I went to
Disneyland this summer! It was such an amazing trip, as a Walt Disney World veteran getting to visit Walt's park is always special (you can read about my thoughts on the parks
here). While we were visited I stayed at a Disneyland Resort so we could get the benefits that one gets by staying at a Disneyland Resort (early park hours and being close enough you can walk back to your room for a nap or quick refresher). In case you didn't know, Disneyland Resort has 3 resorts -
Disney's Grand California Resort and Spa,
Disneyland Hotel and
Disney's Paradise Pier Hotel. All 3 resorts are within walking distance of both Disneyland Theme Parks and come with unique perks that are extremely beneficial to park goers. This visit to Disneyland, we stayed at Disney's Paradise Pier Hotel. This Resort is quite lovely, has a cute beach theme, and I thoroughly enjoyed our stay there. We were fortunate to stay in a Club Level room as well that allows guests staying in a Club Level room access to the Club Lounge along with other perks.
As soon as you walk into the lobby of Disney's Paradise Pier one is greeted by a familiar face and it also lets you know that you've definitely made your way to a Disney hotel!
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| Hello Surfin Goofy! |
To the left of Goofy is the check-in desk. TO the right of Goofy is the gift shop, restaurant and lounge area. Behind Goofy is the elevator to the resort rooms, arcade and the exit to get to the theme parks. The lobby and check-in area gives off the beach, relax vibe that the hotel is themed around.
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| Front Desk with sun umbrella awnings. |
One of my favorite parts of the lobby is the clear elevator that whisks you away to your room's floor. When we arrived on our floor, the top floor, we were rewarded with this amazing view of
Disney's California Adventure!
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| View from the top of DPP! |
Another cool feature, is the way you get on an elevator. There are key pads and you tap which floor your room is located on and the elevator would tell you which elevator bank to go wait at. There are two other elevators that also reminded you of the beach theme at the resort as they have cute surfboards on the back of the walls. Much to our delight, the hallway carpeting had Hidden Mickies on them!
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| Hidden Mickey Alert! |
The room's at Disney's Paradise Pier are very big- which is great for families as there is plenty of room for everyone to have their own space. Our room had a king bed, a queen-sized couch bed, a desk with chair, an armoire, enclosed closet and a large bathroom.
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| The bed with cute beach ball pillow. |
We didn't sleep on the couch bed, as there was only two of us, but it gave my fiance a spot to sit and relax while he waited on me to get ready.
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| Queen-sized sofa bed. |
The beach touches in the room were perfect, not overwhelming but completely adorable and reminded you that you're staying a beach-themed resort. I mean, how cute is this Mickey Lifeguard Lamp?
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| Cute Mickey lamp. |
The bathroom was even large and spacious. There was only one sink but with only two of us we had no problem with it plus there was plenty of counter space to spread all of our toiletries out on. The tub/shower combo is perfect for families. The shower curtain with the surfboards fits perfectly into the beach theme of the resort. I absolutely loved having the basket under the sink to throw our used towels in (I have no clue as to why all hotels don't do this as the bathroom felt tidier after showers because of this)!
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| Bathroom |
There were complimentary Disney toiletries as well. I love the Disney H2O toiletries and their grapefruit smell. I always know I'm on a Disney vacation by using these!
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| Disney toiletries |
Of course there were Disney touches in the room as well. The bed's coverlet had Mickey heads on them that were subtle enough but definitely noticeable.
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| Zoom in on the bedding for Hidden Mickeys! |
This lamp next to the couch bed combines Disney with the beach theme by placing a Mickey head on a surfboard!
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| Ignore the crooked lamp shade please. |
Disney's Paradise Pier has a rooftop pool with slide and our room happened to have a view over the pool and the firework viewing deck. There are rooms on the pool deck level that have private patios!
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| DPP pool with plenty of seating and shade. |
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| DPP Pool slide! |
The firework viewing deck was the cherry on top of our stay. We spent the first night of our stay there watching the view of the Disneyland Parks fireworks go off as the resort piped in the music.
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| Disneyland Park fireworks from DPP firework viewing deck! |
When you stay in a Club Level room at Disney's Paradise Pier, you have access to the Beach Comber Club which is the lounge was located on the second floor of the resort. There is also an overlook of Goofy down below once you're in the lounge.
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| Sign letting you know you're here! |
The Beach Comber is open for breakfast, snacks in the early afternoon, appetizers and beverages in the early evening and dessert in the evening. There is also a Cast Member desk located in the lounge and they will help you with a variety of things from helping you secure a dining reservation to printing your boarding passes. Breakfast was our most used benefit as the lounge was a perfect spot to make on our way out to the parks in the morning and get a bite to eat. They had a variety of juices, cereal, fruit and pastries in the morning. My favorite was a cup of coffee in the cute Disney cups and a piece of fruit with a bagel!
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| Coffee in the Beach Comber lounge. |
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| Fruit available for breakfast. |
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| A variety of dry cereal and juices were available for breakfast. |
In the early afternoon the Beach Comber offers guests a variety of snacks including bagged snacks, fruit, granola, and cookies.
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| The granola and trail mix available. |
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| Bagged snacks and fruit. |
In the evening the Beach Comber Club serves both hot and cold appetizers plus beverages. During our visit we stopped in for one night and there was (I'm sorry no pictures, I got excited about the food...) hot mini pizzas, a cheese display with breads and crackers. We also enjoyed glasses of sparkling wine for myself and a beer for my fiance.
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| Chocolate Chip Micky Muffins. |
The best treat overall by staying Club Level at Paradise Pier? Was coming home to these guys after a long day in the parks!
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| In room treats for Club Level rooms. |
There are so many
benefits of staying at one of the Disneyland Resorts for your Disneyland Park visit! My personal favorite is the Extra Magic Hour for Disneyland Resort Hotel Guests. Extra Magic Hour allows Resort Hotel Guests into the parks an hour earlier than the general public every day of your hotel stay! This perk alone allowed us to ride all of the major rides (including Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout!) and get FastPass to ride them again - all before the park even opened! Another one of my favorite perks was how easy it was to get to the parks! Disney's Paradise Pier is the hotel located the furthest away from the parks -compared to all 3 of the Disneyland Resorts - and it only took us 10-15 minutes to walk there through Downtown Disney. Some other great parks include Disney Character Dining right at your resort, Disney Character Wake-Up Calls, Preferred Access Reservations to restaurants and Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique, Purchased delivered to your resort and magical in-room celebrations!
Feel like you need to visit Disneyland Resort? Email me, lauren@magicaltravel.com, to
book your Disney Vacation today! As a Disney vacation specialist, let me
put my expert knowledge to your benefit and help you plan a magical vacation.
Combine that with my free planning services, a free Disney Gift card and more -
you're bound to have a magical vacation!
