It’s not often that new accommodations are added to the grounds of Anaheim’s relatively compact Disneyland Resort, but the Disneyland Vacation Club Villas just joined the list of options. These new rooms are now part of the existing Disneyland Hotel — a place we honestly think is worth paying the high price to stay at — and have added a new 12-story tower packed with 344 rooms to the grounds.

The Villas at Disneyland Hotel, as the new addition is also known, is the latest offering in a bid to rejuvenate and uplift accommodations for Disneyland visitors. Each of the rooms here are designed to pay tribute to the narratives crafted by Walt Disney Animation Studios. Do these shiny new accommodations stack up against the best hotels near Disneyland? They do, but admission comes at a steep price.

When the hotel welcomed its first guests on Sept. 28, 2023, Philander Butler was among them. A devoted Disney fan and member of the Disney Vacation Club — the company’s timeshare-like program — Butler told SFGATE her family loved the accommodations and that she felt the Villas “offer so much more than the standard hotel room.” Many of the new rooms offer a full kitchen, washer and dryer, and entire living area in addition to finer touches like frosted mirrors and mosaic tile murals over the bathtubs.

The first thing you’ll see when you walk into the lobby of the new Disneyland Vacation Club Villas at the Disneyland Hotel is the vintage charm its design exudes. Think “Mad Men” with a heap of pixie dust, with hidden Mickeys to be found in almost every detail. Before exploring any of its rooms, check out the lobby mural inspired by Mary Blair, an artist credited with bringing modern art aesthetics into Disney, and delightful set pieces that lean into the legacy of Disney animation.

Members of the Amaradio family, who’ve been included in promotional materials for the new hotel wing, said they were impressed after seeing the final product. Casi Amaradio, the mother, told SFGATE, “being part of the promotional campaign was an honor, but actually stepping into these villas? It’s like seeing our dreams, captured in those photos, come alive. I was in awe over the details.”

Room sizes at the Disneyland Vacation Club Villas range from studios with kitchenettes meant for one to four guests, to one-, two-, and even three-bedroom villas that can sleep 12 guests and have all the conveniences of home that you usually miss at a hotel.

In addition to rooms that let larger families stay together, the site’s new Steamboat Willie Splash Pad — a first for the Disneyland Hotel — is a welcome feature for anyone traveling with little ones.

Even if you’re not a member of Disney Vacation Club, you can book a room at the new Vacation Club Villas. Just don’t expect it to make for a cheap trip to Disneyland. Rooms here cost anywhere from $900 to nearly $6,000 a night for non-DVC members, depending on the size of the room and when you book it.

That is a massive price tag for a night at a theme park hotel, but truthfully, when you compare it to some of the suites and premium rooms at other Disneyland Resort properties, the villas here stand out with added square footage, state-of-the-art amenities and design features that are not available elsewhere.

For those who are members of the Disney Vacation Club, which allows members to use points they’ve paid for to book rooms, the slew of benefits and discounts available make the villas even more enticing. The only other DVC option in Anaheim is Disney’s Grand Californian. However, take note that the price-per-point is the highest Disney has set for any of its current properties, meaning even members are paying more to stay here than elsewhere.

This story was edited by Hearst Newspapers Associate Editor Clint Davis; you can contact him at [email protected].