Disneyland hotel help please

[crl]

Looks like we may fly down for a long DL weekend this fall--maybe late October. I have been reading the DL threads, but would appreciate any further input on hotel choices.

I don't think we will stay on property unless we found a smoking deal. I'd love to have the early entry, but not sure it is worth the extra cost to us.

We would like to be walking distance to the parks. Clean and quiet are priorities. And some sort of suite arrangement would be very nice as our ten year old will NOT be ready to go to bed when our three year old needs to. A pool isn't strictly necessary but a fun pool area probably would get used (just a regular pool would not).

Thank you!
Catherine

[lalasmama]

I'm a big (HUGE) fan of Park Vue Inn. It's across the street from the pedestrian entrance. (The only one closer is Best Western Park Place Inn.) They have a suite with 2 queen beds in the bedroom and a pull-out sofa in the living room, and a full kitchen. It's usually around $200 (with taxes)/night, but often a little lower. It's clean and close. Quiet is hard to find during the morning rush before the parks open, but its not as bad as some places! The pool is nothing exciting, but we aren't pool people when Disneyland is so close, LOL! I love that it's actually closer to DL than any of the on-site hotels (unless you use the monorail entrance at DL Hotel).

[crl]

Thank you!

Catherine

[AnnieW625]

Do a search for some of BubbaRay's Disney trip reports. I believe she recommended the Best Western Plus Park Place Inn or something in 2010 or 2011 (the last time she went before she left the BBB). She had stayed at the Howard Johnson's before a few times as well, but much preferred the Best Western. This BW is on Harbor Blvd. in between Ball (north) and Katella (south), closer to Katella, across from the eastern entrance to the park (although I really think that is the main entrance, but we always come off of DTD). They have also been renovating one of the Holiday Inn Expresses on the north side of Katella, but I can't remember which one (I think there are two of them). I think SnuggleBuggles liked the Candy Cane Inn, which in the same vincity. If you decide to drive instead of fly the Ayres Hotel in Anaheim is suppose to be nice, but that would entail driving to the park daily. AAA used to offer free parking with an AAA bought Disney ticket so you might want to see if they still offer that option.

eta: my friend and her family went last December and stayed on property (DL Hotel--loved it, said it was worth the expense) and she said that the early entry was a lot like mass hysteria. She said the rush to get there wasn't worth it. I might however send yourself or DH one morning super early to be in line to get the fast passes for Cars Land. I have heard they go pretty fast. Also Star Tours and Space Mountain will also go quickly. One time we were there on a weekday and at 2:30 pm the Space Mountain fast pass time was actually 10:45 pm. Also lone walk ons get on rides faster for Space Mountain, and Splash Mountain.

[fivi2]

A lot of people love the HoJo - we did not. I swore that if we ever went back we would either stay at a Disney hotel or a nicer hotel that wasn't necessarily in walking distance. Preferably one with a shuttle. I think someone on her likes the Hyatt Orange County (?).

edited because meant to say walking distance...

[smiles33]

We loved the HoJo's Kids Suite on our first visit in Sept 2011 when it was $99 for 2 huge rooms, one with a bunk bed/sofa bed and one with a comfy king bed. We went back earlier this year in April 2013 and prices increased to $180 for the same set-up. This time around, it just wasn't the same exceptional value/experience. I'd rather pay an extra $200+ more and rent a studio at Grand Californian.

Others on DISBoards have also commented that HoJo isn't the great deal it once was post-Carsland. Prices have gone up everywhere given how popular Carsland is.

FWIW, since I know you have a boy who's the target demographic for Carsland and older than 7, the line for Radiator Springs Racers goes much faster if you enter the Single Rider line. DD1 was too young, but we used FP and I saw that most single riders still ended up in the same car. Each car has 2 rows, 3 seats per row and most people are in pairs so they'd grab people from the single rider line to fill up the car.

Not sure how young your DD is, but another tip to get more rides on RSR is to use a "child swap" pass. I'd still get FP to skip the long standby line, but also make sure to use the child swap pass if your DD can't/won't ride RSR. My DD2 was only 3 and not tall enough to ride RSR. We would use 2 FP so DD1 and I would go into the FP line. First, we would tell the cast member at the front of the entrance we wanted a child swap pass and point to DD2. DH would take DD2 on something else while DD1 and I rode with our FP. Then when we got off, DH and DD1 could go again using the child swap pass. We still had 2 more FP (DD2 and DH's) so we could go again in the evening (loved riding RSR at night!) and do child swap again. DD1 got to ride RSR 4 times/day with the 4 FP we got from our tickets and 2 child swap passes!

[Tondi G]

Our friends stay at the Portofino in a kids suite once and said they were happy. http://www.portofinoinnanaheim.com/

I have stayed at the HoJo years ago and in a standard room and our stay wasn't great. We ended up very close to the 5 fwy and got to hear the trucks all night long. We also stayed at the Anaheim Sheraton and it was kind of gross. The room stunk ... even after having left the window open for hours... smelled like mildew-y wet dog. We asked to be moved from the ground floor room after we learned that those rooms are the pet friendly ones... the 2nd floor room wasn't much better. We will never stay there again. I have stayed at the Park Sheraton (farther away from the parks) and it was decent. DH was on a conference. I've heard that the Doubletree suites is nice too. A little farther from Disneyland ... not sure if they offer a shuttle or not. http://doubletree3.hilton.com/en/hotels/california/doubletree-suites-by-hilton-hotel-anaheim-resort-convention-center-SNADCDT/index.html

[Tondi G]

One more thing ... if you are looking at October keep in mind that they have the Mickey's Halloween nights .. D-land will close early on those nights.

[crl]

Thank you!
Catherine