Originally Posted By dagobert Next year, May or June, we plan to do a road trip through California and of course we want to go to Disneyland. Now we are wondering, if it is worth staying at a Disney hotel? And if not, which off site hotels do you recommend? How many days should we plan for DL? We are thinking about two or three days. Thanks!
Originally Posted By trekkeruss "Next year, May or June, we plan to do a road trip through California and of course we want to go to Disneyland." Awesome! "Now we are wondering, if it is worth staying at a Disney hotel?" Of course it is! "And if not, which off site hotels do you recommend?" When I was a kid, my parents always booked the family into Howard Johnson's. HoJo as a chain was big back then. HoJo the chain is almost gone, but the Anaheim location remains quite popular. "How many days should we plan for DL? We are thinking about two or three days." DLR is always crowded, even when it is supposedly not crowded. You will need three days, especially if you want to experience some of the more popular attractions more than once, or do things like a guided tour.
Originally Posted By CuriousConstance dogobert will you be walking to the parks, or have a car to drive?
Originally Posted By CuriousConstance If you're doing a road trip, I guess you'll have a car, lol. But what I mean is will you want to be within walking distance to DL or would you rather stay a ways out and drive in?
Originally Posted By dagobert Walking distance would be good, because I'm pretty sure I like to have a couple of drinks in the parks ;-)
Originally Posted By dagobert @ Trekkeruss Okay, then it will be three days. If everything turns out like we plan, then we have 20 days for our whole trip.
Originally Posted By LuvsDsnyTrips For us.....the difference in price for staying on site versus across the street....is my money that I use for nice meals. I am a foodie (big time)and love the Blue Bayou and Napa Rose. I really like the Fairfield Inn right across the street. It has been (so far, anyway) always clean. Not the biggest room that I have ever stayed in....but, very clean and close. Close enough to walk over to get a jacket when it gets chilly at nite. Have fun!
Originally Posted By CuriousConstance I always get nervous recommending a hotel to someone, as it's hard to know what their standards are. I love the Park Vue Inn, directly across the street from the pedestrian entrance, and if you look at the pictures of the hotel online, the rooms are just as they appear, which for me and my family are just great. Free breakfast in the morning, which has some hot food like waffles and sausage, and the staff has always been really helpful. I would definitely recommend 3 days minimum. Even though it's only 2 parks, there is a lot to do and I like having time to do favorites multiple times.
Originally Posted By dagobert Thank you all for the answers. We will take a look at the hotels. There is still a lot of time until we have to finalize our plans.
Originally Posted By Princessjenn5795 For me, the hotels are definitely worth it. My family loves being right on property. We usually do either Grand Californian or Disneyland Hotel, but if our budget is a little tighter we will do Paradise Pier. GCH is awesome, and I love being so close to the parks. The rooms in DLH are nice and spacious, and the new pool area and Trader Sams are really nice. Paradise Pier isn't my favorite but it is still nice, particularly if you get a view room, and the pool on the roof is pretty awesome. I also recommend 3 days so you don't have to be as rushed to get everything in.
Originally Posted By dagobert The reason why we are thinking about staying off property is the budget. We will be in the US for nearly three weeks, and we have to fly there. So it will not be a cheap vacation and the DL hotels seem to be the most expensive on our trip.
Originally Posted By CuriousConstance It's hard to justify that cost even if you have the money for it. A lot of money to shell out when you're not even in the room much at all.
Originally Posted By ImTempest The Park Vue is great. I've also stayed at the Ramada Maingate. Loved the rooms and pool there, and they're always running specials on pricing, which could help your budget.
Originally Posted By trekkeruss If you're on a tight budget, stay off property then. Heck, if it weren't for cheap beds, I wouldn't have been able to go to the grand openings of DLP and TDS.
Originally Posted By doombuggy We stay at Travelodge 1057 W Ball Rd Anaheim, CA 92802 Goggle map it and see if it's too far to walk for you. We stay here for many reasons. Free parking,Free breakfast and no resort fee. The rooms are cheaper then most and the walk is about 20min or you can hop on the tram at the parking garage. It's ridiculous how much DLR wants for a room that your only in for about 9hr a day just to sleep and shower.
Originally Posted By darcy-becker I like Travelodge too but I usually stay at the one 2060 Harbor. It is close enough to walk if you want. It's also close to the Toy Story lot so you can take the parking shuttle and walk from there. There is also an ART stop right there.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros I definitely stay off site, since there are so many options nearby to fit any budget. Sure, the Disney hotels are nice, but they don't have the expansive grounds of the WDW hotels and just don't feel like they're worth the extra price, since everything is so convenient in Anaheim. I've stayed at the Hilton by the Convention Center a few times and have really liked it. It's a big hotel and part of the chain so it's nothing particularly unique but it's very nice and often has a really good price if there's not a convention in town. Parking is another $15 per day or so, so that's a drawback. It's a little far to walk (~15 minutes) after a full day in the parks, but the ART shuttle is very easy to take. There's also a Marriott next to it that occasionally has good deals as well I've never stayed at HoJo myself, but they're a sponsor of LaughingPlace and will give you a discount if you mention you're a member (they also have AP discounts) I've stayed at many hotels at various budget points (mostly cheap!) right around DLR and I don't think there are any 'bad' ones. Once you start getting a few blocks away (like the infamous Little Boy Blue or some of the ones south on Harbor Blvd in Garden Grove) it can get a little dicey, but nothing within walking distance to the park is sketchy I'd also recommend 3 days, though you could probably get everything done in 2 days if you had to. I would definitely recommend trying to schedule it for weekdays, since it will be significantly less busy (though some entertainment options may not be running) and the hotels will be a little cheaper. Once all the local APers show up on the weekends, it's tough for an infrequent visitor to get much accomplished
Originally Posted By dagobert First, thanks for all the answers. I think we will stay off site. Disney is really expensive. If we would only go there for DL, we might stay on site, but on a three weeks vacation, we have to spend the money properly. When we have been to DLP, we sometimes stayed at Disney's Santa Fe and that was approximately a 15 minutes walk. So I guess many off site hotels will be fine. We don't mind walking as long as there is a sidewalk. We settled on three days, since there are two parks and at DLP we always stayed for at least three days.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 Another good choice is the Candy Cane. Farther than the Park Vue, for instance, but no farther than HoJo's. About a 10 minute walk. If you're really tired and don't want to walk they have their own dedicated shuttle (i.e. it goes to and from the Candy Cane ONLY), which makes it reliably punctual if you happen to be coming or going to the parks at the top or bottom of the hour anyway. If not, like I said, 10 minutes to walk. It has a bit better breakfast than some of the other places IMO (nothing fancy, just... better than the others), and the grounds are a little nicer. Staff is excellent. They're a very independent property, and often don't show up on the various travel sites like Expedia or Travelocity, but you can book through their own website.
Originally Posted By LuvsDsnyTrips I can vouch for HoJo's.....also nice. Just alittle further walk to DL though than the Fairfield. However, in my last 3 visits to DL....I noticed a brand new hotel going up and I just happen to have the number....714-618-6022....Courtyard Marriott Anaheim It is the one at 1420 S Harbor Blvd in Anaheim I am hoping to stay there in October
