On Thursday, Disneyland opened the new tower at the Disneyland Hotel — and debuted a kind of hotel room the resort has never had before. And it has the lowest rate possible at the hotel. While the grandest of the rooms, a three-bedroom villa, can cost almost $6,000 a night in peak times, the new tower also has the Disneyland Hotel’s most affordable room, called a Duo Studio, which sleeps two and costs significantly less than what used to be the least expensive accommodation at the hotel.

These Duo Studio rooms are smaller than the standard rooms at the Disneyland Hotel: They sleep only two but still feel spacious because the sitting area converts into the bedroom by lowering the Murphy bed (which has a queen-sized mattress) down from the wall. Some have balconies and views of the Disneyland Hotel monorail pool and the Disneyland Park fireworks. Similar rooms, called Deluxe Studios, debuted at Walt Disney World’s Riviera Resort in 2019 but have never been at Disneyland before. 

The new tower of the Disneyland Hotel is called the Discovery Tower, also called the Villas at the Disneyland Hotel, which is a Disney Vacation Club (DVC) property. Disney Vacation Club is a timeshare vacation program where members purchase points they then use to book rooms (referred to as “villas” by Disney) at DVC hotels around the world. Buy-in can cost tens of thousands of dollars; for those who can afford it, it’s like prepaying for a decade of Disney vacations.

That means when members want to book at the property, priority goes to them; a certain number of rooms are reserved strictly for DVC members. Another perk for DVC members staying at the villas is that they have exclusive access to a private lounge in Disneyland. Called Star View Station Member Lounge, the area is on the second floor of Star Wars: Launch Bay in Tomorrowland and is inspired by Walt Disney’s fascination with space travel. It even has a replica spacecraft he used as a prop in “Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color” TV show. 

But the tower is also open to regular guests, as of Sept. 28. These villas can be booked by nonmembers through the Disneyland Hotel website.

The Deluxe Studios have kitchenettes, unlike the standard rooms in the other towers, and any larger villa (one to three bedrooms) has a full kitchen and in-unit laundry. The other major perk is that the Discovery Tower has a private pool. It might not have monorail water slides like the main hotel, but it does have a “Steamboat Willie”-inspired splash pad with Mickey Mouse. The rest of the hotel is in blazing color — the splash pad, as an homage to the cartoon, is in black and white. 

Here’s a breakdown of the costs: 

A standard room in the Disneyland Hotel, in one of the original three towers, sleeps four (though some rooms sleep five because of a daybed). On Jan. 9, 2024, for example, a standard-view room in one of the three other towers of the Disneyland Hotel — the Fantasy, Adventure and Frontier towers — costs $466 a night. 

On the same night in the Discovery Tower, a standard-view Duo Studio “villa” is $394. A standard view Deluxe Studio villa, which sleeps four and has a kitchenette, is $525. A standard room at Pixar Place, Disney’s most affordable (but still expensive) room, costs $356 on that night. 

On May 14, a standard room is $669. In the villas, a Duo Studio is $566, and a Deluxe Studio is $755. A standard room at Pixar Place costs $503. 

SFGATE attended a media preview of the villas Thursday, before guests checked in for the night. While the other three towers of the hotel are themed to lands inside the park, the Discovery Tower is more inspired by the company’s history of animation. Rooms are themed to one of four Disney movies: “Fantasia,” “The Jungle Book,” “Sleeping Beauty” and “The Princess and the Frog.” The three-bedroom Grand Villas include all four in the space, plus movies like “Bambi.”

“We wanted to have an original story,” principal interior designer Anne Miller told SFGATE, but Disney wanted that story to start from “older stories from the golden era [of Disney animation] because they inspired Disneyland and the Disneyland Hotel.” 

“We wanted to tie into that history of Disneyland,” she added, “but we also wanted to bring in some newer stories too.” The detailing is gorgeous: The carpets have quotations from the movies woven into them, the original wallpaper designs reflect the animation aesthetic, and the bathtubs in the larger villas feature luminous mosaics. Every closet has another interesting detail inside. Even the mirrors and light fixtures are customized to match the theme.  

But as much as it’s a departure architecturally from the rest of the hotel, it still feels like it’s part of the same environment. The lobby has a huge mural by Disney animation artist Lorelay Bové, which incorporates movies from “Bambi” and “Alice in Wonderland” all the way to “Raya and the Last Dragon” and the forthcoming “Wish.” The inspiration she drew from Disney legend Mary Blair (responsible for the It’s a Small World aesthetic and many other iconic Disneyland moments) is clear in the artwork, which feels modern despite its retro-inspired aesthetic. 

“This is a celebration of our legacy and the creative process of Disney Animation Studios,” Bové told SFGATE. 

Rooms in the Discovery Tower are now available to book through December 2024.