Mater

You know, any trip to Disneyland is a good trip! You just can’t go wrong at Walt Disney’s original theme park! My very first trip to Disneyland was when I was 40 years old. My husband finally got up the nerve to take the whole family and we planned the trip to fit our minimal budget. Since I’d never been to either Disneyland or Walt Disney World, I had no idea what I was in for. We stayed at a modest Good Neighbor hotel. We waited for a shuttle every early morning for what felt like hours. We waited again in the evening carrying our very tired children after a full day at the park. What happened in between was that I fell in love with Disneyland! We went back several times and stayed in various Good Neighbor Hotels until we finally worked up the nerve to pay the extra and stay at Disney’s Paradise Pier Hotel. We will never go back to anything besides a Disneyland property if I have anything to say about it! Here are my top ten reasons why:

1. Major perks to Disneyland Resorts include proximity to the park (You walk instead of drive and pay parking daily at the park or waiting on a shuttle.

2. Also, quick trips back to the hotel (for snacks, naps, or a dip in the pool) are possible and even probable if you’re staying close by. This is especially important when traveling with young children.

3. Private entrance into California Adventure (Which can mean the difference in obtaining FastPass to the new Cars Land ride- FastPass for that attraction is rarely available after 8:30am.)

4. Also, you can obtain FastPass to World of Color 30 minutes earlier than other guests. You don’t want to miss this amazing show of water, pyrotechnics, and animation combined. It is like nothing else I’ve ever seen!

World of Color

5. Package delivery to your hotel (anything you purchase at a Disney gift shop will be waiting for you at the hotel) You know all those purchases will not fit in your locker and you definitely don’t want to carry that bag around after you found the perfect gift for your mom at home or your pet sitter!

6. You will have charging privileges to your room from the park. You can charge dining and gift shop purchases without carrying every credit card in your wallet or an abundance of cash!

7. You can receive special wake up calls from Disney characters.  This will thrill your little ones!

8. One of my favorite things is to watch the fireworks display from the hotel.  We go to the pool deck at Paradise Pier Hotel whenever we stay there and watch the evening’s fireworks display.  They pipe in the music so you get the complete experience.  If we drive in and aren’t going to the parks until the next morning, this is a great way to end the day and gear up for the next day’s excitement.

9. Breakfast on property at a Disneyland hotel is always so much fun! There are character breakfasts that you most likely wouldn’t do if you were staying elsewhere. Who wants to get up early, go to a different hotel to eat breakfast, and then go to the park? It’s easier to go downstairs and eat on your way!

10. The quality of the cast members make the whole stay worthwhile! They are friendly, efficient, and go the extra mile to ensure their guests have a fabulous stay!

So, as you can see, I’m a little partial to staying on property.  Once we experienced the magic of Disney Resorts, we’ll do whatever we have to do to make our budget fit- shorten our stay, leave the kids at home, drive instead of fly, but we love the quality of the Disney Resort Hotels.

Let me know if I can price a Disneyland Hotel for your next stay!

Jeri@TravelwiththeMagic.com

Hidden Mickey