Offsite hotel choice

[MICHELET]

Trying to keep the hotel budget down and currently got a good rate at the Travelodge on Ball Rd. Should I keep that reservation or switch to the Super 8 on Katella Ave for a little more? Has anyone stayed at either of these hotels? Don't need anything fancy - just concerned about safety and the walking distance to the parks.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

I don't have experience with the Travelodge, but for budget friendly hotels, friends like the Super 8 and stay there often. There is another Super 8 on Disneyland Dr., which they also like. And the Motel 6 gets good reviews, too.

 

[MICHELET]

The other Super 8 is close to the Travelodge. We plan to walk back and forth to the parks. Do you know how long the walk is from both of those? And is it a safe walk?

 

[Aimee_Jane83]

I have stayed at the Travelodge and I wont do so again. The shuttles that took you to Disneyland ran so infrequently that it was a pain to get back and forth when you wanted to go back to the hotel for a nap before heading back to the park. The shuttles apparently come every 15 minutes which was more like 20-25 minutes, but if they are full they just drive on past you, and you have to wait another 15+ minutes hoping that the next bus isn't full. Hopefully this has changed. Their continental breakfast was like a little box of stale strudels in their tiny lobby.

I now stay at the Tropicana Inn and Suites or the Park Vue Inn each time I go to Disneyland. For me I have always found a decent price on a room in each which hasn't cost a whole lot more than the Travelodge and they are right across the street from Disneyland from the main crosswalk.

 

[lalasmama]

I've stayed at the Super 8 on Katella. It was our go-to cheap motel for a few trips!

Cons: Walk sucks at night. The property is L.O.N.G., so when you get a room in the back, it feels like, "I'm at the hotel! Yay!.... Oh, yeah, I still need to pass 50 rooms. Ugh!" I've had an alarm clock that didn't work (it was before I had a smart phone, so kind of needed an alarm of some sort). Soundproofing is not great (drunk neighbors one night couldn't figure out how to get the keycard to work, and I could hear it all). One stay, I had a remodeled room, second stay I did not; but I assume 5 years later that all the rooms have been updated. Water temps seemed to vary. Didn't use the pool--my room was never close enough.

Pros: Price. Price has gone up over the years, but when I started staying here, I was paying $44/night; I'll put up with a lot of cons for $44/night! Rooms were always clean. One room smelled kind of musty, but once I opened the windows and let it air out while I was in the room, it smelled better very quickly. If you aren't in the parks on your arrival night, you can go to the 2nd floor of the far building, and see the fireworks fairly well. It seemed like once people heard the fireworks, a fair amount of people went to this spot. Updated room was nice, modern, clean. Non-updated room was a bit darker, felt 1980s-ish, but was equally clean. The property is clean, and open. I really dislike hotels where I feel like people could be "lurking" all over, so the wide open feeling was a comfort to me!

"Prons" (not pros, not cons) : Breakfast had 2 cereals, green bananas, a few dry pastries, some milk, juice, coffee; not great, but it's a free breakfast, and enough to get us through until lunch. Staff was chatty; I hate chattiness with unknown people because I have social anxiety, but I'm well aware they are just being nice, and it's my issue not their's. Once I told staff I was running late, they got me checked in and out in less than 3 minutes. Walk is annoying in the evening, however, there's a 7-11 and ABC Market on the way, which makes grabbing snacks very easy!

 

[bluegrizzlies1]

We just did Anaheim hotel formerly the Anaheim plaza hotel it's at 1700 s harbor right on the corner of Disney way.

Nothing fancy the walk isn't bad at all paid 550 for 5 nights parking with tax is 11.70 a day

 

[MIChessGuy]

I will be using the Super 8 on Katella this August for my first trip to DLR since 1984. It showed up as 'walkable' in the 2017 edition of the Unofficial Guide. The Guide was negative on the walkability of the Ball Rd.-area hotels, including the other Super 8 up there, so I did not consider those. There's also an older post on touringplans.com where theme park mastermind Seth Kubersky gives the Katella Super 8 the thumbs up. Guess I'll find out.

 

[Aimee_Jane83]

I was too told that the Travelodge was going to be walkable, but it was like a 15 minute walk over a freeway intersection which didn't make me feel safe, and the walk felt like 10 miles at night time when your feet are tired.

 

[goooof1]

Ball Road is just really isolated in the back of DLR. It took about 20 minutes to walk towards the parking garage and then through DTD. And not a whole lot of people walking in that area. Not sure now what the situation is in that area with construction for SWL, etc and the set up for security check points... (There had been an option to cross the street at one point and get on the trams from the parking garage, but it was not really that helpful then.)
Yes, "walkable", but.....and mainly nothing much in that area. Harbor Blvd. is always the first choice!

 

[Nevada Jen]

If you don't have kids in carseats, you could stay in one of the Garden Grove "convention center hotels" potentially for a lot less for a much nicer hotel and just uber back and forth for about 5 bucks a ride.

 

[MICHELET]

Thanks everyone! Sounds like it will be better to switch to the Super 8 on Katella.

 

[Pamela M]

Not sure how much the Super 8 is but Groupon has a great deal on a Mystery Hotel. I stayed at the hotel last year (bought the deal) and it's right behind Carsland on Katella. I liked it cause you only have to cross one street (Disney Way). It ran us $152 a night - that included taxes, free parking, resort fee, it also came with a Free breakfast( waffles, eggs, muffins) and free wifi. Groupon is stating it as low as $70 a night but it's probably only during certain times. I looked for when I wanted to go in September and they were selling the deal for $129 - so about the same as it cost me last year.

 

[pblack]

I've stayed at this Days Inn and it was a pretty decent hotel for not a whole lot of money. They offer a continental breakfast which wasn't terrible. The walk also wasn't completely terrible. They do offer a "shuttle" but its hit or miss. You can catch the ART right across the street or in front of the hotel menage. Hotel menage has a ticket machine inside their lobby.