DL hotel question

[AJA55]

Yes we ARE crazy. Going to DL/CA for the 4th of July week. I haven’t been there since….well before CA opened. We would like to have the best change at viewing firework from our hotel. Preferably from our room. So what Disney hotel has the best view or most rooms with a view?

tankx

Amy

 

[Virii]

The Grand Californian has a pretty nice view if you can get the right room.

 

[fidoprincess]

DLH has a good view of the fireworks from a "view room" in the Sierra tower, a "view room" in some parts of the Bonita tower if you are high up enough and also has a great view of the fireworks from the Marina tower in a standard view room again if you are up high enough. From Marina, you will be overlooking the parking lot and probably will have to stick your head out and look to your right.

GC has some good views but you would need to pay for and request the Downtown Disney View. I think we were able to see the fireworks from a "view" room at PP as well but they also say you can see them great from the pool area there and they pipe in the music as well.

Sadly, not one single Disney hotel pipes the music into individual rooms (like the Bellagio does for the fountain shows and tons of other places!) If you pay for concierge at DLH, they do pipe the music in there and also have snacks and treats.

Unless you have kids who fall asleep early like we do, the very best place for the fireworks is INSIDE the park!!

(Also, many of the off property hotels have firework views too!!)

 

[disney-super-mom]

I think the best rooms with a view of the fireworks are the upper level rooms of the Sierra tower at the DLH, overlooking DTD.

But, we were just at the PPH October 21 - 25, and I have to say that we LOVED watching the fireworks from the PPH pool deck. They pipe in the music/narration to the pool deck, and the view is GREAT! We sat back in our lounge chairs, sitting around our patio table, with our drinks and snacks, and thoroughly enjoyed it. There's no one to block your view, you don't have to stake out a spot hours before (we showed up about 15 minutes before the fireworks were to start), and you don't have to fight the crowds at all. It was AWESOME, and I highly recommend it if you're staying at the Paradise Pier hotel.

 

[AJA55]

Thanks everyone. This is what I was looking for as we will be booking this vaca soon.

Virii, any idea on what’s the right room?

fidoprincess, no little kids to fall asleep but….one middle aged lady (me) and one 75 years young lady (my mother) who does tend to fall asleep. LOL

disney-super-mom and fidoprincess, PPH was my first pick until I found out there was no balcony. At least the pics onsite don’t look like they have any balconies. This is not a deal breaker but…. We love to sit outside in the morning and evening. Still…. Hummm going to have to think this out before this coming Monday when we book.

 

[brandonbr]

I've heard from some disney podcasts that the music is piped into some of the view areas at the GC. Ask around when you get there to find out. The music will make the fireworks much more enjoyable.

 

[fidoprincess]

AJA55, No, pp does not have balconies and DLH does not have balconies either!! They have sliding glass doors that open up but there is just a little ledge with a railing so the pictures are very deceptive. You could not sit out there and unless your shoe size is smaller than a 5, you can not even really stand out there!

I am like you and love having a balcony! If I was going without kids (who take up a lot of space), I would choose the Grand with a DTD view. Those rooms have two beds so that would be perfect for two adult females and the best part is they have a balcony with a table and 2 chairs to sit out on. If you overlook DTD, ask for the upper floors, you will probably have a good view of the fireworks but also lots of other stuff to watch too. I think it is really fun to people watch!

If the price is too high, then your next best bet is to book a "view" (vs. standard) room at DLH "requesting" Sierra Tower, upper level, DTD view. The problem with that is you are never guaranteed that particular view since less than 10% of the view rooms have it. You may pay for a view and end up with the pool view and would not be able to see the fireworks! (This is what always happens to us although in June we did finally get the DTD sierra tower finally. As it happens, our door did not close tightly so we heard all the noise from DTD, ESPN zone in particular, all night long and it actually woke me up around 3am! But we did love watching the fireworks from the room since our kids only made it once in the park!)

PP is really nice but it is a far walk (I think) to the parks with no transportation options at all. At least at the DLH, you can catch the monorail into the park from DTD. I do love the view from PP, it overlooks all of CA and you can even see the mountain tops of DL! We were on the top floor and it was spectacular.

This is how the prices generally go(I think) from cheapest to most expensive:
PP(standard-no view) DLH(standard-no view) PP(park view) DLH(pool/resort view) and then the Grand. I have heard that people paid more for the park view than they did for the DTD view but others said it was the same? The cheapest there is standard)no view.

Also, Howard Johnsons on Harbor sells park view rooms that have balconies as well. If you get high enough, you can see the fireworks too but there is no furniture on the balcony to sit on and there are some trees in the way. Still the price is cheap but the walk IMHO is long, probably too long for your mom!

Have fun planning!

 

[AJA55]

fidoprincess...you are a gem thank you soooo much for the detail !

 

[fidoprincess]

You are most welcome! Keep reading the boards and even though you will be going at a very busy time, you will still have a wonderful trip! Be sure that you make plenty of Priority Seating for meals and know how to do fast pass, maybe even treat yourselves to the Balcony Seating of Fantasmic!

 

[my3kids]

If the price is too high, then your next best bet is to book a "view" (vs. standard) room at DLH "requesting" Sierra Tower, upper level, DTD view. The problem with that is you are never guaranteed that particular view since less than 10% of the view rooms have it.

With DLH Concierge you get a choice of pool view or DTD Resort View. 2 seperate booking options. Things like bedding were requests but the Pool View vs. the Resort View was a bookable option.

 

[fidoprincess]

Good info, my3kids, was there a price difference between the pool and resort DTD view? Did you book a package? Who with?

We usually book directly through the hotel or if there is a special like gift cards or free nights, we use expedia or travelocity. With the hotel or those others, we could only choose view (pool or resort) or standard (no view).

 

[my3kids]

I booked with AAA travel's 800 number. Ended up with a helpful agent answering the phone and I've called her back and always gotten help. The package price was slightly discounted for the hotel part. I think the prices for pool or resort might have been the same, at least on the day I booked, but there were 2 distinct choices and my confirmation states exactly what I booked. So, I'll find out in 2 weeks if it goes according to plan.