Current hotel information needed, please. I love staying at a DLR property but am looking to make my next trip less expensive. Please post your suggested hotels for my DD (13) and me for a mother-daughter trip this summer. We will be flying in (probably SNA) and will stay for 3 nights. Not sure about park days, but likely 2, possibly 3. We want to be within walking distance, ideally less than 1/2 mile away, and need a room that is clean, quiet, and comfortable. A pool would be nice, but not required. Special perks like breakfast or view of fire works would be appealing, but again, not necessary.
We always stay on property per my husband’s request. But if/when I go solo or with a friend I plan on staying at Candycane inn. Not super cheap but looks very nice. It has continental breakfast and a pool. Check out the reviews on trip advisor. I like that you can walk or take their shuttle.
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We have stayed at the Del Sol multiple times. Rooms are basic motel type rooms but were very clean and quite roomy for 4. You can get a room with 2 queen beds or a room with 2 queens and a set of bunks. There is a breaky room there but it’s not much variety. Toast cereal etc. smal fridge microwave and coffee maker in the rooms.
The walk is so close to the light that takes you into Disney. That is why we stay here often and the rates are good. This August we are going to switch if up and try the Tropicana.
During our trip in 2015, we stayed at the Camelot Inn and Suites which is right across the street. It was nothing special by any means but it was a decent place to sleep. The rooms were dated but seemed to be clean enough and it was pretty quiet. This year, we’ll be staying at the Hotel Indigo. It still seems to be very much within walking distance and more modern than Camelot. We got a really good deal through Trivago so I’d recommend trying to go that route.
Several years ago we stayed at Park Vue Inn. It is right across from Disneyland. And it had a great breakfast and a pool. All 6 of us could stay in the same room, which was also a plus. I would stay there again, but am trying to go cheaper for my next trip with just my daughter.
The cheapest/closest ones I can get are usually The Anaheim or Grand Legacy at the Park. They are both walkable, clean & decent sized rooms.
The Grand Legacy gives a “snack bag” away every morning (bottled water, apple, granola bar & string cheese) so it’s not a full breakfast but it gives us some good snack options. Their pool is also nice, big AND has some splash pad features that my kids enjoyed. One of the things we like in a hotel is proximity to cheap non-park food. The Grand Legacy has a few places on premises (Jimboy’s Taco’s- very tasty tacos & does bfast options as well, Pizzaterian- only had it 1x and it was ok but we prefer Pizza Press- more on that in a sec & Creamistry- ice cream that we’ve never tried). Also at the hotel there is a restaurant on the top level - The 5th that has great reviews, views of FWs & at night after FWs has a bar/lounge feel & often times live music. On the way to the Grand Legacy (& also The Anaheim), there is also IHOP, Denny’s & Tony Roma’s (not necessarily cheap, but tasty & very large portions so very shareable).
The Anaheim is just across the street from Grand Legacy and doesn’t offer any bfast of any kind BUT it has the Pizza Press on the premises & we LOVE the Pizza Press. $10 thin crust pizza with unlimited toppings made right there in a salamander hot & fresh. They are open until past park close & a great food option for tasty, affordable food out of the parks. We often eat a small dinner either in the parks waiting for nighttime shows or early in the room at the end of a late break at the hotel and then on the way back to the room pick up Pizza Press to have one slice hot n fresh & save the rest for the next day’s small dinner or lunch in the hotel room.
We’ve also tried Park Vue Inn (excellent in every way & one I recommend but not always the chepeast especially if other hotels have some discounts going on, but if no one has a discount this one is our go-to. It does have free parking & free breakfast so I try to account for that when I compare the rates because we do drive & bring our car & parking at some of the others adds up!), Tropican & Camelot (used to be our go-to’s but their increased prices make them harder & harder to select- Tropicana did just undergo a refurbishment though so they might be very nice now), Desert Inn & Suites (haven’t ever found a good enough rate to book again & didn’t love it the first time I tried it but the location is excellent & they offer free “continental breakfast” which is really a breakfast snack but gets you going for RD).
Then a little bit further away but still in walking distance we’ve tried the Portofino Inn & the Sheraton Park. We usually book Sheraton on points as we have the SPG rewards card. It’s by far nicer than any of the others mentioned but it’s farther away so we only do it if the other hotels along Harbor are extremely expensive. Both of these are right next to a CVS which we love the convenience of being able to pick up necessities for the room on our way back to the hotel & not have to pack them with us.
Sheraton Park has nice grounds with a decent pool, nice rooms, possible FWs views from the upper floors & touches of Disney with historic pictures of the parks lining the hallways. Their more casual restaurant offers a very good hearty bfast that we usually upgrade to club level on our points to be able to enjoy, along with access to the lounge which offers bottle water, sodas all day & has a happy hour with free appetizers & alcohol beverages available for purchase. The one thing I find lacking in this hotel is that the rooms do not include a microwave so we can never re-heat any leftovers.
Portofino is a very basic hotel. It doesn’t have outdoor corridors like a motel but the feel of the hotel is definitely more towards a motel. There’s no food options on the premises & the microwave is a common microwave for the whole floor located in the laundry area. Their pool is also quite small & barren. But the hotel itself is safe, clean & comfortable for a place to crash if your main aim is to spend lots of time in the park. We’ve gotten great rates here in the past & they’ve upgraded us to a bunk bed room which is super spacious with a king bed & then a separate area that can be closed off by French doors with a set of bunk beds as well as a sofa sleeper. Great option for if you want to be able to have your kids sleep in their own separate space.
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Thank You! We have booked The Anaheim Hotel for our September visit and haven’t seen it listed anywhere and was getting worried! 
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I realized I really only talked about the Pizza Press (which is still the best part about the hotel) but nothing else about it. In case you were wondering, here’s what we found in our recent stay there: Their lobby was recently re-done & is very well-done in a mid-century modern design including plenty of seating & a bar. The rooms are off of outdoor motel-like corridors but the grounds are much nicer than a motel with landscaping touches including around the pool. The rooms themselves are very clean, recently re-done as well (carpet & bedding area at least, bathroom area felt older but with fresh paint, but still definitely clean) & best of all spacious with most having a balcony off of them. The space is what surprised me the most- Overall it was nicer than I expected & I would book it again especially for the price.
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I’m excited that your birthday trip is coming up!! Can’t wait to hear how everything goes, especially how you enjoy all the shows & parades will get to do!!
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I think you were supposed to say “book I would again, mmmmm.”
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Opportunity missed, I did, mmmmm
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That is better!
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you guys rock - thanks so much - have shared this information with our party and all breathing sighs of relief and the pizza lovers in our group are high fiving - sometimes its a long way from Canada to California - hahahaha!
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After much outside research (before returning to this forum) I went ahead and booked The Best Western Plus Park Place Inn. Now that I’ve read alll of these posts, I’m questioning my choice. Hope it’s OK!
Forgive me for not first thanking you all for your thorough responses, especially @lolabear_la. I appreciate the time that you all spent providing me with many options. During my research I read about, and nearly booked several of these. Ultimately, the renovated rooms and the proximity to the parks swayed me. As I said before, I hope it is a good choice. Thank you!
At the end of the day, it is just a place to lay your head! I am sure it will be fine and you will have a great time. Years ago my sister booked us a room at the penny saver (not even there anymore) and it was a dive, but it was a place to shower, and sleep and that is exactly what we used it for. It was a great trip and we all had a blast!
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I feel that most of the hotels around Disneyland (apart from the really fancy ones) are similar. I like to have free parking and free breakfast, so I usually pick the ones that answer those criteria, but other times I just get such a good offer (or have a ton of points to burn) that I just pick whatever works best.
Best Western Plus is super convenient and easy to get to and there are a bunch of places around to get a free, cheap breakfast!
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I have stayed at the BW Park Place Inn for years. It is reasonable. They have upgraded the rooms. We usually stay at the the BWPP or the Marriott up the street if we are staying off-site. I’m a little irritated at BW right now because last time we tried to book they told me I couldn’t have the room I wanted with my points ( I have been staying there for years and fairly loyal to the BW brand and they wouldn’t budge. And I had booked my preferred room in the past with points. ) and then the last straw on our last visit to the park they closed the pool for the second time in a year - falling on both of our visits. I am sure you visit will be fine, as they have a reasonable breakfast and are very close to the parks. (It is closer to the front gates than the DL hotel!) Enjoy your stay!
Just in case: I have stayed at the Hilton, Fairfield Marriott and Candy Cane Inn.
Fairfied Marriott rooms were actually nicer than I thought they would be; the hotel was super close. The food in the hotel was not impressive, but they share a parking lot with Panera. So we would wake up, put an online order for Panera, grab the food and walk to the parks. The swimming pool was your normal hotel swimming pool.
Candy Cane Inn I picked from a recommendation from the UG. Free parking, free breakfast, free shuttle and walking distance. The breakfast was enough to get us going, the shuttle was great when we were super tired at night. The room was small but fine. The swimming pool and spa were nothing spectacular but clean.
The Hilton is further out (walking, but a good 15 minutes). However, it is accross the street from the Toy Story parking lot, so we often just walked there. The HIlton complex is HUGE, with some decent food option (and a real Starbucks). The swimming pool was great and there was a nice splash pad for kids (and me ;)). Parking is expensive-ish, free breakfast only if you have Hilton status, but those were the nicest rooms/swimming pool. Almost like a resort.
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