Staying on site or to not to!

[Orpheus7696]

I am planning a first trip to Disneyland with my wife and 5 children! ( we plan on driving from Louisiana!) I wanted advise on staying on property or actually using an offsite hotel near the resort. What are the pros and cons?? Any help would be great!!

 

[NemoRocks78]

Unless you want that full-blown Disney experience and want to spend the $$$ for the Grand Californian, there's really not much of a need to stay on-site. The off-site hotels along Harbor Blvd. are great and there's many to choose from within walking distance of the parks (I like to recommend the Best Western Anaheim Inn myself). You'll also have options for something like breakfast or a late dinner along Harbor, which is definitely nice.

 

[Californian Elitist]

I am planning a first trip to Disneyland with my wife and 5 children! ( we plan on driving from Louisiana!) I wanted advise on staying on property or actually using an offsite hotel near the resort. What are the pros and cons?? Any help would be great!!

That's so cool you guys are from Louisiana! I wonder what you all will think of New Orleans Square???

Compared to WDW, there aren't many benefits to staying onsite at Disneyland. I believe you get to enter the parks before other guests. They are very expensive, especially the Grand Californian because it's physically located in Downtowwn Disney and California Adventure. We have beautiful hotels but staying offsite is good because not only will it save you money but they are very close to the resort, some of them a 5 minute walk away. Some are even less than that; all you have to do is cross the street. If you have money to splurge and you just want to stay at a Disney hotel, then I would say go ahead and book an onsite hotel. I've stayed at Paradise Pier and the Disneyland Hotel (newly rennovated) and both are beautiful and great. I'd LOVE to stay at the Grand Californian before I die.

 

[dsollie]

We are just finishing up our own road trip from MN (my wife and I and three children), and we were on site from the 24th thru 29th of June, not exclusively for Disney stuff. We stayed at the Embassy Suites South on Harbor Blvd, and it worked rather well for us. The buses to the DLR leave every 1/2 hour, and if you plan it right and get up in time, the first bus out was never full (7:15 am departure). That got us on site 1/2 hour before either park opened. Also, the resort was letting all of the guests in early, apparently so that they could assemble the Fastpass line for RSR, so there did not seem to be much benefit to the resort guests who had the early entry. I stood in that Fastpass line two mornings, and it worked really well, as I let my wife and kids go enjoy a few other rides while I stood in line and waited.

Best of luck to you!

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

You can probably get a bigger room or suite for cheaper if you stay off property. And be closer in some cases.

 

[Orpheus7696]

Thanks for the info!! My wife and I are from the New Orleans area and are really excited to see New Orleans square and to eat the Mickey shaped beignets!! It seems that Walt had some love for New Orleans. I was wondering if the Staybridge Suites which is about a mile away was a nice place to stay because of the 2 bedroom suites??


dsollie I am glad you guys had a great trip! We are kind of doing the Griswold thing by going partially on Route 66 and hitting some major sites on the way.

 

[dsollie]

Cheers to you, Clark W. Griswold (Orpheus)!

Have fun as you load up the family truckster. We did a similar trip with stops in Colorado, Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon, and eventually made our way to Wally World. We are now up in central California on our way to San Fran via Hwy 1.

 

[Laura]

We are now up in central California on our way to San Fran via Hwy 1.

Oooh. Then you're in the middle of one of the most amazing drives in the world! Enjoy!

 

[Orpheus7696]

That is so awesome!! We can't wait. We are stopping at the Four Corners, the Petrified Forest, Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam and making a trip through Las Vegas then to Disneyland!!

 

[Californian Elitist]

That is so awesome!! We can't wait. We are stopping at the Four Corners, the Petrified Forest, Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam and making a trip through Las Vegas then to Disneyland!!

Sounds like you're going to have a great vacation!

 

[dreamfinder]

I believe you get to enter the parks before other guests.

You do get to enter early. It's an hour early, select rides, at one of the parks. It had just been DL 4 days a week, but with the demand for Carsland, it is currently 3 days a week there. So currently each morning 1 park is open an hour early for resort guests. The only other real perk is the DCA entrance in the Grand Californian. Supported to be a resort guest to use that entrance.

For our trip out in a few months, we opted to stay on property. Ended up with 4 different reservations for the 4 nights of our stay. Not ideal, but my DW is much more comfortable walking within the confines of DTD than she is on the sidewalks of busy streets. And she is the one who may be doing mid afternoon breaks, so we try to keep her happy.

There are definitely hotels closer to the main gate than the Disney properties, at a significantly cheaper price. Just made sure to check them out first, as some are still a bit sketch even in this day and time.

 

[tare]

We've stayed at the ho Jo!!! Very nice and about 8 minute walk!!! Never pick a hotel that you have to ride to and from on a bus-- you are at their mercy--and I prob would not stay on site at dl--save the money for souviners and food!!!

 

[Laura]

Never pick a hotel that you have to ride to and from on a bus-- you are at their mercy

ART is great, cheap, and comes on a predictable schedule. I used it when I stayed at the Hilton (convention center) and had no problems at all. I preferred it to walking.

 

[DisneyWall-E]

Thanks for the info!! My wife and I are from the New Orleans area and are really excited to see New Orleans square and to eat the Mickey shaped beignets!! It seems that Walt had some love for New Orleans. I was wondering if the Staybridge Suites which is about a mile away was a nice place to stay because of the 2 bedroom suites??


dsollie I am glad you guys had a great trip! We are kind of doing the Griswold thing by going partially on Route 66 and hitting some major sites on the way.

I am also from the New Orleans area(Marrero). My family is going to stay at Port Orleans French Quarter again this year. The last time we were there we only stayed 4 days and didnt get a lot of time to explore. But from what we did see it looked awesome. This Sep/Oct we are going for 8 days and can not wait to really relax and enjoy the resort more. I like that the pool slide reminds me of the dragon slide in Storybook land at City park.

With all that said, I am sure that New Orleans Square is perfection. I am hoping to make a trip to DL in the next 3 years to check it out for myself.

and have a Magical trip.

 

[dsollie]

ART is great, cheap, and comes on a predictable schedule. I used it when I stayed at the Hilton (convention center) and had no problems at all. I preferred it to walking.

I agree. The buses that loaded up at Embassy Suites and other hotels were also very reliable. I do not normally like to leave my schedule to chance, so driving and getting myself to the park extra early is usually how I would go. However, when I realized we would have to park our vehicle at an off-site parking lot anyways and take a bus from there, I was sold on the hotel bus option. They ran extra buses late at night to get people back to their hotels, so we never waited more than 5 minutes for a bus. It really was a good deal.

 

[coachwnh]

I am planning a first trip to Disneyland with my wife and 5 children! ( we plan on driving from Louisiana!) I wanted advise on staying on property or actually using an offsite hotel near the resort. What are the pros and cons?? Any help would be great!!

We stayed at the DL Hotel in June with our two kids (9 and 7) and loved how close we were. The short walk (15 minutes or so) to both entrances is awesome. NO parking, no need for a car, just a short walk. Plus, we were in the parks by 7 am each morning with the early hours for on site guests. We got so much done so fast. Cant beat fast with young kids!

 

[LudwigVonDrake]

I booked my first ever Disneyland trip for next summer and we're staying at the Paradise Pier. I can't wait