Disneyland Resort has a number of factors to consider while planning a trip. Where to buy tickets, where to eat, what to do in the parks and more needs to be figured out. Before all of that is decided, one of the first things to square away is where you’re going to stay. In this post,  we’ll take a basic look at four different possibilities of where to stay when taking a trip to Disneyland Resort.

It probably goes without saying that there are more than four places to stay around Disneyland. There are close to 100 hotels within a mile radius of the parks. Heck, our friends and family would tell you that staying with us is a solid option. Unfortunately, we aren’t able to offer our home as accommodation for people we haven’t met, I hope you forgive us.

Instead of listing seemingly endless options, I’m dividing all of the different options into four different categories – on-site hotels, Good Neighbor Hotels (and others within walking distance of Disneyland), rental houses and elsewhere in Southern California. We do have more in-depth posts about some in these categories, specifically on-site hotels as well as pros and cons within the blurb for each category. Think of this as a jumping off point, a quick entry into the array of Disneyland lodging options!

If you have questions about specific places or what I’d recommend then please let me know in the comments. I do think all of these options fit into a certain vacation and I’ll briefly touch on that in each section. Let’s get to it!

On-Site Disneyland Resort Hotels

Compared to Walt Disney World and their 20+ choices of hotels, Disneyland Resort has slim pickings. There are 3 Disney owned hotels at Disneyland Resort – Disneyland Hotel, the Grand Californian and Pixar Place Hotel. With the lack of options, that means these hotels cost a pretty penny. Pixar Place Hotel is the value option but still falls in the $400/night range, if not higher. Disneyland Hotel and the Grand Californian are very expensive with the latter sitting in the $700-$800 range and the former sitting somewhere in the $500-$600 per night range. Granted, prices vary depending on the time of year.

Those prices are a non-starter for many guests, and understandably so. If you are able to splurge, there are a few benefits to staying at one of these spots. The location is close to the parks, especially at the Grand Californian where the hotel sits alongside California Adventure. On-site hotel guests also receive one complimentary Lightning Lane entry at the parks per night of stay. There are also character meet & greets as well as other events.

While we don’t think these hotels are often worth their price, all 3 are very nice places to stay. The Grand Californian is among the prettiest Disney hotels in the world and the others offer plenty of character and history. If you have the means, I think everyone would be happy with any of the Disney owned hotels at Disneyland Resort.

Disneyland Good Neighbor Hotels

How do you offset the price? Staying at a non-Disney hotel that’s near the two theme parks. There are a number of hotels, both big brand names and locally owned hotels, that are within walking distance of the parks. Prices can be cheaper at these places while offering pretty nice rooms, in some cases.

Technically, there are specific Disneyland Good Neighbor Hotels and others that aren’t affiliated with the resort but are close by. There aren’t really any benefits of staying at a place with the Good Neighbor designation, guests can do vacation package through the Disneyland website going that route but that doesn’t really save money.

There are so many hotels near Disneyland with a wide range of quality. Trust the hotel ratings on websites. Many of these hotels have an excellent location, being just as close to the parks as some of the Disney owned hotels. A number of them are significantly cheaper or offer a different type of room than you can find otherwise. Frankly, we think this category is the best to explore for most people that are planning a Disneyland trip.

Rental Houses

Along the lines of off-site hotels are rental houses, many of which are within walking distance of Disneyland Resort. Disneyland is inside of busy Anaheim and in the bustling Southern California so there are a number of neighborhoods that are really close to the parks. That’s where we find quite a few rental homes. If you’re visiting the area with a group over 5 people, this is a really enticing option thanks to the roomier accommodations.

There are a number of homes that have a Disneyland theme to them, if that’s your things. There are also options that include private pools, plenty of size and more. If you’re staying with a larger group and are planning for more stops in your trip that are outside of Disneyland, a rental house makes a lot of sense.

Elsewhere in Southern California

Maybe Disneyland Resort is just a small part of your trip. Staying other places outside of Anaheim is certainly a viable option. There are a number of beautiful beach cities nearby! Los Angeles is typically an hour drive away in the mornings, which is doable for a day or two of your trip. In terms of hotels and rental houses elsewhere, there are thousands of options in the area.

Staying away from Anaheim will give you more price variance, with options all over the literal map. The downsides are fairly obvious and I’d caution against staying a distance away from Disneyland Resort if you’re planning to spend multiple days in a row there. Traffic in the area is very real and theme park days can make people tired and grouchy. If some in your group want to leave at 8 while the others want to leave at 11 then that’s fine to navigate for a day. When that happens for the third day in a row then the trip becomes much harder. But that might be worth it if you want to explore other places throughout the area.

Those are the options for where to stay at Disneyland Resort! It’s not as cut and dry as simply finding the right spot for you and yours in a Disney owned hotel and, chances are, there is an option for all sorts of budgets and group sizes.

Where do you like to stay at Disneyland Resort? Let us know your thoughts, along with any questions you might have, in the comments below! If you are planning a trip to Disneyland Resort then check out our planning guide. Looking for discount Disneyland tickets? Check out this site! If you enjoy what you are reading here on Wandering in Disney please share this post with your friends, as well as like our social media pages. You can also subscribe to the blog via WordPress or email. You can do all of that on the right side of this page. Thank you for reading, we really appreciate it!