Halloween & Christmas 2024 Discounts on Hotels of Disneyland Resort

Disneyland has released new hotel discounts for October to December 2024 with room-only deals for the general public, Disney Visa cardholders, and Magic Key Annual Passholders. This post shares the details about the special offers, commentary about savings, staying off-site vs. on-site, and booking recommendations.

These discounts are available at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa, Disneyland Hotel, and the new Villas at Disneyland Hotel. Savings vary based upon both room category, with prices also increasing during busier rate chart seasons.

That last variable has the biggest impact. If you’re a Californian or live in a nearby state and have flexibility in your travel dates, we’d highly recommend visiting Disneyland during a weekday away from the upcoming holiday weeks–Veterans Day, Thanksgiving, or Christmas. The rack rate charts are less expensive and crowds will hopefully be better.

Let’s start with the Disney Visa Cardmembers deal. With this offer, cardholders save up to 25% on select premium rooms at a Disneyland Resort hotel, Sunday to Thursday nights from October 20 through December 19, 2024. Subject to availability and restrictions.

This offer is valid for select premium rooms at these Disneyland Resort hotels:

• Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa
• Disneyland Hotel
• The Villas at Disneyland Hotel

Book now through December 9, 2024. Travel must be completed by December 20, 2024.

A few details are worth emphasizing with the Disney Visa discount. First, you must use a valid Disney Visa Card or Disney Rewards Redemption Card to pay the deposit. If a valid Disney Visa Card or Disney Rewards Redemption Card is not used, the non-discounted room price will be charged for the duration of the stay. Second, the Disney Visa Cardmember must stay in a room on the reservation.

Next up, Magic Key APs. Passholders can save up to 20% on select rooms at a Disneyland Resort hotel, Sunday to Thursday nights from October 20 through December 19, 2024. Subject to availability and restrictions.

This offer is valid for Standard and Premium room types at these Disneyland Resort hotels:

• Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa
• Disneyland Hotel
• The Villas at Disneyland Hotel

Book now through December 9, 2024. Travel must be completed by December 20, 2024.

Valid Magic Key pass must be presented at check-in and Magic Key holder must stay in a room on the reservation. If valid Magic Key pass is not presented, the non-discounted room price will be charged for the duration of the stay.

Finally, the general public can save up to 15% on select rooms at a hotel of the Disneyland Resort, Sunday to Thursday nights from October 20 through December 19, 2024. Subject to availability and restrictions.

This offer is valid for Standard and Premium room types at these Disneyland Resort hotels:

• Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa
• Disneyland Hotel
• The Villas at Disneyland Hotel

Book now through December 9, 2024. Travel must be completed by December 20, 2024.

These offers are not valid for select Concierge rooms, Signature or Premium suites, or 2- or 3-Bedroom Villas. Not valid on previously booked rooms. Beyond that, normal exclusions and terms and conditions apply with all of these Disneyland Resort discount. Savings based on the non-discounted price for the same room type at the same hotel. Subject to availability as the number of rooms allocated for this offer is limited.

These discounts cannot be combined with any other hotel discounts or offers; savings exclude applicable fees and taxes. Limit two rooms per reservation and occupancy restrictions apply per room. Savings are not available on signature suites or on previously booked rooms.

This is (at least) the fourth consecutive discount that hasn’t included anything for Paradise Pier/Pixar Place Hotel. That’s a byproduct of demand, as Disneyland fans crave new things to experience, and Pixar Place Hotel fits the bill.

But Pixar Place Hotel also STILL is not done! Yes, you read that correctly. The reimagined hotel that held its grand opening back in January still isn’t finished as of Fall 2024. So this is also a matter of supply. Many of the guest rooms are still in the process of being transformed, meaning the available inventory is also lower than normal.

I actually liked Pixar Place Hotel reasonably well and think it’s a marked improvement over its predecessor, as you can read about in our full Pixar Place Hotel Review. Regardless, I’d certainly book Grand Californian or Disneyland Hotel at a discount over Pixar Place Hotel at full price. My hope is that Pixar Place Hotel will need to start offering discounts at some point once the supply/demand imbalance is resolved, but I’m also concerned that it’ll see rate hikes once fully finished. (We did a hotel tour over the summer during which one of the managers of PPH stated as much.)

Unlike the last few months, this is peak season for Disneyland, so they really don’t need to do much to incentivize hotel bookings.

Accordingly, I’m not going to bother with a rundown of the cheapest dates this deal is available. If you’re a true bargain hunter, you should either stay off-site or wait until early 2025 rolls around and better discounts are offered.

As a general matter, if you’re looking for less expensive dates, avoid the big holiday weeks: Veterans Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. (Or rather, the final week before Christmas, since it ends prior to the actual heart of the holiday season.) Late October, mid-November, and early December are going to be your best bets.

To that point, there are a ton of great off-site hotels that are within walking distance to the parks and cost much less money than the three Hotels of Disneyland Resort. As you can see in our Disneyland Area Hotel Rankings & Reviews, some of these even rank higher than the off-site hotels. We just overhauled these rankings in Fall 2024 and added several new hotels, while removing ones that we simply do not recommend.

Just keep in mind that October through December is also going to be a popular time at the third party hotels in Anaheim, so you’re going to be paying premium prices pretty much no matter where you book. Still not nearly as much as the three official hotels would set you back, but much more than the same accommodations would cost in early February 2025.

If you’re looking to book a third party hotel, we do not recommend going through Disneyland’s Good Neighbor search engine, as that’ll cost you more. Instead, consider booking a discounted hotel + ticket vacation package via Get Away Today. In addition to the package discount, some hotels have ‘4th night free’ promos.

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. This is in addition to any package or bundle savings on tickets and hotels. A lot of these third party hotels will have great rates during the late summer and early fall off-season, as pent-up demand is slowing and that isn’t a big time for travel to Anaheim (or conventions), anyway.

If it’s a once in a lifetime trip or special occasion and you’re dead set on staying on-site, we’d highly recommend going with Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa. It’s typically the most expensive of the trio, but it’s also the most “worth it” from our perspective. The Grand Californian is a true luxury resort and thematic gem–think of it as the best parts of Wilderness Lodge and Grand Floridian, combined in a single hotel.

Grand Californian is the nicest hotel in Anaheim, and one of the best hotels in Orange County, period–and there’s strong competition in Newport and Laguna Beach. I’ve also found myself drawn more to the Craftsman style over the years, and love exploring the quiet corners of the Grand Californian.

As with Walt Disney world, we recommend requesting a fee-free Disneyland vacation price quote from Be Our Guest Vacations. Those Authorized Disney Vacation Planners will do the work for you and take the stress out of planning, finding the cheapest dates (if you so desire), making recommendations with plans, booking dining reservations, and monitoring your reservation for better discounts (it’s not going to get better than this).

We love Disneyland Hotel, but it’s just not on the same level as GCH. It’s a sentimental favorite, a love letter to Walt Disney and his original theme park that fans will adore. However, it’s just not as high of a caliber of a hotel when viewed objectively. DLH is also not nearly as close to the parks–Grand Californian’s private entrance into DCA is huge.

On a positive note, construction on the new tower for the Villas at Disneyland Hotel is now finished, so at least that’s no longer an issue. Goofy’s Kitchen does a great breakfast, if that interests you (and if you’re able to score reservations). Still, that plus Tangaroa Terrace and Trader Sam’s are not even remotely on par with the dining scene at the Grand Californian. The loss of Steakhouse 55 still looms large.

For a more thorough comparison between Disneyland Resort’s two hotel heavy-hitters, see Disneyland Hotel vs. Grand Californian.

On the plus side, there have been a few big on-site perks introduced recently beyond entrances into the parks or being part of the Disneyland “bubble” (to the extent one exists). Early Entry is the biggest selling point of the Hotels of Disneyland Resort, and is now offered every other day at each park (meaning it’s still daily–but no longer in both parks every day).

We’ve taken advantage of this in both parks, and share the experience in our posts about Early Entry at Disneyland and Early Entry at Disney California Adventure. Suffice to say, it’s a nice advantage for Fantasyland or Avengers Campus, while also offering a strategic starting point for Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge and Cars Land.

Ultimately, Early Entry is an on-site perk that could tip the scales in favor of staying at one of the Disneyland Resort Hotels if you’re on the fence. With that said, all of these on-site hotels are pretty pricey, and that perk alone isn’t enough to justify the on-site stay. The better/easier justification is simply because you want to, whether that means a single-night “treat yo self” stay or going all-out on a deluxe Disneyland vacation.

If you’ve never done Disneyland and want the quintessential first-visit experience, we’d recommend splurging on a brief stay at Grand Californian or Disneyland Hotel if it’s in your budget. If not, you’ll still have a fantastic experience. Either way, saving a bit of money always helps, and that’s what these discounts offer. That’s about it in terms of current Disneyland discounts and our thoughts on booking a stay at one of the on-site hotels in the coming months.

Planning a Southern California vacation? For park admission deals, read Tips for Saving Money on Disneyland Tickets. Learn about on-site and off-site hotels in our Anaheim Hotel Reviews & Rankings. For where to eat, check out our Disneyland Restaurant Reviews. For unique ideas of things that’ll improve your trip, check out What to Pack for Disney. For comprehensive advice, consult our Disneyland Vacation Planning Guide. Finally, for guides beyond Disney, check out our Southern California Itineraries for day trips to Los Angeles, Laguna Beach, and tons of other places!

Your Thoughts

What do you think of the holidays 2024 hotel discounts for Disneyland Resort? Do you feel like these rates for the Grand Californian and Disneyland Hotel are fair, or still overpriced? Is there availability for your dates? Is 10% to 25% off enough to convince you to book a trip, or are these prices still too high? How do you feel about off-site third party accommodations near Disneyland? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment? Any questions? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!