Best Hotels Near Disneyland

This guide to accommodations near Disneyland ranks the 10 best hotels within walking distance of the California parks, weighs pros & cons of staying off-site v. on-site, perks of choosing an official DLR hotel, which options are best at Anaheim Convention Center. (Updated March 8, 2020.)

When Disneyland vacation planning, there are a ton of options: Good Neighbor Hotels, Disneyland Hotel, Paradise Pier Hotel, Grand Californian Hotel, or one of the cheaper hotels on Harbor Boulevard? We regularly tour and stay in hotels near Disneyland, and update this post regularly with thoughts on the benefits and drawbacks of hotels around Disneyland.

In addition to this post, which focuses heavily on whether you should stay off-site or on-site, we have a much more comprehensive list that shares all of our Anaheim hotel experiences, including hotel room photos, pros & cons, and a numerical score for each hotel. For that, check out our Disneyland/Anaheim Hotel Review & Rankings list. It’s very long, but thorough!

If you’re thinking of a Disneyland trip in 2020, we should point out that hotel prices are starting to drop. Several events have cancelled at the Anaheim Convention Center due to the coronavirus outbreak, and we expect this trend to continue. As these events are huge drivers of hotel occupancy in Southern California, it’s likely that discounts will become abundant with hotel bookings crater.

We’ll refrain from offering guidance as to whether you should visit Disneyland right now (see our Visiting Disney During the Coronavirus Outbreak for more info), as we are not public health experts. We will simply note that you’re likely to experience lower crowds than normal–even during times that are normally peak season, like spring break and summer vacation.

Get Away Today already has some great package discounts, and more are likely on the way. Some hotels have ‘4th night free’ promos, and you can save an extra $10 by using code TOURIST at checkout (valid on 2-night and longer stays). Click here to check out the package discounts available.

If you’re willing to roll the dice, consider using the app Hotel Tonight to book a hotel at the last minute for maximum savings. Along those lines, Priceline Express Deals has some great deals already if you don’t mind using a ‘blind booking’ site. No matter what approach you take, we anticipate rooms under $100 per night to become the norm in the coming weeks and months.

With that said, we will start off with our favorite hotels near Disneyland in a variety of categories, and then discuss the reasons to stay on-site versus the big advantage of staying off-site…

10 Best Hotels Near Disneyland

We’ve stayed at every on-site Disneyland hotel and most of the Good Neighbor Disneyland hotels and other off-site hotels within walking distance of the Disneyland Esplanade. Thus far, we’ve reviewed over 40 of these. One thing we really want to stress is that not all hotels near Disneyland are equal.

Many are relics from a different era when most of the hotels near Disneyland were shady motels that thrived simply due to their location and the fact that people would book them regardless. We’ve stayed at many of these, and have had some downright creepy experiences.

Other hotels near Disneyland are brand new, built during a huge construction boom that began post-Cars Land and continues to this day, and will likely for years to come now that Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge is open. While these hotels tend to be a bit pricier, they also are considerably nicer. Along those same lines, many older motels have been renovated in the last several years, elevating their quality.

With that said, here are our favorite hotels near Disneyland, along with the strengths of each hotel. Clicking the name of each hotel will open our full review in a new tab (which includes room photos and more), so click away!

1. Best Western Plus Park Place

• Closest hotel to Disneyland (less than 10 minute walk)
• Good pricing, nice bedding, and free breakfast
• Click here to book discounted rates at Best Western Plus Park Place Inn 

2. Residence Inn Anaheim Resort

• Great for families on a budget wanting more space, but not two separate rooms
• Brand new hotel built last year
• Click here to book discounted rates at Residence Inn Anaheim Resort

3. Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa

• Private park entrance to Disney California Adventure
• Lavish and posh Californian design…albeit with the highest prices of any hotel in Anaheim
• Click here to request a price quote on a Grand Californian Hotel vacation package

4. Best Western Plus Anaheim Inn

• Great location within a 10 minute walk
• Very similar to BW Park Place in all regards–but usually cheaper
• Click here to book discounted rates at Best Western Plus Anaheim Inn 

5. Courtyard Anaheim Theme Park Entrance

• Nicest off-site rooms of any hotel near Disneyland
• Large family suites are expensive–but a good alternative to on-site options
• Click here to book discounted rates at Courtyard Anaheim Theme Park Entrance

6. Disneyland Hotel

• Perfect rooms and themed environment for Disney fans, plus a great pool
• Very expensive given a walk that’s longer than many off-site hotels
• Click here to request a price quote on a Disneyland Hotel vacation package

7. Park Vue Inn

• Short walk to Disneyland
• Charming California mission style
• Click here to book Park Vue Inn

8. Springhill Suites Anaheim Resort

• Spacious family suites with modern decor, nice bedding, and sectional couches
• Great value for the amenities
• Click here to book discounted rates at the Springhill Suites Anaheim Resort

9. Four Points by Sheraton Anaheim

• Great for couples without kids who want an in-hotel bar and other upgraded amenities
• Fourth night free!
• Click here to book discounted rates at Four Points by Sheraton Anaheim

10. Hyatt House Anaheim

• Chic and stylish decor plus large rooms
• Great for travelers wanting more space on a moderate budget
• Click here to book discounted rates at Hyatt House Anaheim

Many of our favorite hotels near Disneyland can be booked via Get Away Today at a discount. If you bundle tickets into your hotel stay, you’ll get an even better deal. You can check package prices here.

If you’ve already read our Tips for Saving Money on Disneyland Tickets post, you know we recommend Get Away Today as a safe way to buy discounted Disneyland tickets, so this is essentially “double-dipping” as you save even more money by purchasing a package that includes a hotel stay and tickets.

Hope this list of the best hotels near Disneyland helps narrow down your decision! If you’re still debating whether to stay off-site or on-site, here are the pros and cons of each…

Reasons to Stay On-Site

Environment – For us, the most compelling reason for staying on-site is that staying in a Disney-owned hotel keeps you fully immersed in that “magical” Disney environment. Many people discuss liking to be inside the “Disney Bubble” when on vacation, and at Disneyland, that’s only possible at the Disney-owned hotels.

They each have their own restaurants, Disney details, and can generally be accessed without seeing the rest of the “real” world. You won’t see Denny’s or Coldstone Ice Cream as you head directly from the Grand Californian Hotel right into its theme park entrance. You won’t find theming to an arts & crafts movement-era National Park lodge or a monorail pool at the off-site hotels, either.

For some people, this is a big deal. For others, it’s not. If this does not matter to you, there’s honestly zero reason to pay a significant premium for a Disney hotel. They’re significantly more expensive, and don’t offer an advantage in terms of perks or proximity to the parks. If this does matter to you, strongly consider a Disney hotel.

While we tend to side with those who want to be immersed in the Disney Bubble as much as possible, that is not practical for us. Due to the high cost of the three official Disneyland hotels, we usually stay off-site at Disneyland in the hotels right across from Disneyland Resort on Harbor Boulevard.

If there was less of a price gap or Disney hotels offered more perks, that might tip the scales for us, but it’s so hard to justify paying an extra $300+ per night to stay in a Disney hotel just for the bubble. Your mileage may vary on that, though.

Perks – With the exception of the Disney theming in the hotel, the biggest on-site perk is the Extra Magic Hour benefit. The Extra Magic Hour perk is a nice way to experience some attractions in the morning one hour before the park opens to regular guests.

As far as on-site perks go, that’s it. Even the Extra Magic Hour is not all that magical. On many mornings, it’s not necessary, or doesn’t offer much of an advantage over sleeping in and rope-dropping the park that does not have the Extra Magic Hour.

There are no evening Extra Magic Hours at Disneyland, and during the Extra Magic Hour only select attractions are open. If you’re staying off-site, you can have just as much of an advantage by rope-dropping the park that is not offering Extra Magic Hours.

The only scenario in which Extra Magic Hour really makes an actual difference is with Cars Land. It can help minimize waits for Radiator Springs Racers, and also make it easier to experience other popular draws like Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: BREAKOUT!

However, as we discuss below, rope dropping Disney California Adventure on a non-Extra Magic Hour morning offers pretty much the exact same opportunity…

Reasons to Stay Off-Site

Cost – What’s the saying? “Money talks.” Disneyland doesn’t have Value Resorts. Rack rates start at around $300 per night for both Disneyland Hotel and Disney’s Paradise Pier Hotel and can exceed $600/night. Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel and Spa is crazy-expensive (think of it as the sister resort of Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa), exceeding $600/night during many times of the year.

During the busiest times of the year at Disneyland, rooms in these hotels can cost much more. Just check out the rates for a summer weekend in the graphic above. Those are starting rates for a standard room. If you want a suite or something special, you’re paying even more! Unfortunately, Disneyland has a serious shortage of on-site hotel rooms (they are in the process of building another hotel, but that won’t be done until 2021), so prices are often in exorbitant territory.

By contrast, off-site hotel rooms near Disneyland, are not nearly as expensive–and many of them are actually closer you the parks! These hotels can be a ~10 minute walk to the parks and priced around $150/night, making them ‘value’ options, of sorts.

Note that off-site hotels can creep up in price, too. The hotel shortage in the area even impacts off-site prices during tourist seasons (think any time school is out of session), as well as when there is a convention at the Anaheim Convention Center. For this reason, we recommend booking a hotel near Disneyland far in advance most of the time. (Excepts to this are the off-season, such as late August through early October and January through early March–last minute bargains can be found then.)

Distance to the Parks – The most compelling reason is that you can typically find an off-site hotel that is closer to Disneyland Resort than an on-site hotel. Sort of makes the terms off-site and on-site misnomers, right? Although Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel and Spa is the closest hotel to Disneyland Resort, there are several hotels directly across the street from Disneyland Resort’s Esplanade (the open area between the two parks) that are a five minute walk to the turnstiles.

Even if you’re hotel does happen to be further from the Esplanade than Disneyland Hotel or Paradise Pier Hotel (which are both around 10-15 minutes away), there’s still a good chance your hotel will be within walking distance. You can–and should–easily be able to book a hotel within walking distance from Disneyland. Even if for some reason you book a hotel that isn’t within walking distance, chances are you can cheaply get to it via a hotel shuttle that it offers, or the Anaheim Resort Transit.

Since Disneyland can’t meet all of the needs of guests with its three hotels, Disneyland has a better working relationship with many “Good Neighbor Hotels” in the area. Due to the difference in pricing, Disneyland Resort does not even consider the off-site hotels competition (most people are not choosing between a $600/night room at the Grand Californian and a $125/night room at Alpine Inn!); this is unlike the Value Resorts at Walt Disney World, which are direct competition to the off-site hotels in Florida. Because of this, Disneyland tries to work with off-site hotels instead of competing with them.

Few On-Site Benefits – If you’re a Walt Disney World regular who stays on site there for the perks offered there to on-site guests, don’t expect anything comparable at Disneyland. There are no evening Extra Magic Hours. There is no Disney’s Magical Express. Walking is the best way to get to Disneyland, so the transportation system at Disneyland isn’t as important. The Disney Dining Plan that you can book when staying at Walt Disney Word isn’t offered at Disneyland.

We already covered the Extra Magic Hour above, but there’s another, similar perk for off-site guests. The (sorta?) good news is that even if you don’t stay on-site, you can be eligible for Magic Mornings. As with the Extra Magic Hour, we aren’t huge fans of Magic Mornings, as they tend to offer little actual advantage over skipping the perk and simply doing regular rope drop.

Magic Mornings function similarly to the Extra Magic Hour, except are open to anyone with a qualifying 3+ day ticket. Currently, Magic Mornings occur only at Disneyland on Tuesday, Thursday or Saturday. You might notice these are exactly the same days as Extra Magic Hours. On these days, you have a lot of people getting up early to go to Disneyland to take “advantage” of what they think is a special perk.

It’s to the point where you’re actually better off skipping this perk and rope-dropping Disney California Adventure on these mornings. With so many people heading to Disneyland for this special access, DCA is actually very quiet on those days. In other words, the Extra Magic Hour and Magic Mornings are pretty much a perk in name only. The actual advantage they offer is illusory.

The upside to the lack of perks for on-site hotels at Disneyland Resort is that they are not really needed in the first place. The entire Anaheim Resort District (which includes Disneyland Resort and the off-site hotels) is far more compact than Walt Disney World, and is fairly easy to navigate entirely by foot. Moreover, Disneyland has that laid back “Californian” atmosphere, and requires far less planning, in general.

Conclusion

Off-site hotels are cheaper, can be just as close to the parks, and offer most of the same perks as on-site Disney-owned hotels with the very big exception of early access. The actual biggest reason to stay in a Disney-owned hotel at Disneyland is if you want the Disney theming and environment.

For some, myself included, this is a big part of the experience of visiting the Disney theme parks. However, when that aspect of the experience is so costly, we’ll usually stay off-site. The cost difference and lack of on-site perks is just too much to overlook. While we always stay on-site at Walt Disney World, the off-site accessibility to Disneyland and the comparative lack of perks for staying on-site makes staying on-site at Disneyland less appealing to us.

If you’re still unsure of where to stay, we’d encourage you to read our full post that Ranks & Reviews Hotels Near Disneyland. In these reviews, you can see photos of the rooms and the premises, plus our analysis of whether each hotel is worth staying at, to whom it will appeal, and what our ideal nightly price point is for each hotel. We think these reviews will be really helpful if you’re thinking of booking a hotel near Disneyland.

As for figuring out the rest of your Disneyland trip, including how to save money on Disneyland tickets, our Disney packing tips, the best restaurants for dining at Disneyland, and a number of other things, check out our comprehensive Disneyland Vacation Planning Guide!

Your Thoughts…

Do you normally stay on-site or in a nearby off-site hotel at Disneyland Resort? Which hotel in Anaheim is your favorite? Any hotels you don’t recommend? Has your opinion on off-site v. on-site changed since Cars Land opened in Disney California Adventure? Any questions? Hearing from readers is both helpful and interesting, so please share your thoughts in the comments!