brenda3gfg

We are an experienced "Walt Disney World" family. We know the advantages and disadvantages of staying on and off Disney property in Florida. But we know NO ONE that has been to Disneyland. Should we stay at one of the hotels at Disneyland or go off-property. Saw great reviews for the Howard-Johnsons????Any suggestions? And how many days does it take to see Disneyland parks?

mlgb

Two or three days should do.

Lots of choices on Harbor that are walking distance.

I live here so will let others comment on the hotel, or you can use the search function.

brenda3gfg

What do you mean by "search function"? I am new at this....

swalter518

We too are experienced WDW travellers and went to DL a few years back. We stayed at the Grand Californian Hotel and loved it. Think Wilderness Lodge but less woodsy, more Arts and Crafts period. IMO the Downtown Disney area is better at DL, more "downtowny" with better restaurant selections. The one thing hat you'll be surprised by is how close everything is. You can literally walk out the back of the Grand Californian and be in California Adventure.

I think if you designate a day for each of the two parks, you'll have plenty of time. Maybe a 3rd day to split between the two. California Adventure has been changed quite a bit since we were there. My impression is that they added more stuff. While it was nice, there wasn't a whole lot to do, I think there is alot more now.

My friend stayed at the Disneyland Hotel and liked it but stated it's not so "Disney" and more of a generic hotel.

SEW

In 2004, we stayed at Grand Californian for 3 nights and spent most of the 4 days exploring both Disneyland and Calfornia Adventure. I picked GC because of the location, they have a separate entrance to CA Adventure. I had been to Disneyland many times and we had someone with us who moves a little slower than us. I had originally thought we could spend 1 day each park, but we had park hopper and spent 1 1/2 in CA and 1 1/2 at DL with a half day shopping Downtown Disney.

If you want to equate them to Disney World - Disneyland is like Magic Kingdom and I thought California Adventure was like Hollywood Studios. In Disneyland they have the Matterhorn, and a much better It's A Small World.

You can easily stay within walking distance, but to me it's about the "Disney" that makes it worthwhile to stay at one of their hotels.

Enjoy!

mlgb

You can search here..see the blank box at the upper right just below the orange banner, that says Search the Forums? Below that it says "Advanced Search" in blue. Hover your ouse and click that. Then, on the next screen you can enter the name of the hotel, under search terms eg Howard Johnson Disneyland. Be sure to check the box that says "Search full topic and replies". That should give you threads where the hotel(s) around Disney are discussed.

There are other options there under Forum to narrow it down to California.

MomDDTravel

I have stayed at all 3 DL properties - and had annual passes for years... we just returned from the DL hotel - it was great - it is under construction right now and the pool is impacted so not sure when you are planning on going. I do think it is 100% worth staying at at DL property. I would drive by the Howard J on my way to school and it looks like a decent enough property and is within walking distance as are MANY choices.

You can go in early on certain days if you stay at a DL property.

You do not say the ages of your children - the California Grand is a LOVELY hotel - we stayed there for my 40th birthday and I loved it. They have a wonderful spa as well. I like the character breakfast best at DL hotel - Goofy's kitchen. I have been to Chip and Dales, Goofy's kitchen and the one over at Paradise Pier (I cannot recall the name) - depends on your children's ages again if you want to do that.

California Adventure has a back entrance through California Grand - also the Toy Story line is FOREVER so you want to be at the park when it opens and DO that first! They are under construction as well.
Soarin' over California is wonderful, California Screamin, Hollywood Tower of Terror and the Aladin show are all wonderful at California Adventure.

Cali

If you want one night at a very nice restaurant, I highly recommend Napa Rose in The Grand Californian. Love that hotel too - have not stayed at the others.

Disneyfan1234

I have been to Disneyworld 2 times and to Disneyland dozens of times. One thing I think you will like about Disneyland is that you can easily stay in a non-disney hotel, in fact the Howard Johnson is closer to the parks that the Disneyland Hotel is. I have stayed at the Howard Johnson before and it is pretty nice and just across the street from the park. It has a really nice pool with a kids play area that has water that squirts up from the ground, if this is not your kind of pool experience they also have another pool in another area of the hotel that is more traditional.
From what I can tell most people who grew up with Disneyland like California better and those who grew up with Disney World like the Florida one better. Several rides are better at Disneyland, Pirates of the Carribean, Small World, Grizzly River Run (much better than Kali River Rapids) Some rides are better in Florida, Splash mountain, Peter Pan. One of the reasons I like California's better is that there are more E ticket rides in each park. But because the parks are so close to each other it is very practical to go back and forth between the parks multiple times each day. I spent 7 days at Disneyworld over Christmas and I could have easily spent more time there, at California 3 or 4 days is plenty to see everything.
A tip if you do go on Grizzly River Run when you get off the ride go through the side exit into the Grand California Hotel, they have a great outdoor fire place which is a really nice place to dry out.

I hope you have a wonderful trip

brenda3gfg

Thanks so much for all the help!

Clark_Vandeventer

Take at least 2 days. 3 if you can. We've stayed at Hotel Menage and wrote a review at FamilyTrek.org which you can read here: http://bit.ly/muRNBL

We actually have several posts on our blog about Disneyland but check out our tips that are unique for families. http://bit.ly/m83vM9

The thing we really took from our last trip was how much our kids loved California Adventure. If you have young children, California Adventure may have even more to offer than Disneyland.