We loved our stay at the Howard Johnson Anaheim Hotel and Water Playground near Disneyland. This sweet hotel sits across Harbor Boulevard from Disneyland Resort and has been charming guests for decades. Here are our five favorite features of this Howard Johnson hotel near Disneyland Resort:
Location near Disneyland Resort
The Howard Johnson Hotel and Water Playground is located on Harbor Boulevard across the street from the Disneyland Resort. To reach the parks, we crossed Manchester Avenue and headed south on Harbor Boulevard. We crossed Harbor Boulevard to the east-side entrance to Disneyland Resort. From the hotel to the line for the Disneyland Resort security checkpoint, our walk was about ten minutes. The turnstiles for Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure Park were just a short distance from security
We like that this Howard Johnson is close to the Harbor Boulevard entrance for Disneyland Resort and across the street from Disneyland Park’s Tomorrowland. The walk was easy and well lit, and the route included only two street-crossings. This is a plus with young children!
The Water Playground and Pools!
This Howard Johnson is not only near Disneyland, it has a fun water playground for young children! “Castaway Cove” has a tall “S curve” waterslide, smaller slides and splash and spray features with pirate theming. The kids had some splashy adventures here, and they were happy to play for a long time. As parents we could relax, because the attentive lifeguards and shallow depths helped ease our minds. Our toddler was able to use all of the elements including the tallest slide.
This Howard Johnson also has a more conventional “garden pool,” for swimming and relaxing. The water playground is too shallow for serious swimming, so it is nice to have this deeper (5 feet) option. We also thought the Garden Pool was more relaxing with a secluded location and more shade than its splashier counterpart. We thought the Garden Pool and Castaway Cove together made for a great range of options, and we were amazed that these existed so close to Disneyland for a great price. Which leads us too…
Low Room Rates
We were pleasantly surprised at the nightly room rate for this inviting hotel, as we are used to paying a premium for a room within walking distance of Disneyland Resort. We thought this hotel was attractively priced for its location. It revealed itself to be a great value when we experienced the clean and comfortable room and fun water play areas.
However, one area where the value calculations get a little tricky is in the bed configurations. Many hotels near Disneyland offer standard rooms with a third sleeping surface. This third sleeping surface is usually a sofa bed or sleeper chair. Some hotels also have bunk beds. This is a big plus for families or groups traveling together. Howard Johnson offers a variety of different room configurations, but you will end up paying more for these than their basic economy rooms. For this reason, you will have to evaluate whether this hotel ends up being a good value for you.
Retro Styling
We love midcentury style, and the Howard Johnson charmed us from the start. The bright colors and sweeping curves transported us to a time when Disneyland was brand new, and we loved the fun nostalgia. You can get an idea for the decor on their website. We loved it and thought the bold colors brought an element of playfulness to all of the spaces.
Pleasant Grounds
As you can imagine, empty space around Disneyland Resort is hard to find! It sometimes seems like every inch along Harbor Boulevard is used for parking, high capacity dining and stacks of hotel rooms. The pretty landscaping and space between the buildings of the Howard Johnson near Disneyland feels positively luxurious in comparison. If you have seen some of the bare-bones pools plopped in the middle of parking lots around Disneyland, we think you will understand what we mean.
We like that the grounds at the Howard Johnson leave room for relaxation, and we thought this was a very pleasant place to come back to at the end of the day. The trade-off is that we did not really find any indoor common spaces where we could hang-out. The lobby is in a cute circular building, but it only offers very minimal seating. We were happy take more outdoor common space over indoor, but this is something to keep in mind.
We hope this post on the Howard Johnson Hotel and Water Playground near Disneyland helps you make decisions for your own visit.
For a step-by-step planning guide, please take a look here. If you are considering a Disneyland Resort Hotel, we have a chart with information on those three hotels and a variety of articles with further hotel advice. Thank you for reading!