QUESTION: If a poor person was going to bring their children to Disneyland, where would be the cheapest place to stay?
ANSWER: There are a zillion hotels surrounding the park, but I'm not really sure if any of them is particularly cheap. You might be able to find a special deal on the internet or something, depending on how much time you're willing to spend searching, how close to the park you need to be, how flexible your family situation is, etc.
Generally speaking, the hotels in the walking vicinity are all going to cost about the same. The thing is, prices vary based on demand, so it's not so much a question of WHERE you stay as WHEN you stay -- that is, weeknights are usually cheaper than weekends, and certain times of year are cheaper than others.
So the question then becomes, How will I know when Disneyland is less crowded? Since Disneyland already "blocks out" the most busy days for season passholders, you can always check the Disneyland Passholder Blockout Calendar to see which days/times of the year are going to be in high demand (and, thus, when the hotels will be at their most expensive).
As a passholder, I appreciate the way these blockout dates are basically Disneyland's way of saying, "Look, you don't want to go on these days anyway -- they'll be super crowded."
