disneyland
 

Could anyone tell me what the advantage of staying at one of the Disney properties is, as they are alot more expesive? Thankyou Jim

Briefly

1. they're closest to the Park (The real benefit is going back to your room for a siesta during the day...great for little kids/tired parents
2. They usually let you into the Park an hour or so earlier than 'outsiders' (this may only be on certain days but can give you an advantage on busy rides)
3.Character meals at the hotel restaurant. Having breakfast with Mickey and Minnie is fun to start the day.
4.Hotel decor often has a Disney theme (some many consider this an advantage!?)

Disneyland is not Disneyworld - much more compact area. Right across the street and nearby are many more reasonable hotels. We stayed right across the street and could walk back whenever we felt like it. You can also book character meals at the Disneyland hotels without staying there. Although we had always stayed "on property" at Disneyworld, we did not regret staying "off" here. IMHO, use the money you save on the hotel for meals -especially a character meal which is wonderfully fun!

I agree with previous poster...
we stayed at the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim and off-site at the Sheraton near Disneyworld.

Most hotels near Disneyworld offer free shuttles to and from the Park or other discounts and the advantage of being off-site is that you're not completely immersed in Disney.

Overall it depends on the kind of experience you want and for some staying on site is worth the extra money.

We always stay on-site regardless of which Disney "park" we visit to include Florida, Californai, and Paris.

Yes, the on-site hotels sometimes are "more expensive" although some of the budget accommodations at DisneyWORLD seem comparable to those in the nearby community.

I said that overall the on-site hotels are "more expensive" UNTIL you consider the following:

Time: you can be at any of the parks (in the case of Florida) much faster than you'll ever get there by driving in from nearby accommodations, and you get to use the Disney transportation system to get from park to park; no parking or shuttle hassles.

In all three locations another advantage of staying on-site is that if you or the kids get worn out in the middle of the day it is a LOT easier to get back to the room for a nap, chill out, etc., if you are staying on-site.

The quality of the accommodations: you can talk all you want about how great off-site accommodations are but none of them that I have ever heard of or experienced first-hand can match the service in the hotels that on-site Disney accommodations provide, period. Just my opinion but based on my first-hand experience.

So what comprises "more expensive" to you? Time, and service rendered, are money in my book but we're all different and value different things.

we've stayed many times at the Grand Californian, and we love it. yes, it's expensive, but we're so happy there (after 4 times!) we couldn't imagine leaving.

that said, it's a beautiful hotel, large guest rooms (be forewarned, the "downtown disney view" rooms are a LONG walk from the lobby. we got "standard" once and had a lovely view of the pool and CA Adventure. you save some money just by getting the basic room - they're all lovely.

they've never been doing the early opening thing when we've been there, but there is a "private" entrance into CA Adventure from the hotel which is nice. and did i mention the hot tubs?

we have time to get up, have a yummy room service breakfast, and stroll to the park by opening time. that may be early for some, but downtown disney is lovely and clean and quiet. as is disneyland for while anyway.

all in all, it's very relaxing.

just my experience . . .