First VDH Visit

NVDISFamily

DIS Veteran
Joined
Apr 16, 2022
I'm not feeling that well so I'm taking a break from the work I should be doing to do a quick write up of our visit to VDH. Our stay was Wednesday October 25th through October 29th 2023. Deluxe Studio Standard View.

Link to view from room - https://www.disboards.com/threads/v...ew-from-the-room-thread.3931280/post-65130636

TLDR recap - it's a great resort and it's worth it despite the tax and some other minor issues. I'm glad I own there.

The good/great:

This was our first stay at Disneyland Hotel and now having stayed at both VDH and VGC, I can say that both give a great "Disney Bubble" experience. We had a few experiences running from VDH to DCA and each time the trip was super short going in the back way via VGC side entrance near Corn Dog Castle. It made me way over judge our first night and we had to burn about 30 min to wait for our mobile order at the Castle. Thankfully Goofy's Sky School was a 25 min wait so that was great and then we got to enjoy our snack.

VDH to Disneyland is even better in the fact that using the Monorail to get into Disneyland is a great way to go. I think the main advantage is that the Disneyland Monorail is much more a ride/experience than the Monorail at WDW which is great but more a form of transport. We used the monorail all but one trip to/from the parks and that was due to timing. I also know have a solid understanding of the downtime of the Monorail and it's not as bad as I thought it was. Using the Monorail as a transport into Disneyland greatly enhanced the experience.

Disneyland Hotel has it's own unique charm. Do I like the Grand Cal more (yea a little). I do love the vibe at DH almost as much.

The not so good/bad -

I'm a bit worried how well the finishings will wear at VDH. Our room already had some wear spots and it's not that old...

There are some areas of polish that need to be fixed. The tub/spout diverter didn't work that well. I thankfully know the "hack" to push up from the bottom and pull at the same time, but it was kid of meh. There was also an access panel in our room not hung up all the way. Other areas need some polish too. I'm hopeful after time they will work it out, but I'm not sure if the wood veneer on the doors will hold up to the wear the same as the heavy wood doors have at the grand cal (I hope they just refinish the wood at VGC during the remodel).

The guides at VDH don't seem to be as nice/happy as the guides at WDW....

Final thoughts -

I'm glad we own at VDH. As a big DVC fan who lives out west and is a Disneyland AP holder, it's great to own at both California DVC resorts. With that said, VGC still has the edge on me for now. If my guide would have called in March and offered me VGC points for the same (or perhaps just a bit more) direct price, VGC all the way. Let's see if staying in a larger room next time changes my mind.
 
Some pictures -

We made it from Nevada!

IMG_1026.jpg

Getting super excited! Let's go find the family before they buy all the merch at the gift shop...

IMG_0140.jpg

The Disneyland Hotel has some great charm. Kids loved it.

IMG_1133.jpg

Monorail Blue was our transport for most of the trip. Our kids were so excited to see it drive up most of the time.

IMG_1323.jpg

Our highest priority was trying to get on the Holiday Haunted Mansion. Got lucky and got in early our pre OBB time at Disneyland.

IMG_1170.jpg

OBB was awesome -

IMG_1354.JPG

Some great vibes at DH. I was in a happy place with the fam when I took this pic -

IMG_3670.jpg

Looking forward to getting some work done here if ever needed. Definitely a bonus vs VGC. The Grand Cal is way too busy 99% of the time.

IMG_1631.jpg

AP block out day? No problem. Visit the 3rd gate and have a great time. Knott's is about 15 to 20 min drive. So much fun. They were also handing out candy to the kids -

IMG_1587.jpg

When it comes to WDW vs Disneyland they are two different things. 100% you can have a great "Disney Bubble" experience at VDH and/or VGC. IMO in many ways better than WDW. It's also nice that Disneyland is in suburbia OC as there are non-park things near you can do too. Being able to ninja over to Target for shoes as our baby girl decided to ninja off her shoes and put on sandals at the last second as we were walking out the door. No problem. Finding a good spot for some menudo a few min drive down the road... awesome -

IMG_3680.jpg

Sadly our future OBB trips will likely be at VGC as that works better with our schedule/UY. Looking forward to our future spring VDH trips :)
 
Last edited:


Some pictures -

We made it from Nevada!

View attachment 806380

Getting super excited! Let's go find the family before they buy all the merch at the gift shop...

View attachment 806381

The Disneyland Hotel has some great charm. Kids loved it.

View attachment 806382

Monorail Blue was our transport for most of the trip. Our kids were so excited to see it drive up most of the time.

View attachment 806383

Our highest priority was trying to get on the Holiday Haunted Mansion. Got lucky and got in early our pre OBB time at Disneyland.

View attachment 806384

OBB was awesome -

View attachment 806385

Some great vibes at DH. I was in a happy place with the fam when I took this pic -

View attachment 806386

Looking forward to getting some work done here if ever needed. Definitely a bonus vs VGC. The Grand Cal is way too busy 99% of the time.

View attachment 806387

AP block out day? No problem. Visit the 3rd gate and have a great time. Knott's is about 15 to 20 min drive. So much fun. They were also handing out candy to the kids -

View attachment 806388

When it comes to WDW vs Disneyland they are two different things. 100% you can have a great "Disney Bubble" experience at VDH and/or VGC. IMO in many ways better than WDW. It's also nice that Disneyland is in suburbia OC as there are non-park things near you can do too. Being able to ninja over to Target for shoes as our baby girl decided to ninja off her shoes and put on sandals at the last second as we were walking out the door. No problem. Finding a good spot for some menudo a few min drive down the road... awesome -

View attachment 806389

Sadly our future OBB trips will likely be at VGC as that works better with our schedule/UY. Looking forward to our future spring VDH trips :)
Thanks for the report!
Our first DLR stay will be a split VGC and DLH in 2024.
 
VDH to Disneyland is even better in the fact that using the Monorail to get into Disneyland is a great way to go. I think the main advantage is that the Disneyland Monorail is much more a ride/experience than the Monorail at WDW which is great but more a form of transport. We used the monorail all but one trip to/from the parks and that was due to timing. I also know have a solid understanding of the downtime of the Monorail and it's not as bad as I thought it was. Using the Monorail as a transport into Disneyland greatly enhanced the experience.
Great Trip Report, did you happen to see if the monorail was getting guests into the park for early entry or did everyone still have to go through main entrance?
 
Great Trip Report, did you happen to see if the monorail was getting guests into the park for early entry or did everyone still have to go through main entrance?
Sadly we aren't early entry types (most days) as my little ones struggle to wake up quite that early. I did ask quite a few of the Monorail CMs how early they open at DTD and they confirmed that they do open and the first train would ride in at 7:30 from DTD.
 



GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!













facebook twitter
Top