On site vs off site stay

[Livelovedisney]

Hi everyone,
We are planning on going to Disneyland come this March and was wondering which option would be best. There will be 5 of us, two kids ages 5 and 2, and 3 adults. We will be flying in and are debating if we should stay on site and skip out on getting a car or stay off site and get a car. Any advice or suggestion would be greatly appreciated. =D

 

[Hakunamatata]

You can stay off site within walking distance. We stayed at the Fairfield Inn and made the short walk each day.

 

[ForeverAnna]

You don't even have to be within walking distance if you're on the ART line. But they are a lot of hotels within walking distance.

 

[donsullivan]

I've stayed at the Fairfield mentioned above multiple times and it's a great choice. When I was there in November, I stayed at the brand new Marriott Courtyard right next to the Fairfield, lots of family friendly features including all rooms with bunk beds. I had a room with 2 queen beds plus the bunks. They all have a small mini fridge and microwave which can be great for snacks or breakfast. There is even a small banquette style table and seating area in room. They also have a split bathroom model which is great for getting multiple people up and ready in the AM. The only thing you sacrifice vs a Disney owned hotel is access to EMH which to me is worth it for the savings.

 

[Livelovedisney]

That's awesome. Thanks for all the info. =D how many park days do you guys recommend? We are from the east coast and disney worls is much closer but this year we wanted to give Disneyland a try.

 

[ForeverAnna]

At least three. Two for DL and one for DCA. I'd go for more though.

 

[Hakunamatata]

That's awesome. Thanks for all the info. =D how many park days do you guys recommend? We are from the east coast and disney worls is much closer but this year we wanted to give Disneyland a try.

We did five and that was a great amount of time.

 

[flynnibus]

Hi everyone,
We are planning on going to Disneyland come this March and was wondering which option would be best. There will be 5 of us, two kids ages 5 and 2, and 3 adults. We will be flying in and are debating if we should stay on site and skip out on getting a car or stay off site and get a car. Any advice or suggestion would be greatly appreciated. =D

You should not get a car for disneyland - everything is close enough to walk or use the ART shuttles. If not, you shouldn't be staying there.

There is no real 'on' vs 'off' property at Disneyland. It's simply a matter of do you want to pay for the Disneyland Hotel or Grand Californian (think MK monorail loop premiums), and try to stay inside the 'bubble' or if you want to stay somewhere else for 1/2 to 1/3 the cost. For some people having to walk down harbor, or ride the buses in town knocks them out of their WDW-bred experience. The two Disney hotels are very nice -- they are just pretty darn expensive and aren't much beyond hotels. The Paradise Pier hotel doesn't belong in the same discussion.. it doesn't have the location or amenities or look like the other two disney hotels.

Decide the type of property you want... economy/efficency, basic chain, higher end chain (marriott, etc), or disney-branded hotel.

Beware parking rates are pretty steep in the area, so if you are staying long, the less reason to have a car. The only reason for a car is to visit other areas of Cali... and for that you could rent the car AFTER your DL stay, etc. Your length of stay kind of steers that discussion..

 

[flynnibus]

That's awesome. Thanks for all the info. =D how many park days do you guys recommend? We are from the east coast and disney worls is much closer but this year we wanted to give Disneyland a try.

3-5... the bigger thing is if you are going to go anywhere besides Disneyland. 3 will get you most of what you want.. 5 is lounging at the parks, and doing all the smaller things too. 4 is probably the sweet spot, combined with 2-3 days of other things in SoCal.

 

[Livelovedisney]

You should not get a car for disneyland - everything is close enough to walk or use the ART shuttles. If not, you shouldn't be staying there.

There is no real 'on' vs 'off' property at Disneyland. It's simply a matter of do you want to pay for the Disneyland Hotel or Grand Californian (think MK monorail loop premiums), and try to stay inside the 'bubble' or if you want to stay somewhere else for 1/2 to 1/3 the cost. For some people having to walk down harbor, or ride the buses in town knocks them out of their WDW-bred experience. The two Disney hotels are very nice -- they are just pretty darn expensive and aren't much beyond hotels. The Paradise Pier hotel doesn't belong in the same discussion.. it doesn't have the location or amenities or look like the other two disney hotels.

Decide the type of property you want... economy/efficency, basic chain, higher end chain (marriott, etc), or disney-branded hotel.

Beware parking rates are pretty steep in the area, so if you are staying long, the less reason to have a car. The only reason for a car is to visit other areas of Cali... and for that you could rent the car AFTER your DL stay, etc. Your length of stay kind of steers that discussion..

Thanks again for all the info. I have no idea how long we plan to stay at the park, but there is a good chance it's going to be at least 4 days. We went to disney world and staying on site was great because we didn't have to worry about driving anywhere and getting back to the hotel was easy.

 

[flynnibus]

Thanks again for all the info. I have no idea how long we plan to stay at the park, but there is a good chance it's going to be at least 4 days. We went to disney world and staying on site was great because we didn't have to worry about driving anywhere and getting back to the hotel was easy.

The first rule of Disneyland is... It's not WDW That cuts both ways... but a lot of WDW vets get flustered with DLR because they want it to be what they are used to. You may find this thread very helpful - http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/guide-to-dlr-for-wdw-veterans.875596/

When you visit DLR for itself.. you should love it. But that does mean giving up some 'differences' to WDW that are just that.. different. The walk after the parks is one of those angles. The ART system in Anaheim isn't bad, but if your family can walk, the hotels within the 10min walk are preferable.

 

[KikoKea]

We stayed at the Tropicana, which is just across the street from the entrance. We flew in, paid for the Disney bus from and back to LAX, and never missed having a car. But, we didn't go see anything in the area, just DL, which is what we wanted. One thing to remember with the off site hotels that are very close is that you must get your reservations in early. Because they are so close and so much cheaper, they stay full. (From the front gate, it was a shorter walk to our hotel than to the DL Hotel or CA Grand hotel lobbies. Paradise Pier is across the street from the CA Grand.)

We stay for 3 days, which was fine for us. The parks are generally slower in the morning, so we had plenty of time to hit the big rides and get a lot done before lunch. We spend a day at CA, and the other two at DL. For CA, get there when it opens and grab a Cars FP, then go ride CA Screamin' and TS Mania a few times while the line is short.

And, flynnibus is right- DL is not WDW! Much cozier, which is another way of saying that it feels cramped for room. But, it has some great rides that WDW doesn't have, and DL and CA are very fun parks. One thing to note is that as you leave in the evening, it sort of jolts you back into reality when the tired and unsmiling CMs are trudging along side you out the front gate and across the street to the local bus stop.

 

[Livelovedisney]

Thank you for all the replies. I'm not sure when we are actually going....still waiting on DH to make up his mind. Hopefully it will be soon since it's not that far away.