That is a pretty good time of year to go to DL! Kids are in school and the weather should be slightly cooler!
If you snoop some of the other threads in this forum you may find some pretty good discussions about the different DL resort hotels.
I personally rate them like this:
#1 The Grand Californian - This hotel is the spendiest, but it is so wonderful. Beautiful rooms, great location, shorter walking distance, private gate into DCA, great shops, great restaurants and the best service await you at the GCH! If you can afford it, this is a very nuce place to stay…
#2 The Disneyland Hotel - This hotel is in the middle price-wise, but it has some of the best pure Disney charm. Nice rooms, decent location, walking distance varies by building, some cool pools, good shops and great restaurants and the great service!
#3 Paradise Pier Hotel - This is the least expensive hotel, but it still is a decent hotel. The rooms do not have as much Disney charm (but they usually have some DCA décor), the walking distance can be okay if you take a shortcut through the GCH, a pretty nice pool, a nice shop, a couple of good restaurants and the service is good (but doesn’t seem to be on par with the other 2 hotels' service).
I stayed at the PPH in December and it was much improved over a trip in 2004 where I actually pretty much fled from it to the GCH. The PPH is the most affordable of the resort hotels and you can still go hang out at the other hotels!