Splitting Hotels... Should I?

[Rainforest_Elf]

So, my little sister is graduating college this week, and as her "last hurrah" before she gets bogged down to real life, is a vacation with her generous older sister... ME! Haha.

Our plan is to spend 3 full days at Disney, then hop a flight to Vegas for 2 days (or maybe do Vegas first, I haven't decided).

Here's my dilemma. I'm a hotel snob, but funds are a lot tighter for me than my last Disney vacation. I've stayed at the DLH before the renovations, and I was not impressed. I don't know if I can justify 2 or 3 nights at $325 a room, with my sister being currently unemployed, and me trying to watch my budget.

However, the perks of staying on site keep nagging me. The Early Morning Entry, and the Extra Magic Hour are very appealing to me. We're getting the 3day park hopper, so we'll have the EME anyway, but the Extra Magic Hour... that might be worth it to get into DCA one day.

I was thinking maybe we stay two nights at Best Western Stovalls; checking in late on Sunday, enjoying all day Monday in the park, using our EME on Tuesday, checking into the DLH on Tuesday night, using the EMH on Wednesday, and checking out of the hotel on Thursday early. So, two nights at Stovalls (or another moderate, CLOSE hotel) and then two nights at DLH.

I just don't know. Help me coordinate this. This is quickly becoming more stressful than I wanted it to be.

Is that going to be a huge hassle? I know the hotel should be treated as just a place to sleep and shower, and really that's all we're going to need it for, but I'd like to use the pool at the DLH at least once.... and they're just so close to the property. Unfortunately, the truth of the matter is, I'm overweight and out of shape, and if I can alleviate any extra walking... I'd like to do that. Is Stovall's one of the closest hotels? Should I just book 4 nights at the cheapest hotel for the sake of saving my pocket book, or is staying on the property the best option for my peace of mind? Any and all advice is greatly appreciated.

 

[DisneyMomma81]

No small kids. Go for it! It's easy.

Flying to Vegas.... why not drive? Perhaps no car.... are you driving or flying to S CA? If you have a car it's an easy drive.

We stayed at Stovall's last Thanksgiving and enjoyed it; loved walking behind the parks, through the Grand and Downtown D to get the to the parks. Here's a great map.

 

[blackjackdelta]

So, my little sister is graduating college this week, and as her "last hurrah" before she gets bogged down to real life, is a vacation with her generous older sister... ME! Haha.

Our plan is to spend 3 full days at Disney, then hop a flight to Vegas for 2 days (or maybe do Vegas first, I haven't decided).

Here's my dilemma. I'm a hotel snob, but funds are a lot tighter for me than my last Disney vacation. I've stayed at the DLH before the renovations, and I was not impressed. I don't know if I can justify 2 or 3 nights at $325 a room, with my sister being currently unemployed, and me trying to watch my budget.

However, the perks of staying on site keep nagging me. The Early Morning Entry, and the Extra Magic Hour are very appealing to me. We're getting the 3day park hopper, so we'll have the EME anyway, but the Extra Magic Hour... that might be worth it to get into DCA one day.

I was thinking maybe we stay two nights at Best Western Stovalls; checking in late on Sunday, enjoying all day Monday in the park, using our EME on Tuesday, checking into the DLH on Tuesday night, using the EMH on Wednesday, and checking out of the hotel on Thursday early. So, two nights at Stovalls (or another moderate, CLOSE hotel) and then two nights at DLH.

I just don't know. Help me coordinate this. This is quickly becoming more stressful than I wanted it to be.

Is that going to be a huge hassle? I know the hotel should be treated as just a place to sleep and shower, and really that's all we're going to need it for, but I'd like to use the pool at the DLH at least once.... and they're just so close to the property. Unfortunately, the truth of the matter is, I'm overweight and out of shape, and if I can alleviate any extra walking... I'd like to do that. Is Stovall's one of the closest hotels? Should I just book 4 nights at the cheapest hotel for the sake of saving my pocket book, or is staying on the property the best option for my peace of mind? Any and all advice is greatly appreciated.

We tried it once and never again, too much of a hassle. We save to stay on site.

Jack

 

[JacksGirlz]

I avoid splitting stays whenever possible. I find it to be a big hassle to pack things up and unpack again, go through check in again, ugh

I have stayed many times off site at DLR, due to budget issues as well and have still had an excellent time. I would do whatever will cause you to feel the least regret.

 

[caltex]

If there are no kids I would consider it. The biggest hassle is getting up early to check out of one hotel and check into the 2nd one to take advantage of the EE. I split my trip into 3 nights at Hojo and 3 nights at PPH last week. Since I have a teen and a tweener we had to get up at 5:30 AM to make it to PPH at 6:30 AM to get EE into DCA. For us it was worth it since DLR was not offering any hotel discounts this summer. I couldn't bite the bullet to the tune of an extra $150/night at PPH to stay on site (although it was a very nice to stay at a DLR hotel).

 

[Rainforest_Elf]

No small kids. Go for it! It's easy.

Flying to Vegas.... why not drive? Perhaps no car.... are you driving or flying to S CA? If you have a car it's an easy drive.

We stayed at Stovall's last Thanksgiving and enjoyed it; loved walking behind the parks, through the Grand and Downtown D to get the to the parks. Here's a great map.

Hi DisneyMomma

We will be flying from Portland to Orange County. We might rent a car and drive to Vegas instead (especially since flights are limited) but the jury is still out on that one.

How far of a walk is Stovall's from the GCA? On my last trip when I stayed at DLH, we had to pass by the GCA anyway.... looking at a map, Stovall's looks like it's right across the street. Is that the case? How much walking time are we talking here?

 

[DisneyMomma81]

Hi DisneyMomma

We will be flying from Portland to Orange County. We might rent a car and drive to Vegas instead (especially since flights are limited) but the jury is still out on that one.

How far of a walk is Stovall's from the GCA? On my last trip when I stayed at DLH, we had to pass by the GCA anyway.... looking at a map, Stovall's looks like it's right across the street. Is that the case? How much walking time are we talking here?

From Stovall's to the Grand's Lobby maybe 7 minutes, it wasn't bad at all.

 

[Rainforest_Elf]

From Stovall's to the Grand's Lobby maybe 7 minutes, it wasn't bad at all.

Wow, that's pretty good. Stovall's is starting to look pretty dang good for a the entire trip...

Riddle me this, friends. Is the EMH really worth it? We'd use it to get into DCA and hit the busy attractions there, first. Last time I went in 2008, even the EME at Disneyland was super busy (went during Gay Days. Never again.)

I want to spent 2 days at Disneyland, and 1 at California Adventure. I have no desire to visit Cars Land (seriously) so I think that will free up a significant amount of time for us at DCA, plus, we're going the week after school starts. Should I really fork over an extra $300 to Disney, just to stay on site one night and get this extra benefit?

 

[KalamityJane]

We stayed at Stovalls (with kids!) and loved the walk. It took about towards 17-20 min from Stovalls to the turnstiles going up and taking a right under the monorail and cutting through DTD. Coming back we cut through GCH and shaved some time off (we usually ended our night in DCA anyway) and it was maybe 12-15 minutes? We stayed for 7 nights so it was a bit long by the end of the week. We had the kids in a stroller and are moderately fast paced walkers.

We are staying at Stovalls again for the first part of our trip (4 nights) and then onsite for the last 3 nights. I would stay at Stovalls the entire time but we are getting such a deal onsite, I couldn't pass it up!

 

[lorieintucson]

If you really want to reduce walking times, how about the hotels on Harbor. We have stayed at GC and DL the past few years and are trying FFI. Granted, we had a stroller and didn't want to fold it to go on the monorail, so i'm not sure how much time that saves (or if that is your main reason for staying on the DTD side. maybe i missed that?), but from the aerial maps, it looks like there are closer walking distance hotels.

 

[Rainforest_Elf]

If you really want to reduce walking times, how about the hotels on Harbor. We have stayed at GC and DL the past few years and are trying FFI. Granted, we had a stroller and didn't want to fold it to go on the monorail, so i'm not sure how much time that saves (or if that is your main reason for staying on the DTD side. maybe i missed that?), but from the aerial maps, it looks like there are closer walking distance hotels.

I don't really have a preference to what side of Disneyland we're on. I just heard good reviews of Stovalls, and it's cheap at $85/night. Really, I'd pay up to $150/night if that means being closer. Maybe the Desert Palms Hotel would be a better option for us? It looks a bit nicer, too. As I said, I'm a bit of a hotel snob, but I need to just suck it up for this trip because I cannot afford $325/night for a hotel except for maybe one night.

 

[KalamityJane]

You can get the FFI for around 90/nt through lastminute travel - maybe that is an option? It doesn't have breakfast but it is closer than Stovalls. Or the Anabella? It is about the same distance as Stovalls but seems to be pretty nice.

 

[Rainforest_Elf]

You can get the FFI for around 90/nt through lastminute travel - maybe that is an option? It doesn't have breakfast but it is closer than Stovalls. Or the Anabella? It is about the same distance as Stovalls but seems to be pretty nice.

Sorry, been out of the loop for awhile... what hotel is FFI? Breakfast is not important to us at ALL, I would much rather eat in the park where I know the quality of the food will not be in question.

 

[KalamityJane]

FFI is Fairfield Inn - it is just south of Hojos.

 

[Rainforest_Elf]

So now the FFI is looking pretty sweet, especially with the rates from lastminute travel. What do you guys think of this plan?

Arrive from Vegas on 9/9 (Sunday) in the late afternoon, check into FFI. Explore Downtown Disney. Sleeping at FFI.

Monday, 9/10, spend all day at DL. Sleeping at FFI.

Tuesday, 9/11 check out of FFI and check into DLH EARLY. This will be one of the days we use our early morning entry, so we're probably going to have to have the DLH hold our bags for us all day, since I'm sure our room will not be ready at 7:30 in the morning. Spend the day at DCA, sleep at DLH.

Wenesday 9/12 Use our extra magic hour to get into DL. Spend the night in DLH.

Thursday 9/13 Check out of DLH. Go home.

When I figure the math, this is going to save me over $700 just by spending 2 nights at the FFI. Should I consider switching the days in the parks? I don't think we're going to buy hopper passes to save a little bit of money, because every time I've gone to DL, we've never switched parks, we've just committed to one, so it's been sort of wasteful, but I dunno.

Please feel free to amend my plans for me, I need help!!!

 

[mybestieismickey]

I would definitely stay Harbor side. We personally are convinced that they are a much closer walk to the turnstiles than the other side of the resort hotels. At least the ones in that main block that FFI is at the top of. I think FFI is a good choice for you ladies. Not far, close to Mimi's if you want non-Disney breakfast (love their muffins!), and Marriott so predictable quality.

To be honest, if Carsland is not something that is a priority for you, I would consider not staying on property at all. Everyone runs to Carsland or the RSR fastpass line first thing in the morning. Everything else is second choice for the majority of park guests. So, if you're at the turnstiles a half hour before the gates open to the general public, you should be just fine. Also, it has been noted several times that the main turnstiles are faster than the GC ones for early entry. Only two turnstiles and two security guards. Many more at the main gates.

We also noticed on our last trip that Disneyland filled up much later. We arrived around an hour and a half after the park opened (DCA first that morning) and grabbed the bench on the palm reader's porch. We sat there for a couple hours (yes, we're those people) just enjoying the morning and the passers by. And we definitely noticed the increase in traffic as the time got later. So, the earlier you get there, the more empy it will be. But you already know that part. It just seemed to be empty longer than I'm used to though. When we came in the gates that morning a survey taker asked if they could talk to us. Since I would hate that job, and I figure that the end result may make the parks better, I always say yes. She asked if this was our first park of the day and we said no. "Okay, thank you for your time!" That was it. No longer interested in us. I think they are trying to figure out why people are actually picking DL over DCA first thing, since so few do.

ETA: Don't forget if you are coming from Vegas on Sunday, fly or if you are driving leave super early. Like before 9. Or your late afternoon arrival could become an early morning arrival and then you will be tired for your first park day.

 

[Rainforest_Elf]

We also noticed on our last trip that Disneyland filled up much later. We arrived around an hour and a half after the park opened (DCA first that morning) and grabbed the bench on the palm reader's porch. We sat there for a couple hours (yes, we're those people) just enjoying the morning and the passers by. And we definitely noticed the increase in traffic as the time got later. So, the earlier you get there, the more empy it will be. But you already know that part. It just seemed to be empty longer than I'm used to though. When we came in the gates that morning a survey taker asked if they could talk to us. Since I would hate that job, and I figure that the end result may make the parks better, I always say yes. She asked if this was our first park of the day and we said no. "Okay, thank you for your time!" That was it. No longer interested in us. I think they are trying to figure out why people are actually picking DL over DCA first thing, since so few do.

ETA: Don't forget if you are coming from Vegas on Sunday, fly or if you are driving leave super early. Like before 9. Or your late afternoon arrival could become an early morning arrival and then you will be tired for your first park day.

That is SO sweet that you guys just people watch and enjoy the ambiance. I love it

What do you think traffic would be like coming from Vegas on a Monday?? Would we still need to leave by 9am to get there by, say... 3pm?