Looking for the perfect place to stay near Disneyland without breaking the bank? In this episode of Let’s Just Go, Kayla and Chris spotlight one of their favorite Disneyland Good Neighbor Hotels: the Candy Cane Inn. Recently renovated and family-owned since 1957, this motel-style property offers a fantastic location, charming history, and budget-friendly perks like a free shuttle and continental breakfast. They break down what Good Neighbor Hotels are, what makes Candy Cane Inn stand out, and who it’s best suited for—plus the honest pros and cons. Whether you’re planning your first Disneyland trip or looking for a return stay, this is one hotel you’ll want to hear about.

So we were going to Puttshack with Sam and Brian, her, her boyfriend.

She text me on, she goes, I will pay a thousand dollars to

not have Brian come with us.

Fuck you, Brian.

Hey, adventures.

Welcome to Let's Just Go podcast.

I'm Chris,

and I'm Kayla.

And today we're gonna talk about a Disneyland good neighbor

hotel that I personally love.

Um, it's my favorite.

Everybody I know loves it.

It was recently remodeled.

But first I think we need to talk about what a Goodneighbor hotel is.

Yes.

Because, um, I would rather vacation in my garage than stay at a Walt

Disney World Goodneighbor hotel.

Unless, unless it's the four season.

Right, right.

However, in Disneyland is a very different experience and sometimes even.

Closer to the parks than some of the Disneyland resort hotels.

And almost always more economical, but not necessarily compromising quality.

Right?

Yeah.

So there are a variety of different categories of Goodneighbor hotels.

So when you think of Disneyland resort hotels, so the Disney

owned properties, they all sort of fall into the same bucket.

Unlike Walt Disney World, where you've got your value, your

moderate, and your deluxe.

I would say that.

Disneyland, they're all in that deluxe category.

Just different price points along that category.

And with Goodneighbor hotels at Disneyland, you are

typically walking distance.

I would say that 80% of the Goodneighbor hotels are walking distance.

They're called good neighbor hotels because they have a contract with Disney.

Disney has vetted them and said, yes, this is a place that we think

meets our standards and is an acceptable place to send our guests.

You can then make a vacation package with these good neighbor hotels in the same way

that you would with an on property hotel.

So you pay that $200 deposit, have your tickets and your hotel all put

together in one nice shiny package.

Um.

But there's, there are a lot of different options.

So if you are a Marriott person, there's Marriotts.

If you're a Hilton person, there's Hilton's.

If you're a Motel Six person, there is a Motel six.

I know, I know.

So.

I don't think anyone's a Motel six person.

At least not intentionally,

you know,

right

there.

The one caveat I will say is that if you are wanting to do a

good neighbor package, it is the equivalent of booking third party.

So if you are trying to get your points, you're not gonna get them booking a

package, but you get a lot of perks.

Get a lot of perks and best part is you're just putting that $200

deposit down and not having to pay for tickets, uh, in full that are

non-refundable, all that good stuff.

Right.

So the perks outweigh Yeah.

The points in this case.

Yeah, and you can still, so I had clients actually stay at

Marriott a couple of months ago.

They did a Goodneighbor hotel package, but they were the kind of people that still

really wanna have access to the lounge and so they were still able to go and purchase

day of check-in lounge access at Marriott.

So like you're still able to take advantage typically, as long as

there's availability of the different.

Things that may be incentivized if you're wanting to utilize

your points or your membership.

Um, so that's just something to keep in mind too.

And usually once you're on site in those places, specifically Marriotts

things you do purchase, like at a spa or any, you do get points for that.

It's just the stay itself.

You're just not getting points on there.

Yeah, the stay.

So, all right, so we're talking about Candy Cane Lane.

I know that's not the name of it.

I hate you.

It's Candy Cane Inn, but I, I can't help.

I mean, who came up with that name?

It's so.

Like name something Christmas related.

It's, and who doesn't like get a warm heart?

It's so

funny because I was just like trying to Google to see what year

they were they opened, which is 1957.

So they've been around for pretty much as long as the parks the, as long

as Disneyland Park has been around.

Yeah.

That being said, I see something here that says, uh, the hotel opened on Christmas

Day and they had a different name.

In mind, but Walt Disney didn't like the name.

And so they named it Candy Cane Inn because it opened on Christmas.

There's nothing Candy Cane.

No, it's not Christmas theme.

But if you say to me, do you want to go to Candy Cane Inn?

I'm, I'm saying yes.

I won't even say where it is.

I'm like, yeah, that sounds

Yeah.

Magical.

Right.

Take me there.

So Candy cane in.

Is my favorite Goodneighbor hotel.

Um, I've been going there since I, like, I think my very first visit, we stayed

at Candy Cane Inn in the early nineties.

So what do you love about it?

What's the, what's the, oh

my gosh.

Outside of the nostalgia, because Right, right, right.

You got the, which

the rooms were also like, it's been around since 1957, but actually when the

parks closed in 2020, they took that as an opportunity to completely renovate.

So every single room was renovated.

I think they reopened in 2023.

So it took them a while to reopen, but the rooms are all like

newly furnished hardwood floors.

Like it doesn't feel like it's from the fifties, which is great.

Okay.

Things because there

are, there are some good neighbor hotels who have not been renovated.

There are.

That is true.

And I will say the one caveat about good neighbor hotels as well,

I know I already said there was a caveat, so this is actually probably

a second caveat if not a third, is that a lot of them are motel style.

Candy Cane Inn is one of those.

So you are gonna have a two or three story, uh, building.

Typically, there may not be elevators, you're gonna have outdoor stairwells.

Your room opens to the outside, uh, typically to a parking lot.

So

it's how, it sounds awful, but it, it's not, I mean, I guess if you're used

to it, it's not that big of a deal.

Well, it's also, I mean, motel style in California,

in Southern California is.

Yeah, not so rough.

Yeah.

If it's motel style in Florida where it's pouring down rain, it is not great.

But what I, so things I love about Candy Cane Inn, one super easy walk.

You're not having to cross any busy roads because you are

literally backed up to cars land.

So you can see the backside of the cars land like dioramas from.

Candy Cane Inn, which I think is great.

So you're crossing, there's two crosswalks.

One of them is the bus entrance in and out of the parks.

So like the shuttle bus for the, uh, parking lot.

It's off site.

Uh, and then another one is crossing a street, but it's

not a, it's not a busy street.

Um, it's not like a Katella or a Harbor, which are the two streets that intersect,

um, right at the edge of property.

So I love that.

Not only is it an easy walk, I. It's also got a free shuttle,

like branded to the hotel.

So if you don't want to walk, you can catch the candy cane inn shuttle and

it'll take you to and from the parks.

How long is the walk?

Like maybe 10 minutes Maybe.

It's a very short walk.

Okay.

So you're not saving a ton of time, but if you are trying to wrangle three kids

and it's 10:00 PM and you are from the east coast, so it's really 1:00 AM and

they're exhausted and screaming at you.

Uh, throwing 'em on a shuttle is probably gonna be the easier path for you.

Yeah.

That might be.

Or you've got hundreds and hundreds of dollars worth

of droids and lightsabers.

Yeah.

Merch.

So less than a mile walk.

Yeah, for sure.

Yeah.

So location's great.

Price is pretty good too, right?

Price is pretty good.

It is.

I will say comparatively to other like motel style options that

you have for good neighbors, it's gonna be on the higher end.

But it's still gonna be cheaper than like your Marriott or your jw or even

like another hotel that we're gonna talk about is, uh, the Courtyard Marriott.

'cause they've got a waterpark.

So like there's, there's trade offs.

Um.

But price point wise, they have different levels too.

So the different levels get you just like extra benefits essentially.

Um, but everybody has an included continental breakfast and

it's a, it's a good breakfast.

Um, there's usually like hardboiled eggs and yogurt and things like that.

So it's, it's a good option.

It's also one of the few, like family owned and operated hotels in the area.

Almost everything around is a chain.

Um, and Candy Cane Inn is not that way, which I personally love to

support a small business when I can.

So it's really great to see that we're, what, 70 years, almost past when

they opened, and they're still going strong as a little independent owned.

Hotel.

It's the location.

Yeah.

So it's right near the JW then?

No, it's on the, no, the JW is around the corner.

So you are, you're not having to turn at all.

Got it.

You are literally, like the property ends on Harbor and then Candy

Cane Inn is right there before you get to the light where CVS and Rite Aid are.

Mm-hmm.

It's, it's before that.

Okay.

Like that's how close it is.

It's just on the Disneyland side of, so to give everybody context, there

are hotels that are closer, but you have to cross a very busy street.

In order to get to Disneyland.

So this is one of the closest hotels and this is the closest hotel on

the Disneyland side of the road.

So let's talk amenities.

And you, we know the rooms have been renovated.

Do they do the rooms sleep?

Four or five?

I

believe they sleep a maximum of four.

Okay.

So they're not gonna be a good option if you have more than four.

They um.

Yeah, all of the rooms are the same size.

They're all the same layout.

So there's, there's a difference in level of service, which I'm gonna be honest with

you, I don't remember the specifics 'cause I've only stayed like the basic level.

Um, but you get like extra water bottles in your room and things like

that if you pay for the higher levels.

What about.

Like amenities with pool.

I mean, generally all the, most of the good neighbors

though, are real small pools.

I mean, they're, you're not going there for the pool, but

yeah, it's in the middle of their parking lot.

Um, it's funny, there's someone on TikTok who's like reviewed every

good neighbor Disney Land Hotel or like, she's like working her

way through reviewing all of them.

And her complaint is always like, and then the pool is in

the middle of the parking lot.

Is it raised?

Is it raised above the like?

Uh,

no, it's not.

It's in ground.

Okay.

Yeah, it's literally the same level as the park.

Like you can see cars from the pool and people in cars can see you in the pool.

Interesting.

But it's a cute little pool area.

It's not, it's not a bad pool area, but yeah, it's just in the middle's,

a pool in the middle of a parking lot.

What don't you like about it besides maybe the pool in

the middle of a parking lot?

I mean, I honestly haven't stayed there since they remodeled,

so I didn't love how dated it was.

But now it sounds like that has changed and it's much better.

And I, I love a hot breakfast, but also like beggars can't be choosers.

So if you're gonna give me free food, I'll eat it.

But like, I would love some bacon personally.

That's fair.

So they, I mean, but include a breakfast though is still pretty nice.

Nice.

And I

will say that it seems like more and more good neighbor hotels

are stopping doing the free breakfast.

Which is too bad.

I think one of the things we've talked about before, but I've

never stayed in a good neighbor hotel.

I have toured them.

I've never stayed.

And that is in part

Chris is too bougie, everyone.

Well, that is accurate, but if I'm being honest, if I'm gonna fly six

hours to right across the country for six hours, then get in a car and drive

50 minutes from the LAX to Anaheim.

Right?

I'm not staying.

In a good neighbor.

I'm, I'm doing the whole experience.

Right.

I'm doing it up.

Where for you it was like, you, you could easily get there

living on the West coast mm-hmm.

As a child and, you know, it was a much different experience.

Yeah.

It's a good spot though.

If you're, if you're going to want to stay somewhere, but you're wanting to save some

money, it's a good, it's a good place.

Again, they've been around since 1957, so like, there's obviously

a reason that they're still around and not like rebranded or.

You know, some big hotel chain hasn't bought them up,

so I think it's a great spot.

That being said, we are gonna talk about other Goodneighbor hotels because I think

that it's important we didn't do this with Walt Disney World Resorts because there

are so many Walt Disney World Resorts, but that's not the case at Disneyland.

And I would say a solid 90% of people that are staying in the Anaheim

area are staying at a good neighbor hotel and not at a Disneyland hotel.

So

mostly out of.

Like necessity.

Yeah.

'cause there's just not enough.

Yeah.

And I will say too, the, the other thing about Disneyland that's a

drastically different than Walt Disney World is that as soon as Disneyland

opened, all these companies came in and bought up all the property around.

So you really are, it's so easily accessible where Walt Disney

World, if you are not staying on Walt Disney World Property, it's

a pain in the ass to get anywhere.

Right.

So that's not the case at Disneyland, and that's why I think there

are so many Goodneighbor hotels too.

Yeah.

Wish I would've bought land around Disneyland.

You weren't even alive.

No, I know, but

if only someone in your family had had that foresight all those years ago.

Generations ago.

So we will be talking about some other.

Disneyland, Goodneighbor hotels.

Keep listening and until next time, let's just go.