The best hotel near Disneyland

Stop sorting through all the endless “near Disneyland” lists — and today I’m going to tell you the BEST hotel located near Disneyland. I’ll also give you 4 other options to round out my top five when you factor in budget and quality. 🙂

But first, how the hell do I know this?

Hi, I’m Hilary — I’m what you call a Disneyland design professional. 🙂 I have stayed or toured all these hotels. I have 3 children, my husband is a teacher and I am a nurse — so budget has always been important to us. I hope this is true for you too.

Grab my Disney Cost Calculator if you think it will help:

I’ll share 3 areas of the “best” nearby hotel — the BEST, the best BUDGET option, and the NICEEST, (with honors too in case it’s full).

What is the BEST hotel near Disneyland?

I have to give this to you Best Western PLUS Park Place Inn.

It’s literally the CLOSEST, has free breakfast and is decent. Is it nice”? No. But it’s doable. I’ve stayed here, and I mostly liked that I could be back in my bed within 5 minutes of leaving the park.

Honorable Mention:

Beyond The Great Californian which wins in another category, I would say The Tropicana. It doesn’t have free breakfast, but the rooms have a folding chair that makes the room sleep 5 people. It’s narrow though. I have done this with 4 adults and 1 child.

When I looked, it was about $80 cheaper than the Best Western.

I know you’re thinking — Hillary, is it a few steps up? — but when you’ve already taken 19,000 steps, each one is one I’m grateful to save!

While we’re here, make sure you bring the right things:

Why aren’t the Disneyland Resort hotels the closest?

There is a big difference between being closest to Disneyland property versus being closest to the front gates of Disneyland or California Adventure.

Here’s a little map I made:

You can also get to where it says “Downtown Disney District” – but those people have to go through all of Downtown Disney – the other pedestrian entrance is a much more direct shot.

If you’re looking for nearby Disneyland hotels — they’re in this order:

Before we continue, the links I’m giving you are through Get Away Today. I have been using them since 1998. I think they are the cheapest, easiest way to book your trip to Disneyland. Have a question – their agents are some of the most knowledgeable out there! If you book a hotel with them, use code CURLS10 to save an extra $10 on your trip!

If actual location is most important to you, check out my posts on hotels near Disneyland:

The best budget hotel closest to Disneyland

I’m a big fan of his Hotel Anaheim. They just redid their rooms to make them all queens (thank goodness). There is a lot of green space and I think it is a nice choice. ALSO, you can cross at the light there and miss the pesky light right there at the pedestrian entrance.

They also have a GIANT pool and pizzeria on site. When I looked, it was about $150/ton less than the Best Western mentioned above.

Honorable Mention:

i love it Castle Inn & Suites. This is a great option if you have a larger party too as they have some suites. My kids LOVED this hotel when they were little — castle themed and fun for the little ones! Pricing is very similar to the Anaheim Hotel and Castle, but the Anaheim Hotel is a bit closer. 🙂

Want more budgeting ideas — check out these posts:

The nicest hotel near Disneyland

The nicest hotel is Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel. It is a beautiful hotel. Lots of great restaurants (including the Craftsman Grill which is one of my favorite budget options).

Failure: It’s a REALLY big hotel — much of the length of Downtown Disney is taken up by this hotel. Meaning, if you have a room at the END of it, your walk is pretty far into the parks. BUT, if you get a room closer to the front, your ride is shorter.

It also has its own entrance to California Adventure, which puts it much closer to there, but further away from Disneyland.

It was also always out of my family’s price range. When I looked, the price was about double that of the Best Western listed first. Personally, that’s just not worth it for a teacher/nurse salary — but it might be worth it for you.

I want to be clear that the other hotels I mentioned are “good”. They are not fancy by any means, but they are clean and tidy for the most part. It’s all about sleeping so you can do Disneyland as easily as possible. HOWEVER, if a “nice” room is important to you – I would check the rates at The Grand or these others….

Honorable Mention: The JW Marriott. I have stayed here. It’s great, the rooms are nice. The price is similar to the Best Western, but it is MUCH nicer.

The other hotels that I would consider nice and nearby:

• The Westin (also great, a bit further)
• Fairfield Inn (I think this is a step up from the rest on this road, still close)
• Yard it’s a favorite of many people, it has a water park and the rooms are nice, but I’m not sure the price is worth it.

Well, there you go. I think the BEST hotel near Disneyland is the Best Western PLUS Park Place Inn — but I also gave you a few other options.

If you’re not sure if any of these are right for you — check out my other posts on hotels near Disneyland….

Be sure to check hotel rates with Get Away Today and use code CURLS10 to save $10 on a hotel/ticket package.