Going to Disneyland in June - 2 adults & 2 teens. Should we pay extra to stay at one of the Disney hotels in the park? Are we missing out by not experiencing a Disney hotel? Last time we went to DisneyWorld in Orlando, we saved a lot of money by staying at La Quinta and driving to the park each day. Disadvantage was the parking and extra walk to the car with 2 tired kids. Advantages were the free breakfast in the morning and having the rental car to drive to offsite restaurants.

I wouldn't mind staying in a non-Disney hotel if the walk to the park was short. I am having a hard time figuring out how close the hotels actually are to the park. Definitions of "walking distance" seem to vary. Just what does "across the street" actually mean? Any suggestions of hotels that are actually close?

We meet up with our friends who stay off property at the Ramada a block away and they have or had a free shuttle to the park and it was solid 3 star and less than $100 a night vs. $250-$350 a night at the Disney Hotel..
I would personally save the money but stay in a nice hotel with a free shuttle..check expedia.com
Spend it at Napa Rose at the Grand Californian and Catal restaurant is pretty good too.

The closest parks are on Harbor across from the Esplanade. You can use Park Vue Inn/IHOP on Harbor as ground zero (the closest).

There are many hotels within walking distance,ten minutes or less.
I would love to stay at The Grand Californian,but it's so damned expensive.

For Disneyland, we always stay at one of the inexpensive places on Harbor Blvd, right across the entrance as mlgb noted. The closest hotels/motels are literally a 5 minute walk across the street to the entrance of either park.

We stayed at Howard Johnson's once, which is pretty popular with many people at the disboards.com forum, but I found the walk to be a little too long after being in the park all day.

I don't really care about having the theming and other little touches that you'll get at a Disney hotel - I'm just concerned about price and proximity to the park, so the ones right across the street do well for me.

We've stayed at one of the two Best Westerns across from the DL entrance. Comfortable, clean, free breakfast. In case you don't want to do the walk through the parking lot, (it is big!)there is shuttle stop there for the bus that takes you to the actual DL entrance gates.

Candy Cane Inn is an easy walk to Disney or they also have a shuttle, whatever you prefer. The Disney hotels are just so expensive, I question how it could be worth it. Obviously all the people in all the other motels are also going to Disney so the "vibe" is still there.