I had the amazing chance to stay at the Disneyland Hotel a couple of weeks ago. Known as the first ever Disney hotel, it was on the top of my Disneyland on-property hotel bucket list because of its historical significance. So when I had the opportunity to stay there, I jumped at the chance. I had the most fantastic experience at the Disneyland Hotel, and I’m going to go over what I experienced in this Disneyland Hotel Review. 

Until a few weeks ago I had never stayed on property at either of the two domestic Disney resorts. It had always been a dream of mine to stay on property, but with rooms costing upwards of $500 dollars per night, it seemed like a lofty, unreachable dream. So when a friend of mine invited me to stay at the hotel, I immediately said yes. Hopefully this comprehensive Disneyland Hotel review will give you an inkling of what it’s like to stay at this hotel and can hopefully guide you in deciding if this hotel is right for you when you visit the Disneyland Resort.  

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Background of the Hotel and Our Stay

We only stayed at the hotel for 1 night, and we only had one park day which was the day after our stay, so we spent the first day exploring the hotel and using a lot of its amenities. When planning the trip, my friend was actually considering whether to stay at the Disneyland Hotel or at the Grand Californian. He went with the Disneyland Hotel, however, because he heard about the renovated rooms at the Disneyland Hotel compared to the Grand Californian’s rooms, which are older. 

It should be noted that our park day the next day was going to be at Disneyland and since it was a Sunday we weren’t able to take advantage of the Early Entry privilege that hotel guests get as hotel guests get Early Entry for Disney California Adventure on Sundays. We also stayed at the hotel during the Disneyland Half Marathon Weekend, meaning it was extra busy and there were additional things happening at the hotel. 

The hotel opened on October 5, 1955 and was originally a motor inn operated by Jack Wrather under a licensing agreement with Disney. During Wrather’s ownership it went through several expansions. Soon the hotel expanded past its motor inn beginnings and became a full-fledged hotel. Fun fact: during the early days of the hotel, guests had to travel by tram to get to Disneyland from the hotel, a precursor to the trams that operate at Disneyland today. 

Disney purchased the hotel from Wrather in 1988 and has owned it ever since. They downscaled the hotel when Disney California Adventure and Downtown Disney were constructed, including demolishing the original buildings that had been there since 1955. Unfortunately, not a lot of the original hotel still stands, but it carries on the legacy started by the original hotel in 1955.

Arrival Experience

When we arrived, we immediately parked in the parking lot and walked with our bags to the front desk. Check in was a breeze. We got our room keys, received a map of the property, and were oriented as to which tower our room was in. They offered to take our bags to our room but we packed light because we were only staying one night so we took them to our room ourselves. We then made our way over to the Adventure Tower, which was where our room was. 

As we were walking to the tower, we got to take a peek at the grounds of the hotel, which were impressive and colorful. I loved that the signs adorned on each building referenced different attractions found at Disneyland. The pool also looked amazing, especially the slides that were themed to the Disneyland Monorail. The new DVC Villas tower was also very impressive. 

We then got to our tower and entered our tower’s lobby. The lobby was small but inviting and featured concept art for Adventureland on the walls. We then went up the elevators to our floor. Once we got off, we made a right and went down to our room. I can confirm that the Disney resort scent was very strong here. For those of you who don’t know, Disney pumps in certain smells in their parks and resorts, and I personally really love them. After walking about halfway down the hallway, we got to our room.

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Room

The room was probably the only thing about the hotel that didn’t exceed my expectations. It was a pretty standard room, although it did have some nice touches. We had a king sized bed, a TV, a desk, a chair, and not much else. It does score plus points, however, for having an amazing headboard that would light up and play “A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes” when a nearby switch was flicked. It was like a mini lights show was happening in the room, which was pretty magical. 

I also loved the rare art and photographs of Disneyland and Walt Disney that they had adorning the walls. The bed also had a throw pillow that read “A dream is a wish your heart makes when you’re fast asleep”. That was a nice touch. Of course the room came with postcards, notepads, and pens which of course I took home. 

The bathroom was your standard bathroom. It had a tub with a shower and Disney Resort branded toiletries and soaps. There was a cute little detail where Mickey’s hands were holding up the lights in the bathroom, which I thought was a nice touch. The view we had was also amazing. We had a pool view so we could see the other towers and the pool area. 

All in all, it’s not the best Disney hotel room I’ve stayed at as that distinction goes to the Explorer’s Lodge at Hong Kong Disneyland and the Tokyo Disneyland Hotel, but for the little Disney touches and the view of the pool I would say it was well worth it. 

Design

In terms of its design, this was probably the most “normal” looking Disney hotel I’ve stayed at. While other Disney hotels have themes and designs ranging from Victorian to Art Deco, the Disneyland Hotel takes a more subtle approach to its design. It doesn’t have the elegance and grandeur of other Disney hotels, but there’s something that needs to be said for its simplicity. Its sleek towers, especially the new DVC villas, just evoke so much charm. Is it my favorite Disney hotel in terms of design? No, probably not. But I can appreciate it for what it is. 

Restaurants

We weren’t able to get reservations at Goofy’s Kitchen, or try the Broken Spell Lounge, but we were able to try Trader Sam’s Tiki Bar and the adjoining Tangaroa Terrace. 

Overall I liked both establishments. Tangaroa Terrace was pretty basic but any place that serves dole whip is always a win in my book. We also had a good experience at Trader Sam’s. We didn’t order any food but we did have a couple of drinks and thought they were absolutely delicious. They weren’t too strong but were also really flavorful and fruity. We’d highly recommend getting reservations for this place because when we went it was pretty packed. 

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Pools and Amenities

One thing we did do was try out the different pools and jacuzzis that the hotel had to offer. When we went to them, however, it was freezing as it was the beginning of February, but we still had a great time. We were able to swim in all the pools and even did 2 out of the three slides. 

I really liked the pools. They were climate controlled so they were warm which was nice. The slides were also really fun and twisted, turned, and lasted longer than I thought they would. Each pool had a lifeguard on staff so I always felt safe. The jacuzzi was also really nice as it was heated at a very high temperature, which made it really relaxing.

This is probably the best pool area of a Disney hotel that I’ve ever experienced. Granted, my only other experience with Disney pools was at the Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel and Disney’s Hollywood Hotel, also at Hong Kong Disneyland Resort, but I thought they really rounded out the design of the property. The slides were also well lit at night and made the grounds feel really magical. 

We also popped into the gift store for a bit. I will say that the Disneyland Hotel has some of the best resort-specific merch that I’ve seen, only trailing the Tokyo Disneyland Hotel. They also have non-Disney essentials for sale, such as sunscreen. All in all it was a pretty nice store and one that I would recommend you stop by and check out during your stay. 

Access to Parks

One thing that is convenient with the Disneyland Hotel is that it has easy access to the parks and to Downtown Disney. Downtown Disney and the monorail station are steps away from the hotel and have their own bag check areas.

The monorail station being so close is also really convenient because if you’re coming from Disneyland you don’t have to walk the entire length of Downtown Disney to get back to the hotel. A quick monorail ride from Tomorrowland and you’re within a short walk from the hotel. 

Overall, I would say this is the hotel with the second best location distance-wise to the parks (after the Grand Californian) but beats the Grand Californian in terms of access to the parks because their security check is a lot larger than the Grand Californian one.  

Final Thoughts on the Disneyland Hotel

Overall, this is a solid hotel and was a great introduction to staying on-property at the Disneyland Resort. It might not be the grandest in design, and its rooms aren’t the best, but it makes up for it in charm, dining offerings, pools, and access to the parks. 

8/10

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