How to Pick a Disneyland Hotel

Your choice of hotel at Disneyland California can make or break your experience at the parks — which is weird because you’ll spend very little of your day there… but today I want to tell you the 6 steps you’ll walk through to pick a fantastic landing pad for your next vacation.

And in case you’re like — who the heck is this curly girl — Hi, I’m Hilary. I’m the curly head here at Pulling Curls and I am what you call a Disneyland planning pro (sometimes I think I prefer planning the trip more than doing it — oddly — see my post on Disneyland feet — 😅). I’ve toured LOADS of hotels in the area, and stayed a lots. I’ve planned tons of vacations for both myself and friends and I know what a family needs as they head to visit Micky — so, let’s get started with the MOST important part:

1- Budget

Maybe you have unlimited funds, but I bet you don’t (those people tend to just book the California Grand without batting an eye). I sure don’t. I have a budget for my hotel and sometimes it allows me to have a bit longer of a vacation if I’m able to stay a bit cheaper.

BTW — I have a Disneyland budget calculator you might find handy:

So, what’s your budget for the hotel? You’ll want to outline that first.

The biggest thing that affects budget at Disneyland is how close the hotel is to Disneyland, and a bit about how nice the hotel is.

Note: If you want a nicer hotel I’d recommend checking out the JW Marriot or The Westin (more people prefer the Westin, but they’re both nice and similar distance to the parks).

And if you’re mostly hoping for a budget hotel check out my post on inexpensive hotels near Disneyland.

This is the part where I mention that if you get into the wrong area of Anaheim it’s nothing like the area near the resort. Anaheim has a large homeless population and isn’t the best city in Southern California (frankly, most of those aren’t in the touristy areas). You want to make sure that you’re getting a reputable hotel. I have vetted the hotels in this post to keep you safe and happy. 😀

You’ll also notice that some of these hotels open up with Get Away Today — I’m a big fan of their’s. They have great pricing — so check them out (but of course, shop around — because they also have a best price guarantee!). I’ve used them since 1998. They don’t sell gross hotels. Period. Which is nice!

2- Bed Spots

Ok, next you need to decide how many bed spots you need. And, you’ll want to be strategic about this…

1. Will your kids truly SLEEP together (or just fight and get angry – if so, bunkbeds might be a good option!)
2. Does it have a good spot for your playpen if you need it (my babies couldn’t see me and sleep — so I needed at least a half wall or a door to hide them behind)?

Honestly, this is one of the best things about using Get Away Today — their agents have toured (and have images) of the hotel rooms they book. They can tell you if there’s a wall, or a door, or how tight the room is (some kids need a little room to get the wiggles out when they get home – if that’s the case I love the Suncoast for room size!).

I loved using Get Away Today when my kids were little, for just that reason!

I have a few good posts depending on what you’re looking for based on bed/room sizes:

• 16+ of the Best Disneyland Hotels for Families: Near the Anaheim Action
• Disneyland Hotels With Family Suites
• How Much Does Disneyland Vacation Cost for a Family of 4?

And in case you’ve got littles — don’t scare them. 🙂 (been there, done that– oops!😅)

3- Perks You Need

Ok, now we flow into what perks you NEED.

We NEEDED a fridge because our littles were obsessed with milk in the mornings. It was a need, not a want (although we how have one of these that we can bring in if there’s no fridge, or it can also actually keep things frozen too). The good news now is that most of these hotels do have at least a “cooler” (they call it that because it doesn’t really get ALL that cold but it can hold milk for a few days).

Maybe you need free breakfast, or a great pool. Maybe they’re needs.

For most they’re wants — so you really need to decide if that will actually STOP you from staying at a good hotel. Totally up to you! Just be honest with yourself.

Here’s a few hotel posts you might find helpful:

• Best Disneyland Hotels with Kitchens
• Best Hotels Near Disneyland with Free Breakfast
• Disneyland Hotels in Anaheim, California: 10 of the nicest hotels around Disneyland
• 10 Disneyland Hotel Tips You Can’t Visit the Disneyland Resort Without

4- Walk or Not to Walk

This is a big one. Recently, the city of Anaheim changed how they do the shuttle system, which makes this more important than ever.

There are walkable hotels to Disneyland, and then there are the rest of them.

As a note — many hotels will say they are close to Disneyland, less than a mile — but that tends to be how the crow flies not how close it truly is to walk to the entrance. You need to be very thoughtful about this. There are only a couple of entrances to the resort, so even if you hotel literally TOUCHES the resort it can still be a 20 minute walk.

Personally, I’m willing to walk a bit further in the mornings but we may need to Uber back to the hotel at night.

For you, you might be happy to take your car (just know that morning traffic in the area is HEAVY), or use a shuttle.

And in a crazy turn of events because of how the Disneyland Resort Area is laid out — it’s not actually closer to stay on their on-property hotels. And frankly, the perks of staying with them are pretty poor when you compare the pricing (and yes Get Away Today can easily help you to do that too!).

The closest hotels are right across the street on Harbor Blvd. I’ve stayed at most of those hotels and that post gives my honest opinion. But, if you want the cliff notes the Tropicana is our pick for absolute closeness (and price). And if you’re hoping more budget check out the Castle Inn and Suites (and if you want a breakfast check out the Best Western).

Here are a few posts that will help you on this one:

• Hotels Nearby Disneyland: Close enough to walk to Mickey!
• Hotels with a Disneyland Shuttle
• Best Hotel Close to Disneyland

It can be a LOT cheaper to stay a bit out from the Disneyland resort. Which is fine if you’re good with an expensive Uber ride or parking at the resort. Just know it will make for hectic mornings if you want to rope drop. I’m an early riser, so it can be a good option for us — especially if we have….

6- Other Activites?

Are you hoping to hit Universal or Knotts (a favorite of ours)? I mean, you should — they’re both SUPER fun (especially if your kids are 8+)….

One little tip of mine, if Knotts is also on your list is to stay at the Knotts hotel — they actually have a free shuttle to Disneyland! The rooms are a great price with Get Away Today and then you’ll be set for an awesome day at Knotts too! I have stayed at that hotel multiple times and we really like it. Just bring earplugs or white noise as people are in the hallways at all hours — but that is true of most of these hotels.

If Universal was on my list I’d likely stay near Universal for a night. We LOVE the Magic Castle Hotel — while it’s not fancy they have all you can eat snacks that my kids just LOVED when they were little. Plus, white glove popsicle service to the pool. It’s something they’ll always remember. I have a whole post on what to do in Hollywood too!

There’s also San Diego that’s not far — but remember even those these look close on a map — with Southern California traffic you’re looking at LONG car rides. It would be worth it to pack up my hotel room and switch to avoid that in the mornings when my family wants to go to the attractions!

If you’re looking to do multiple places, at just one hotel I’d 100% call Get Away Today. I’d prefer to stay more on the outskirts of the Disneyland bubble to avoid that traffic unless I had to.

Pro Tip: It doesn’t cost ANY more to actually chat with one of their super helpful agents as it does to just book it online. You can always call 1-855-438-2929— just make sure to let them know you heard about them from Pulling Curls because we’re buddies and it will give you $10 off!

Of course, after all this you get to think about what you’d like.

Maybe it’s a nice hotel, a great pool, or even a water park (this one and this one have one on site!). It’s up to you! That can guide your final picks!

As I said at the beginning, you won’t actually spend that much time in your room (which is why I don’t mind that the hotels aren’t as nice as we might stay in otherwise — these hotel rooms get used!) — but the wrong hotel can definitely set your day or your night up for misery.

Have more questions? Ask me in the comments, I’d love to answer!