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[pigglyponks]

I've fallen prey to the removal of characters to hotels as I booked way back in January and am visiting in December. We were Golden Forest but are now considering upgrading to the Disneyland Hotel for proximity to park for EMH to see the characters there (have two small children in tow and the mornings will be dark and cold!) and also to lay on that Disney magic for my 7 year old"

What are opinions on the Disneyland hotel? Especially now there will be no characters? Is it worth the extra for a once time only punt? How crowded is the breakfast? It's working out to £110 a night extra. I'm so undecided!

[moonloo]

I personally love it and would love to stay again. I am booked to stay in March and was also originally booked for GF room, however when I found out about the characters, I made the decision to drop down to Santa Fe.
My reasoning for dropping down rather than upgrading are:

1) My children like the Cars theme on SF (we have stayed there 3 times before).
2) Unless you book Castle Club, there are no characters at any hotel (aside from inventions), therefore every hotel will have the same access to the characters at EMH whether you stay at DLR or SF.
3) Distance wise... unless you have a child in arms, puschair or one who needs to take naps during the day, the proximity really is neither here nor there to me sice even SF is only 10 minutes by bus or 15 minutes lovely walk!
The only thing I would add here however, is I can quite see how if it is freeeeeezing in the park, it would be lovely to step out of the gates and be right in your snuggly warm hotel!


The DLH is a beautiful hotel and I would choose to stay there every year if I could, Im sure wherever you go you will have a magical time... Disney at Christmas is amazing!!!!

[pigglyponks]

My youngest child will be just over a year so I might see the benefits! I've thought about the SF too - more money for character meals etc. I think I'm just trying to justify the expense when it's really my dream to stay in DLH not the childrens'!

[minnieme]

The loss of characters has not changed my opinion on staying at the Disneyland Hotel. We first stayed at New York and decided on a one off stay at DLH but ended up going this year too and we are staying there next year.

I love it, and can not fault anything. The staff have always been lovely and the breakfast is amazing. For me it is the proximity to the parks, especially at night after a long day in the parks. This year we only stopped for one character meet at the hotel, so that we could get to the park for EMH.

Breakfast has never been crowded. We always get seated straight away. We went in August this year and it was really busy in the parks, but the hotel was the same as last year in May. If it is busy they opened up the breakfast room they use for the suites for extra space. However, the 2 restaurants provided enough space for breakfast without needing the suites room.

I love the atmosphere, the smell, the location, the rooms and the fact that I don't have to walk through Disney village to get back. Especially as our party has 4 children under the age of 6. It is nice to have the option of nipping back to your room with your little one without losing too much time. It is a beautiful hotel and even without the characters,I think it is worth the extra cost.

[~sarahjayne~]

We stayed at the disneyland hotel a couple of weeks ago, as a one off treat. Up until we went I was still wondering if I had done the right thing, if I would regret the extra cost.
It was amazing, we loved it and are now planning to stay there again!

Breakfast was busy if you like to eat late (which we did one day) but most days we would go around 8 and it was fine, not busy or noisy. Food was great, couldn't fault the service at all.

We found it great to nip back to the hotel, it meant we didn't have to keep tons of things on the pushchair. We also left the pushchair for dreams etc as it wasn't to far to carry our youngest back if she didn't want to walk.

We ate at Inventions twice, again food was great, as was the service.

[pigglyponks]

Thanks for all your advice - we've gone ahead and booked it!! I am super excited!!

We've eaten a character meal at Inventions before, I never dreamed I'd be able to stay there. It's going to make our surprise for DD even sweeter!

Any tips for me there?