Disneyland Hotel Review

Photo Credit: Leslie Harvey

I recently made my first visit to Disneyland. Even though I've lived all over the country, I've spent more time on the east coast than anywhere else so Disney World is my home Disney park! However, I had the honor of attending the Earmarked Conference in November which was held at Disneyland. Another agent, Heather, and I got to experience Disneyland and California Adventure and stay at the beautiful Disneyland Hotel!

Disneyland Hotel is THE resort at Disneyland! It opened in 1955 as a motor lodge and was the first hotel to ever have the Disney name! At one point it was the largest hotel in the area that would sleep four people. That was pretty important for this little amusement park named Disneyland that was located in remote area of Anaheim.

It wasn't until 1988 that Disney acquired the hotel. A large renovation and building project in 1999 brought it to its current size--3 towers, 990 rooms, three pools and the amazing monorail slides--two twisty slides that feature the look of the original monorail!

We can't forget the four restaurants, including Goofy's Kitchen, or the fantastic Trader Sam's Enchanted Tiki Bar, but I'll save that for the next blog!

Our beautiful room!

The rooms at the Disneyland Hotel are about 400 square feet and are huge! The whole room feels plush from the fabulously soft sheets to the two robes in the closet and well appointed spaces.

Hidden Mickeys are to be found and Mickey icons appear even in the room's bathroom fixtures! The best thing is the beautiful headboards where the fireworks light up with the flip of a switch! If you're lucky, you can even view the fireworks from your window.

Fireworks lights on the headboard! Anyone spy a hidden Mickey in fireworks?

See Mickey's hands holding the lights?

Mickey heads on the bathroom faucets, too

The lobby feels crisp and clean with a hint of 1960s modern thrown in. We were lucky to be visiting while the resort was decorated for Christmas, too, with funky modern trees and a huge gingerbread house. There is plenty of plush seating if you are waiting for a member of your traveling party or just people watching.

Photo Credit: Trip Adviser

The three towers--named Fantasy, Frontier, and Adventure--are tall and certainly have a different feel that the 5- or 6-story Deluxe Resorts at Disney World.

Disneyland Hotel's three retro-themed pools are a throwback to the early days at Disney. The largest pool, the E-ticket pool, is a great place to take a break from the parks. The D-ticket pool is a smaller pool but great for swimming laps. The best part of the D-ticket pool are the Mickey and Minnie themed hot tubs! The last pool is very shallow and is where the water slides are located. The Red Monorail slide is 25-ft high and 180 feet long while the Yellow Monorail slide is only a 13-ft high, 80 foot long slide! There is even a two lane mini slide for the littlest Mouseketeers.

The awesome Minnie hot tub! Photo Credit: Disneyland Today

Heather with Minnie in the lobby

Located right next to Downtown Disney, Disneyland Hotel is convenient and beautiful. Characters can often be found just wandering around the lobby! That is such a different experience than Disney World and felt magical to just run into a character while waiting in the lobby!  (I should mention that Heather was texting me these pictures while I was still on the shuttle to the hotel!)

Heather and Pluto just hanging out.

Truly the only negatives I have is the parking which is $20 per day even for resort guests and the fact that you must walk through Downtown Disney to get to and from the park. That's only a negative because you walk past the World of Disney, the yummy Marceline Confectionary where candy apples are the star, and many other restaurants and shops! You can't help but feel like you're visiting the history of Disneyland here. Even though it's certainly changed from the days of Walt Disney himself, the hotel's name and character are still the same. It's a great place to stay, and I recommend it!

Susan Burks is a Disney travel planner at WishdrawalsTravel, a military wife, and a homeschooling mom to a 

robot-programming, space-loving 11 year old!  

She and her family love visiting Disney World and taking Disney cruises. With six Disney cruises under her belt, she is now preparing to embark on a seventh Disney Cruise--this time to Norway--and planning her next Disney World visit, too!