5 days Offsite VS 3 days Onsite.. HELP!

[Iceman93]

I agree with everything Nevada Jen said. 3 nights at PPH, and it wouldn't even be a consideration for me to stay longer offsite.

 

[GenGen22]

HoJo also has really comfortable beds and a keurig coffee maker. And a hot tub near the kids water park. We stayed here once and loved it. By the way I would pick off site and select a character meal with the savings from not having to spend so much on a hotel. There are lots of nice places all along Harbor Blvd to stay. If you don't mind taking a shuttle or ART you can do that as well. Hotels are like a 7 minute drive. We usually stay in Garden Grove which is on Harbor and down the street about 7 minutes from the park you can still see fireworks from the room as well. Our favorite is Embassy Suites Anaheim South.

 

[sasywtch]

I vote for more days, especially with little kids. My daughter and I stayed offsite and rode Cars two times in a row. My DIL stayed at Grand and couldn't get the kids up in time for the early morning so it was wasted. I personally would rather have 5 relaxing days with little kids than to rush and try to get a lot done in 3 days. Fastpasses and child swap, you can get a lot done and not feel stressed to get everything done in 3 days. I don't have any advice as we always think we will go back and swim but never do. PPH is further away than the motel you have chosen.

 

[MaxnElliesMama]

Why 4 nights but only 3 park days? I'm stuck on this.

It was the way the plane tickets worked with that deal, had to be to LAX at 7am.

 

[DnA2010]

Always more days for us- hotel isn't important to us though

 

[DollBabyKG]

That's an easy one, more park days for sure. We try to go 1-2 times per year, and we've never stayed onsite. Even knowing we'll be back, I still can't bring myself to sacrifice park days for onsite hotels. It's just not enough of a benefit to outweigh what you miss in the parks. Especially as busy as the parks have been lately, you'll want the extra days to see everything and not feel rushed.

We also prefer to stay in a suite, but have never stayed at DI&S. We typically stay at either the Embassy Suites South, or the Anaheim Marriott Suites. I can usually book the Marriott suites for around $75-90/night for a 1 bedroom suite. We drive, though, and always have a car. Not sure I'd want to walk that distance to the park. But, they do have a shuttle that picks up right at the hotel, so that's an option, too. We have also stayed at the Dolphin Cove Resort, which isn't walkable to the park entrance, but is walkable to the parking lot, and you can grab the Disney bus from there.

 

[Angrose]

We might want to swim, but liked the "Suite" idea.. Any idea on Portofino or Anaheim Majestic Garden Hotel's Pool?

I will peek at HOJO, but i think the suites are booked, we are staying end of June. Is June gloom still prevalent then or are we in to hot sun?

I hear you about wanting a suite, it's nice to have that separate space after the kids go to bed. We went last year mid-June and did not experience the June gloom. It was sunny and 78-80, so not super hot to swim, but we still tend to get all sweaty and need a break in the afternoon anyway. My DS7 at the time LOVED the water play area at Hojo!
If you want a suite and a nice pool, check out the new Homewood Suites Convention Center. It's a brand new hotel and while it does not have the waterpark, the pool area will be much nicer than DI&S. They are also located right next to the Toy Story parking lot so I've heard that people walk over there to take the free shuttles to the park.