The Villas At Disneyland Hotel Are Open

A five-year saga has finally ended at Disneyland Resort.

After an infamous false start in 2018, the Disney Vacation Club has added another hotel in Anaheim.

Yes, fellow DVC members, The Villas at Disneyland Hotel has opened. Here’s what you need to know.

About Construction of The Villas at Disneyland Hotel

Do you remember the Downtown Disney controversy in 2018?

At the time, an unfriendly Anaheim City Council sabotaged Disney’s plans to build a new tower hotel at Downtown Disney.

Previous contractual agreements had entitled Disney to expand in this area.

Simultaneously, Disney would have received a whopping $267 million tax exemption over a period of up to 20 years.

Effectively, the hotel would have paid for itself in time thanks to those tax credits.

However, some politicians ran as anti-Disney candidates and enough of them won to disrupt the project.

When Disney filed a request to move the hotel two blocks from its previously announced locale, the City Council wouldn’t budge.

Disney killed the project and later indicated it would never accept tax incentives from the Anaheim government again.

Still, DVC strategists heard the venting of angry members. We’ve always wanted more inventory at Disneyland Resort.

Until recently, the only option was The Villas at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa, which owners know offers the smallest DVC inventory.

So, we had just one DVC option at The Happiest Place on Earth, and it suffered an inventory shortage to boot.

Disney came up with a plan to solve the problem by adding a new tower at Disneyland Hotel.

This expansion is The Villas at Disneyland Hotel, a 12-story tower offering 344 rooms across five different room types.

Depending on how you do the math here, these villas could expand DVC inventory at Disneyland Resort by as much as a factor of seven.

At a minimum, we’re talking about five times as many available rooms. So, let’s talk about what you’ll find here.

About the Design of The Villas at Disneyland Hotel

For the sake of brevity, I’ll call the new place The Villas, but the Disneyland Hotel part matters greatly.

Imagineers have designed The Villas as an extension of the world’s first theme park hotel.

In an odd bit of Disney history, Walt Disney had little to do with the construction of the original. He lacked the money for a hotel.

Uncle Walt pitched many of his wealthy friends on the idea, but a relative stranger named Jack Wrather recognized its potential and invested.

Disney wouldn’t own the Disneyland Hotel until the 1980s. In fact, the Grand Californian is the only West Coast property that Disney built.

For this reason, The Villas presented Disney with a rare opportunity to celebrate its legacy while building something entirely new.

You’ll notice thematic touches throughout the property, starting with the hotel lobby.

A curved mural displays characters and images from recent Disney animated movies like Big Hero 6, The Princess and the Frog, Tangled, and Zootopia.

In fact, Disney hired Lorelay Bové to design this mural. She’s best known as an associate production designer on Encanto.

The artist’s work pays tribute to the inimitable style of Mary Blair, but the focus on newer Disney characters is essential. It’s a signal about the new Disney stories.

Speaking of which, splashy colors define many aspects of the hotel. I’ve jokingly described the visual as a melted box of crayons.

Disney has leaned into this premise with the logo for The Villas. It splashes four different colors on the page, and the merchandise here plays into the premise.

You’ll find Easter eggs of one of these four colors throughout the hotel. The vibe of the place is very much “Taste the rainbow!”

About the Room Types

What matters most to you about The Villas are the rooms themselves.

DVC has created five different options, depending on how many of your precious DVC Points you’re willing to spend.

For instance, you can save points by booking a Duo Studio, this property’s version of the Tower Studio at Disney’s Riviera Resort.

Since space is so tight in these rooms, Disney hides a Queen bed as an in-wall dropdown. When it’s not in use, it goes back into the wall and transforms to sitting space.

The Duo Studios sleep just two, but they come with kitchenettes. Also, Disney has themed the rooms to Jungle Book. You’ll appreciate the artwork.

When you want a more conventional setup, the Deluxe Villa will satisfy your needs.

These rooms sleep four guests and feature themes for The Princess and the Frog or Sleeping Beauty.

Thus far, guests have raved about the efficiency and cleverness of the room designs. Disney has even figured out the perfect spot for the kitchenette for a change!

The other hotel room types are villas. You’ll have your pick of one- or two-bedroom villas plus the Grand Villa.

In total, 39 of the one- and two-bedrooms are available (19 one-bedrooms and 20 two-bedrooms). They sleep five and nine, respectively.

Both room types come with theming based on The Princess and the Frog or Fantasia. So, The Princess and the Frog fans will love The Villas!

Finally, the Grand Villa sleeps up to 12 and highlights characters and moments from Bambi, Frozen, and Moana.

These suites have two other impressive features of note. You’ll find a two-story viewing window here plus a dual-sided fireplace. It’s an elegant setup.

Final Thoughts about The Villas at Disneyland Hotel

Disney has made some unusual decisions with this property. For instance, you really should think of it as an expansion to Disneyland Hotel.

I say this because the hotel lacks typical amenities like Quick Service or Table Service restaurants.

You will find the Palette Pool here. As the name implies, it’s every bit as colorful as the rest of the resort. Also, there IS a pool bar here.

You can also book a cabana here, which is nice. Still, Disney lists the amenities at the Disneyland Hotel as the ones to know for The Villas.

Please keep this in mind when you book here. Also, as a gentle reminder, please remember the odd booking rule in play.

As with Aulani, Disney Vacation Club Villas, The Villas at Disneyland Hotel requires a Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT).

You’ll pay this fee in addition to the DVC Points for staying at the resort. Here are the 2023 TOT rates:

• Duo Studio: $38.27 – $46.47 per night
• Deluxe Studio: $54.67 – $71.08 per night
• One-Bedroom Villa: $109.35 – $125.75 per night
• Two-Bedroom Villa: – $164.02 – $188.63 per night 
• Three-Bedroom Villa: $347.18 – $410.06 per night

Still, DVC members will happily pay since we’re getting what we’ve wanted for many years now.

We finally have a second booking option at Disneyland Resort. Even better, we’ve got a much deeper inventory of potential rooms to book.

Also, we can stay at the most storied Disney hotel of all…but in entirely new hotel facilities! How great is that?

You can safely expect The Villas at Disneyland Hotel to prove quite popular in the coming years.

Please let us know if you have any questions or if you’d like any additional information. If you’d like to rent a DVC Villa for your next Vacation or purchase a Disney Vacation Club property at a reduced price, our agents will be happy to assist you with any questions or information.

 You can reach our office at 800-550-6493 or email sales@dvcstore.com. 

Written by David Mumpower

David Mumpower is the author of Behind the Ride and the Disney Demystified series. He’s written more than 25 million words and been quoted as a subject matter expert by CNN, the Washington Post, USA Today, CNBC, and countless others. A DVC member for more than a decade now, his favorite resort is the Polynesian, his favorite park is EPCOT, and his favorite ride is Spaceship Earth.