My entire life I have wanted to stay at a Disneyland Resort hotel. I mean how great would it be to stay on site and constantly be surrounded by the magic of Disney? But let’s be honest, Disney hotels are super pricey and for a long time I couldn’t justify spending that amount of money to stay somewhere that I would only be sleeping at. But, several years ago my entire family went to Disney and we decided to splurge and stay at the Disneyland Hotel. We had little kids so we wanted somewhere close in case we needed to take them back for naps in the room and it just seemed like the most convenient option for us. So, we booked our trip and for months I couldn’t contain my excitement about staying at the OG Disneyland Hotel.
Staying here really was a great experience, so I’ll tell you what met my expectations, what exceeded my expectations, and what left me wanting a little bit so you know what you can expect from your stay at the Disneyland Hotel! NOTE: My stay at the Disneyland Hotel was prior to the recent refurbishment it underwent, so the rooms may be slightly more updated than when I stayed, and there is now a new tower with brand new villas that opened in 2023.
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HOTEL OVERVIEW
The Disneyland Hotel is the original Disney hotel so staying there feels like taking a step back in history. Located right across the street from Downtown Disney, the Disneyland hotel has prime access to the parks. Of the three Disneyland Resort hotels, this one comes in the middle of the prices ranges below the Grand Californian and above the Pixar Place hotel.
Now the Disneyland Hotel has four towers: Fantasy, Frontier, Adventure, and the brand new Villas tower. When you go to check in, head to the Fantasy Tower because that’s where the main lobby and all the major things are. When you first walk into the Fantasy Tower of the Disneyland Hotel the first thing you see is usually some type of display or graphic on the wall. We went during the holidays so there was a cute “it’s a small world holiday” display and you’ll notice holiday decor all around the hotel in the pictures I took which I really liked.
The main lobby area is very nice and open. There are tons of couches and chairs, a cute vintage TV with a kids area, and of course these iconic teacup chairs! Be sure to snap a picture in one of them when you check in!
The Fantasy Tower also has it’s own store. It’s kind of like World of Disney but smaller. It has clothes, toys, ears, luggage, and more! It was so convenient to be able to shop in the hotel instead of having to brave the crowds at Downtown Disney.
They also have a smaller shop called “Small World Gifts & Sundries” that is also located in the Fantasy Tower. This little shop that has treats like chips, ice cream, and more. We stopped in there every night to get milk for our daughters bottles which was so convenient. They also have a few souvenirs that you can pick up before you head to the parks or if you want to grab something before you check out after your stay.
When you stay at the Disneyland Hotel you will be put in one of the three towers. I would recommend requesting to stay in the Adventure Tower and getting a premium resort/pool view room. It is more expensive but that means you will either look down on the beautiful pool area or you will have a view of Downtown Disney and may be able to see the fireworks from your room. We were hoping for a Downtown Disney view but we got a pool view room but it was still beautiful!
Everything in each tower is themed to the land it is themed after, so in the Adventureland tower they had murals, artifact display cases, and because we were there during the holidays they had two trees decorated like Jungle Cruise and Indiana Jones which I was obsessed with.
In each tower they also have subtle details to add to the magic like the pixie dust in the elevators and on the carpets. The structure of the hotel is obviously much older than many of the hotels in the area but over the years they have renovated the hotel to keep it as updated and fresh as they can.
Honestly, the main areas of the hotel are really nice but when you get to the upper floors you can tell it feels more dated and closed in because of how it was originally built. Even though it feels dated, it is still very clean and you can tell they do their best to keep everything looking as nice as they can.
THE GROUNDS AND POOL AREA
When we got to the hotel I was so impressed with the main areas but then we walked outside and wow. I was blown away. The grounds of the hotel are seriously the best part of staying here. When you walk up to the hotel to check in they have beautiful bronze statues of Mickey and Minnie out front similar to the ones you’d see in front of the castle in the parks.
They also have several couches and chairs out front so if you have to wait to check in or are waiting to be picked up, you can relax out front and just take in the beautiful area.
Outside the hotel there is an area that has a nice grassy area and this gorgeous white pavilion that they use for Disney weddings at the Disneyland Hotel. This is a great place for kids to run around because it’s quiet and open and if you have kids, you know how much you need places for them to get their wiggles out. You can find this outside of the Adventure Tower on the Adventure Lawn.
Even though the grounds are beautiful, the absolute best part of staying at the Disneyland Hotel is the pool area. It’s right in the middle of the four towers and seriously you feel like you are in a tropical paradise walking around there. Everything is so well planned and it is beautiful! The view from our pool view room was amazing to wake up to everyday.
They have the main pool area that has two pools and a few hot tubs. They also have pool side cabanas that you can relax in if you don’t feel like swimming that have wifi, TV’s, and more. But the most iconic part of the pool area are the Monorail waterslides. We didn’t go on them because we went night swimming so they weren’t open but they’re great for kids of all ages as long as they can go down by themselves. The pool was very clean and a nice temperature so we felt comfortable even though it was later in the evening when we swam which I really appreciated.
There are other great relaxing things to do around the pool area. They have various restaurants you can dine at around the pool like Tangaroa Terrace and Trader Sam’s and they have a huge outdoor fireplace with couches around it that you could relax by after a long day at the parks. They also have Goofy’s Kitchen on property which is a great option for character meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
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THE ROOMS
The rooms of the hotel are good, but they are not as luxurious as many of the newer hotels, because you have to keep in mind this park is as old as Disneyland is. If you’re looking for more luxurious rooms, you will want to book a stay in the new Villas tower which is much more modern and luxurious. As far as room size goes, we had five adults and one baby in our room and it was a little crammed. It wasn’t horrible or unmanageable, we fit just fine but it does feel a little tight in there with that many people so if you have a larger family, you may want to get two rooms.
While the rooms may not be as nice as newer hotels in the area, they do have tons of Disney touches that I really loved. At the time of our visit, the carpet had cute hidden Mickey’s in them but the rooms have since been recarpeted to look like fireworks which I actually like better than the old carpet.
Our room had two queen beds, a couch that doubled as a sofa bed, a sitting chair, a desk, and a dresser that had three drawers, a coffee maker, and a mini fridge as well as a TV mounted into it.
We also asked the front desk for a crib for my daughter that was way better than a pack n’ play. They just delivered it to our room while we were out and about and we came back to a crib that was super easy to set up and they had clean sheets and stuff all ready to put on it which was super nice. I was able to put the crib between the bed and the window and still had plenty of space to walk around the crib on both sides which was really great. You can see there was plenty of room for the crib and the pull out couch to be used on the far end of the room.
The beds were actually really comfortable and had super cute pillows on them that I totally wanted to steal and take home with me. And just a note, I took the pictures of the bed after someone had laid on it. I promise the rooms were well cleaned before we arrived!
The absolute best part of the room though is the headboard above the beds. It is etched with a beautiful picture of Sleeping Beauty’s Castle. The detail of these amazing headboards is amazing! But that’s not even the best part.
If you flip the switch on the lamp that has Tinkerbell by it, it plays “A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes” and fireworks light up the backboard. It’s probably the coolest feature I’ve ever seen in a hotel. I want one for my house now!
The decor in the room was pretty minimal but they were beautiful vintage pictures of Walt in Disneyland that just added to the history of the hotel. I loved seeing all the beautiful pictures and artwork they had so if you’re a fan of Disney and Disney history, you will love it! The photo that hung in our room is my absolute favorite photo of Walt.
Now the bathroom was actually better than the room itself in my opinion. It had a double sink so there was plenty of room for people to get ready and lots of counter space. They also had one of those makeup mirrors you can pull out and move around which is super helpful when you’re getting ready. If you have multiple people staying in the room, I’d request more towels because they only left like 3 or 4 each time they cleaned. Again, the decor was really simple but so Disney. The Mickey glove lights are the cutest and I loved all the hidden Mickey’s in sink and bathtub.
I loved that this hotel has a shower/tub combo because my daughter prefers baths over showers so if you have little kids, this is a huge plus! I did notice that the tub was really slippery so just be careful when you shower! And be on the look for the Mickey’s hidden in the tile work.
The toilet is in it’s own small room which is the best because then people can still get ready in the bathroom even if someone needs to use the toilet. There was a nice picture in there themed to the tower we were staying in. I’d love to see if other rooms had different Adventureland pictures in their bathrooms.
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Amenities
Now that you’ve heard my opinion about the rooms, I have to tell you that I would honestly recommend you stay at a Disney hotel. Not just for the rooms, but for everything you get from it! There are amazing benefits to staying Disney hotel so I’ll start with the service you get here. They have amazing customer service here and bellhops that will take your luggage to your room for you which was great for us. We arrived before our check in time so we just took our luggage to the bell hop station in front of the hotel and they held our luggage for us so we could explore the grounds and stuff without sitting around waiting for our room to be ready. We came back to our bags already in our room and ready for us.
The staff is also so friendly. The second we walked in this sweet cast member came up to my daughter, kneeled down next to her and started playing with her. Another encounter we had was the morning we were checking out and my daughter was bored in the room so my husband took her out to walk around the halls. A super nice housekeeper came up and gave my little girl the cutest little lamb made out of wash cloths. It made her day and she still has it in her room today.
They also have characters walking around all over the hotel so it’s a great chance for your kiddos to meet characters without having to wait in the long lines in the parks. We saw Goofy as well as Chip and Dale in the first half hour of being at the hotel.
There is wifi in the hotel and rooms but honestly it was super slow so I never used it. The hotel has an exercise room that you can access, they have a laundry room, a video game room, on site restaurants which I will go into more detail about in a minute, and even access to other Disney resort hotel services.
Disneyland Hotel does offer room service and wake up calls in the mornings where Mickey will call you to wake you up in the morning. They also do tours of the hotel if you would like to learn more about it and its history. I didn’t do one but I think they take about an hour from start to finish. You can also visit the front desk and ask them about the scavenger hunt and they will give you a list of things to find in the parks and you take it back to them when you’re all finished.
Now all of that’s great, but there are even better things that will make you stay here so worth it that are added benefits to staying at the hotel!
First of all, the location is prime! You are right at the entrance to Downtown Disney and just minutes away from the Monorail station that you can board and ride into Disneyland instead of waiting in the huge lines at the main entrance. But even if you decide to walk to the main entrance it’s not too long of a walk, just a quick walk through Downtown Disney so it only takes a few minutes, depending on how quickly you walk.
You also get early entry access every day you are staying in a Disney hotel. On certain days you can get into Disneyland 30 minutes early and on other days you can get into California Adventure 30 minutes early. You just need to have a theme park reservation for the same park that is offering early entry that morning and have your hotel reservation linked to your Disneyland app to show the cast members when you get into the park. This is one of the biggest reasons staying at a Disney hotel is so worth it, because only Disneyland Resort hotel guests can take advantage of early access to the parks.
Your phone can double as your room key if you’d like by using the Disneyland app and you can even send your park purchases back to your room so you don’t have to carry them around all day, but it can take a day for the packages to make it back to your room.
RESTAURANTS
Disney hotels are in the perfect spot when it comes to dining. Not only are you minutes away from tons of restaurants at Downtown Disney, but the Disneyland Hotel also has a number of restaurants on site ranging from quick service to table side dining.
The Coffee House
This would be a great place to grab a coffee and some breakfast before you head into the parks. They’ve got hot and cold beverages, pastries, cereals, fruit, and more to grab on the go. Plus, you’d be waiting in a much shorter line here than you would in the parks.
Goofy’s Kitchen
This is one of the most popular character dining option at Disneyland and is home to the famous Peanut Butter Pizza. They are open for every meal everyday so there are plenty of times to head on down to meet Goofy and his friends. Make sure to book a reservation ahead of time so you can make sure to get a table! Note, you are not able to meet Mickey at this character meal, but you’ll still meet several other friends of his.
Tangaroa Terrace
We ate here during our last trip and it was so good! We decided to grab breakfast before heading to the airport to go home and it was the best idea. Even during the day the setting is just beautiful sitting on the patio looking out over the pools but at night it’s even better. They have lanterns and tiki torches all lit up all with the glow of the pools in the background. It’s such a relaxing environment!
I have tried several options here including the Tangaroa Toast, the Loco Moco Burrito, and the Japanese Pancakes. They were all decicious, but my personal favorite was the Tangaroa Toast. You can also find lunch and dinner options here as well as dole whips, making this a great spot to grab a bite to eat, even if you don’t have a theme park reservation. I love stopping by here on the day I arrive or the day I leave when I’m not in the parks.
Trader Sam’s Enchanted Tiki Bar
Trader Sam’s is in the same building at Tangaroa Terrace it’s just around the other side. They’ve got quite a few appetizer size options to eat as well as lots of specialty drinks to choose from so it’s a great place to get something small and relax after a day in the parks. This is a highly popular restaurant so if you’re wanting to eat here, I would recommend making a reservation 60 days in advance.
Pros of staying at the Disneyland Hotel
β’ Early entry for each day of your stay
β’ Prime location
β’ Awesome pool area
β’ Disney history and nostalgia
β’ Multiple restaurants on property
β’ In-hotel Disney store
β’ Disney Magic everywhere
β’ Characters on site
β’ Have in park purchases delivered to your room
β’ Amazing customer service
β’ Preferred access reservations
Cons of the Disneyland Hotel
β’ Higher price point
β’ No free breakfast
β’ Parking charge
β’ Rooms feel a little dated and small
β’ No kitchen in the room
Overall, I would definitely recommend the Disneyland Hotel to anyone planning a trip to the parks. The history, the magic, the grounds, the services, it really is an amazing experience. I think it’s something everyone should experience at least once in their lifetime and I hope this helped you decide if now is the time for you to plan a stay here.
