Hiya Kraig!
A very warm welcome to planDisney! Thanks for your great question!
I just returned from a stay at the Disneyland Hotel and one of my favorite perks of staying at a
Disneyland Resort Hotel is taking advantage of
Early Admission to Disneyland Park or Disney California Adventure Park. Hotel Guests may enter 30 minutes early to enjoy select attractions, dining and shopping locations. And, starting in January, Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure Park will have Early Entry on select days.
But this still should not be a problem for hotel guests. That’s because once you’ve linked your hotel reservation, you’ll see a blue “Make Theme Park Reservations” button. This button will take you to the Resort Hotel Guest Theme Park Reservation Availability Calendar. This calendar has different availability than the Disneyland Resort Magic Key Access Calendar or the single-day and multi-day tickets. I’ve found that Theme Park Reservations are available on this calendar even when they are not available on another. So, go ahead and make your Theme Park Reservation now and you can always modify the starting theme park at a later date. Another option is asking a Cast Member at the hotel to change your starting Theme Park Reservation for you.
Lastly, something else I love about staying on property at the
Disneyland Resort is that your stay begins the morning you check in and ends the night you check out. This means that you can take advantage of perks like Hotel Parking and Early Admission even before your room is ready and a room number has been assigned! And, even after you have checked out of the hotel, you can still take advantage of resort hotel perks like using the Pool and Gym Facilities. So, please feel free to arrive early in the morning and check in at the front desk. A Cast Member will assign you a room key that can be used to access the early morning entry! And, once your room is ready, you should be able to use that same key to access your hotel room.
I hope this information was helpful!
Tiffanie