Several years ago, we published an article titled “Is Walt Disney World’s On-Site Advantage Disappearing?” This came before the end of Extra Magic Hours, free FastPass and Magical Express. Then those cutbacks happened, and we doubled-down on that perspective.
Readers mostly agreed with the first incarnation of the article, although some defended the value proposition of staying on-site. Once room rates exploded during pent-up demand and Walt Disney World cut several perks, the consensus was clearly in favor of the on-site advantage disappearing. Some argued that it was gone completely, and that they’d never stay on-site again. Look back through the 500+ comments, and you’ll find no one arguing that WDW resorts were a better value than ever.
Then a funny thing happened. Walt Disney World started restoring perks, giving guests more reasons to stay on-site. We even retitled the article “Is Disney World’s On-Site Advantage Disappearing…or Reappearing?” (It’s been retitled yet again; perhaps we should’ve published new articles as opposed to doing updates.) That’s not to say that everything is as good as it was a decade ago, but it’s fairly undeniable that there’s more reason to stay on-site than there was back in 2021. Well, history doesn’t often repeat itself…but it does rhyme. And exactly that is happening at Disneyland Resort in 2026.
If we were to write that same article in 2026 about Disneyland, the title would be “Disneyland’s On-Site Advantage is Disappearing.” Not even a question, just a statement of fact. That’s in part because there really wasn’t a huge on-site advantage in the first place versus alternatives in Anaheim, and in part because the cutbacks in California very obviously make it worse.
Rather than writing the title as a question (and article as one word: yes) or explaining the obvious in why the changes are for the worse (you already know–many, many readers have told me as much!) I want to take this in a different direction. Instead, we’ll use that same ‘what’s past is prologue’ perspective and predict why history will repeat itself or rhyme once again.
Let’s start with a quick recap of the changes, which take effect starting January 5, 2026 (technically, they’re already in effect given the timing of this post)…
Pixar Place Hotel Entrance Closes
The Pixar Place Hotel entrance to Disney California Adventure is closed. Although this coincides with the Coco boat ride project that’s starting backstage at Pixar Pier, this closure is unrelated to construction. Disney has stated there are no intentions to reopen this entrance.
Pixar Place Hotel guests are now able to access DCA through the Grand Californian Hotel entrance. There’s a gate to GCH across the street from PPH, more or less directly adjacent to the existing walkway. Guests will now go through the GCH lobby maze and enter DCA in Grizzly Peak.
The elimination of this entrance isn’t hugely shocking. The guest load coming through the private entrance from Pixar Place Hotel into DCA was minimal, to the point that the significantly shortened operating hours (the entrance closed at noon on many days!) and diverted guests to GCH on a number of occasions.
It’s worth noting that this is already an instance of history repeating itself! This entrance originally was discontinued in the early 2000s shortly after DCA opened and subsequently flopped.
The entrance was brought back post-reopening when Paradise Pier Hotel was limping along and other guest benefits were slashed. At the time, the hotel needed to offer a compelling selling point, especially as it turned into a multi-year construction zone during the reimagining.
Pixar Place Hotel has emerged from that reimagining and is more popular than ever. Disneyland doesn’t need to incentivize bookings at Pixar Place Hotel, as it’s already the most in-demand of the trio of Hotels at Disneyland Resort and is often excluded from discounts.
It thus makes sense to now close the Pixar Place Hotel entrance only a few years after bringing it back. Disney probably left it open for the last year or so because they didn’t want to discontinue it too soon after Pixar Place Hotel debuted, as it was highlighted as a huge positive in reviews.
Pixar Place Hotel is likely operating at historically high occupancy numbers. This is not like back in the early 2000s when DCA flopped. If the private entrance has low utilization now (and it does), it just isn’t viable, period. It won’t return anytime soon. GCH offers a somewhat comparable alternative, so PPH is unlikely to have occupancy materially, adversely impacted as a result.
With that said, I’d stop short of saying the entrance will never return. Pixar Place Hotel will be showing its age again in another 10-15 years, Disneyland Resort will be under new management again, and some leader might ask: “what’s with this entrance, and why is it never used? It’d be a great guest perk!”
That, or Disney will build more hotels over on the surface parking lots (where everyone assumes park expansion is going) and the increased guest load will make the entrance viable again. Or the park expansion might happen, and PPH might end up with a different entrance point. In short, this one is not changing in 2027…but it might in 2037 or 2047!
Early Entry Ends
Previously, guests who are staying at one of the Disneyland Resort hotels could take advantage of 30-minute Early Entry to a designated theme park every day of their hotel stay to enjoy select attractions, dining and shopping locations. Each day, either Disneyland or Disney California Adventure were open early.
Early Entry has changed a lot over the years. Pre-closure, there were multiple variants of the extra hours perk, which offered a full hour of access to a larger pool of guests thanks to stays at select Good Neighbor Hotels as well as longer duration tickets.
When Early Entry rolled out post-reopening, it was shortened to 30 minutes but expanded to both parks every single day of the week, while eligibility was reduced to just the Disney-owned hotels. It was subsequently scaled back to one designated park per day.
As an indirect replacement for Early Entry, all guests staying at one of the Hotels of Disneyland Resort will receive one free anytime access entry for a Lightning Lane attraction of their choice starting January 5, 2026. This is one (1) Lightning Lane per stay, not per day, and only Multi-Pass rides are eligible.
As a result, it probably will not move the needle on anyone buying or skipping Lightning Lanes. That’s probably precisely the point. Disney wanted a no-cost perk that wouldn’t cannibalize line-skipping sales. If anything, this will increase Lightning Lane sales!
The perk of one (1) Lightning Lane per (1) stay is so much worse than Early Entry, so guests who previously used that bonus time and savvy strategy to avoid buying Lightning Lanes now will have to reconsider that approach.
We did Early Entry at Disneyland often, and our experience was consistently great at Disneyland. We could “run the table” on Fantasyland dark rides, and even if there was an attraction with the dreaded delayed opening, it didn’t matter in Fantasyland because there’s so much to pick up the slack.
Everything is close together, nothing has a pre-show, and each ride is only a few minutes long. It’s incredibly easy to knock out everything in quick succession. I can’t think of a single time when we did under a half-dozen attractions during Early Entry. It was so satisfying in Fantasyland.
It also didn’t come to the detriment of regular rope drop guests, as Fantasyland “reset” by the end of Early Entry. So few on-site guests remained in lines for these attractions–they’ve mostly moved on to rope drop Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, clearing the slate for a fresh wave of regular rope drop guests in Fantasyland. It was an everyone wins scenario.
For this same reason, Disney eliminating Early Entry came as no surprise. It’s a numbers game, and Disneyland Resort doesn’t have enough on-site hotel guests to justify the staffing costs. At least, that’s the calculus in the company’s view.
Over the years, we had discussed the “sustainability” of Early Entry at Disneyland, and openly speculated that they’d eventually do what Walt Disney World does (or what Disneyland did in the past!) and strike deals with third party hotels to expand access. Charge a couple of the luxury hotels in Anaheim a premium to be part of Early Entry, add it to the longest duration tickets (or make it a standalone upcharge), etc., and make the math pencil out.
After all, there are under 3,000 on-site resort rooms at Disneyland Resort (hotel inventory plus DVC) that were eligible for Early Entry. Contrast that with the 40,000 eligible rooms at Walt Disney World, which includes all of the Disney properties plus the Disney Springs Resort Area, Bonnet Creek, Swan & Dolphin, and Shades of Green.
Where we already starting to see history repeat itself is in the fan backlash to the elimination of Early Entry at Disneyland.
In reviewing the most controversial changes of the last year, I was surprised to find the end of Early Entry near the top of the list. This was surprising not because we view it as a positive change (absolutely not) but given the aforementioned low on-site room count at Disneyland Resort.
With less than 1/10th the number of rooms as Walt Disney World, it seemed safe to expect less than 1/10th of the backlash. I would also add that, anecdotally at least, we view Walt Disney World on-site acolytes as being more passionate about the Disney Bubble and all it entails. My perception is that the Disneyland on-site demo contains more non-fans who have little to no price-sensitivity, convention guests, and others with zero awareness or concern for the perks. Boy oh boy, was my ‘less than 1/10th the backlash’ estimate wrong!
Suffice to say, the outrage over the end of Early Entry has been fiercer and stronger than I would’ve guessed. We’ve heard from very few people who are pleased by the Lightning Lane perk. Reactions have been 99% negative. It’s been far and away the most controversial ‘guest experience’ change of the last year on either coast. Again, that’s notable because it’s relevant to a smaller pool of people in the first place.
It’s also notable because Walt Disney World made its cuts to the guest experience back when revenge travel was starting to run hot. With the benefit of hindsight, it was a savvy move because they could get away with it. No matter how much fans complained (and wow did we ever complain), it didn’t matter.
There was so much pent-up demand that plenty of people were willing to book hotel rooms at full price with fewer perks. Once that pent-up demand started burning off, Walt Disney World began restoring on-site perks. This was the logical way of doing things. Even today, we are expecting the continued restoration of perks coupled with aggressive discounting at Walt Disney World because that’s the clear trajectory of things.
Meanwhile, Disneyland is making cuts after pent-up demand has fizzled out. This is all a bold (and backwards) move on Disney’s part, especially at a time when they’ve started to offer more discounts for on-site stays, which would seemingly suggest that occupancy numbers are down.
Our assumption is that occupancy projections have declined further for 2026, and Disney’s solution to that is cutting costs. Early Entry is an “easy” one from that perspective, as it’s a presumably big labor expense for a small pool of guests.
There’s only one little problem: it has the potential to worsen occupancy by a greater degree than the money it saves. If the backlash we’ve seen–and number of guests who have said they are “done” staying on-site at Disneyland–is any indication, this is a big risk.
This is precisely why we believe Early Entry has the potential to return to Disneyland.
For one thing, there’s historical precedent of Disney bringing back on-site perks in response to guest complaints, decreased satisfaction scores, and (probably most importantly) declining occupancy numbers.
Not only does the precedent exist, but it exists specifically for Early Entry…and on both coasts! And on top of that, Walt Disney World appears to be going in the exact opposite direction of Disneyland on this type of ‘guest experience’ and perks thing, trying to entice more people to stay on-site. There’s absolutely zero reason to believe demand dynamics are materially different between the two coasts.
For another thing, the blueprint already exists for making Early Entry (or an equivalent) viable despite Disneyland’s low on-site room count, because they’ve done it before! They could even do it better than before, using more finesse to ensure the new-look perk didn’t become as overcrowded as previously, and that a clear on-site advantage was maintained.
The bottom line is that although the underlying motivations for changes along these lines are fairly obvious, the specifics and timing of the cutbacks are nevertheless surprising given the bigger picture (and what Walt Disney World is doing). Equally as surprising is just how passionate the fan backlash has been; again, we didn’t expect people to view this change positively, but we underestimated the intensity of the complaints.
We wouldn’t be surprised if Disneyland also underestimated it, and finds a way to roll back the changes in 2027. Or at least, introduces a new on-site perk that is a significant value-add to staying on-site at Disneyland. With little else to justify the sky-high room rates (even after discount), Disneyland really needs “magical” intangibles that guests view positively in order to entice those on-site stays–along with boosting return visits and intend to recommend metrics.
Don’t expect any changes before the 2027 Disneyland product launch, though. Bookings would have to be really bad for any major mid-year changes, and as (pleasantly) surprised as we’ve been by the complaints, we still view the more likely near-term answer as more aggressive discounts. Depending upon how costly Early Entry was to run, deals also might end up being the only answer.
Of course, this is purely speculative and doesn’t do anything for anyone planning 2026 Disneyland trips. In the here and now, there are very few on-site perks at Disneyland. The biggest selling point is being part of the “Disney Bubble,” to the extent that one even exists in California.
Even though the PPH entrance into DCA is gone, there’s still the GCH one. That’s huge for midday breaks. Disneyland Hotel can also use those with a bit of backtracking, which is nice. All three hotels also connect to Downtown Disney. You mostly won’t have to walk the streets of Anaheim if you’re staying at any of these hotels.
If you’re looking for alternative hotel options within walking distance of the parks check out our Disneyland Hotels Reviews & Rankings. That covers the 50+ hotels at which we’ve stayed in Anaheim, and there’s sure to be something on that list that’s right for you–at a much lower price than PPH, GCH or DLH. A more concise resource is Where to Stay at Disneyland–that also weighs staying off-site versus on-site (albeit before Early Entry was cut).
If you’re looking to book a third party hotel, we do not recommend going through Disneyland’s Good Neighbor search engine, as that’ll cost you more. Instead, consider booking a discounted hotel + ticket vacation package via Get Away Today. In addition to the package discount, some hotels have ‘4th night free’ promos. Save an extra $10 by using code TOURIST at checkout (valid on 2-night and longer stays). Click here to check out the package discounts available.
Planning a Southern California vacation? For park admission deals, read Tips for Saving Money on Disneyland Tickets. For where to eat, check out our Disneyland Restaurant Reviews. For unique ideas of things that’ll improve your trip, check out What to Pack for Disney. For comprehensive advice, consult our Disneyland Vacation Planning Guide. Finally, for guides beyond Disney, check out our Southern California Itineraries for day trips to Los Angeles, Laguna Beach, and tons of other places!
YOUR THOUGHTS
What do you think of Disneyland ending Early Entry? What about eliminating the Pixar Place Hotel entrance into DCA? Think either of these perks could return in 2027 if occupancy declines? Do you agree or disagree with our assessments here? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
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