Hi Lisa!
What an excellent plan to spend time at the Happiest Place on Earth before your daughter starts college! I have a couple of tips to ensure your Disney vacation planning is successful.
Both valid
theme park tickets and
theme park reservations will be needed to visit
Disneyland Park and
Disney California Adventure Park. Theme park reservations can be booked up to 120 days in advance. If your initial arrival date is August 5, 2022, then your booking window will open on April 5, 2022. I recommend purchasing tickets and making the reservations in advance if you're able to. Also, when purchasing tickets, you'll have the option of adding the Park Hopper add-on. Currently, it is a flat $60 per ticket, and the park hopping capabilities gets applied to all of your ticket days! Great value in my opinion, and it allows you to maximize your days!
But on to your main question. The
Disneyland Resort Hotels are amazing, and excellent decision on deciding between the
Disneyland Hotel and
Disney's Paradise Pier Hotel. Both are fantastic! I prefer the Disneyland Hotel, as it is located at one end of the
Downtown Disney District. You can find all current offers and discounts on the
Disneyland Resort website. I don't see any current ones applicable to hotel costs during your planned arrival dates, but I would continue to monitor this page to see if something comes up! But please know that the Disneyland Resort Hotels are extremely popular and tend to book up quickly.
Last but not least,
dining reservations! These can be booked up to 60 days in advance, and the popular locations book almost instantly, so I highly recommend you start thinking of where you want to dine now and then book as soon as your window opens!
If you have more questions, please come back to visit!
See ya real soon!
Jin