Off-Island: Ramada Maingate at the Park

While planning our most recent to trip to Disneyland, DH and I decided we wanted to try and stay closer to the park than our last visit.  We also wanted to find a hotel that was reasonably-priced and offered free breakfast and parking.  After researching the Disneyland Good Neighbor Hotels, I found that that the Ramada Maingate at the Park (Ramada Maingate ATP) was not only quite close to Disneyland (check out their YouTube page for a video on how quick the walk is), but it also offered complimentary continental breakfast and free parking, as well as free WiFi, and all rooms are equipped with a microwave and refrigerator.

The price was reasonable too - $99/night for 2 Double Beds.

Sounds like a no-brainer, right?  Well, I admit I was hesitant on making a reservation, and that's because the Ramada Maingate ATP is considered an "economy" hotel, and we normally don't stay at economy hotels based on a horrible experience we had years and years ago.

However, after reading a tremendous amount of great reviews on TripAdvisor, and seeing how responsive hotel management was to guests' concerns, questions, and comments on both TripAdvisor and on Facebook, I knew I had to give them a chance.

And I'm glad I did.

In summary, the location, the service, the room, and the amenities made the Ramada Maingate at the Park a great choice for our visit to Southern California.

For a more detailed review of my trip, please read further (click on any images to enlarge them).

Check-in/Room:
We arrived at the Ramada about 9am (went straight to the hotel after catching a red-eye flight), and although we requested early-check in (normal check-in is 3pm) and they were happy to accommodate early-check-in if rooms were available, we arrived in the middle of Memorial Day Weekend, so they were (not surprisingly) full and there were no rooms available for early check-in.

We decided to drop off our luggage for them to store in their luggage storage room and we went on our way to do touristy things.

We ended up checking-in at about 2:50pm.

Our room (we were upgraded to a Deluxe 2 Queen Beds room free of charge) was on the second floor, and unfortunately the 1 elevator on the property wasn't near our room, but we had no problems getting all of our luggage up to our room via the stairs.   

I thought the room was basic, but very nice (it was a renovated room) and clean, with the exception of a piece of McDonald's trash we found near the air conditioner.

I liked the furniture and I loved the special towel creations left on the counter and beds (what a really nice way to say "welcome!"), but we thought the TV definitely needed an upgrade.  Coincidentally, we happened to see a maintenance employee transport flat screens to various rooms during our stay, and he said all the rooms' TVs are being upgraded, but our room's TV wouldn't be upgraded until next week.

The beds were comfy, there were plenty of pillows, the water pressure in the shower was just fine, the toilets did not flush loudly as it does in other hotels, the air conditioner quickly cooled down the room when turned on, and the refrigerator worked fine (initially we thought it wasn't working well, but we simply had to turn the dial to the highest setting).

We had a really nice view of Disneyland's Fireworks show from our window, and we all slept soundly at night (could not hear street noise and could barely hear other guests outside or in other rooms).

Housekeeping:
Housekeeping always did a great job.  Even when we just asked for extra towels or toilet tissue, they were always prompt and courteous.

However, on the first full day we were there, we went back to the room mid-day to get the boys to nap.  We had the Do Not Disturb tag on the door, and while everyone was napping, we were unfortunately awaken at about 12:30pm when Housekeeping knocked on the door, asking if we were going to check out.

Fortunately, that was the only time we were disturbed with the Do Not Disturb sign on the door, and no other naps during the week were interrupted.

Breakfast:
The complimentary continental breakfast, served in the pool house daily from 6:30am-9:30am, consisted of donuts, muffins, cereal, hard-boiled eggs, fruits, biscuits, gravy, bread for toast, jellies, orange juice, milk, and coffee.

The pool house is rather small, so it can get quite crowded in there, and there is also very limited seating surrounding the pool.  There are a handful of tables and chairs and several pool-side loungers, but what we did, along with many other guests, was simply take the tray from our room and load it with breakfast for the family to take back to our room and eat.

Other amenities/services/etc.:

• Service: Jessica, Shelby, and Tiffany were just a few of the many employees I came in contact with that provided fantastic, friendly service.  
• Business center: On the property is a computer with internet access and a printer which I used to check-in online and print our boarding passes for our return flight.
• Dining: There are numerous dining options both on the property as well as within walking distance (we walked to the Anaheim Garden Walk one night for dinner, which is right across the street). 
• Pool:  We did not get a chance to enjoy the pool, but hopefully on a future visit we will!
• Laundry Facilities, Disneyland Ticket Sales, Gift Shop, and Scooter Village can also be found on the property.

Ramada Maingate at the Park was wonderful, and I look forward to staying there again in the future.   

Below are more photos taken of Ramada Maingate at the Park.

Enjoy!

Ramada Maingate at the Park: 1650 S Harbor Blvd, Anaheim, CA 92802, (714)772-0440.

Thank you to the Ramada Maingate at the Park for offering a discount and upgrade for review purposes.