Hi Gary!
Thank you so much for sending your
Disneyland Resort vacation planning question to us hEAR at planDisney! I'm happy to be your planEAR today.
Ooooooh, Gary! You check-in to the iconic (ear-conic?)
Disneyland Hotel on Sunday! I know you must be getting so excited. I sadly returned home from a stay at the very same
Disneyland Resort Hotel two weeks ago and I still haven't gotten over it, so promise you'll have a drink at
Trader Sam's for me. This answer depends on a few different factors, like what
room type you booked. (There are more standard rooms than suites; there are only so many theme park view rooms but six times as many pool views, etc.)
Officially,
the check-in time at all of Disneyland's hotels is 3:00 P.M. However, that is also a time invented before everyone had technology that fit in the palm of their hands and also before a modern global pandemic. You can absolutely approach the Front Desk as soon as you arrive to officially start the check-in process and inquire about getting into a room, even if it's 9:00 A.M.. (I've been given room access at Walt Disney World Resort in Flordia as early as 10:00 A.M. before, so it's definitely possible.) The tricky part will be if your room type is ready or not.
Your best bet will be to
utilize the Mobile Check-in feature in your Disneyland Mobile App. Not only will this save some time at the Check-In Desk when you do get in town, there's also a spot in the prompts where you can notate
when you'll be arriving. This way you can hopefully be assigned a room sooner rather than later in the day. Once you're Home, you'll still have to go to the Front Desk to pick up your physical room key cards. But, hopefully your room is either ready because of your mobile check-in heads-up, or, you won't have to wait that long to get a magical text message from Mickey himself with your room assignment. Once that comes in you'll be good to go straight to your room and not have to mess with the front desk again.
Pro Tip: Did you know that your Disneyland Hotel Guest Privileges start as soon as you pick up your room keys and last until you say your final "See Ya' Real Soon" (or 11:59 P.M., whichever happens first) on your check-out day? This means you can swim, workout, visit in the *E-Ticket Club Lounge (*if staying Club Level), even leave your car parked in the Disneyland Hotel Parking Lot while you play in the theme parks or in the
Downtown Disney District.
Bonus Pro Tip: Pack your swim stuff, some dry clothes, and your shower supplies in your carry-on as there's a small changing room with a shower in the
Disneyland Hotel pool deck so you can really splash until the last second.
I hope this helped to clEAR things up and get you oh so excited for your upcoming stay, Gary! Be sure to follow the
official planDisney Instagram account for even more tips and tricks. And if you have any more Disneyland Resort vacation planning questions, We're All Ears!
~Kristen N.