Full transcript
0:00Becca Robbins here, your theme park tips gal. And I am in the Disneyland Resort area. And today I thought what might be fun is to walk Harbor Boulevard and show you all of the hotels that are across the street from Disneyland so you can kind of get an idea of the layout. I will put uh links to any room tours I
0:20have of any of these hotels down in the description. And I will also um put links of where you can book it at the best prices through my partners at Getaway Today along with those discounted Disneyland tickets also down there in the description. So, we're going to right now I'm I stayed at the courtyard this trip, my favorite Harbor
0:40Boulevard hotel, but we're going to head over to one of my other favorites across the way, which is Howard Johnson Anaheim. That's where we're going to start and we're going to head down to the other end. This is the Howard Johnson Anaheim. It is what I would say is the farthest to the I want to say it's north, but I know
1:01it's not. Whatever direction this is closest to the five, that's the closest you want to stay because the others you have to go over the freeway like walking wise. So, if you want to walk to the parks, this hotel right here is going to be the farthest you want to stay in this direction. So, we love this hotel. This
1:21hotel has two buildings that have been newly renovated. Um, and they I believe they're going to do the other buildings here this year or next year. It also has a water playground that is pirate themed, which we love. And then it has a separate area that has a garden pool, which is very large. It's a relaxing
1:43area and it's far enough away that you don't have to hear the water playground. So, while you will still have kids that come over and they hang out there in the garden pool, it is a more relaxing, chill vibe over there. Now, the Howard Johnson is a great hotel. We love it.
2:07And it has some family suites. It has um a market inside of it. It does not offer free breakfast and there is not dining on site other than at what you can grab at the marketplace. So you will have to cross
2:27what is Manchester and then I believe it comes Clementine in order to get over to the other side where most of these other hotels are located. So, here is the Howard Johnson from the corner of Manchester and Harbor Boulevard. And then you can see right there, that is the courtyard, which I
2:49stay at most of the time. I do have a working relationship with the courtyard. I just want to be transparent about that. But I got that relationship because it is my favorite hotel. And so, I built that relationship with them because I kept bragging about it. So, if you're going to Disneyland from Howard
3:09Johnson and also from the courtyard, um this is to get over to the other side of Manchester. This is Harbor Boulevard going this way. There's Disneyland. But I always suggest taking this little crossing here, Harbor here, and taking that side down because there's a secret path. You can get in quicker and it's less crowded. And so, I
3:32just prefer that option. It's also shaded a lot more often. But as soon as we cross, I'll start showing you the next set of hotels. All right, as we cross the street here, you have the sign for the courtyard. But right here on this corner is Mimi's Cafe. So, this is a great dining option you can head to if
3:48you're on any of these Harbor Boulevard uh hotels that you can get some food at. But they also, my favorite is to just eat at the Beastro inside the courtyard. The beastro inside the courtyard is available to both hotel guests at the courtyard and non- hotel guests. So, a lot of times when I'm
4:08staying at Howard Johnson, I'll go over to the beastro to get something to eat. They you can even package it to go so you can go right back over to the courtyard and eat whatever you're getting in your room. So, that's my favorite place, but I will am going to show you that there are lots of dining
4:24options on Harbor Boulevard as well. So, as we walk past the courtyard here, it's back. It's set back a ways. Um, they also have a full water park. Now, no, it's not as big as like say your city or regional water park is, but for a hotel, it other than Great Wolf Lodge, it is
4:45the biggest water park I have seen at the hotels. It has two 30foot slides, a play area with other smaller slides, has splash pads, it has a pool, and it has a hot tub. And they also offer mobile ordering from noon until 10:00 p.m. from
5:06the pool area. So, you can mobile order from their beastro and they will bring it to you. So, that's kind of fun. You can sit there, have the poolside service. Really makes you feel like you're at this luxury location. All right. So, there is the courtyard. Right here is another Marriott property.
5:27This is the Fairfield. And it's a great option for those that maybe want just a nice place to stay at night, have Marriott points maybe, or just want a really good deal and a touch of Disney magic. And in front of them is Panera. But let's get back to the Fairfield as we keep walking
5:49down Harbor Boulevard. So the Fairfield, guys, is um actually owned by Marriott. So those that do not know much about Marriott properties, most Marriotts are franchised. I think there's like a dozenish that are actually owned by Marriott. And this Fairfield is one of
6:10the few. Now Fairfield is a brand. The thing you need to know here is that usually Fairfields offer free breakfast as a brand. This one does not. So, its location to Disneyland is a tradeoff for losing the free breakfast. So, just know
6:30that it also has one of the largest gift shops I've seen. And all the rooms sleep, I believe, five except for unless you're getting just like a king room. But they also have the majority of their rooms are adjoining. So it's really easy to get larger rooms for your family. One
6:52thing I want to point out is because a lot of people get surprised by this since it is owned by Merit. It's not a sister property of the courtyard next door. So you cannot go over to use the water park next door at the courtyard. So just be prepared for that. All right. And then right here we have a McDonald's
7:10right here in front of the Fairfield on the other side. So as I'm walking here, I just want to point out we've been walking the Montreal track but on the opposite side of the street. And so when you're walking sometimes you'll get to see the Montreal go past all that kind of stuff. Now, I am walking a little slow today so
7:31that you can actually see all of the hotels and dining options that are here on Harbor Boulevard, but from Howard Johnson, it's about a 7 to 10 minute walk, maybe 12 minutes because of the lights. And the same from the other side. So, everything in here, and that's with your kids, guys. I don't time things based on adults only. Um, I time
7:54them on what I the pace I would walk with my kids. So that means that you could walk to and from your hotel in less time than it will take you to wait in the line to get on the shuttles to get to the toy story lot or to take the wait in line, get on the tram and go to
8:10the parking garage on the other side. Now after that uh McDonald's, we had the Camelot. So the Camelot is an older property, but it does have refreshing. What I like about the Camelot is some of these rooms are huge. I have um a real I'll link down in
8:32the description that I did of one of their family suites which had so much space. The only bummer with it is it's missing a second bathroom. I mean, I can't say much. There are other hotels that will have two bedrooms and only one bathroom, but with the amount of space those rooms had, you would have expected
8:52that they would have a second bathroom in them. I had to pause cuz I ran into some friends from the Hojo just now that are walking back over there. But let's turn this around and keep on our little tour. Okay, so after the Camelot, you're going to come to the Tropicana in and
9:13Suites. Now, this one is super close to um Disneyland. That right there is the crosswalk design. It looks farther because I'm using wideangle lens, but it's really close, guys. So, with this hotel, you have some refreshed rooms. It is motel style with the
9:35parking right next to the hotel rooms, all of that kind of stuff. But um it's super close. And one thing I um like about this hotel is just that um it has a coffee or the Cove on Harbor right here and it's really affordable.
9:56Now my downside to this hotel is that the swimming pool is in the middle. The swimming pool is in the middle of the parking lot, which I hate. Now, some hotels, a lot of the hotels in this area do have that um because that's just and they were dealt,
10:18right? Some of these are really old buildings that they've renovated or things like that. And so, there's just some things they couldn't help. However, um a lot of them do a really good job of making it not feel like you're in the parking lot, right? either by greenery around the swimming pool area or by um walls, things like that. That's
10:39where the Tropicana kind of does not um that's where the Tropicana is lacking is that it doesn't have any way to make it so that you don't feel like you're on display for everyone in the parking lot to see in my opinion. Other people may feel differently. There's a really loud bird right here. He wants some
10:59attention. There it went. Went to the other do not enter sign. There he is. See if he stays. There he is. All right. So, the next hotel that I am
11:20walking past right here is the Best Western Plus Park Place in a mini suite. Now, there are two Best Westerns right here. Um, this is the I will say the more refreshed of the two. This is the one that is right at the crosswalk to Disneyland. So, here we are. This is the
11:41crosswalk to go across their entrance and then the crosswalk to Disneyland. We are right here at the crosswalk. The rooms have been refreshed. They were actually very nice um from compared to what I have heard. So, I actually didn't mind them. The beds were okay, comfortable when my friend stayed there. Um, my friend is Jessica from the happiest blog on earth
12:02and also my co-host for Castle Talk Radio. So, I trust her opinion. This does have a very small pool that is not super fancy, but it is not in the parking lot. It's in between some of the buildings. Now, the downside with this hotel, in my opinion, is the fact that because you are right here, a lot of times there are
12:24either vendors or protesters that will come to Disneyland because there's a lot of people, right? And so, they want the attention on their cause. And so, if they're doing it early in the morning, which some of them are, or late at night, then you're going to you can possibly hear it from your room. So, that is the only downside to this hotel.
12:45Now, this Best Western does offer free breakfast for its guests. If I remember correctly, though, you have to come over to what's on the other side to get that free breakfast. And that is to Cala Mama's. I'm probably saying that wrong, but there you go. This is a restaurant right here. Um, and then there's an IHOP there
13:07as well that you can eat at. And just like that, here I am, guys. I am at the crosswalk. to Disneyland Resort. So that's how close it is. So I just walked across their little entry and this is where you cross for Disneyland. So here's the IHOP. Then we had the Mama Mama. No, Calica Mama's
13:32Cantina right there, which I've heard the food is delicious. That used to be Captain Kid or something like that. And then after the closure that went away and now it is um this Mexican restaurant that is supposedly really really good. I have not eaten there yet personally. Okay, so let me turn this back
13:54around. So this is the next hotel. I have not stayed here. I do not suggest staying here just from my friends that have stayed here. I they do not partner with my um travel partner and that always is a red flag for me because there's a level that people have to meet
14:15to do that. But this is the park view in if you stay here. That's not saying it's awful, but for most people this is going to be comparative to a Motel 6 somewhere as far as the um the luxuriousness or lack thereof. But it does have a Cold Stone crearyy right here. So you can come and get your
14:36ice cream whether you're staying here or not. Um you can get some Cold Stone. But yes, I personally not somewhat this is not somewhere I would stay. So just be aware of that. Now after that we have the Anaheim Desert Inn and Suites.
14:57And I've toured this one, I think, but I don't remember much about it. I've had friends stay here. It is a place to stay that's close by. If you just want a room that, you know, is not filthy, this is where you could stay. Again, we're still really close to that walkway at
15:19Disneyland. You can see it's right back here. Kind of see behind me. So, we're really close. This would be like a 3minut walk maybe to Disneyland Resort. Now, another hotel that's right here, they kind of share like the same entrance area and that is the Dell Soul in. And this used to be a favorite of
15:41some of my Run Disney friends when they would come before they got rid of the Disneyland Run Disney events for a while. They would stay here because it was just so close and it was so affordable. Now, I've heard very mixed reviews about it, but that doesn't mean it's not the right place for you. It's
16:02just know that again, you're looking at somewhere that's more like a Motel 6 type of location than something that's um more luxurious. So, now we are right by that and there is a Denny's. So, you have another restaurant option right here across the street from Disneyland.
16:25I will tell you that all of these restaurants that are right here, even though they are your chain restaurants, just like when you eat at the airport and the food's more expensive, they hike up the prices here as well. So, I just want to show about where we're at on Harbor Boulevard. We've passed where the entrance is to Disneyland Resort from
16:44the Harbor side. Over behind me, which you can't really see cuz there's a lot of shrubbery, is the Uber and Lift drop off area. So, that's where we're at. We haven't reached even to um Tower, not Tower, Guardians of the Galaxy yet. But we'll turn this back around. And right here we have the Best
17:04Western Plus Anaheim Inn. So this is another Best Western right here, very close to the parks that you could stay at. This is the one at 16:30 South Harbor Boulevard. So this one is not as newly updated as the other ones. It does still offer a free breakfast. The rooms are fine, but again, they're not very updated. So, I'm hoping they will update
17:27these soon because they are still pretty old. Look, like it's it's nice. And you can book these through my partners getaway today. I believe I have some footage of the rooms, but not a full room tour of them available, but it is here. And like the other Best Western, it has an okay pool. Very
17:51small, but it is at least not in the parking lot, right? That's the big thing for me. And then next door to them, we have Tony Roma that you can go and you can eat at. So there's so many dining options right here on Harbor Boulevard that you can if you're sick of the park food, you need something
18:10different that you can come over here and get. Or maybe it's like I know my kids will eat a certain thing. This might be somewhere that you could go that's a little bit nicer than just like McDonald's, but maybe you know they have something that they will eat. You know, spaghetti is always good for kids. Right now, we're going to turn this back
18:30around. I'm trying not to do very many cuts in this video, but I also want to um respect other people's privacy as they're walking past me. So, you might get some weird angles here a little bit as we come here. Now, this building is the Grand Legacy at the park. Um, the
18:50front of that building, but it has shops and places you can eat here. There's a Moi Donut Mochi Donut Cafe here, which is um Korean corn dogs and donuts and all that kind of stuff. You have a Alpha Mart, which is just a little mart that you can go into. You have boba and pizza. And then you have DNR Mobility.
19:12So, several of these hotels on this strip actually have some of the mobility scooter vendors inside of their lobbies or in the hotel area so that if you need to rent a scooter, they can get them to you pretty easily. They do sell out though during busy times. So, even though they're right here, you're going
19:33to have to do this uh reserve these ahead of time. All right. So, as we come over here, I wanted to point out that the Grand Legacy Hotel also has a rooftop bar. So, this hotel has some updated rooms. They're beautiful. Those are the ones I would personally stay in. However, one thing to be aware is
19:54that the rooftop bar and um and restaurant oftent times has live music. And so you might find that it is a little too loud for you if you have kids that you're trying to get to bed earlier than like 11. You might find that to be an
20:15issue. It's more an issue for the closer rooms, but just be aware that you may be in a room that you can hear them from. Now, it is also motel style kind of like it it's motel style in that they all face the parking lot. There's parking lot there, you know, all of that good stuff. But it doesn't quite feel motel
20:37style once you enter your room. The other thing to the other thing to know about is it does have a pool area that is one, it's zero entry. It's beautiful and it is in the parking lot, but they are one of the ones I said have done a very nice job with the greenery and um just making it
20:58feel like it's not in the parking lot and that people aren't staring at you from their cars as they get in to go places or when they come back. So, we love this hotel. It is also the last one before you have to cross the street again. So, we have come all the way from Hojo and we are now back over right
21:19there is Guardians of the Galaxy Mission Breakout. So, this is towards the back of California Adventure. You're going to see this empty lot right here. But this area ends where you don't have to cross the street other than the one to get across to Disneyland. So, just like Howard Johnson was across the street other way, this one is across
21:42Disney way over here. And while some people say this is the farthest they consider walking, there are actually a few hotels right down here that are super close, still easy walking distance, 10 to 12 minutes maybe at most, that you might want to check out because they are more affordable because of this one little street you have to
22:03cross and the couple extra minutes that it takes you to get to Disneyland. All right, here we go. We are done crossing the street here and I'm going to come up into this hotel's parking lot to give you guys a little bit of a view of the front of the hotel. Okay, I was letting some people pass so they wouldn't have their rear
22:24ends on video cuz I wouldn't want my rear end on a video. But this is the Anaheim Hotel. Right here is the Pizza Press. Now, the Pizza Press is a pizza place, obviously, and it is available to anyone, whether you're staying at this hotel or not. And one thing I like about the Pizza Press is they have some great
22:45gluten and vegan options. So, you can still get pizza that's pretty darn good here at this dining option, and it is um attached to the lobby, but you can enter here if you are not staying at the hotel. Um, again, we're here. This is Harbor right here. If you can see it behind the
23:06trees, that is Guardians of the Galaxy Mission Breakout. We're heading towards the back of it. So, we're still really close. You're still going to you're going to be able to hear those screams if you stand outside. A couple other things about this hotel is that it has an Olympicsiz swimming pool. I'm not even
23:27kidding. Olympic size regulation. and it's nice and big and so there's plenty of room. I've never been in that pool and felt like it was super crowded with that. They also sometimes during peak seasons and on the weekends of peak seasons will have live entertainment like a DJ there playing music at the
23:50pool and it's just like a huge party. Also, this hotel as well as I believe the two best westerns and I know Courtyard offers it have electric vehicle charging. Now, the Courtyard it is through them. The fees paid to them, but some of these like at the Anaheim, they are the same ones you'd find around the city. So, they're not um a fee
24:12you're charging to the Anaheim Hotel. Another thing to know about the Anaheim Hotel is that it is very much motel style. They have um two they have several buildings. Um and when I say motel style, it's not that they're motel style as in the parking lot right there, but you do enter from the outside. It's an older building. There's two floors on
24:34each floor. One side has a ramp and the other side has stairs. So, you will be able to access it if you're in a scooter or a wheelchair or need to push a kid up in a stroller or you want to wheel your luggage up instead of trying to pick it up to walk up the stairs. but um it does not have elevators, so
24:55that can be a little hard if you're trying to maneuver all of the luggage and a stroller by yourself. So, just be aware of that. We like this hotel. It's a great, I would say, budget friendly um option that is still within walking distance. All right, so we're coming up to the very last hotel that is going to
25:15be on this video. And what I want to tell you about this coming hotel is that it is the only hotel on this strip right here that offers free parking to all of its guests. Now, some of these hotels may have a special deal here and there with Getaway Today where you get free parking or reduced parking rates,
25:34but this coming hotel, they have it for everyone. They also have what we call blazing fast internet. So, a lot of gamers when they come to conventions in Anaheim will stay at this hotel. It is a family-owned property. In fact, the current owner's father built this hotel from uh from the ground up.
25:57And they still own this hotel in the family, second generation. And let's turn around so you can see right here. It is the castle in its suit. Okay, I have toured this hotel recently. I do not remember if I have a room I don't think I have a room tour up, but I
26:17will try and put some clips in here while we walk by and talk about it. Now, first, this hotel is very budget friendly. Um, it does have this beautiful stained glass. It's got a castle theme. It also has like a little coffee shop over here, I believe. I'm not sure if it's open right now. Um, but
26:38in the past, it's always had a coffee shop there. It is again motel style. And again, their pool is, you can kind of see it. It's that building right there in the middle. It's up a level though, so you kind of feel like you're above the cars. The cars aren't going to be seeing you. Or maybe the pool part isn't. I don't
26:59remember. Okay. So, also at this hotel, you are going to have a pool that's in the parking lot. It does have some some shrubbery around it and they do have some areas that are a little elevated but you will have that happening. It is very much castle themed. They have gargoyles on the outside and at night their eyes
27:20glow red and the rooms are fairly large. What I will say is they are not updated. You are going to be looking at almost original stuff. the the rooms. I hope they update them soon, but they are not updated. But the benefits of this place is the free parking, the free blazing fast Wi-Fi,
27:42the fact that you are close to the park, you have large rooms, they even have a suite that is a king and two fulls, I want to say. And the fact that you can walk to the park, but it's going to be at a very great price. And you're also going to have that feeling of the fact that you
28:02are helping a familyowned business. This is not one of those big chain restaurants or not a boutique one owned by a chain that owns other properties. So you are literally working with the family that built this property when you stay here. And you can book this property as well through my partners at Getaway Today. So we've reached the end
28:21of the hotels that are here on Harbor Boulevard that I would consider walking hotels. If you have questions about any of these hotels, drop it down in the comments and I will come back and answer them for you as best as I can or I'll direct you to someone that I know can answer it if I have no like idea. The
28:41few that I said I've never stayed at. I do want to mention again that these hotels are all within a 12 minute I'll say 12 minute maybe 15 if you're letting little little kids walk and not push them in a stroller. They're within 15 minutes of the park gates. And that makes it so that you
29:02can, you know, go to the park and back without having to worry about getting on shuttles, getting on trams. And they're well lit. This pathway is well lit, especially on this side, day and night. And you're going to have a lot of people walking with you, so you should feel safe. Now, I can't say you will because everyone's comfort
29:24level is different, but I have never felt unsafe walking Harbor Boulevard. Now, when I do stay at the courtyard or Hojo and I choose to walk on the other side at night, I do tend to FaceTime my husband if he's not here with me if I'm alone. Um, just for my comfort, but I've never been approached by anyone or had
29:44anything weird happen. It's just a me thing because I've told I think I've told you guys I have anxiety. So, I'm always kind of a worry wart. Um, but yeah, I I love these hotels, the majority of them. I've stayed at the majority of them, and I think any of them would be a great option for your
30:04Disneyland vacation if you want to stay within walking distance. As I'm walking back down Harbor Boulevard to go back to my hotel, I just wanted to mention that while I've only shown you this strip of hotels, there are a lot more hotels that are walking distance. If you go down to the corner of Catella, you have um the desert in
30:27and suits, right? That one's desert pump. I get those two confused all the time. You also have the convention center hotel. So, you have the uh residents in Anaheim. Um you have a convention center. You have the Spring Hill Suites Convention Center. Um and then behind Harbor
30:48Boulevard is Clementine Manchester. That's that street we crossed from the courtyard or from the Hojo to the courtyard. And that has a Hilton in um not a Hilton in a Holiday Inn in Suites that's right behind Courtyard. There's also a Hilton Garden in and a home two suites that are right in that
31:08same spot area and they're in the same building even. And then there is also a ele an element by Marriott and a Sunost which is a Hilton Tapestry um property. So you have lots of
31:29options. If you'd like to see some of these other options, let me know down in the comments and maybe next time I'm here, I'll show you the walk from those. Let me know if you like these style of videos because I know that when I'm trying trying to plan and when people in the Disney Facebook group are trying to
31:45plan, they really want to know what the walk is. Now, I did walk it slow, like I said, but most people could walk from any of these hotels within 12 minutes with children in tow as long as they're not like little little toddlers. Those might kick you up to 15 to 20 minutes depending on how fast they walk. And
32:04don't forget to subscribe and we'll see you real soon.