting DisneyLand again for the near foreseeable future (we are WDW regulars) and since it’s a once in a long time trip, might as well have the “whole experience”

Other perks for us (at DLH)
- cute Disney touches throughout
- walking distance can’t stress this enough
- cute water park; small, yes, but good enough for our little guy

So yeah, those are our personal reasons we picked it

 

[jknc]

First trip to DLR in June.

At first I considered split @ Tropicana and DLH, but then reconsidered since I don’t see us going back in near future.

I’m content with DLH for our stay. Sure EMH would be cool, but it doesn’t exist so I’m not gonna worry about it.

Lol, maybe I’m a snob but I don’t care if I ever see or smell Harbor Boulevard.

 

[tink89]

For us the main perk was EMH. But now that it is gone I said I would not stay there until they brought it back. I then went ahead and book a split stay at DLH. What made it worth it was just the convenience for us of being right there and DD loves it and the pool.

 

[Tarheel girl 1975]

Bringing EMH back would be a good start. We would not be staying onsite for our next trip if we didn't have DVC. It's too hard to justify the room prices right now.

 

[cari12]

At this point, they’ve priced us out. With a 25% discount it is still $485 USD per night for our dates. We are from Canada so the exchange makes that over $600 for us. The EMH was the best perk which is not offered right now do prices have gone up but value has gone down.

 

[DizMe]

The fact that they're Disney resort hotels, as in within the Disney resort bubble, and they are actual hotels with lobbies and amenities.

 

[Pluto468]

We've stayed at Disneyland Hotel and we did really like the EMH, but that wasn't the main reason we stayed there. It was mostly to experience the resort, pools, restaurants and to be in the Disney bubble. We also loved using the monorail. We stayed there when Galaxy's edge opened because it was the only way we could get in to see it. I thought it would be a one-time thing, but after staying once I'm sure we'll go back. I want to try club level.

We're trying Grand Californian next time to be extra close to the parks. GC seems to have even more of a resort feel than DLH.

I'm hoping at some point EMH will come back.

 

[bwvBound]

A leg-up on dining reservations might be a nice 'on-site hotel perk,' too? Honestly, I'd like to walk up the concierge desk, have a brief discussion and walk away with a dining reservation within my "top 3 choices." I know, that is asking a lot. I know.

 

[Chickinvic]

Lol, maybe I’m a snob but I don’t care if I ever see or smell Harbor Boulevard.

Smell? Lol

I've stayed on Harbor Blvd many times and can't say I know what you are talking about.

 

[jknc]

lol, the smell comment about Harbor was in jest.

If we ever go back, we’ll be staying on Harbor for sure.

 

[AndrewC]

The price is killer for sure, but for me the key selling point is the integration with Disney, the bubble. I like the actual grounds and properties, they’re very nice. I like that the walk is fully secure and in the bubble. I can return late at night and not worry about passing by homeless or anything. Parking is secure, the front desk staff have always been pretty good. Transferring hotels is pretty easy. The whole package is pretty good and it sure is nice stumbling (from being worn out, not drinking too much) from Trader Sam’s up to my DLH room at midnight or later after being in the parks since 9am or something….

The hotel park bucket is obviously a very nice back up option to have, but I would like a few extra perks. Being able to book dining reservations a week before others would be amazing, but would require Disney to actually get a good dining system in place and actually load reservation slots on time. I would also love if you could purchase lightning lane and genie plus stuff before others and for the whole duration of your stay. Finally, it would be nice to park hop whenever I want again like the good old days…

I’ll likely continue to stay though.

While I like exclusive park access, I’ve never been able to drag myself out of bed early enough to make use of it…. It’s just too hard when I close out the parks the day before or did a Halloween event until 1am…. Usually getting into the parks around 9am is the best I can do, lol.