The two days our family was in this hotel was such a nice place to crash after all day in Disneyland. The fact we could just walk back to the hotel was nice! Rooms were clean, staff was very kind, gift shop had wine for Mommy too! There were great perks with a kids movie room, game room, pool, and hot tub. Thank you Paradise Pier staff for the friendly welcome and enjoyable stay!

The proximity, the extra magic hour, and the Disney extras make it worthwhile if you can afford the premium. First - the extra magic hour, for Disney resort residents the extra hour before the general public is essential to get in the big rides. Second - a nice short and pleasant walk through downtown Disney to the entry to the parks. Better dinner options at downtown on the walk home. Finally some nice touches of Mickey throughout the hotel to extend the experience for the family.

We have stayed on property at Disneyland 4 times. Twice at the Grand Californian and twice at Paradise Pier. This past trip to Paradise Pier was in a standard non-view room. My last review of Paradise Pier (in 2011) was in a view concierge room. We had a great visit in 2011 but this one was just so so. When we arrived it was quite late (11:30pm), we were all tired but excited to be at Disneyland. The check in person was not unfriendly or rude but there was no dialgoue...just asked our name and got our paperwork. I always think a little small talk is welcoming...especially when we are the only people at the front desk...there was no one anywhere around us so we were it, as far who needed any assistance. We asked about upgrading to a view room but it would have added an additional $200 to our bill so we declined which was fine as we don't spend a lot of time in the room. Our room was fine...there were two queens and a single day bed...that is the best part of staying here...the room accommodates 5 wonderfully. I noticed that the bathroom amenities are not disney themed anymore...we missed the little mickey head bottles but once again this is not a biggie but it does get noticed because staying at a resort hotel in the park you tend to expect the "little things" that make it special. We had to request a bar of soap as we only had little bottles of shower gel...it was sent up quickly. The beds are fine but I have slept on better...I am the only one in my family who had any trouble with the beds so take that for what it is worth...I woke up each day with a back ache but no one else did. I requested different pillows as the pillows are quite large and fluffy and my request was honored quickly as well. Overall the hotel is fine but we just didn't feel the extra disney magic that we had on the previous 3 visits to the resort. One thing I noticed was that every time we were in the lobby or walking through the hotel it was so quiet. We only had one worker who stopped one day and said "Aloha" and asked how we all were...he was very welcoming and sadly the only smiling face we saw at the hotel. I think this is probably not the norm but we were there 4 days and this was our experience. Definitely a change from our last visits. While we were at Disneyland the weather was unseasonably cold and we decided to come back to the hotel for dinner one evening to warm up and relax before heading back for the evening...the temps outside were mid 40's and dropped down to the 30's at night..it was cold...the restaurant in the hotel had the A/C blasting! I kid you not, we all sat shivering while we waited for our food. We asked if it could be turned down but were told that they couldn't control the temp. I will say that the food in the restaurant was quite tasty though and the server was very friendly and apologetic for the cold. To sum it up, if you want to stay on site at a Disney hotel you pay the extra money because you expect it to be extra special. I sadly felt that we could have stayed at the Hyatt or Doubletree and had the same experience for quite a bit less out of pocket. I enjoyed the perk of entering the park early each morning but that to us was the only benefit of staying here. Unless we received a great discount the next time we will probably stay elsewhere which is sad because we have had great visits over the past 8 years on our previous visits but not so much this time.

A very well kept and run property with all the benefits of being on a Disney hotel.
Staffed excellently, very well maintained and decorated. Everything "works" right. Great beds, good pillows, superb in-room climate control unit. Many other pluses made my family vacation very enjoyable.
That being said, my next Disney vacation will be at either of the two other Disney hotels. The "discount" you get for staying at this location is not worth its minuses:
No in-room microwave, no direct entry to park, very small standard rooms with hardly any carpet space to place luggage, or table space for an in-room meal.
Bottom line, you're paying as if you're in the park, but you're not, have to walk half a mile or more and cross streets to join the other more fortunate Disney vacationers whose hotel has private entrance.