Advice for trip to DL road trip for family of 6

[WDWINJUNE!]

Hi everyone. My husband and I are taking a trip to DW next month for our anniversary without the kids!! We were just joking around today about taking a short trip to DL this summer....but I started thinking that we may actually be able to do it. We are looking for suggestions on how to do a budget trip. I know summer will be hot but we are used to it (we used to live where it's 90's and 100) and that is the only time we are able to go. We are in the Seattle area and have figured it will be cheaper to drive down than fly. Has anyone done this and what has the experiences been?
Due to finances being tight and our family being so large, we have to stay offsite this trip. Anyone have any suggestions on a very close, fairly nice hotel that will accomodate us? There will be DH, dd12, dd10, ds8, ds 1yr 4 mths and myself. We are planning on staying 3 days..I took all the kids last summer to DW by myself so I know what to expect We really would like to stay around $2000...is this doable?? Last time we went to DL, we stayed onsite but there were only 3 of us on that trip so now I'm not sure on costs.

Thanks in advance for any advice or suggestions!

Laura

 

[daisy_77]

Hi!
Desert Inn and Suites seems to be pretty popular around here. Here is the link: http://www.anaheimdesertinn.com/ I have never stayed there but I hear it is decent and really close to the front gates. I would bring some water and other drinks from home so you are not spending so much in the parks. Especially water! It gets pretty hot and water is $$$.

I hope you all have a great trip and a wonderful anniversary!

 

[Brady's Mom]

We took a road trip to DLR in Oct 2006 with a family of 6. We drove from Utah, not quite as far as Seattle, but still a drive. (10 hours) We stayed at Hilton Inn and Suites on State College Road. We got our tickets from Getawaytoday.com.

BUUUUT, after looking on this forum and reading other posts it seems that there are ways to really save money. And I thought I was money savvy. I checked out Desert Inn and Suites on line and their layout seems pretty good. Also they have a fridge and micro in their rooms.

We took snacks and water on our drive and didn't bring them to the park the first day! (we didn't know we could) What a mistake!!! Our kids were constantly asking for some expensive or junky treat. The next 2 days we took our own snacks and it was soooo much better. Since we had our own car we could drive to the grocery store or Target and pick up what we needed instead of having to pay the higher cost of food in the park.

We are going in 2 weeks and are flying this time. But it is costing us more than when we went a year and a half ago. We just didn't want to drive.

I would estimate that when we went in 2006 it cost us right around $2000, it might have cost us a little less if DH hadn't been so souvenir happy!

Hope this helps and hope you have a great trip. I am really looking forward to ours!!

 

[blackjackdelta]

The six of us have driven from the SE Wa area numerous times. Total usually runs 18-20 hours depending on the traffic from Valencia to Anaheim. We stay in Redding overnight both ways. We always stay at the Residence Inn Maingate/penthouse suite. It works for us. Hot breakfast and managers evening specials save us $$$. I can drive that route in my sleep.

Jack