Some questions for those familiar with DLR...

[DABIGCHEEZ]

Still thinking of a possible first trip, I have a few questions...

1) If I stay off property where exactly is the pedestrian entrance? Can I walk through DTD or is there a alternate entrance to use?

2) I assume the Monorail does not operate until the park opens... but after park opening can one take it from DTD to the Nemo Station in MK? If so, I assume there are ticket scanners at DTD station?

3) Looking on google... what exactly is going in the cleared out area next to the parking garage?

 

[SteamboatJoe]

I stayed off site at the Fairfield Inn on South Harbor Boulevard this past summer. Walked every day and crossed at the main crossing in front of IHOP. It was easy. Just use common sense and be aware you are in a city and there will be homeless people.

As far as I know, you have to go through security any time you want to access DTD or the promenade between the parks. Ped access on the Disneyland Drive side, at least from the south, seemed more convoluted because there isn't a direct route to the security checkpoint. If there is one, I didn't see it. Can't speak for ped access from the parking garage, no experience with it.

 

[Rich T]

The Pedestrian entry is through the security checks on either side of the resort, leading to Downtown Disney on the DL Hotel side (from that side, you do have to walk through Downtown Disney) and more directly to the promenade from the Harbor side.

Yes, there are ticket scanners at the DTD monorail station for entering or reentering the park.

Someone else has to take the construction question.

 

[Nextinline]

Staying off property, most likely you'll be East of the park and will cross Harbor at the IHOP as SteamboatJoe mentioned . Motels along Harbor are very convenient for this reason. You will walk less than staying "On-property" in most cases.

If you are staying West of Disneyland, you'll enter at the Disneyland Hotel at the far side of DTD. From this side, you'll have easy access to the Monorail for park entry, or you can walk through the entire length of DTD. If you walk from the parking garage, this would also be your route. However, the parking garage provides tram service to the esplanade, so walking isn't necessary.

Some of the local hotels also provide shuttle service to the park.

The construction next to the parking garage is............... another parking garage

 

[BubbaQuest]

Hopefully this map helps a bit.

• The blue area is the Disney hotels. The blue arrow shows the entry to the central plaza via DTD.
• The green area is the non-Disney hotels closest to DLR. The green arrow shows the entry to the central plaza via Harbor Blvd. DTD stops at the end of the blue arrow, so if you are entering through Harbor Blvd you will not walk through DTD (which sometimes can be a good thing to save time).
• The yellow area is other non-Disney hotels that are still walkable, but not as convenient as the green areas. The main disadvantage on the west side is you can no longer walk through the Grand Californian hotel. This means you have to cross the street to the DL Hotel side and then enter through DTD. Also a majority of the non-Disney restaurants are in the green zone.
• I've marked the DTD Monorail station (M). It really doesn't help much unless you are staying at the DLH.

Hope this helps. Have a great trip!!

 

[wild01ride]

The others above covered all the important points (esp. @BubbaQuest !) but I will echo the fact that it is not a bad walk from any of these areas.
I stayed at each of:
*Springhill Suites (at Ball and Walnut - upper left of the map above); Less traveled walk that borders a residential area.
I didn't find any problems with the walk but it could make a single traveler uncomfortable making the walk back late at night.
*Courtyard on Harbor Blvd. on the East side of the park and North of Disney Way (one of the nicer Courtyards and probably nicest
hotels in general on the East border of the Park)
*Fairfield on Harbor - right next to the Courtyard. Not as "fancy" as the Courtyard but usually less $, has an available breakfast and has
some pretty awesome views of the Parks from the upper floors (hotel room doors are motel-style, outside of the building
*Anaheim Marriott Convention Center - this is Southwest of the Harbor/Katella intersection. It's a very nice hotel with multiple
restaurant options, a Lounge/Bar, nice pool area, a Market area for counter service, grab and go, etc. It's a slightly farther walk
than the Courtyard and Fairfield but also well worth it in my opinion, particularly because of the fact that it is often much less $ than
the inflated prices of the Courtyard and Fairfield.

Let me know if you have any specific questions about those hotels. I've been to all but the Springhill several times.

 

[Ismael Flores]

lets see if this helps, if you know where you are staying we might be able to give you the best walking route. most motels and hotels are either on the eastern side of the resort and south side of the resort. The western side is mostly residential and a few of the hotels are on the north side and require a bit more of planning. The city has shuttles throughout the area that might simplify the walk

green = security checkpoints
yellow = possible walking routes
red monorail station with its own ticket gate.

i didn't mark the entrance thru the Grand Californian because i am not sure if they are still enforcing the reservation only access thru the main door of the hotel.

 

[SteamboatJoe]

The others above covered all the important points (esp. @BubbaQuest !) but I will echo the fact that it is not a bad walk from any of these areas.
I stayed at each of:
*Springhill Suites (at Ball and Walnut - upper left of the map above); Less traveled walk that borders a residential area.
I didn't find any problems with the walk but it could make a single traveler uncomfortable making the walk back late at night.
*Courtyard on Harbor Blvd. on the East side of the park and North of Disney Way (one of the nicer Courtyards and probably nicest
hotels in general on the East border of the Park)
*Fairfield on Harbor - right next to the Courtyard. Not as "fancy" as the Courtyard but usually less $, has an available breakfast and has
some pretty awesome views of the Parks from the upper floors (hotel room doors are motel-style, outside of the building
*Anaheim Marriott Convention Center - this is Southwest of the Harbor/Katella intersection. It's a very nice hotel with multiple
restaurant options, a Lounge/Bar, nice pool area, a Market area for counter service, grab and go, etc. It's a slightly farther walk
than the Courtyard and Fairfield but also well worth it in my opinion, particularly because of the fact that it is often much less $ than
the inflated prices of the Courtyard and Fairfield.

Let me know if you have any specific questions about those hotels. I've been to all but the Springhill several times.

On the upper floors of the Fairfield you can go to the western end of the building and watch the fireworks since it's a motel style layout. I felt like our room had been remodeled relatively recently. They have some Disney art in the room so it doesn't feel like a generic hotel room anywhere in the US. The help was very nice and greeted us every time we came back to the hotel. If you have children, Courtyard appears to have a pretty large kid-friendly pool-water park complex in the middle of it.

 

[SteamboatJoe]

lets see if this helps, if you know where you are staying we might be able to give you the best walking route. most motels and hotels are either on the eastern side of the resort and south side of the resort. The western side is mostly residential and a few of the hotels are on the north side and require a bit more of planning. The city has shuttles throughout the area that might simplify the walk

green = security checkpoints
yellow = possible walking routes
red monorail station with its own ticket gate.

i didn't mark the entrance thru the Grand Californian because i am not sure if they are still enforcing the reservation only access thru the main door of the hotel.

View attachment 357905

This sketch does a good job of illustrating my thoughts about accessing things from the west side of the resort. You have to jog around that parking lot since you can't go through Grand Californian. It adds steps and then you have to deal with the crowd at DTD just to get to the park gates. The benefit of staying to the southeast is that if you don't have a car and don't want to have to constantly pay for Lyft, you can walk to the Alamo Rent-A-Car on W. Katella. There used to be one Disneyland Drive behind the movie theater but I think it closed last year when it was believed everything in that area of DTD would be closed down. I don't know if it is open again but it's a hike to get to because your only options are to go around the resort on foot or wait in the security lines to cut through the middle of the resort, past the park gates and thru DTD.

 

[Ismael Flores]

another thing you can do if you are staying near harbor and don't want to walk or use the city shuttle is to see how far the toy story lot is. I see lots of people walk from the southern hotels and go into the toy story lot and take the story lot shuttles to the eastern gate security check point

 

[Anjin]

I can't be the only one who twitched at the reference to Disneyland (Disneyland!) as MK.

 

[chadwpalm]

another thing tou can do if you are staying near harbor and sint wnt to walk or use the city shuttle is to see how far is the toy story lot. i see lots of people walk from the southern hotels and go into the toy story lot and take the story lot shuttles to the eastern gate security check point

I've stayed at the Red Lion twice and the Clarion once and did that all three times.

 

[chadwpalm]

I can't be the only one who twitched at the reference to Disneyland (Disneyland!) as MK.

Was gonna say something, but let it slide.....just this once.

 

[Phroobar]

I can't be the only one who twitched at the reference to Disneyland (Disneyland!) as MK.

 

[Californian Elitist]

I can't be the only one who twitched at the reference to Disneyland (Disneyland!) as MK.

Technically the names “the Magic Kingdom,” and “Walt Disney’s Magic Kingdom” belonged to Disneyland before it belonged to its imitation in Florida, so it didn’t bother me when I saw it.

 

[DABIGCHEEZ]

I can't be the only one who twitched at the reference to Disneyland (Disneyland!) as MK.

Wow... tough crowd. lol

Was gonna say something, but let it slide.....just this once.

Technically the names “the Magic Kingdom,” and “Walt Disney’s Magic Kingdom” belonged to Disneyland before it belonged to its imitation in Florida, so it didn’t bother me when I saw it.

Thanks chadwpalm and that what I always thought Raven.

Also thanks to all the replies with walking advice. Originally, I was looking into the Holiday Inn(I have a ton of IHG points) just north of the Mickey parking garage... but based on the advice here I guess I should consider the one over on Manchester/Habor blvd area. Thx again all.

 

[Californian Elitist]

Wow... tough crowd. lol




Thanks chadwpalm and that what I always thought Raven.

Also thanks to all the replies with walking advice. Originally, I was looking into the Holiday Inn(I have a ton of IHG points) just north of the Mickey parking garage... but based on the advice here I guess I should consider the one over on Manchester/Habor blvd area. Thx again all.

Haha Disneyland folks can be fiercely loyal to the park and can be a-n-a-l about how others refer to the park.

I agree that the Harbor entrance is best. It’s easier and closer.

 

[MouseMelly]

Even the Disneyland Railroad announces it as a “trip around The Magic Kingdom.”