This is an entry for “Disneyland Dream Suite” in our Disneyland 101 Glossary: Disneyland Resort definitions in under 101 words, from Mouse Brief. For suggestions about how to stay at Disneyland Resort, keep reading after the entry.
From 2008 to 2014 some very lucky guests got to stay inside Disneyland Park in the Disneyland Dream Suite above Pirates of the Caribbean. The 2600 square foot space was first set-aside to be an apartment for Walt Disney, Roy Disney and their families and guests. Walt Disney died before the apartment was completed, and it instead became the Disney Gallery and then the Disneyland Dream Suite. Beginning in 2008, guests could win an opportunity to stay in this luxurious and imaginative two bedroom suite decorated in a style to match the neighboring lands. The space is now 21 Royal.
Thanks for reading this entry about the Disneyland Dream Suite in California. For more Disney definitions under 101 words, please be sure to browse the rest of our Disneyland 101 Glossary. For more on staying the night at Disneyland Resort, please keep reading.
Walt Disney died before his apartment was built over the Pirates of the Caribbean, but he did have another apartment in Disneyland, and it is still there today. To read more about the apartment he did have in Disneyland and how you can visit it, please see our entry Walt Disney’s Apartment.
Now, the Disneyland Dream Suite may no longer exist, but you can still stay on Disneyland Resort property at one of the Disneyland Resort Hotels or at an off-property hotel with a great view of the parks. Please keep reading for our advice on how to pick the best hotel for you.
How to Stay at Disneyland Resort
There are no overnight accommodations inside Disneyland Park or Disney California Adventure Park, but you can still get really close with the right planning. Here are our suggestions for how to get as close as possible to feeling like you are actually staying inside Disneyland.
Stay on Disneyland Resort Property
The first thing you can do to capture the feeling of staying in Disneyland, is to stay at one of the Disneyland Resort Hotels. These are three hotels owned and operated by Disney. The decor is designed by Imagineers, the pools are the best in the area and the hotel staff members are Disney cast members.
The Disneyland Resort Hotels are not inside the theme parks themselves, but they are on Disneyland Resort property and can offer some pretty spectacular views of the parks.
So, there is great ambiance inside and outside of these hotels, and you get nice proximity to the parks. Disney hotel guests even get access to a special entrance into Disney California Adventure Park. This entrance joins the lobby of Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel and Spa to the Grizzly Peak land of Disney California Adventure Park.
You can learn all about Disneyland Resort Hotels from our Disneyland 101 Glossary entry here: Disneyland Resort Hotels. For folks who like charts, we have one comparing the three hotels here. If you decide that you do want to stay at an official Disneyland Resort Hotel, read this post for help deciding between the three: 5 Excellent Ways to Choose a Disneyland Resort Hotel
Stay “Just Steps from Disneyland”
With its special theme park entrance, Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel and Spa is the closest hotel to the Disneyland Resort theme parks. However, there are several third party hotels that are actually closer to the parks than either of the remaining two Disneyland Resort Hotels. For some good options that are within easy walking distance of Disneyland Resort and (potentially) offer fireworks views, look into the hotels on Harbor Boulevard between Katella Avenue and the I-5.
Effectively, this means you can easily stay “just steps from Disneyland” whether you are staying at a Disneyland Resort Hotel, a small (relatively) inexpensive motel or a branch of your favorite hotel chain. Just be careful when you are looking for one of these Disneyland neighbor hotels. Some hotels will advertise themselves as being “just steps from Disneyland,” and while this may be technically true, those steps might take you right into a fence.
Here is what we mean by that. Disneyland Resort theme parks are not open public parks: you cannot access them from just any point. The theme parks have distinct entrances, and to get to those entrances, you will first need to enter Disneyland Resort through security checkpoints. So even if a hotel is “right across the street from Disneyland,” you may still end up traveling quite a bit, unless it is right across the street from a security checkpoint.
We write all about this in 5 Mistakes to Avoid When Booking a Disneyland Hotel. Read that article for advice about determining whether a hotel is actually “easy walking distance” to the Disney parks. We hope that article will help you determine actual hotel proximity and hone in on features important to you.
Come Early, Stay Late, Go to a Party
You can’t sleep inside Disneyland Park (unless you decide to take a little nap at Tom Sawyer Island) but you can spend most of the rest of your day there. Plus, you can actually enter Disneyland Park or Disney California Adventure Park before they open, hang around after they close, and even buy tickets to after hours parties.
You can read about the Disneyland opening procedures here: What Time Does Disneyland Open? and the closing procedures here: When Does Disneyland Close? For after-hours parties, explore the Disneyland Resort events calendar and look for special events. These evening parties require special tickets, and we have a glossary entry about that here: Hard Ticket Event, Disneyland 101 Glossary.
Even though you can’t spend the night at Disneyland, you can enjoy meals and fun there and maybe just feel like you are a citizen of Disneyland anyway.
Thanks for reading this post on the Disneyland Dream Suite from our Disneyland 101 Glossary.
For a compilation of our advice on choosing a hotel for your Disneyland visit, please visit Staying Near Disneyland: Book the Best Hotel for You. That is part of our start to finish guide to planning your trip, which you can find here Step-by-Step Disneyland Prep. Thanks again for reading!