Welcome

Intro 0:03

Please stand clear of the doors. por favor, manténganse a las puertas Please stand clear of the doors. Because this hear is the wildest ride in the wilderness.

Alicea 0:24

Hello everyone, I'm Alicea.

Nathan 0:26

And I'm Nathan.

Alicea 0:27

Welcome to episode 230 of Adventures and Mouse capades. Today we are continuing our series looking at some of the best deluxe accommodations that you can find at Disney Resorts. Disney Vacation Club Villas. In particular, we are digging into the details behind one of DVC's newest locations, the Villas at Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim, California. Now, as a reminder, Disney Vacation Club is Disney's timeshare product that lets you stay at deluxe class hotels in Walt Disney World in Florida, Disneyland in California, and off-site resorts in Hawaii, Vero Beach, Florida, and Hilton Head, North Carolina.

Nathan 1:06

Now, if you want to know about how DVC works, you can check out episodes 98 and 14 of this hear podcast. Although those are long in the past and we may not sound as cool as we do now.

Alicea 1:19

Maybe we should do another one.

Nathan 1:21

Maybe we should. Anyhow. Well, just so you know, we are DVC owners at the Aulani Resort in Hawaii, the Villas at Disneyland Hotel, and the Polynesian Villas and Bungalows and Tower down in Orlando. So there are a bunch of other episodes and trip reports in our back catalog where we talk about staying in Disney Vacation Club accommodations at these and other DVC locations.

DVC Basics And Our Disclaimer

Alicea 1:47

And an important disclaimer: this is not a sponsored ad for timeshare purchases. We are not affiliated with Disney. We are just big fans of DVC and know lots of folks have questions about how it all works. If you do want to talk specifics about ownership, we highly recommend checking out DisneyVacationClub.com or reaching out to DVC directly. And if you are in a Disney park resort or cruise ship, there is bound to be a DVC information desk close by to help you out.

Nathan 2:16

Absolutely. And they will probably give you swag.

Alicea 2:19

Yeah.

Disneyland Hotel History In Brief

Nathan 2:21

So let's talk about the Disneyland Hotel and the villas at the Disneyland Hotel. The Disneyland Hotel itself originally opened in 1955, just a few months after the park itself. It was originally a motor inn and was owned and operated by Jack Rather under an agreement with Walt Disney. The property has undergone significant growth, changes, and even a reduction in size and scope over the years to keep up with the demand for the hotel as well as other amenities at the resort, like downtown Disney and the Grand Californian Hotel and Spa.

Alicea 2:59

The modern iteration of the Disneyland Hotel from the 2000s was focused on three towers: Adventure Tower, Fantasy Tower, and Frontier Tower. There's also a large pool and restaurant complex in the middle courtyard surrounded by these towers. And at the D23 Expo in 2019, Disney revealed plans for a new Disney Vacation Club Tower at the Disneyland Hotel. The

Discovery Tower Design And Color Storytelling

Alicea 3:23

pandemic kind of pushed timelines back a little bit, but construction finally kicked off in early 2022.

Nathan 3:30

The villas at Disneyland Hotel Tower, boy, there's just a lot of words in all of these names. It is also referred to as the Discovery Tower, and it opened finally on September 28th, 2023. And it's a 12-story tower that blends mid-century modern resort architecture with a gallery-like celebration of Disney animation, treating classic films as artistic inspiration rather than literal theming. The complex is designed to both complement and stand out from the rest of the aesthetic of the Disneyland Hotel property. Seen from afar, the tower is wrapped in these vertical stripes of color that subtly translate beloved Disney film scenes into a modern architectural canvas. And what imagineers called quote unquote storytelling through color. Featured are Mulan, The Jungle Book, Frozen, Alice in Wonderland, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, The Lion King, Princess and the Frog, and Sleeping Beauty. And just as an aside, these are so, so cool.

Alicea 4:38

They are.

Nathan 4:39

If you're wondering what we're talking about, go look at the cover art that I'm using for this episode. Uh, and you can see an example of a few films that are uh highlighted in this style. And it's basically key scenes, and you will see these horizontal strips of color grouped in a few colors uh per scene, and it is the color palette for those scenes. And so it is visual storytelling of the movie. It's just it's stunning, it's really cool.

Alicea 5:09

It's very well done. And there are placards outside that tell exactly what this is and how it works, and it's it's kind of hard to understand it unless you can read it and see it.

Nathan 5:20

It is a very artistic uh element to the building and not an overt style thing. You it's it's it's it's subtle, but it's it's in your face. That makes any sense. It's yeah, it's very cool.

Alicea 5:34

Well, similar to what we have seen from other Disney hotel refurbishments and the Wish Class Disney cruise line ships, the tower's 344 rooms carry that mid-mod aesthetic as seen through the lens of sleeping beauty, Princess and the Frog, Fantasia, or Jungle Book. The DVC Tower also includes an additional pool, splash pad play area, and a poolside bar and restaurant, the Palm Breeze Bar, which we have visited many times.

Nathan 6:01

Many times. That is a favorite spot of ours.

Alicea 6:05

Yep.

Nathan 6:05

So as Alicia mentioned, there are 344 DVC rooms. Depending on how you count, there's lockoffs and things like that. We'll cover it. Uh, but there's roughly 344 rooms and suites in the Discovery Tower with standard preferred or garden views. There are no official theme park view rooms since the adventure tower is in the way for most. And then, you know, you've got the Grand Californian and like Disney California Adventure is pretty far away. But there are several rooms that do have views of that Grand Cal Hotel and the California Adventure beyond. And I think there's even a peekaboo view of the the spires at Black Spire Outpost on Batuu, if you look on the other side.

Alicea 6:52

I think you have to be like all the way up at the top, I think. Yeah.

Nathan 6:56

It's definitely a peekaboo. Like, don't think this is a a prime view.

Alicea 7:01

Yeah, no.

Nathan 7:03

Most of the rooms are classified as preferred view of either the DVC pool or the main Disneyland Hotel Recreation Courtyard. Standard view overlooks some backstage buildings and the downtown Disney parking lot. And then the garden view. This one's interesting. This is a smaller two-story building next to the DVC pool. There's just eight rooms. These are a great option if you are planning resort days by the pool. These eight duo studio and studio rooms feature an outside patio or veranda on each of them. So it's kind of a very relaxing spot.

Alicea 7:41

And those go pretty quickly.

Nathan 7:43

Yes, those are tough to get.

Alicea 7:44

Yep.

Room Types From Duo To Grand

Alicea 7:45

Well, on to the rooms. There are 36 duo studio rooms. They are 251 square foot rooms. They sleep just two on a pull-down queen size Murphy bed that converts from the couch, which is a DVC standard these days. These are platform beds and pretty comfortable. No bar through your back in your dead mornings like you get from a traditional hide-a-bed. These are jungle book themed and do include an under-counter fridge, microwave, and coffee maker. But it does not have a full kitchen or dining table like traditional DVC suites.

Nathan 8:20

Yeah. I think. And we've seen them also in some of the refurbished rooms at the Grand Floridian. Yeah, for sure. Maybe. It's kind of controversial. It is the first time that you're seeing DVC rooms that are this small and don't have a uh a kitchen at all.

Alicea 8:45

They're more like a regular hotel room.

Nathan 8:46

Yeah. And uh well, the duo studios are even smaller than a regular hotel room. This is uh uh you know, your bed is typically not staying out. Well, unless you're only there to sleep, in which case these may be perfect for you because they're very uh inexpensive when it comes to points. And if you don't need a ton of the room for for stuff and things and you're gonna hang out there because you're gonna be out in the parks or downtown Disney or wherever, these are a decent option.

Alicea 9:15

Well, the bulk of what is available at the DVC Tower are 267 studio rooms. They are 368 square foot. They sleep four in a queen bed plus a queen pull down in our theme to Sleeping Beauty or Princess and the Frog. These do have a kitchenette with a sink, undercounter fridge, and microwave, but no dining table. There's also a built-in dresser with plenty of storage.

Nathan 9:41

These are nice rooms. We've stayed in these a couple times so far. Super comfortable. I would say it's kind of like a classic Disney hotel room to a certain degree. And when I say classic, I mean like one of the like the main tower there at Disneyland Hotel or at the contemporary, where these are, you know, 1970s era designs where the hotel rooms are really quite large and you have plenty of room and stuff like that. That's what I kind of uh think these are like, at least in my in my puny little brain. There are 19 one-bedroom villas here at the DVC Tower at Disneyland Hotel. These sleep five, and this is where we're getting into the standard kind of DVC expectations and delivering on these. These are 754 square foot suites. There are two baths, and they all have Fantasia theming. There's a king bed in the dedicated bedroom with a spacious ensuite that has both a dedicated tub and a separate shower, plus separate vanities. The main space features DVC standards like a full kitchen, including a stove, sink, full-size fridge, dining table, plus there's that queen pull down, plus a smaller kid-sized single pull down under the TV, in addition to a second full bath. There's also a stacked washer and dryer in the room for one-bedroom villas and up. These are fantastic rooms. I love the theming. They're super comfortable. That main bathroom off of the bedroom is super nice.

Alicea 11:22

So we did not have a Fantasia themed one bedroom. We had a Princess and the Frog themed. We did.

Nathan 11:28

Yeah. Interesting. Disney's website lies.

Alicea 11:33

I thought most of these were Princess and the Frog themed.

Nathan 11:38

Interesting. All right. Well, I have bad sources.

Alicea 11:42

Next, there are 18 two-bedroom lockoff villas. This basically combines a one-bedroom plus a studio, and these sleep nine across 1,171 square feet and have a total of three bathrooms.

Nathan 11:56

Yep. It is literally the two things that we just talked about, just with a connecting door that is uh open and connected. There are also 20 two-bedroom dedicated villas. These cannot be locked off. Other than that, they're pretty much the same. These do offer the same footprint as the lock-off, but they cannot be split, as I was just mentioning. The only difference here is that the second bedroom, the studio side of what would have been a lockoff, has two standard queen beds instead of a queen plus that couch into a pull-down. These are also allegedly Fantasia themed.

Alicea 12:39

Yes. Okay. When we are traveling with all of our kids, we do prefer to do a two-bedroom dedicated, if we can, just because that way each of the kiddos has their own bedbed instead of a pull-down. Yeah. Lastly, are the three-bedroom grand villas, and there are only two of these. These feature three bedrooms and four baths across two floors, and it is 2,756 square feet of luxury. These suites sleep up to 12 people. There is a king bed with ensuite on the main floor, plus two queens and a couch to bunk single convertible in each of the two upstairs bedrooms. And those also have their own dedicated balconies with seating. Also upstairs is the washer and dryer and a second entrance to the suite. Down the spiral staircase to the main floor, you have a two-story grand family room with plenty of comfortable seating and floor-to-ceiling windows, a double-sided fireplace with an expansive outside patio beyond, and a full kitchen and dining room for 12 inside. To say these suites are stunning is an understatement. So bank your DVC points and bring your friends.

Nathan 13:56

Absolutely. Now, a full digital walkthrough of all of these rooms is available online if you go to DVC's website and look for the page with the Villas at Disneyland Hotel. If you go to the Disneyland.com website and then navigate over to the Disneyland Hotel, you can see about these rooms, but you don't have a link to the walkthrough.

Alicea 14:23

So that's only on the DVC site.

Nathan 14:25

It's only on the DVC site. So if you want to see how swanky a three-bedroom villa can get, head on over to disneyvacationclub.com.

Alicea 14:35

Swanky.

Nathan 14:36

Swanky. Swanky.

Alicea 14:38

We haven't done a three a three-bedroom.

Nathan 14:41

We haven't done one here, but it's the design is very reminiscent of

Alicea 14:48

Bay Lake Tower.

Nathan 14:49

Bay Lake Tower and Kidani Village over at Animal Kingdom Lodge. Um where you have that two-story living room area. Um, but you're adding a whole outside patio onto here. And it's a very modern take on it. They're quite nice.

Alicea 15:07

Yep.

Points Pricing Taxes And Value Math

Alicea 15:09

Well, onto the essentials. As a reminder, Disney Vacation Club introduced points rather than specific weeks and room types to the timeshare industry. A DVC purchase grants you a certain number of points per year, though they do have some week-long contracts too.

Nathan 15:27

But very sure that's only at Aluani as well, because that was catering towards the Japanese market. Yeah.

Alicea 15:34

The points chart for the villas at Disneyland Hotel starts at 10 points a night during January in a duo studio and runs up to 204 points a night for a three-bedroom during peak travel season around the holidays on a weekend. The deluxe studio ranges from 13 to 34 points a night.

Nathan 15:54

Now, please do note that the villas at Disneyland Hotel, the contract does not include the local transient occupancy tax from Anaheim. So you'll have a charge at the end of your stay, unlike many slash all, I think, of the DVC resorts in Florida. The only other resort that's like this is Aulani out in Hawaii. You can look up the per night fee on DVC's website and it's mapped to the travel period and room type, just like the points chart available on the same page. For a deluxe studio room, again, which most of what's on offer at this tower is, the charge is between $38 and $100 a night, again, depending on when you go. If you're wondering, during peak season, the three-bedroom grand villa's tax is $604 a night this year.

Alicea 16:52

Yep.

Nathan 16:52

Yeah.

Alicea 16:53

Now, the Grand Californian villas there, their tax is already built into the contract.

Nathan 16:59

Right.

Alicea 17:00

So they could not do that with the Disneyland Hotel, the villas.

Nathan 17:05

I don't know if I don't know if they couldn't do it or they just didn't do it.

Alicea 17:08

I um I think it was a little bit of both. They're like, why don't we just not do this? But I I don't think the city of Anaheim was allowing them to do it, was part of the issue.

Nathan 17:18

Interesting. Yeah. Hmm. This definitely is a downside to a contract and staying here. Yeah. That said, there isn't a lot of capacity at the Grand Californian Hotel to spend DVC points. So, you know, you're kind of backed into this as your almost only option if you don't own directly there in California. And honestly, this is why we bought a contract there. We live in the Seattle area. At this point, we are headed down to California at least once a year, if not more. And we needed points that we could use because the Grand Cal is already booked up, usually by the time we hit that seven-month window for a non-home resort. So this was our option.

Alicea 18:04

Yep.

Contract Expiration And What Happens Next

Alicea 18:05

DVC contracts are good for 50 years of points from the resort opening, not the purchase date. The villas at Disneyland Hotel contracts expire on January 31st, 2074. Nobody is 100% sure what DVC will do for current owners when these contracts start to expire. Uh, we'll start finding out in 2042 when the first DVC contracts at Old Key West Resort start hitting their expiration. There are a lot of theories out there, and we don't expect to hear anything officially from Disney until that date gets a lot closer. We'll have to wait and see along with everybody else.

Nathan 18:45

Indeed. Financial stuff comes into this too, because you have depreciation of assets and how you can do that. And it's it's yeah. It'll be interesting to see what happens. And we may not really know what DVC is going to do for all the other resorts when the 2042 contracts start coming up to an end at Old Key West because DVC several years ago did allow original owners to extend another 15 years.

Alicea 19:16

Not all of them did.

Nathan 19:17

But not all of them did. And now DVC is in this weird thing where they have a bunch of contracts expiring 15 years earlier than others. Their hands are kind of tied in terms of when they could do a massive reinvestment in the resort or do something with it. I don't see Disney Vacation Club ever doing that again because they've really backed themselves into a corner.

Alicea 19:40

Yeah. It will be interesting to see what they do because I think they could leave a portion of Old Key West up just enough to satisfy the members that did extend, because it's not going to be all of them. So I think they could demolish or do whatever they're going to do to a fair amount of the portion of Old Key West.

Nathan 20:05

Like the smaller buildings that are widely dispersed, like you see at Old Key West, that's just not very efficient from an operations perspective. Rather than what they're building now, if you look at Lakeshore or the new DVC Tower at the Polynesian or things like that, where they're a consolidated buildings like the Riviera. So I think we're going to see uh probably a massive, my my bet is a massive redevelopment at Old Key West. And we'll see what happens with the rest of those as they start coming to uh fruition or whatever you want to call it, insert word there, uh, over the next 20 to 25 years uh after Old Key West hits its mark.

Alicea 20:50

I think 10 years' time we'll know what's happening.

Nathan 20:54

I think they're gonna keep a lid on it for as long as they can. They don't want to make a commitment one way or another. And when these contracts expire, like the property reverts to Disney's ownership.

Alicea 21:06

Yeah.

Nathan 21:06

So, you know, we are basically funding Disney getting a resort in 50 years. Now they have to operate it over that time, although us DVC owners were also paying maintenance contract points every year on that. So it's it's very, very interesting.

Alicea 21:26

I mean, 10 years from now, it'll be six years out. And with how long things take construction-wise for Disney.

Nathan 21:34

Yeah.

Alicea 21:35

Um they're gonna need to have well, they'll I know they have something in place. They have something planned.

Nathan 21:41

Oh, there's a plan.

Alicea 21:42

But I think that's when they'll they'll start.

Nathan 21:45

Uh I don't think we're not going to be able to do that. My opinion is I don't think we'll hear anything until probably closer to three years out. Once we're in that like last banking and borrowing window, they don't have to do anything until like the last. Basically two or three years. Okay.

Alicea 22:02

We shall see.

Nathan 22:03

Indeed. I'm not taking uh bets on it right now because I'll forget what we said in 15 years.

Alicea 22:09

But a calendar reminder.

Nathan 22:10

I don't plan to be using this calendar anymore in 15 years.

Alicea 22:15

Well, on to the basics.

Nathan 22:16

Indeed.

Check In Parking Laundry And Layout

Nathan 22:17

This resort is just like any other DVC resort uh in Florida. Check-in time is at four o'clock in the afternoon. Checkout time is your standard 11 a.m. Services are available at the main Disneyland hotel lobby in the main building. Of course, you get a check-in desk, concierge, bell services, a valet, all of that good stuff. There's some shopping there too.

Alicea 22:45

Yeah, and all of that is at the main Disneyland hotel lobby. So not right at the base of the tower, though there is a small lobby in the tower with just a little tiny guest service desk and a nice lounge room with comfortable seating. But if you need something, you do need to walk a little bit to get to the main lobby.

Nathan 23:07

Self-parking is available and included with a DVC reservation. So that's nice. You don't have to pay the nightly parking charge like other guests at the Disneyland Hotel. And laundry is available in suite in the one bedroom and larger villas, as we mentioned before. And there's a common laundry room on the first floor of the Villa's Tower. These are free to use for DVC guests, but you probably need to run over to the main desk and get a credit voucher or a little card that you can swipe to give you access. If you don't have one of those, i.e., if you are a regular hotel guest, that room is still available, but you need to pay for those laundry services.

Walking Monorail And Getting Around

Alicea 23:54

Now on to transportation, this is kind of more of a consideration for Walt Disney World resorts than it is here in Anaheim. The Disneyland Hotel is literally right next to downtown Disney, and it is a short nine-minute walk to the Esplanade and both parks. Ironically, the Disneyland Monorail, whose single station is near the hotel, but but within the downtown Disney security boundary, adds at least five minutes to your trip if it's running.

Nathan 24:22

If it's running.

Alicea 24:23

Yeah. But you're sitting down, so there's that.

Nathan 24:26

There is that. There is that.

Alicea 24:28

And you get put right in the middle of tomorrowland.

Nathan 24:31

You do. Again, if it's running, because if it gets north of like 85 degrees or something like that, they shut down the monorail because the Disneyland monorail doesn't have air conditioning.

Alicea 24:43

And or if there's construction going on, which guess what? There is going to be a lot of construction going on, especially because this monorail goes kind of through California Adventure a little bit too right where they are going to build Pandora, Avatar Land, whatever, Zootopia.

Nathan 25:02

All the things.

Alicea 25:03

All the things.

Pools Fitness And Resort Perks

Nathan 25:05

Let's talk about amenities, shall we?

Alicea 25:08

Okay.

Nathan 25:09

The biggest resort amenity, of course, is its proximity to downtown Disneyland and the parks there in Anaheim. You are a short walk away from the Pixar Pier Hotel if you want to visit the Great Maple Restaurant or something like that over there. You could even walk to the Anaheim Convention Center in about 15 or 20 minutes if you happen to be staying at the Disneyland Hotel for something like D23.

Alicea 25:33

Yeah.

Nathan 25:35

Good insight.

Alicea 25:36

Yes. Disneyland Resort guests staying at Disneyland Hotel, the Grand Californian or Pixar Place. Get one complimentary lightning lane per guest stay since early access hours have been discontinued. Since the villas are just an extension of the Disneyland Hotel, we are going to include everything on offer at Disneyland Hotel as we look at the pools, restaurants, and other offerings.

Nathan 26:19

Did you say pools?

Alicea 26:20

I said pools.

Nathan 26:21

Well, let's talk pools. The feature e-ticket pool at the Disneyland Hotel is a 4,800 square foot expanse designed for lounging and playing for the whole family. There are also two monorail themed water slides, including the 25-foot high, 180-foot-long orange monorail slide and the 13-foot high, 80-foot-long yellow monorail slide. There's also a two-lane mini slide for the smaller kiddos.

Alicea 26:53

The D-ticket pool is a great place for laps and passes under the bridge to Trader Sam's and Tangaroa Terrace, which is more on that in a little bit.

Nathan 27:03

Indeed.

Alicea 27:04

The Villas Tower added the pallet pool and steamboat Willie splash area.

Nathan 27:11

And there are cabanas available near the Monorail Slides, the e-ticket pool, and the pallet pool for rental should you want to get bougie on a resort day.

Alicea 27:21

The fitness center for Disneyland Hotel is in the Discovery Tower. So same building as your DVC villa. And they do have classes available. You can see them on the online calendar.

Nathan 27:34

There's also a 136,000 square foot conference center there at the Disneyland Hotel. And in addition to business, we've seen events like Dapper Days host a show floor there. Yeah. So be on the lookout for what may be uh at the convention center there. It could be something really cool that's open to the public or maybe a ticketed event, or it could be, you know, flooring salesmen that you're not really interested in.

Alicea 28:01

Yep.

Nathan 28:01

I mean, nothing against flooring salesmen. True. We have floors.

Alicea 28:06

Yes. Occasionally we need new ones.

Nathan 28:09

Occasionally. Especially when pipes break.

Alicea 28:11

Yep.

Nathan 28:12

Anyhow, moving on.

Alicea 28:14

There are not fire pits and regular storytelling outside, like at many other DVC resorts, but there is a ton to do over at the downtown Disney district that is right next door. Huge calendar of events.

Nathan 28:27

Absolutely. And you can even go bowling over there if you wanted to. Like there's just a ton to do.

Dining Highlights Plus Downtown Disney

Alicea 28:33

Let's talk about dining because there are some good offerings here. First off is the Tangaroa Terrace Tropical Bar and Grill. This place serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. via counter service or mobile order with inside and outside seating in the central quad of Disneyland Hotel near the pools. We have gotten breakfast here and I think a lunch too. I think they had pulled pork something or another, and it was delicious. Or teriyaki, good stuff.

Nathan 29:02

Yeah, excellent, excellent stuff. Trader Sam's Enchanted Tiki Bar brings mystery, romance, and adventure to your culinary and hydration needs. This table service location has inside and outside seating and is open from 8 a.m. to midnight. The uh website, I had to quote here because it's pretty awesome. Many years ago, legendary explorer Trader Sam was bitten by the bartending bug. Initially, we thought it was a mosquito. In the tiki bar business, it's a real jungle out there. But once Trader Sam began serving refreshing elixir to explorers and adventurers, the word really spread. Now, that that all said, the heavily themed and ever-popular bar inside is closed right now through the rest of spring 2026 for refurbishment. Here's hoping the tiki gods aren't too angered.

Alicea 29:59

Uh oh.

Nathan 29:59

Uh oh. Uh-oh.

Alicea 30:01

Uh oh uh oh uh oh.

Nathan 30:03

There you go.

Alicea 30:04

Now, the food here is is um for dinner and lunch. It's the same stuff that they serve over at the Tangaroa Terrace.

Nathan 30:11

Yes, it's just table service versus counter service. Yep, yep, yep. The drinks, the atmosphere, and everything else inside inside is just on point. Yeah. This place is fantastic. And it's kind of a locals bar too, especially late at night. So definitely a great place to hang out.

Alicea 30:33

The coffee house is open from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. near the convention center at Disneyland Hotel, also near Goofy's Kitchen, and offers coffee and assorted beverages, snacks, and pastries. We don't drink coffee, so we've never been in here. Nope. Speaking of Goofy's Kitchen, uh, Goofy's Kitchen is a character dining buffet open from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Goofy is typically joined by Minnie Pluto Chip and Dale with occasional visits by Claribel Cow. As with all character dining reservations, are highly recommended.

Nathan 31:09

Indeed. This is a good spot. This is, I would say, the the chef Mickeys of Disneyland. Yep, but I'd say it's it's a it's a it's better.

Alicea 31:21

The food is a yeah, the food's better.

Nathan 31:23

It's better. It's California better. It's California, everything is better. The Broken Spell Lounge opened in October 2024, and somehow we still haven't been to it. This replaced the much beloved Steakhouse 55, which closed during the pandemic and never reopened. Broken Spell is themed to Sleeping Beauty and occupies much of what used to be the Steakhouse 55 Lounge and is available for drinks and light bites daily from 4 to 10 p.m., though hours may vary, so check the app. While there are lots of delicious libations to sample, the menu features several bourbon and whiskey cocktails and flights. Like I said, we haven't been there yet because there are just too many amazing places we want to eat and drink around Disneyland Resort. But this is high on our must-do list.

Alicea 32:17

Yep. And speaking of amazing, one of our favorites is the Palm Breeze Bar. It opened just after the Discovery Tower and sits between the Villas Pool and the Monrail Slides. This location has a full bar outside as well as table seating and is open for lunch and dinner from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. And there's often live music in the evenings as well, which we have enjoyed multiple times.

Nathan 32:39

Indeed, this is a fantastic spot.

Alicea 32:42

Mm-hmm. With good food.

Nathan 32:44

Absolutely. There's also room service available at the DVC Villas as part of the rest of the Disneyland Hotel. And lastly, we can't ignore the fact that you are staying just steps away from downtown Disney too. Whether it's din Tai Fung, Black Tap burgers and shakes, Naples Restaurante, Jazz Kitchen, Centrico, Wetzel's Pretzels, Kathy's Cookies, just a churro cart, you are going to find something good to eat.

Alicea 33:13

And coming soon is Gordon Ramsay's first sit-down dining restaurant at a Disney resort called Gordon Ramsay at the Carnaby. It's a British-themed gastro pub. Plus, you've got everything from Hearthstone to Napa Rose and Storyteller's Cafe at the Grand Californian right there, too. Truly, the villas at Disneyland Hotel offer probably the best selection of food choices of any of the DVC resorts anywhere.

Nathan 33:39

It is a good thing we have already had dinner when we were recording this. Because otherwise, I would be very hungry right now. That said, I could go for a drink.

Alicea 33:48

I don't remember what it was, but when we were walking through downtown Disney this last time, there's another restaurant that's opening up that looked amazing.

Nathan 33:58

It was like a bourbon steakhouse.

Alicea 34:00

Yeah. It's like, okay, we will be trying now.

Nathan 34:03

So many things. Yes. So many things. It's almost like we need more DVC points just to like eat around the

Alicea 34:10

No We just need to like go down there more often. We don't we just get a duo studio. That's all.

Nathan 34:15

Very true. Very true. Leave the kids at home.

Alicea 34:18

Yes.

Final Takeaways And How To Reach Us

Nathan 34:20

All right. Well, that kind of wraps up the overview of what's there at the Disneyland hotel villas or villas at Disneyland Hotel, however you want to say it, the Discovery Tower. Now, when it comes to DVC at the Disneyland Resort, the place to stay is at the Grand Californian. You are literally right next to California Adventure. There is a direct entrance and exit from that theme park to the hotel. But unfortunately, there are only like 50-ish rooms there, depending on how you count lockoffs. And it's nearly impossible to get into if you don't have a contract at the Grand Cal as your home resort, as we were mentioning earlier.

Alicea 35:03

So while it is second place, there are very few compromises by staying at the villas at Disneyland Hotel. We've stayed several times since it first opened, usually in a deluxe studio, but we just had a one-bedroom over spring break, and it was fantastic.

Nathan 35:20

It was amazing.

Alicea 35:22

The theming is great. It's extremely comfortable. The Disneyland Hotel campus is a little bit sprawling. There's no direct route from the front desk to the Villa's Tower. You kind of have to go around Trader Sam's in the pools. There's a little bit of a cut through if you go past Goofy's kitchen, but you have to badge in through the door and everything.

Nathan 35:43

But but it's not old Key West or Saratoga where you're like driving all over. But it there's a little bit of a walk.

Alicea 35:49

Yeah. But it is so much more convenient than at Disney World if you've got a limited mobility and are using a scooter. So you can drive right to your room.

Nathan 35:58

Which which we have done.

Alicea 36:00

Yes.

Nathan 36:00

Yes. So the the real dilemma with the villas at Disneyland Hotel is what we were just talking about. There's too many food options. There are so many places we want to try. And and we just we don't have enough time to be there and to do it. Because we also want to hit our favorites.

Alicea 36:19

Yeah, we're creatures of a habit.

Nathan 36:20

Yeah. So uh, you know, there aren't a ton of downsides. This is an absolutely beautiful resort. It is a fantastic place to stay with uh DVC points. You can rent DVC points if you want to. Uh, that saves you a significant chunk of change over doing a hotel cash rate for one of these suites.

Alicea 36:43

Do not ever do that. No, don't never, never, never.

Nathan 36:46

No, no. So yeah, that's the Disneyland Hotel, the villas at the Disneyland Hotel. Um, what do you guys think? Would you stay here? I know we would, and we will.

Alicea 36:58

If you have, what do you think of it?

Nathan 37:00

Yeah, reach out.

Alicea 37:02

Well, as we wrap up, a reminder that we are not affiliated with Disney or any of its subsidiaries. Everything you hear on the show is based on personal experience, opinions, and questionable snack choices. We are, however, proudly affiliated with fun.

Nathan 37:16

And good food in California. Yes. If you're planning a Disney vacation, we always recommend working with a travel advisor or reaching out to Disney directly to help make the magic happen. And if you enjoyed today's episode, please take a second to rate and review the show. It really helps Disney fans find us.

Alicea 37:35

If you have a question, a topic suggestion, or a Disney story that you'd love to share, please send us an email at podcast at our mousecapades.com.

Nathan 37:44

You can also find us on Instagram, Facebook, and Threads over at OurMousCapades, and we're on YouTube as well over at Our MouseCapades Pod. And don't forget to share us with your friends, your family, and Disney fans of all ages.

Alicea 37:58

Thank you so much for listening. We'll be back in your ears next week.

Intro 38:01

Thank you for flying Star Tours. Bye bye.