Planning questions I need help with!

[Mick]

Hi Everyone,

I have been doing a lot of reading and searching but I still have some questions and I hope you can help me.....

1. Our family of 4 wants a suite with seperate bedroom, to have privacy. It has in nice shape, and would like cooked breakfast. We will ride a shuttle( if it is a good one) just to get a decent hotel. Last thing....as cheap as possible because of our Canadian $ value!!!
Any suggestions?


2. We can go anytime in January to mid February for 10 days-2 weeks. Any time the best? Is there any days to stay away from. We hate crowds!!!!


3. Is unlimited fastpass important for that time of year?


4. When will I find out what rides will be closed for refurb in that time frame?


Thanks,
Mick

[disneypremium]

Great time to go. The crowds go-down in Febuary. Im not sure about the rehab problems. Space Mountain will be closed. By then Im pretty sure about all the rides will be open.Check WWW.disneylandsource.com (spell check) Im not sure if thats the site but you can search for it. What hotel are you planning to stay at?

[disneypremium]

Oh yeah, how do you get unlimeted fastpasses. I hear the Crown Plasa is a block away but a very good hotel.

[Cinderella_68]

I hear the Crown Plasa is a block away but a very good hotel.

The Crowne Plaza is about a mile and a half south on Harbor. We stayed there in August and loved it. The pool area was nice and the staff was wonderful! The rooms were nice and comfy, except the beds seemed more like full beds than queen. The mini bar could be locked electronically to keep the kids out, which was nice.
Unfortunately, it doesn't meet the cooked breakfast criteria.

[ineedpixiedust]

Late Jan & early Feb are great times to visit crowds-wise. A few things to keep in mind though are that the park hours are usually shorter, more rides are on rehab, and there is less entertainment. We went in Feb of 01 and Splash Mtn, Haunted Mansion, Small World and Big Thunder were all on rehab! :( There were also less shows. However, we practically walked onto all the rides, and never waited more than 30min for anything. We never even used FastPass! The officialy Disney site has refurb info posted here:
http://disneyland.disney.go.com/dlr/calendar/index
They don't have anything for Jan listed yet, but they usually put stuff up 2-3 months in advance, so try checking in Nov. Hope this helped!

[ineedpixiedust]

Oh! I forgot! We stayed at the Dolphin's Cove. It's about a block away and offers a good shuttle service. They say it's walking distance, but with a little one this wasn't an option. It's owned by Fairfield and rooms run around $110 for a 1 bedroom suite (bedroom seperate from livingroom). They also have 2 bedrooms. There isn't a resturant on property, but there are many in walking distance. The rooms also all have full kitchens, so you can always make your own. This worked GREAT for us with 2 adults and 1 child. They've got good pics on their website:
http://www.efairfield.com/inside/resorts/0060.asp
Also have good pics here:
http://showhotel.com/others/cove/
The property is very lush and green. They've also got a great kids program. Our DS was to little, but the activities looked fun! Just a suggestion !

[disneypremium]

Sorry about the location messup. I havent looked closely at the distance. for rehab sceduals go to The Disneyland Source. www.thedisneylandsource.com or www.disneylandsource.com

[Mick]

Thanks for all the great informations!

Anyone else with suggestions for a suite with good shuttle and cooked breakfast? I also forgot to say our kids are 8 and 10.

Mick:D

[c&m]

You may want to check out the Embassy Suites. I've heard that they're suites and that they serve a complimentary hot breakfast. I haven't stayed there myself but have passed by it when I stayed at the Hyatt. It looks quite nice.

[disneypremium]

The Candy Cane Inn is a great hotel! Their breakfast is the best and you can relax on the poolside. The rooms arent the most roomiest but a A+ hotel. The walk is a great exercise to wear the kids down. I leasurely walk to Disneyland and it took me About 15mins. There is also a free shuttle that u do not need a pass for. If you can get a special offer or coupon the room will stay cheap for the night. WWW.candycaneinn.com i think is the website.

[disneypremium]

You might wanna search for that website.

[cats mom]

We always look for an embassy suites first when we travel - unfortunately I can't help you with specifics on DL area ones as we stayed at the Grand CA. the last couple of trips. Embassy does have a suite set up with a full cooked to order breakfast though. I'd check with the hotel directly re: shuttle service.
One of the DL area ES's is new within the last couple of years - embassy south I think- maybe someone else will know for sure.

[disneypremium]

If they have a great menu than thats great but you may think about a rental car or shuttle because its far.

[RobertR]

We've got a group going to DL in a couple of weeks and we always look for an Embassy Suites where ever we go. We selected the one called, "Embassy Suites Anaheim - Adjacent to Disneyland". I think it is actually a mile or two down the road. They run a shuttle every half hour and do the free breakfast thing. They also have free drinks in the evening. Not sure it's really cheap, however...I think it was around $120 without tax.

Another tip for things to do assuming you are Calgary Flame fans would be to go to a Ducks game. The "Pond" is right next door to Disney (as opposed to adjacent). The Flames are in town on January 19th.

Hope you have a blast...I know we will!

Oh, web site is www.embassysuites.com. There are a number of Embassy Suites in the area.

[disneypremium]

A LONG,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,FEW MILES DOWN.

[c&m]

The Embassy Suites that I mentioned in my previous post is in Garden Grove. It's on Harbor Blvd., in the same hotel cluster as Hilton Homewood Suites and next door to Hyatt. This Embassy Suites looks newer, and it shared the same shuttle as the Hyatt and the Crowne Plaza hotels. We rode in this shuttle, which is like a big bus. It was very timely and we had no problems getting to the parks.

[disneypremium]

ohhhhhhh so its only a few miles away.

quote:
The Crowne Plaza is about a mile and a half south on Harbor.

[disneypremium]

Thats Sarcasm

[Cinderella_68]

The Embassy Suites sounds like what you are looking for. Here is a review from tripadvisor.com:
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g32420-d224310-r833275-Embassy_Suites_Anaheim_South_Disney_Resort_Convent ion_Center-Garden_Grove_California.html
Here are reviews from travelocity.com:
http://leisure.travelocity.com/Vacations/Reviews/Hotel/Read/0,,TRAVELOCITY_57407_0,00.html
and some from Mouseplanet:
http://www.mouseplanet.com/cgi/reviews/do/display.cgi?product-sku=dlrembassysuitesanaheimsouth

Don't be scared off by the distances. With the shuttle, they are negligent. We've found some of the best deals about 1.5 to 2 miles away, in terms of more bang for the buck, (during high season, we've paid much less than the going rate for walking distance motels, and gotten the added quality and amenities,) and more of a vacation feel. Hey, who doesn't want to feel pampered on vacation? :cool:

[dsnylndmom]

The Garden Grove Embassy is wonderful. It's about a mile away and the shuttle time is right around 5 minutes.

The staff was wonderful, the rooms are spacious, comfy and nice.

The breakfast was a full hot breakfast that is defitnely worth it!! They also have a manager's reception each evening with comp. beverages and snacks.

The shuttle is a full sized bus and very nice.

Great hotel!!

[Mick]

Everyone is so helpful!!!!!! Thank you.

Has anyone stayed at the new Residence Inn Garden Grove? Also is there any hotel that our kids (both under 10) could eat meals for free or at a discount. That sure would help if we are paying 100+ for a room.

I have heard a lot about ES. Which one is the best? It is rather confusing when there is more than one!

Mick

:D

[disneypremium]

The posts agree, The Embassy Suites At Garden Grove.