During our visit to Disneyland in California for the Disneyland Half Marathon, we stayed on property at Disney’s Paradise Pier Hotel. During this trip, we stayed four nights at this hotel.
The resort is surfing & beaching themed. As you walk into the lobby, you see Surfer Goofy.
Disneyland has three on property hotels, with the other two being the Grand California Resort and Spa and the Disneyland Hotel.
As Disney Vacation Club members, we opted to go with the lesser points hotel and chose Paradise Pier. You could tell that the hotel was dated; however, like it Disney fashion, it has been well maintained, and a good choice for on property lodging, especially if you are staying on a budget. This is a non-DVC villa but did not feel too small to feel comfortable.
When we booked, we chose a theme park view of Disney’s California Adventure Park, and that is exactly what we received. It had a spectacular view of the park.
Nighttime view…
Finally, awesome views of the DCA World of Color show each evening….
The room we had consisted of 2 queen size beds, a pull out couch, desk, closet, and bathroom. It was a pretty standard room with a few Disney touches. There were plush beach balls on the bed.
Donald Duck art work on the walls.
Cool lamps….
Entertainment Center….
If you are doing a RunDisney race at Disneyland, you are only a small 10 minute walk to the start and finish area for the race. This is far unlike that of the races at Walt Disney World in Florida. Here is us at the expo at the Disneyland Hotel.
One thing that was a real benefit for us was that the hotel had a laundry room with washing machines and dryers. Since we were traveling for 12 days, this was helpful. There is a token machine in the laundry room, and you purchase tokens for the machines. You can also use the tokens for detergent and anti-static sheets.
The location is perfect. The Disneyland Hotel is a small walk behind you, the Grand Californian Resort is a small walk in front of the resort, and you can walk through it to access Downtown Disney and both theme parks.
Disneyland Hotel
Grand Californian
A couple of interesting facts about the hotel. I am kind of a nostalgia buff and love looking for things (normal or strange) that stand out. One thing was that this is a 15 story hotel. When you board any of the hotels, it has something that many tall buildings or hotels normally do not have, A 13TH FLOOR!!!!! Wooooo…….
The Paradise Pier has not always been owned and managed by Disney. It was built in 1984 as the Emerald of Anaheim, changing the name a few times before becoming what it is today.
We would definitely recommend this hotel at Disneyland if you are staying at Disneyland. It has been kept well for being 30 years old this year!
Good to know you liked it! I have only ever stayed at the Disneyland Hotel when in Disneyland, so good to hear about this one. Did it have a coffee maker?
Sarah, yep it did have a coffee maker! We don’t drink coffee, but my wife did use it for hot tea and oatmeal. 🙂