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The hotels of HKDL
- Thread starter marni1971
- Start date
Thank you
SplashJacket
Well-Known Member
It’s oddly therapeutic to throw on a Marni video of places we’ve visited and loved and then relapse our memories at those places.Thank you
We watched your HK hotels this past weekend and I’m not sure I had ever extensively seen the a Hollywood Hotel. Gives DCL vibes with all the art deco and the Animators Palate similar restaurant.
Fantastic documentation overall.
Thank you
cjkeating
Well-Known Member
I skimmed through your video as I am visiting HKDL next year all being well and don't want to be fully spoilered.
I am having a bit of a dilemma of where to book at HKDL, there is no right answer Martin but if you have any views I'd love to hear them.
AKL and Aulani are my 2 favourite Disney hotels which kind of makes the Explorer Lodge the obvious choice... part of me worries it is too samey whereas on the flip side I feel like ticking off the three hotels in that 'family' make sense?
Later in the trip I'll be at TDL and whilst I am aiming for Miracosta I could see it being booked up and ending at Tokyo Disneyland Hotel. I know they are very different styles but is two 'Disneyland Hotels' in one trip too much? I've never stayed at Grand Floridian but it has zero appeal to me whilst Disneyland Hotel (Paris, pre-refurb) was a great experience.
Is there any specific perk, benefit, activity that is purely exclusive to Disneyland Hotel that I'd miss out on versus Explorers Lodge?
SplashJacket
Well-Known Member
100% do Explorers Lodge. Fantastic resort and has the Dragon Wind Restaurant which has maybe the best breakfast buffet I've had anywhere in the world (pre-covid at least). AKL, Aulani, and Wilderness are 3 of my favorites and Explorers definitely holds its own.
No appeal for Grand Floridian either (Disneyland hotel in HKDL is basically discount Grand Floridian), but I love Paris' Disneyland Hotel.
TDL Hotel is honestly not worth the cost, IMHO. Miracosta is very nice but also very expensive. If you don't do Miracosta, I would recommend staying at another resort that's not TDL Hotel but your mileage may vary.
The price for Miracosta, never mind the other official hotel of TDR, have significantly slipped from what in the prices would be in USD even a year ago, currently at about 15% decrease year over year due to the depreciation the Yen is taking against the dollar which seems to have no end in sight. Now I'm seeing rooms that are often available for stretches of anywhere from the mid $400 to the mid$ 500s, of at least a few days in a row. Not terrible when you compared to Disney prices domestically for a similar level of hotel, but when you are talking three or four times that amount, I really can't disagree that the price is maybe a little nuts.
Michelle wanted the GF experience and I wasn’t adverse to it, and the price was around 1/4 to 1/3 of the equivalent GF price (especially with the early booking / more than x nights deal). So the HKDL Hotel it was. And by god it was an experience and a half. Tremendous. Downside was no quickserve / grab and go but we knew that in advance. It is truly luxury In paradise for quite an affordable price. Breakfast buffet was the best we’ve had anywhere (see a theme here?!) but we’ll see what Dragon Wind is like (we tried last year but a fire alarm scuppered the plan). Funnily enough, even Ink and Plate at the Hollywood hotel had an exceptional buffet breakfast.
Next year we’re hoping for Shanghai and HK, staying at HK Explorers so we can tick it off the list. It does definitely appeal from what we saw and we do want to try it, and struggling for the downside apart from a slightly longer park / train walk if we choose to walk and there’s less balcony sea view rooms available than the HKDL hotel if they’re a must. And it “only” has an outdoor pool!
I really can’t recommend the HKDL hotel high enough and would think I will say the same about the other two too. End of the day it comes down to money and / or personally preference I’d think.
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cjkeating
Well-Known Member
Do you have any recommendations for non-TDL hotels on the monorail loop? Most people seem to recommend the Hilton but I don't know if that's just because of the brand name? As you say the TDL hotels are very expensive so a consideration is to do our first/last night stay at non-TDL then do the middle nights at TDL.
Is it a pleasant walk? On Google Maps there isn't an obvious path from the Explorers Lodge that I can spot but I assume there is. Distance being a bit longer than DLH doesn't really bother me.
Yes mate. It’s either the sea promenade walk and then the “hotel path” walk between the HKDL hotel and the main gate, or walk along the landscaped road which again leads to the hotel path. Im only on my phone but you get the idea:
We’re leaning for the Sheraton when we make it to TDL (post new SM) - reviews seem to put it just ahead for westerners than the others.
Twirlnhurl
Well-Known Member
I have stayed at the TDL Hilton and Sheraton in 2018 and 2019, respectively. I remember thinking both were very comparable. I would happily stay at either on a future trip.
