Courtyard Anaheim Theme Park Entrance Hotel Review
The new Courtyard Anaheim Theme Park Entrance by Marriott is hotel ~5 minutes from Disneyland, featuring deluxe family accommodations. Our review features photos of the rooms & common areas, thoughts on amenities (including Surfside water park), and our experience staying at this roughly 6-month old hotel. We also cover whether it’s worth staying at this hotel if your visit to Southern California is primarily for the purpose of visiting Disneyland and Disney California Adventure.
Since 2010, we have stayed in a lot of Anaheim hotels. At first, the hotels were serviceable at best and scary at worst. Crashpads, basically. Then, Cars Land happened. Disneyland has not released numbers about their demographics before and after the completion of Disney California Adventure’s overhaul, but they don’t have to. Hotel development says it all. There are a lot more tourists making Disneyland and Disney California Adventure a part of their Southern California vacations.
After the initial impact of Cars Land was felt, existing hotels began to renovate and step up their game, and 14 new hotels were announced for the Anaheim Resort District. The Courtyard Theme Park Entrance was one of those hotels, and with over 200 rooms each with 530+ square feet of space, an on-site water park, and more, it’s one of the largest-scale developments. Having replaced a parking lot, the hotel was built from the ground-up, rather than repurposing an existing building.
So, how does the Courtyard Anaheim Theme Park Entrance stack up to other hotels in the area, old and new? Let’s take a look…
This is what the standard 530-square foot room looks like. This is why we dubbed the rooms “deluxe family accommodations.” While the rooms are not family suite, with the ability to sleep 6 people in them, they are far larger than standard hotel rooms in the area. Beyond that, it feels like a deluxe hotel in the sense that it has interior hallways, thicker walls, and upgraded fixtures and decor, as compared to the Anaheim norm.
We liked the style of the room: it felt somewhat chic with the art on the wall, but wasn’t so over the top that it will look tired in a few years when what’s trendy now is passé. It’s a nice blend of modern and timeless.
During our visit, we “tested” the comfort level by stuffing 5 adults into a room, and it wasn’t cramped at all. While the bunk beds certainly aren’t an ideal sleeping arrangement for adults, they are serviceable. The main queen beds are more than just serviceable–they are heavenly.
When we first started staying at off-site Disneyland hotels, most hotels had mattresses that felt like somebody salvaged them from a Motel 6 dumpster. Now, an increasing number have plush bedding. Even among the hotels with high-quality bedding, the Courtyard ranks near the top in terms of bedding comfort.
Here are the twin bunk beds. Both of us could have slept in these without issue, but we aren’t exactly giants. They will work for adults, and be great for kids. Just be sure to do your parental duty, and stock up on Disney stuffed animals and throw blankets at the Emporium so they can build a fort. (Forts build character.)
This set-up is a nice alternative to the standard desk in the room. You could gather round it to pound shots of Jack Daniel’s as a therapeutic way to unwind after a long day in the parks. Not that I would know–I used it as a more laid back spot for photo editing.
The rooms have a host of other amenities: Kuerig machines, microwaves, mini-fridges, Netflix, and more. Given that the hotel finished construction around 6 months ago, it’s all brand new.
Then there are the bathrooms. THE BATHROOMS! If you know me, you know I love a good restroom. These have just about everything I look for in a hotel bathroom: nice mirror lighting, walk-in shower, and good sinks.
About my only area of disappointment is that the sinks aren’t of the basin variety, and that the faucets take a function over form approach. Basin sinks and fancy faucets are the future of bathrooms, and any hotel that doesn’t hop aboard the futuristic sink train risks obsolescence. 😉
The presence of a walk-in shower is great from my perspective. The decision here to offer both walk-in showers and tubs was a good one, given that these rooms sleep 6 and clearly cater to families (what with the bunkbeds and all). This plus the size of the bathroom makes getting ready in the morning much easier for large parties.
Numerous new and redesigned hotels have blown their budget on main rooms and amenities and phoned it in on the bathrooms, so it’s nice to see that the Courtyard didn’t make that mistake. Kudos on that.
From our room, we could see the Surfside water park. I’d hesitate to call this a water park, even though Courtyard Anaheim Theme Park Entrance advertises it as such. It’s more like a glorified pool and water play area. Significantly better than a standard pool, but still far shy of an actual water park.
We didn’t test this ourselves because it was like 60 degrees during our visit, and you’d have to be some insane Midwesterner escaping a blizzard to find that to be appropriate swimming weather. I’m sure kids would love it, and that view of the moon rising over Space Mountain (photo coming soon to Instagram!) from the hot tub is something I could enjoy for hours. (Any science that says you can only spend 20 minutes in a hot tub is a sham.)
There are plenty of other amenities, from a state of the art 1,000 square foot fitness center to business and event space. Everything you’d expect of a higher-end chained brand hotel.
There are also multiple restaurants in the hotel, but the only one that matters is Starbucks. As for all of your other dining needs…well, you walk right past Pizza Press on your way to and from the parks. Eat there.
There’s also a business center where you can use brand new Macs. I know most people travel with their own laptops these days so business centers don’t get much use, but I thought this one was worth mentioning because of the quality of these computers.
The big stumbling block with the Courtyard Theme Park Entrance is price (disclosure: our stay was comped). This hotel is one of the more expensive non-Disney, non-suite hotels in Anaheim. Rates start above $200/night, and much of the time, it’s nearly the price as Paradise Pier Hotel.
Now, I am far from being a fan of Paradise Pier Hotel, and think the Courtyard Theme Park Entrance is significantly nicer with a better location. It’s just a rare thing for an Anaheim hotel, even one as nice and close as this one.
With further higher-end development in the area, maybe this will become more commonplace. If there is any hotel in the area that justifies this nightly rate, the Courtyard Anaheim Theme Park Entrance is definitely it.
The exceptional quality and size of the rooms, amenities, and proximity to Disneyland all put it in its own class.
Parking is another concern, in that you can expect to add $20/night for valet parking, as there is no self-parking. Although I think the hotel development occurring right now in Anaheim is great, it irritates me when developers over-extend themselves and do not allow sufficient space for self-parking. Valet-only in Anaheim is absurd. This isn’t Los Angeles.
Overall, the Courtyard Anaheim Theme Park Entrance sets a high bar for off-site Disneyland hotels, both in quality and price. It’s easy to see why it currently ranks as the #3 hotel in Anaheim on TripAdvisor, and the overall quality makes the price a little easier to justify. The hotel is still roughly $100/night more expensive than (solid) off-site hotels in the area, but given the size and quality of the rooms, I think that’s fair. It’s not a hotel I would book for a party of 2, but for a family of 5 or 6 that would otherwise need 2 rooms, this hotel is the perfect option. On balance, that puts the Courtyard Anaheim Theme Park Entrance as the #4 hotel on our Disneyland Hotels Reviews & Rankings post.
Get discounted pricing on a Disneyland vacation package that includes your stay at Courtyard Anaheim Theme Park Entrance and park tickets via Get Away Today. We always recommend them to save money on Disneyland tickets, and this is a great way to get an even better deal by purchasing a bundle that includes hotel and tickets. Click here to price out your dates!
If you’re preparing for a Disneyland trip, check out our other planning posts, including how to save money on Disneyland tickets, our Disney packing tips, whether you should stay off-site or on-site in a Disney hotel, where to dine, and a number of other things, check out our comprehensive Disneyland Vacation Planning Guide!
YOUR THOUGHTS…
Have you stayed at Courtyard Anaheim Theme Park Entrance? Are you a fan of it? What did you think of the rooms? Is this a hotel you’d consider? Any questions? Please share your thoughts or questions in the comments section below!
We stayed at this hotel just last week. The amenities were great, including the waterpark which we didn’t use because of time constraints. The staff in the bistro were very friendly, with special mention for Janelle, Michael and Fernando. Elaine checked us in and although we were early, there was a room ready for us. Elaine also said her goodbyes to us when we left. There was a bit of a problem with our transport on leaving and we can’t thank thank Josh in valet enough for his assistance.
I would also like to thank Jonathan the bistro manager for the great service.
Heather Paszkowski
I would stay here again.
My family of five will be staying at Courtyard Anaheim Theme Park Entrance in a couple months. We were lucky that my parents used points to book it for us for a full seven nights! This will be my first time attempting Disneyland with a toddler and I have a very important related question: do they have a poolside bar? Lol I know they have a bar at the hotel but I was hoping to be able to order a drink without leaving the pool area and traipsing through the hotel in my bathing suit. I’m going to need the help unwinding!
We were going to stay here in May but it was double the price of our other choices. We ended up staying 1 night at Disneyland Hotel (for the experience & an early morning to DCA) and then moved to the new Residence Inn Resort convention centre for 5 nights. It was good to try the Disney experience & then move to a spacious apartment with a roof top pool & spa & free breakfast. & we really appreciated a full size fridge. This was still cheaper than 6 nights at the Courtyard.
Unfortunately, the Courtyard can sometimes (often, actually) have astronomical prices that are nearly on par with Paradise Pier Hotel. With the new Residence Inn, Country Inn, and other family suite hotels that keep being built, I can’t imagine these high prices will last. I’d much prefer to stay at the Courtyard, but those prices…
We really enjoyed our stay at the Courtyard in February. We have previously stayed at Paradise Pier, and by booking our package at GetAwayToday, we saved quite a bit of money compared to booking the Disney package at PP.
The large rooms were great. My kids enjoyed the water park. I liked that the pool is only 3.5 feet deep, so I didn’t have to be in the pool constantly with my 7 year old (who is still just learning to swim). However, the pool isn’t all that large, so I would imagine that in the summer it must get pretty crowded – although the water play area may get more use when it’s hotter out to spread the kids around.
One issue we had is that the the first night our kids both slept in the bunk bed, and the top bunk rattled quite a bit. When we got up, I could see that the bunk is designed to lower the top rail (presumably to change the sheets), and the top rail is locked in place at other times. However, my daughter moves around a lot in her sleep and it was noisy. After the first night, she moved to the second queen bed and it wasn’t a problem. However, if you’re planning to sleep 6, make sure that you put a quiet sleeper in the top bunk or get used to the rattling.
I really liked stopping at Panera for breakfast in the morning!
Thanks so much for the great review! We’re still struggling to choose among this Courtyard, the Disneyland Hotel for about the same price, or the Grand Californian for about $500 more. We stayed at the GC once before and loved the proximity. But more space would be nice. And the DH seems much more whimsical. Littles are 10 and 7 and love little kid water slides. Any additional input or direction for us? So confused!
Personally, I’d do Disneyland Hotel if prices are the same, just because being more immersed in the Disneyland Resort experience would be a big selling point for me. However, you’ll definitely have a larger room at Courtyard.
Hey Tom!
Just stumbled upon this hotel, and I see that it now advertises being a “Disney Good Neighbor Hotel”, do we know if they will ever add it to the Disneyland booking site so that you can get the package like you do with the others? We’ve stayed at Fairfield Anaheim previously and everything went great, especially loved that it atleast had Disney theming, but I am LOVING the size and extra features at this one!
Hi Tom,
Thank you for this fantastic review! I just booked a Fireworks-View room for my family of three next March (2017), and I wanted to double check where exactly this room category is located at the hotel. Are the Fireworks-View rooms the ones at the front, directly across from Mimi’s Cafe, which look out onto Harbor Blvd? Or, are they on the other side of the hotel, facing Manchester Ave? Any insight would be very much appreciated! Thank you 🙂
I don’t see any scenario where this new Courtyard wouldn’t be preferable to the PPH. None. Even with that absurd $20 a day valet deal, which can be much more if you take the car out 3-4 times and feel compelled to tip every time. You are quite right, Tom. Anaheim is not LA!
That said, PPH would not be looked at twice by 98% of Disney fans if not for the name on it. I used to stay here regularly last decade for $59-89 a night on AP rates. It obviously was a great deal at those points because of location and even having Yamabuki, a wonderful Japanese restaurant that Disney inherited when they bought the place and have since shuttered for … nothing. Stayed here for a night in August on DVC points and … well, the hotel has barely changed since my last stay in 2007. No comforters on the beds. Flat screens finally replaced the giant tube TVs. And they added beach ball pillows that serve no purpose beyond decoration (and giving fans something to try to steal). Looks like around 2011 or 2012 they came in and put new ‘temp’ carpeting down. The resort (and I use that word lightly) looks like it is: a place Disney isn’t sure will be around in 5 or 10 years and doesn’t want to invest a penny in.
As to the Courtyard, I must ask, when you say you were comped do you go to the hotels and say ‘I own the DisneyTouristBlog and would like to review your property if you give me a free night or two’ or do they see what you do and come to you? I’m just curious and some of your readers here may well be.
Thanks! I can’t wait to read it!
I’m looking forward to trying this hotel in April, glad to see your review! For the dates we’re staying there a fireworks view room is about $100 less per night than even a standard room at Paradise Pier. A basic Courtyard room is about $50 less. It’s closer, and although I’ll be missing out on 1 hour in the mornings, I think the amazing pool area for kids (I have 2!), closer proximity to the maingate, brand new features, and all the amenities (PP doesn’t have a microwave in the rooms) is totally worth the tradeoff. Thanks for the review! By the way – my favorite line from all your reviews… “Forts build character.” Ha!
Yeah, with a $100/night difference, it’s really a no-brainer, I’d say. Enjoy your visit!
This is a little off topic: Are you planning on visiting the new Harry Potter world in Hollywood when it opens? I would love to hear your take on it. Also, have you reviewed any of the hotels around Universal Hollywood? We are what my friends call “Crazy Disney people”, but my kids are HUGE Harry Potter fans and are anxiously awaiting the West Coast version of HP world. So, I guess we are going to have to “cheat on” Disney! Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks! P.S. I love your blog. It is so informational and funny! Keep up the good work!
Yeah, we will definitely be visiting WWoHP at Universal Studios Hollywood. We purchased USH annual passes in December, so we plan on going several times this year. We will probably do a USH Guide once WWoHP opens and we have a chance to see its impact on crowds. If we wrote the guide now, it would need to be redone once Potter opens, as that will have a significant impact on the park.
BTW – USH is worth the price of admission for the Studio Tour alone!
Slightly off-topic, but I just want to warn anyone against the Residence Inn Anaheim Maingate. We stayed there in August 2015, and there was pink mold on the showerheads, grime on the table, and the staff didn’t really care. When we asked them to clean our room, instead of cleaning it, they gave us firewood and towel folded into elephants! No, Residence Inn, that’s not what we asked for. We asked for a CLEAN ROOM.
Residence Inn is an extended stay hotel and you are much more likely to find grimy surfaces in a room where previous guests have been cooking and eating meals. Also, because it’s an aparthotel, housekeeping may not be full service. I suggest that people not stay in rooms with kitchen facilities, and especially not those will full kitchens, unless they are planning on stocking up food in the fridge or cooking their meals in the room. A lot of food has passed through these extended stay hotels and if combined with lackluster housekeeping can up add up to much worse than just moldy showerheads.
Do you think they will offer the free dining for the Fort Wilderness campsites they used to, I’m coming in September with my RV I hope they do but if not that’s ok too I’ll still be there.
Those big supergraphic artworks look tacky to me.
They remind me the ones in the 70’s of forest scenes and ocean scenes that usually were in a room with lots of Macrame and other ahhhh..accessories.
Well, stay away from in chic hotel in California, then, as it’s a pretty common style these days.
This is true. I know it’s trending now. I just hope they would have included a RCA Console TV set, and a Magnavox Odyssey video game system in the room…I already have a functioning SX-70 and Big Shot. (g)
We stayed here for the Avenger’s Half Marathon weekend. I used Marriott points for 5 nights, so the price was not a negative. We had 3 in the room. 5 minute walk to the gate and 10 to the Half Marathon starting line. Beds were great and that bathroom is fantastic. Only downer was we had a room with a view of the interstate. And interstates in Southern California are always busy and noisy. So, request a room with an interior view is my advice.
How long does it take to walk to DLR from this hotel?
@Tom Bricker
the Courtyard Anaheim Theme Park Entrance sets a high block for off-site Disneyland inns, both in quality and cost.
regards
pooja
Thank you for the review. My family of 5 will be staying at this hotel in June. Did you happen to use the free wi-fi? I will need to work during a portion of our vacation, and was wondering if the free wi-fi would be adequate for accessing the internet and sending email.
We’ve stayed there twice already, Sun-Fr, and will be staying there again in June. I thought the hotel was great,but then both times we used our Marriott points to pay for the stay, we’ll see how I feel after shelling out cash in June. Our 4 yo loved the water park, and if you have a front balcony room I’m sure the view of the fireworks is great.
For us, it’s half the price of staying at Paradise Pier if the rooms can accommodate our family of 6 in one room instead of two.
That’s a good point. Even with 2 people, if my only options were this or Paradise Pier Hotel (for the same price), I would take this without hesitation. PPH is so overrated due to it having “Disney” in the name. Take that away from the name and leave everything else the same, and no Disney fans would give that place a second look.
I really like the PPH & have had fantastic Disney service there and my son really enjoys the pool & waterslide. As a family of 3, I offer a counterpoint to your perspective Tom, that for the same price I would much prefer the PPH as it gives me the Extra Magic Hours in the parks & we also have the other perks like the early morning power walk in DCA – which I do as many days as possible when I’m staying at a Disney Hotel. I LOVE that walk through the park before it opens in the morning! And again, I’ve stayed at the PPH 2 or 3 times out of 6 visits and thoroughly enjoyed it every time! It’s so close to the Grand Californian for the DCA entrance too. Anyway, just another perspective – don’t forget those perks!
I’ll concede your point about perks (especially the power walk–totally forgot they did that!).
I won’t about service. A real world hotel at the same price point as PPH will typically, in my experience, offer better experience. I’m talking *substantive* service, not saying, “something something ‘have a magical day.'”
Disney excels at a lot of things, but I’d say they are behind the curve when it comes to service in the hospitality industry.
What I can’t forget about my stays at the PPH are the god-awful elevators. Never less than a 15 minute wait during early morning to get one heading down that isn’t full to the brim, and of course no staircase option to walk down. So irritating. After the second time, we said never again, strictly because of the elevators.