4 kids and 3 adults what hotel & how to feed

[gr5coat]

Hello, my husband and are taking our kids 17yo dauhgter, 15 yo son, 5yo son, 11mo. son and my mother to Disneyland in late Feb. Early Mar. for 6days. We are looking at staying at Homewood Suites, because they serve large comp. buffet bkft. and a light dinner mon-thurs. The rooms also have fridge, stove, dishes for in room cooking. Our family eats a TON, so I was hoping to save by having some meals at the hotel. The room is about
120/night but we only need one room. Is this feesible to do I know it is farther away from the entrance, so I wasn't sure if we could be back to the hotel for lunches or dinners at 5ish. We are planning to have dinner at Midevil Times, Pirate Adventure, and Goofy's Kitchen. We took the bigger kids in 2000 they would eat an adult size meal for lunch and still be hungry. (I wish I had thier metabolism) We ate most of our souvenir money. So I was hoping to find a better way this time.

I also wanted to know if universal studios would work for our little kids. We wanted to do DLR/CA for 5 days and Universal for 1 day. I thought if it wouldn't maybe do Legoland for the little ones?

I also wanted to know if you would suggest we rent a car or just use the transit.

I'm hoping to make things as smooth as possible, please help with suggestions for a large family with two different age groups.

Thank you!!
Racheal

 

[mommy2allyandaveri]

You will have to use ART unless you drive, which will cost you $3/day per person I think for an all day pass. If you go back for nap time your total tavel time will probably be about 1hr, if you were to add up the time waiting and the time you are actually en-route to your hotel. Plus ART stops running for an hour mid day sometime so make sure you pay attention to the announcement on your way to the park.

I can tell you from personal experience, ART with a stroller is a PITA!!! I will NEVER do it again!

I would much rather stay right across the street. I would check out Desert Inn and Suites, they have very reasonably priced suites and it is very clean and VERY close. They do offer a continental breakfast and have a fridge and microwave in each room.

I wouldn't count on going back for the light dinner if you are staying at Homewoods only because of the travel time you will spend.

 

[cruise cruise cruise]

How about renting a car and packing a cooler with sandwiches, fruit, chips, etc each day that you could just eat in the parking lot instead of heading all the way back.

 

[jkkldisney]

I have found I prefer staying closer to have the option to go back to the room for snacks/lunch. We have either stayed at hotels with good breakfasts or bought easy breakfast stuff to have at the hotel (muffins, cereal, etc). We also usually get lunch stuff to have in the room and then plan one meal a day in the park (dinner usually). We also bring some snacks/water into the park so we don't get as tempted to buy there. There are several hotels right across the street (Carousel, Camelot, Tropiciana, Desert Inn) which are easy to run back to. I don't believe any of them have great continental breakfasts. We stayed at the Desert Palm which is still walkable, but a little more time and effort than being close. We usually make a run to the grocery store on our first day to get supplies.

 

[bluegrizzlies1]

I would stay close to check prices for the desert inn anaheim right now for the best prices in feb and march.

I would rent a car I just got 6 days from alamo for 121.00 taxed out the door I found 25 dollars off coupon for 5 days or more and another 10% off for prepay.

 

[davidsprincess]

You could also check out Residence Inn Anaheim Maingate.

www.anaheimri.com

They have family suites there with full kitchens. It also comes with an awsome buffet breakfast every morning. I think that you could walk to the parks or you could use the ART.

 

[gr5coat]

THANKS FOR ALL THE GOOD ADVICE! I think we're going to stay at the Anaheim desert Inn or the Camelot Inn.

Racheal

 

[8gr8mouseketeers]

We have a large family also (6 kids, ages 4-15) and we really like the DI&S. However their breakfast is pathetic, so we have groceries delivered from Vons/Safeway. You can get free delivery on your first order with code EASY7. I just ordered for our trip in 4 days.

 

[youmyflower]

I just booked a parlor suite at the desert inn & suites for our next trip in Feb. We have a family of 6 so we need the space too. Fridge/microwave & comp breakfast (I don't have my hopes up there).

If I'm going to go back to my hotel to eat, I MUCH prefer to be within walking distance. Time is money, you know...

 

[Corpsebride]

I know the last thing you want to do is cook while on vacation ,..... but if you buy one of those little stove top burners at Target or Walmart , some Rubbermaid containers , groceries and some ziploc bags, you can cook a lot in your room, bring some yummy food with you in a back pack or stroller( if you are using one) and save lots of money.
If you get a hotel room with a kitchenette you are halfway there!
I know its a lot to hike around with, but just a thought. Its a way to save $$ for souvineers and eat well.
I mean things like Pasta and Sauce, scrambled eggs and bacon , oatmeal, sandwich stuff, all much cheaper than eating out all day. I also prefer to bring my own ground coffee when I travel, just a touch of home away from home , you know?
We usually eat a huge breakfast before Disneyland because it smells sooo good there, I always want to be stuffed before we get there.
During the winter, I usually pack a hearty soup and Raviollis with sauce in a tupperware and toss in a back pack. That way when we get hungry, we just go to a picnic area or if its really cold, we just go back to the car, eat and go back. Since you have 2 bigger kids they can each carry a backpack with snacks too.
There are ways around it.
Hope this helps.
I hope you all have a great time!

 

[pixiewings71]

You can also rent lockers and put your food in there. You will need to pass thru security so be sure you're taking in prepared foods or they won't let you in and no glass either. HoJo also has suites, I've never stayed in them but they have microwaves and mini fridges so you will be able to go back to the room to eat. We did that one trip, we stayed at the Tropicana and went back to the room for our meals. We decided that was a hassle for every meal but it worked well for us to do a few meals that way. We like to do muffins for breakfast so we are good just getting some from Costco and eating them on the walk to the parks. I would definitely stay closer, especially with an 11 month old.