We just booked our trip to Disneyland in April! It will be our first time with a 4 year old and 1.5 year old. Any recommendations on where to stay? TIA!
We just booked our trip to Disneyland in April! It will be our first time with a 4 year old and 1.5 year old. Any recommendations on where to stay? TIA!
pomelo / 5866 posts
I'll be there in April too! I've stayed at Paradise Pier and partied at Grand Californian and eaten at Disneyland Hotel. This year we will stay right across the street at Del Sol. If money was no object, Grand Californian! Any and all are good!! PP is the furthest but they have an awesome water slide and we asked the valet to golf cart us over to Dowtown Disney.
GOLD / watermelon / 14076 posts
Ha, we're going in April, too! We're keepin' it classy and staying at the Candlewood Suites The Hyatt House looks really cool...has family suites with bunk beds and a sofa bed. But I got an amazing deal at Candlewood Suites with points so that's where we'll be.
pomegranate / 3768 posts
@808love: @lawbee11: April! Yay! That's so funny. Let me guess...kid's spring break?
pomelo / 5866 posts
@lawbee11: Sometimes it's not about the hotel...just budget and quick access to the park!
coconut / 8430 posts
We just got back yesterday! We stayed at the Howard Johnson across the street. It was an easy 10-15 min walk. Rooms are basic but clean and comfortable. I have read that the distance between the Hojo to the gate is similar to the distance the Disney hotels are to the gates. The Hojo has a cute little water play area and pool (though we did not have the weather to use it) and I liked that it was a smaller property and not a mega hotel. We stopped by the Disneyland hotel for dinner and it was a zoo.
The Disney hotels were 2x-3x the price during our visit, so we saved on the hotel room and splurged on character meals and the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique experience. I was happy with that tradeoff.
nectarine / 2641 posts
For those of you with experience, what are the good parts about staying at one of the three property hotels? This is what we were planning (kids will be nearly 3 and 5.5) for next year, but I want to make sure it's worth the difference in what we pay there vs. one of the hotels you all are talking about. We won't go to Disneyland often (probably not again until they're at least 10 or so), so we want to do it right, but we also don't want to spend money we don't need to.
GOLD / watermelon / 14076 posts
@dolphin: My LO is still in preschool so we didn't plan around spring break. We chose dates with cheap flights and that coincides with a value day for the park
@808love: We're not planning to be in the room much and with the points promo I paid around $50 for both nights total...too good to pass up!
coconut / 8430 posts
@lawbee11: Points break? A friend alerted me to that one but I had already made my reservation at the Hojo.
apricot / 431 posts
@Jess1483: the main reason we always try to stay at a Disney hotel is because hotel guests get into both parks an hour early (depending on the day, the parks switch off). We are early risers though so it's easier to take advantage of. We can get soooo much done in that first hour before it's open to the public it's worth it to us.
GOLD / watermelon / 14076 posts
@Jess1483: The only true perk I read about (other than obviously the resorts are nicer) is that you get one extra hour (which park depends on which day). We're actually purposely visiting DisneyLand on a day that CA has the magic hour in hopes that everyone will be at CA (at least in the morning) that day. I couldn't justify paying so much more just for that. But I've never been so definitely not an expert!
@sunny: Yep
bananas / 9227 posts
We just got back from DD's first visit at Disneyland. We stayed at Staybridge Suites Aneheim - it was wonderful! My aunt recommended the place and I'm really glad my mom listened to her. It's perfect if you're traveling with kids and extended family. Our suite had two separate bedrooms, each with its own bathroom. There was a living room and small, but fully stocked kitchen in between the rooms. Wifi was FAST. Complimentary breakfast - you can make your own waffles, fresh fruit, 2 toasters for bagels, with the usual morning choices.
Parking was also complimentary, the parking lot itself is safe. The ART shuttle picks up right next to the hotel, which was a huge convenience. There's a ticket machine for it right at the stop (located inside the parking structure, not outside on the street), but you can buy tickets at the hotel reception.
And there's free afternoon snacks / on particular days it's an actual BBQ by the hotel pool. There's a burger joint inside the hotel next door (they give you a discount voucher). Our trip was pretty hectic because it was the last thing we did before we left the country. This place made everything so much easier. But what I really liked most is the staff - they were seriously so, so friendly (and in a completely non-intrusive kind of way). I can't imagine staying anywhere else after staying here. I highly recommended it
pomelo / 5866 posts
@Jess1483: If it is your first time, by all means, stay at the Disney hotel and get the magical experience. You know the desires of your crew the best. I am perfectly happy walking over on our overnight trip this time as we have been to Disney multiple times and are familiar with the area. The HOJOhnson wasn't that close as I remember it but LO was still very young and we were new to the area when I noted that so memory may be fuzzy. If you plan ahead you can get a two queens bedroom with breakfast across the street for $129 plus tax, maybe even less. The main thing I would recommend is stay away from shuttles. Traffic and waiting for the bus can tie you up longer than expected and not under your control as walking is.
apricot / 286 posts
We went in December with my 21 month old and stayed at the Grand Californian. It was worth the obscene cost.
The hotel has a private entrance to CA Adventure. That meant that we didn't lose a bunch of park time walking back and forth for her afternoon nap. The hotel staff was amazing. When we checked in, the cast member asked my daughter what she was most excited for on her first trip. When my daughter shouted "Minnie!", she went back to the office and got her a signed 8x10 picture of Minnie. We framed it and put it in my daughter's room--she still loves it.
I have always been very pro-cheap hotel at Disneyland, but this last trip with a toddler changed my perspective. Although when the kids are older, we'll probably go back to a less expensive but still walkable hotel.
pineapple / 12053 posts
@Calibee: we stayed at the grand Californian last year and it was amazing!!
This year we stayed at the Park Vue Inn. Simple, clean rooms with a good continental breakfast, free parking and a pool. I was impressed and it's literally across the street and possibly a faster walk than staying at the Disneyland hotel options! They even have bunk options if your kids are older and suites as well.
grapefruit / 4455 posts
We stayed at the Disneyland Hotel and liked it a lot! We really didn't want to spend time driving but I wouldn't say it was economical. The pools were fun too, but we went when it was hot out!
grapefruit / 4291 posts
It's a while since I've been to Disneyland (like seven years!) but we stayed at the Best Western Stovalls Inn on West Katella and it was perfectly fine! It was a 10 minute walk to Downtown Disney but it's also on the shuttle route and it offered free breakfast which suited us. It's probably not the fanciest place but it has a pool and several restaurants plus a 7-11 are close by which was handy.
cantaloupe / 6751 posts
We just got back yesterday! We stayed at the Hilton and it was an awesome, convenient location. The ART shuttle runs every 10-15 mins or so and picks you up right in front. Less than a 10 min ride to the park. Rooms were spacious and clean. Bonus points for Sbx in the lobby!
We didn't spend much time in our room at all (we were at the parks from open to 10pm) so there was no point for us in spending $$$$$ for a resort hotel. Instead we spent that money on a character meal at Ariels Grotto (totally worth it!).
persimmon / 1427 posts
We stayed at the Grand Californian and it was perfect. Its obviously not cheap, but the location was fantastic (private entrance to California Adventure, and entrance from hotel to Downtown Disney).
The other big benefit was being able to have the extra magic hour every morning. We went on so many rides with hardly any wait in that first hour before the park opened. It was also so close and so easy to go back to the room for nap time.
pomegranate / 3768 posts
@Bluebonnet: @pinkcupcake: @2littlepumpkins: @birdofafeather: @Calibee: @SugarplumsMom: How many days did you spend at Disneyland? We are going for 4 nights and 5 days but not sure we need that many days at the park. I'm thinking probably just 2 full days is enough?
persimmon / 1427 posts
@dolphin: we did 3 full days at the park and I thought that was perfect.
ETA - We did 4 nights at the hotel. The night we arrived we also did dinner at Goofy's Kitchen and it was so fun. It was a great way to get the kids excited about the trip.
cantaloupe / 6751 posts
@dolphin: we flew in on thurs and left Monday. Spent fri and sun at Disneyland, and sat at Ca Adv. was perfect amount of time. Disappointing Bc there was a huge rain storm on fri so we had to leave Disneyland at 3pm. It was like the worst storm in 60 years or something
I think 3 full days is perfect - that way you can take your time and not feel rushed. Even though fri was only a half day for us, the park was super empty so we went on a ton of rides. Sunday was much more crowded and everything without fast pass was at least a 45 min wait.
pomelo / 5866 posts
Agree, 3 days was great for us! We did that two years. This year we are only doing 2 days.
pineapple / 12053 posts
@dolphin: i would say 3 days would be great! we just did 2 full days and if we didn't live nearby, we would have been pumped on a 3rd!
grapefruit / 4455 posts
@dolphin: We just did a weekend so we were really only in the park a full day, and spent the rest of the time (part of Friday, part of Sunday) at the pools, walked around downtown Disney, etc. We didn't attempt to do everything though. It was dd's birthday and we just did what we/she felt like doing, so it was actually sort of relaxing.
cherry / 226 posts
@SugarplumsMom: sounds like a good place to stay, how long did the shuttle take to get to the park?
cherry / 226 posts
@808love: we are thinking about going Oct 2017 or March 2018. Are any of those months busier?
coconut / 8430 posts
@Teachermama: if you google for crowd calendars there are a few sites that will show predictions.
October might be busy because of the Halloween celebrations, but March is spring break timeframe so it might be a toss up! I would just see what the calendars say.
pomelo / 5866 posts
@Teachermama: I heard October is getting super busy nowadays. That's when we used to go and it was nice. But now things are changing, maybe late October would be better. Late Sept weather is really good too. Also maybe first week of March to avoid common school breaks. Also, go midday weeks Tues, Wed, Thurs. and try to avoid the Magic morning parks. Go opposite the crowd and get there early.
I just came back from two days and I was THE FIRST person in line. It was awesome! There are multiple stalls to walk through so there were about 10 of us that were first in our respective lines. Our checker guy prescanned us so it was such an incredible magical moment!! The breakfast at our hotel was horrible so we headed straight to the Cal Adventure Park and arrived at 7:20am before 8am opening. The time flew by as the anticipation just heightened.
Also we caught the train to San Diego from Anaheim (straight from our hotel across the street from the park) if anyone wants tips on that....
pomelo / 5866 posts
@Teachermama: It is a really easy, cheap way to travel and would do again in a heartbeat. I booked through Amtrak using points, business class to Sorrento Valley, outer San Diego, specifically. I took an $8 Lyft from DL/hotel to the Amtrak station (Google ARTIC station for a simplified/incomplete train route. Amtrak seems to list more stops.) The best part of all is that it leaves at 8pm (and another I think around 10pm) so you can have a whole day in the park on departure day. And you don't have to go through security or anything so you literally can show up 15 mins (or 2 minutes) before departure. Of course since it is my first time, I left two hours early. But if I did it again, I would hop in the taxi 25-30 mins before departure. It took a little less than 2 hours by train to get to SD. Everything is clearly announced except how to get to the track. It is on the top floor then crossbridge and then elevator down to the track. No charging stations though...outlets shut off in favor of charger vending machines I highly don't recommend.
Oh and our friends met us right on the track. I suppose it can be a bit scary/isolated late at night so be prepared to get picked up right away depending on what station.
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