DLR e-mailed all guests with hotel reservations in July to cancel or move to another date a couple weeks ago.
They are now accepting new reservations for August 1 - still only at Paradise Pier Hotel & Grand Californian. The Disneyland Hotel is still not accepting any reservations.
(The rumor is that the Disneyland Hotel is going to stay closed much longer for some very overdue renovations.)
ahem The hotel is Paradise Pier Hotel, while Pixar Pier is a section at Disney California Adventure park. Easy mistake.
Fixed. I am aware… I just typed on auto-pilot 
Ha ha! Some people think the two should have the same name since now there is no Paradise Pier to name the hotel after (Just a Paradise Gardens Park). It’s only a matter of time.
I’m a big fan of a podcast called - Podcast the Ride. It’s a comedy podcast where the hosts talk about rides they’ve been on and odd theme park experiences. They live in LA - so they go to DLR often. They had a whole episode once about the jumbled up naming at DLR. I do highly recommend the show.
It’s definitely not a theme park “news” podcast like the billion others out there.
Thanks for the info - I’m watching this closely. I originally had reservations to stay at Disneyland Hotel in late July for a combo wedding anniversary/PhD graduation. Sadly coronavirus happened, DLR closed, and my husband got laid off so we cancelled that trip. I’m a Disneyland AP but we so wanted to say “goodbye” to Disneyland before we move across the country in December. Due to coronavirus my graduation also got delayed to December, so please keep your fingers crossed that we can still do our nostalgic kiss goodbye/graduation trip near Christmas time.
I totally get it. I’ve been to WDW a lot – especially once I had my own family. This year (Sept.) was supposed to be my very FIRST time to Disneyland. I’m in TN, so WDW has always been easier to get to and less expensive. Plus, I grew up in a household where my dad would always say, “Why would we want to go to Disneyland? You can put DLR in the parking lot of WDW and still park 100s of cars!” It really made me biased against DLR for a long time.
I booked my DLR trip at about 435 days in advance. Technically, I haven’t cancelled my Sept. dates yet. I have gotten my airfare refunded. I just keep putting off calling my TA because I know she’ll ask if I still want my “back-up” November & December dates. Those dates are my real debate now. There’s really not much Disney can do to make me feel safer about going when / if they open. It’s having to get on the plane and my hotel is a “good neighbor” across the street that make me apprehensive. I might feel better about the hotel if it were on property, but I won’t pay $400+ / night for a hotel room. I can afford it, but IME no hotel room is worth that price. (It’s just a place to put my bags while I’m in the parks all day / shower & sleep – I’m not a pool / resort fan)
Oh well… currently this is the least of my problems so I’m pretty fortunate!
PLEASE go to Disneyland when you can. I’ve been to both and they are different, but Disneyland is so special. Know it’s going to be physically smaller, but it’s JAM PACKED with charm. SO many rides in one space - you can’t do it all in a day. Go for 3-4 days (including California Adventure) as a first-timer. I think the disneyland version of common rides is often better (space and pirates for sure, I also think HM and BTTM are better at Disneyland). The quick-service food is way better than at WDW. Plus Disneyland is Walt’s park. I think you’re not a true Disney fan unless you make the pilgrimage to Disneyland. I love both, but definitely make a Disneyland trip a dream delayed, not cancelled! Christmas is a great time to go! The parks are so beautiful and you can see the HM overlay.
We went to DL a couple years ago. I wanted to go before DS wasn’t into Cars anymore. I hadn’t been in 30 years and DH and DS never.
I really thought it would be sooooo much more relaxing than wdw. I thought with smaller (and fewer) parks we’d be so much more relaxed in pace and hours in park. Nope! Lol! didn’t really work out that way. We were there 4ish days. And it was still a lot of go-go-go! Far more so than I ever expected at DLR.
My DLR trips are always go-go-go! But it’s much easier to be more relaxed, provided you’re a veteran to the resort, have the ability to dial back your enthusiasm, and don’t mind missing minor things. The lack of 180-day dining and 60-day FPP (such as they were) makes (made) a huge difference in the feel of the planning stage. It’s a much more spontaneous experience, if not still full of excitement and energy.
No, no and no!! 
But I agree the lack of necessary planning is very nice. And also a bit strange.
Also, we were there before the whole Maxpass thing. So I don’t have any experience with that.
We used to go every year at Spring Break. We’d get a three day pass with two days at DL and 1 day at DCA. Those three days were like @Jeff_AZ said - go-go-go! Now that my older daughter is in college in SoCal and we’ve gone more often, we’ve started having days in the Parks where we’re just doing hole-in-the-wall things at a much slower pace. Finding the Beast’s Library. Going to the Royal Theater. Riding Main Street Vehicles or the Sailing Ship Columbia. For sure Davy Crockett’s Canoes! Doing as many of the Animation Studio sessions as we can. Stopping to watch the roving performers in different lands …
Man, I want to go back! 
Those hotels get lots and lots of traffic! They have always felt grimey. Most of the time we go to DLR, we stay in the Best Western Plus Park Place Inn - Mini Suites. It’s right across the street from the entrance and the least grimy and comfortable of the bunch, in our opinion.
We traveled from northern CA to southern CA a couple of weeks ago to move our college kids out of their apartments. I wrote in detail about it in another thread. We stayed in hotels (Hampton Inn and Hilton Garden Inn). I wiped everything down with a bleach solution, even though the hotel said it gave extra attention to high touch areas. We declined housekeeping. But there were many people in the hallways who didn’t wear masks, even though it was required.
The last few times we went to DLR, we have stayed in the Embassy Suites in Garden Grove and the Embassy Suites in Santa Ana. The Garden Grove one has a shuttle but driving is better. Well, it’s not better than across the street. It’s a hassle and very early mornings. DLR opens at 8 AM. To RD, we were leaving those hotels a bit after 6 AM to get to the gate by 7 AM. And there were already lines waiting. And unlike WDW, DLR tends to close at midnight. Do a couple of days of DLR like that and we were wiped out! But we always powered through. The Garden Grove one was brand new the first time we stayed. It was very nice but very crowded because it is close to the Convention Center and DLR. Therefore, a couple years later, it was worn. The Santa Ana one is older, remodeled, and much quieter but further away. These hotels were more expensive than the ones across the street. And we weren’t even around to enjoy them much, including the awesome breakfast!
I’m not quite sure I’m ready to stay in any of those hotels across from DLR during the pandemic.
Yes! So much better than the 180 and 60 business.
Yeah… all of that is exactly why I have mentally cancelled my trip. There’s nothing more Disney can do to make me feel safer. It’s the plane & hotel where I decided it was best to postpone.
I really do appreciate the input!
There are a lot of good neighbor hotels that are great!! Just do a quick search on trip advisor or expedia and read the reviews. I don’t think they are all 'grimy". Which one did you have booked?
By the way, DLR might be compact, but it packs alot of bang for those two parks, go with a open mind. You’ll love it.
Oh! No worries… you don’t have to sell me on Disneyland. I’ve been looking forward to going for more than a year. Though it’ll probably not be this year now!
I just made a reservation at Disneyland Hotel for mid October. Fingers crossed it will be open. They aren’t selling tickets yet, though.
I also have a reservation for October. At this rate my annual pass will be good through 2022!