Thanks for all the recs!

[HannaAddict]

We went to Disneyland last week and used many recs from this board and links from here to other boards to plan. The recs from here for the Howard Johnson were great, it was a nice hotel, great water play area and their new kids' suites are really nice and brand new (and now included in the Entertainment Card rate, score). We did rent a minivan, after the in-laws said they wanted to come (a whole different post) but didn't use it much. We didn't want to be trapped with the in-laws and no escape. I was skeptical of character meals, but finally made a reservation for the Ariel's Grotto princess lunch and it was worth every penny. My almost three year old, who only saw Little Mermaid and some short movies about Princess Aurora, LOVED the lunch and her older brother liked it too. The food was actually good and it was a great break. We did the 11:30 lunch, got there about 10 minutes early and saw Ariel first. Lunches at the Tomorrowland Terrace (in the upper shady, air conditioned part) worked out fabulously too. We just happened to be there right before the Jedi Academy started and had lunch and a show. The second day, my five year old made it on stage and fought Darth Vader, he was ecstatic.

This isn't a very complete "trip report" but I really appreciated and used much of the great knowledge of the moms here for our trip and it really was what inspired us to kind of do this somewhat spontaneously (with a couple months of planning). Thanks again!

[JTsMom]

Wonderful! So glad you all had fun.

[spunkybaby]

Glad you had fun! I'm hoping to stay in the kids' suites at the HoJo next time we go. The pictures look awesome!

[spunkybaby]

btw--were the kids' suites noisy? Could you hear the highway?

[HannaAddict]

We didn't find them noisy at all. They are in the building closest to the freeway and so don't have a nice view, but we were rarely in the room during the day except for napping and with the door shut, I would have never described the room as noisy. We did not hang out on the deck though, it isn't the room for that. My in-laws, on the other hand, had a ground floor room near Castaway Cove and said they noticed talking, etc. of people out and about. You can see the fireworks from the hotel grounds and some of the rooms, but except for the first night we arrived (before we hit Disney), we were always at the park at that time. For the $99 Entertainment Card rate, they are a bargain and still a great deal with the all the time 15% off for Ent. Card ($139) or Mousesaver discount. The rack rate we had originally reserved was $164 and we felt that was a good deal too. The kids' suites also have two bathrooms, particularly nice with older children.