PTR: And now for something completely different - a WDW Family does DLR *(new October 9th)*

[hokieinpa]

Joining in! What a great time to go to DLR. I mean, why not, right?

I've been toying with the idea of a California trip at some point, sometime, maybe in the future. I agree that the hotel search is overwhelming. I'll have to keep that HoJo in mind - love the kids room!

 

[shan23877]

That HoJo looks awesome! I'm glad that Judy didn't take much convincing!

 

[schmass]

Looks like you made a great choice for the hotel...the kids having their own room sounds like a great decision for all of you! I remember being very overwhelmed when looking at all the Good Neighbor options at DLR...so many choices!!!

 

[Li Li]

Looks great! Can I ask, when you refer to the DIS discount, are you using a travel agent? Or was it just a promo or something?

 

[KatMark]

you have a hotel picked. And it looks fabulous. I often wonder where we would stay if/when we ever get there (the goal is no 2017 for my 60th), and the HoJo looks perfect (I just don't think I can stomach paying the prices of the onsite resorts). The kids are going to LOVE having their own room as I am sure mommy and daddy will enjoy having their own.

Oh the planning...this is the biggest thing that scares me and I am sure I will be seeking LOTS of advice when it is our turn.

 

[bama belle]

Hi! I am excited to join in and can't wait to read about your upcoming plans for DL. I read your last two trip reports recently and really enjoyed them! Would love to be able to do this kind of a trip myself at some point in the future. Happy planning!

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

Phil you picked a GREAT hotel. I didn't stay there because I was ridiculously cheap, but I did see that hotel and the location is fab-u-lous. You will feel spoiled upon returning to WDW. And I don;t care what it takes, World of Color is worth every second of time devoted to seeing it.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Wow, that didn't take too many bullet points to get Judi to agree!

I am really hoping we can manage a DLR trip in November this year. It totally depends on whether or not Dug's company retreat is back in Palm Springs again or not. We know they are seriously considering it, but haven't made any decisions at this point. Like you said, this sounds like a great year to visit.

That HoJo suite looks amazing!! Love it! I have always heard that is a great hotel and very close to the parks, but I love that room!

Well, I Amy have taken a bit of poetic license in how high the hill was going to be

I hope thing work out for you and you get to DLR. Now you just need to fit in Disneyland Paris, Tokyo, Hong Kong, and Singapore!

I hope the room works out. I think they only have a limited number of those suites (when I checked out dates they only had 3 left) so decided to go for it rather than keep looking/analysing and risk losing out

It seems as it didn't take many points to get Judi on board for your trip.

The suite at HoJo looks like it will be great for your family.

I was lucky to get a good spot for world of color but that was only because I stayed at Grand Californian.

Not to bad to get her convinced - I think she just wanted to do something different and with this combining in San Diego and not only Disney she was quickly on board.

I hope it works out - pretty sure it won't be bad which is what I was afraid of risking with a lesser known hotel.

Do you get reserved spots at WoC if you start at the Grand? From what I am reading there seems to be limited number of good sports within g each section and thus they extra waiting - I am sure we will figure it out though.

Joining in! What a great time to go to DLR. I mean, why not, right?

I've been toying with the idea of a California trip at some point, sometime, maybe in the future. I agree that the hotel search is overwhelming. I'll have to keep that HoJo in mind - love the kids room!

The 60th anniversary stuff really kind pushed me to do it this year - and the fall overlays are an added bonus.

The hotel seems to get good reviews - positive ones about the staff too which I was happy to see. The room does look pretty cool I think. There were some other places with suites but seemed to have more inconsistent reviews, so didn't want to take the chance.

That HoJo looks awesome! I'm glad that Judy didn't take much convincing!

Thanks! I hope we get enough time to spend in the water park - I think the kids will really enjoy it

Looks like you made a great choice for the hotel...the kids having their own room sounds like a great decision for all of you! I remember being very overwhelmed when looking at all the Good Neighbor options at DLR...so many choices!!!

I think we will like the space and just to get our own room at the end of the day seems nice and just more actual room to not be on top of each other. Exactly! So many options and some are walking sustenance and it's not and shuttle might be ok but might not, etc. Just kinda glad to have made a decision.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Looks great! Can I ask, when you refer to the DIS discount, are you using a travel agent? Or was it just a promo or something?

Thanks Leah! It was just a discount code you can enter on the website. Here is the link:
http://www.hojoanaheim.com/disboards

you have a hotel picked. And it looks fabulous. I often wonder where we would stay if/when we ever get there (the goal is no 2017 for my 60th), and the HoJo looks perfect (I just don't think I can stomach paying the prices of the onsite resorts). The kids are going to LOVE having their own room as I am sure mommy and daddy will enjoy having their own.

Oh the planning...this is the biggest thing that scares me and I am sure I will be seeking LOTS of advice when it is our turn.

Thanks Kathy - I kind felt the same way that the price for even the cheapest on site hotel (which is a converted hotel) just didn't seem worth it. Admittedly I am probably trying to overlay Orlando prices on to Southern California but seems like paying Deluxe for a Value .... and for even less we are getting double the space.

Hope thing work out for you to go - seems like a great birthday present

Hi! I am excited to join in and can't wait to read about your upcoming plans for DL. I read your last two trip reports recently and really enjoyed them! Would love to be able to do this kind of a trip myself at some point in the future. Happy planning!

Welcome, thanks for joining! Thank you for the kind words about my last reports. Planning is definitely half the fun though compared to Disney World it feels like I have to learn a new language.

Phil you picked a GREAT hotel. I didn't stay there because I was ridiculously cheap, but I did see that hotel and the location is fab-u-lous. You will feel spoiled upon returning to WDW. And I don;t care what it takes, World of Color is worth every second of time devoted to seeing it.

Thanks Rob. Definitely all sorts of price ranges - I thought the extra space was worth the cost (for my mental well being if nothing else) and nice to at least have the option to walk.

I am definitely planning to do what I have to in order to see WoC - biggest thing we are trying to figure out now is if we all have to stay in line or if just I could until they let us in. One thing for me to wait 60-90 mins, but another when we will have Peter and a then 15 month Emma.

 

[missangelalexis]

I'm glad it didn't take too much to convince Judi And congrats on having your hotel picked out! It looks really nice too, can't beat having 2 rooms and for that price.

 

[emmysmommy]

Wow! Disney can't touch that rate for HoJo. Now you can "spend" all your savings on WoC dinner packages and those stiff drinks! (One of my favorite breakfast restaurants is next door - Mimi's Café.)

So very nice of Alicia to drive you to drink, errr help you out.

BTW: For WoC, I don't think your entire party needs to stand in line the entire time. People seem to congregate and then fill in when they drop the rope so to speak.

 

[DisMom1981]

So exciting! Resort looks great! I can imagine new territory being stressful to figure out and plan for!

 

[MarbleBob]

Cool! Stephanie and I stayed at the HOJO in 2010. We were very happy with that choice. We had one of the rooms facing the park, so it was cool to look out and see the Matterhorn and watch fireworks from the balcony. For our upcoming trip this June, we narrowed it down to HOJO and Candy Cane Inn, but ultimately went with the Candy Cane. I'd have been just as happy at the HOJO though!

 

[that's nice]

Based on what I read, and trying to do this somewhat on the cheap I kinda thought doing the on-site Disney hotels would be a stretch so turned my attention more to the "good neighbor hotels", targeting ones that were potentially walkable. Thanks to some big help from Leshaface and reading probably too much online we ultimately decided to book a two-room kids suite at the Howard Johnson. We thought the space would be nice as the kids get to sleep here:

While we get to be here, which is a completely separate room:

Did I mention there are two separate rooms?

I'm filing this away if we ever make it out there. We were talking next summer (2016) but I don't know if that will actually happen. It is downright expensive to get there from the East coast.

Granted now Leshaface just pointed me to the thread devoted to World of Color and different reserved sections and how early to line up even with dining package, etc and I feel like I need to lie down and/or get a stiff drink.

That's how I felt when I was trying to figure out DL and started pricing it out.

 

[KatMark]

I'm filing this away if we ever make it out there. We were talking next summer (2016) but I don't know if that will actually happen. It is downright expensive to get there from the East coast.


That's how I felt when I was trying to figure out DL and started pricing it out.

Tim, you should go in 2017 when we go to celebrate my 60th.

 

[that's nice]

Tim, you should go in 2017 when we go to celebrate my 60th.

Yea but Melody's 40th birthday is July 2016.

 

[tzeitel]

We are also going this Oct to celebrate DLR's 60th We went for the first time in 2012 (after many trips to WDW) and had a blast! We stayed at HoJo but in a regular room and it was a nice hotel, clean and with a friendly staff just a block or so away from the DLR entrance - a very doable and safe walk. The weather is a bit unpredictable and I have heard that it can be super hot in Oct, but when we went it was pretty cool to chilly. DD tried the pool once but it was too cold even for her (and she will do anything to get in a pool). We are in CO so the cold was not bad at all since it was still warmer than at home!

There are some great places to eat in the area. We loved Mimi's which is right across the street from HoJo on the way to the DLR entrance. We rented a car so were able to go to Target and the supermarket for some snacks, water and soda. We also went to SD for one day on that trip - loved it so much our trip in 2013 was all in SD (I have a mini trip report in my signature).

The first thing you notice is how weird it is to see the monorail while you are off property. Also, Aurora's castle is a lot smaller than Cinderella's - but you can go inside! Really hoping POTC is not down this time, it was down for rehab when we went and I was so bummed! But I was ok once I went on a couple of wild rides with Mr Toad I had heard that the parks were close, I did not realize how close they really are! No buses, no monorail (although we did take a ride around the park from DtD, we rode infront with the driver which was awesome), just walk across a small plaza.

We did the Halloween party which we had never done at WDW and it was a lot of fun. Tons of candy, tons of characters out and about, no lines to get on the rides, and it was nice to go to the park at night and all decked out for Halloween. Oh and Haunted Mansion decorated with Nightmare Before Christmas stuff is amazing. Another amazing thing - the beignets right next to the HM.

It was a completely different "feel" from WDW - which was good in a way that it did not feel like we were just doing WDW on a different coast

 

[teekathepony]

Very sound Disney logic right there.
The two-room suite looks really, really nice! Lots of space. And the water park looks really nice too!

 

[SimplyGoofy]

The rooms at the Howard Johnson look SO FUN! I bet your kids will LOVE them! (And love that pool, too!)

Granted now Leshaface just pointed me to the thread devoted to World of Color and different reserved sections and how early to line up even with dining package, etc and I feel like I need to lie down and/or get a stiff drink.

I feel like a lot of Disney planning leads to getting a stiff drink!

 

[DisMom1981]

Unrelated to this trip but I need some encouragement. I will be on maternity through the Christmas break (teacher). It is our ONE opportunity to travel WDW Christmastime before the crowds- would go right after Thanksgiving weekend. But- we'd be pulling first grader out of school, traveling with three kids, and we would be traveling with three month old. Tell me that is ok!!! Thank God for your last trip report or I never would even have considered it, but since your trip there have been the DLand measles outbreaks and such....