Non-Disney hotel advice for August trip

[TP2000]

Thank you for all of the advice. I decided to keep the reservation at HoJo due to its closer location to the parks. A shorter walk will be greatly appreciated after a long day at the parks.

Good choice.

Mimi's Cafe is a very good spot for lunch or dinner.
Panera Bread next door is obvious.
McDonald's will do in a pinch, but it's very busy at peak times and has long lines and waits.
Pizza Press is worth the five minute walk south down Harbor for hipster-fun and very good handmade personal pizzas. Also an impressive local craft beer list.
Do NOT stop at the Pizzaterian place on the way, walk the extra 50 yards to Pizza Press on Disney Way.

Avoid Captain Kidd's like the plague.

 

[TP2000]

So you can't even walk into the lobby? (That would be absurd.) Or just can't enter the park without having a GC room card?

Can you enter GC from the park, say to eat at a restaurant?

Sounds silly to me, and a loss of potential revenue gift shop revenue.

You can't walk in off the street without a room key. You can enter via the Downtown Disney gate without a room key. It's part of the new security perimeter around the resort that changed after the San Bernardino terrorist attack.

And you have to have a room key to enter DCA via the Grand gate.

 

[Disneyfan1981]

Personally we live by The Candy Cane Inn which is located behind DCA (you can see the Guardians tower from the lobby and "walk past it" while you head to the parks. It's about a 6 minute walk but the prices are fairly cheap about $160 a night but we get a discount for having Disney APs, they also offer AAA and other discounts like that, and the rooms are fairly good size. They offer free continental breakfast which saves us a good amount of money and you get a $10 off a night coupon for staying which is good if you visit more than once in a calendar year.

 

[5thGenTexan]

Not sure if you have kids, but the HOJO water play area was a huge hit with mine.

One year we purposely stayed at the HoJo just for the water play area. They had so much fun, they didn't even want to go into Disneyland.

Water play area was at the top of the list why we picked the HoJo. For around $200 a night, it was a heck of a deal. Walk was a little long at the end of the day carrying a tired 5 year old though.

 

[Figments Friend]

I like to stay at a couple of places located on W. Katella Ave, which runs on Disneyland properties' Southern edge.
It's a palm tree lined area and a nice quick walk to the Parks or DTD.

What I like about it is several of the hotel / motels on that strip have lower rates for us budget travelers.
The most appealing aspect however is it is close enough to the action and the Parks to walk to , but just far enough away to stay out of the touristy scene and crowds of Harbor Blvd.

-

 

[75disney]

Water play area was at the top of the list why we picked the HoJo. For around $200 a night, it was a heck of a deal. Walk was a little long at the end of the day carrying a tired 5 year old though.

The water play area was one of the reasons that I initially picked the HoJo. I have 2 girls who should love it.

 

[thomas998]

The Hilton is literally in front of, on the same block as, the Anaheim Convention Center, which itself is literally behind DCA. The walk from the Hilton is convenient, especially if you choose to walk around the Western edge of DCA and enter through the Great Californian Lodge or through the adjacent Downtown Disney. The Great Californian has a direct entrance into DCA as well as an entryway to Downtown Disney (which at DL is essentially the westernmost plaza between the two parks, which face each other. You literally exit on park and face the entrance to the other. The monorail can take you from Downtown Disney to Tomorrowland in DL Park, or just walk the distance from WDW's monorail to the MK to go in.

I believe that the HoJo is more centrally located to the between-park plaza, but the Hilton is still not far and is a pleasant walk if you go around the western way I just mentioned. So, I think either one would work. It is all within a two-block radius of the plaza (think the farthest being the distance of the Contemporary from the MK).

Don't assume you can enter DCA through the Californian entrance. I have seen in the past where they would not let people use it that were not staying in a Disney resort. Not sure if they still do that or even when they do it but I do remember having to show our room keys sometimes where we used that entrance. If you are going to DL from Hilton and going toward the Californian I would pass by the hotel and hit the monorail in Downtown Disney, its normally has shorter lines than you find at the park entrance and will drop you off well inside the park avoiding the hassles of the main entrance.