ART or Drive and park?

[lauraljp]

We are almost at 60 days so it is time to start nailing down some decision!

We have six people, two adults and a 14, 10, 8 and 6 year old. We are staying at the Garden Grove Embassy Suites. We are debating whether to take ART (probably around $30-35 for a family pass, I think) or just drive and park. Is it true we could get free parking if we buy our park hoppers through AAA? We are members, so that would be an option.

We would probably take a break and go back to the hotel sometime during the day. Just wondering which would be quicker and less of a hassle. I will say that I am not one who likes waiting around so if the ART is time consuming and makes lots of stops, that would be a negative. I would guess that parking also takes time, but are there any people who could give me their experiences.

Thanks so much!!

Laura

 

[imjen]

We stayed at the Hampton Inn which is next to the Embassy Suites and decided to drive and park. We decided on that mainly because we had young kids (9 mo. old, 3, and 6 yr olds) and thought that it might be a pain if we needed to get back to the hotel and just missed the shuttle and we'd have to wait around for the next one. We had 3 adults so at $3 per person/day we would have only saved $1 over the $10 parking fee. With older kids though, I might take the shuttle since the time it takes to park and ride the parking tram over can be crazy, especially during busy times. My BIL and SIL went with us to DL a couple of the days and they arrived at the parking lot just after opening time. It took them about 45 min. just to pay for parking, park, and ride the shuttle over to the parks. We got there about 30 min. before opening and had no problems.

I remember asking about shuttle stops before we went, but can't remember what was said. Try searching for shuttle(s).

 

[CalGal]

Hey Laura,

Some of my family will be at the Embassy Suites the first week of August; perhaps we'll see you there. I'm staying on-sight for the most part, but will probably add a night or 2 at the ES. I used the ART when it first started and it was OK, but I have not heard the best things about the ART lately. If it were the off-season, I'd say it's probably more convenient to let them do the driving. But in August, I'll probably drive with my AAA free parking. Since the parks will be so crowded, the buses could fill up, especially early morning or after parades/fireworks. Also, ART takes a break in the early afternoon, so you would have to work your afternoon breaks around their schedule. For your mid-day trip back to the hotel, also keep in mind the loading area can get hot. You need to time things well so that you don't miss the bus, but don't have to wait long in the mid-day sun.

The ART website shows how many stops each line has and provides more info:
www.rideart.org
or
www.anaheimresorttransit.net