When you go to WDW, at least for us, where to stay is a no brainer. You stay on Disney property. There are so many perks. But we quickly found out that is not the case for Disneyland.
This trip was huge for us. And we knew it was going to be very expensive. So we had to keep to a strict budget. When I started researching Disney resorts, I quickly learned they were far out of our price range. There are only 3 resorts on property, since Disney "property" in California is so so small. So there is no Value option. The resorts they have are gorgeous, but definitely not the same caliber you get in WDW at similarly priced resorts like the moderates and deluxes.
So I looked into the Good Neighbor hotels, which are mostly chain hotels that run along the main road that the Disney parks are on. You can book packages through Disney for these resorts and the prices were much better. But I decided to do my own research too. I found a great hotel that was basically across the street from the entrance to Disneyland, for cheaper than the Good Neighbor hotels. With no significant perk to staying on property or at one of the Good Neighbor hotels, I just couldn't justify the extra cost.
When we arrived, I was shocked at how close "across the street" really was. When you're at WDW there are trees and large areas of just land...there is so much space between resorts and parks. In California, the wall for the parks runs alongside a 6 lane road. We checked into the Del Sol Inn and it was clean and convenient and worked for us. Each morning we walked to the parks among cast members on their way to work. Which was very surreal. At WDW you NEVER see CMs just walking about outside the park in their uniforms. In all honesty, it took away from the magic a bit. (I'll discuss the CMs in more detail in a future post).
We did get to walk around the Disney resorts though. I honestly think our hotel was closer to the park entrances than the Disney resorts were. They are on the far end of Downtown Disney. Though I am pretty sure one of them had a special entrance to the California Adventure park. I guess you could take the monorail tot he entrance and that would be quicker. The resorts were pretty, and there were Disney touches all around, but I didn't feel an overwhelming Disney-ness like I do at WDW resorts.
Overall, we were very happy with our hotel choice. After getting there, and seeing how unspecial the Disney resorts were, we were very glad we didn't spend the money.
