Back from 5 days at DL and HOJOs!

[mermaidwannabe]

We drove 17 hours from Bozeman, MT to get to DL/HOJOs 6/21-6/26 and had a great time. We got the 7th floor and we loved the vaulted ceilings plus the view of the Matterhorn. We could see some of the fireworks too. Pools were great as was the staff as usual.

We were at the gates 30 minutes prior to opening on 3 of the days and rode so many rides by 11am. We never waited longer than 10 minutes on any of the rides until after 11 of course, but by that time we had FPs. Splash didn't get much of a line until then either, so one morning we rode it 3 times in a row without any wait! We did see the new parade and while it was entertaining, I personally didn't think it was anything close to the usual DL Dreams Come True (is that the name?) Parade. My DD9 did get chosen to dance around with them though so that was fun. The fireworks and Fantasmic were great IMO.

Any questions about HOJOs or anything else, feel free to ask! My kids are already asking about next year. My DH and I feel like we should expose them to other places, but WE had so much FUN (as much fun or more than my DD12, DD9 and DD6!) that we may return for a 3rd straight year next year.

 

[Kauinohea]

Glad you had such a great time. We arrive at HOJO on July 24!!! Can hardly wait. We'll be staying in the Kids Suite

How was the weather?

 

[Eeee-va]

I'm glad you had such a great trip! We overlapped a bit.

 

[amandamims1]

For the sake of sounding ignorant, what exactly is HOJOs?

 

[EmmersIsTheMommy]

Howard Johnson's hotel

 

[M4travels]

We were there (HOJO's) for one night, July 3rd, also on the seventh floor of Building One. This was our first time staying there and it won't be our last! We don't have extended stays too often so it'll usually be one-night trips, but it was great! I love the GCH (and the soon-to-be-opened villas) but if we're not going to be staying there on points we'll be booking HOJO's!

 

[mermaidwannabe]

I know some have said they don't like the vaulted ceilings because the light comes in so early, but we found it very helpful since we were getting up early anyways.

The weather was GREAT! We went the same exact days last year, and it was too hot for us, but this year, it was 78 to 84 degrees and at night, we always wore sweatshirts. Perfect for us. It was chilly getting off of GRR or Splash, but not too bad - the sun made it doable within 10 minutes of being off the rides. Going to Castaway Cove and the garden pool was just right for us as well - a little shock getting into the water, but once you were in, it was just right. And if you didn't swim but instead watched your tots from the lounge chairs, it wasn't boiling hot.

I did see a lady at HOJOs in the elevator with a lime green ponytail holder and asked her if she was from the DIS boards. Was it any of you? I was too shy to ask her "handle" .

I don't know if we were into summer crowds yet because as I said, rides were not hard to get on until close to lunchtime, but when we would come back after a break at HOJOs, it would be pretty packed and wait times were 40-70 minutes depending on which ride. We showed up to the Aladdin show 15 minutes before its start time and got in too. That genie is so dang funny!

 

[disneyscootergal]

We drove 17 hours from Bozeman, MT to get to DL/HOJOs 6/21-6/26 and had a great time. We got the 7th floor and we loved the vaulted ceilings plus the view of the Matterhorn. We could see some of the fireworks too. Pools were great as was the staff as usual.

We were at the gates 30 minutes prior to opening on 3 of the days and rode so many rides by 11am. We never waited longer than 10 minutes on any of the rides until after 11 of course, but by that time we had FPs. Splash didn't get much of a line until then either, so one morning we rode it 3 times in a row without any wait! We did see the new parade and while it was entertaining, I personally didn't think it was anything close to the usual DL Dreams Come True (is that the name?) Parade. My DD9 did get chosen to dance around with them though so that was fun. The fireworks and Fantasmic were great IMO.

Any questions about HOJOs or anything else, feel free to ask! My kids are already asking about next year. My DH and I feel like we should expose them to other places, but WE had so much FUN (as much fun or more than my DD12, DD9 and DD6!) that we may return for a 3rd straight year next year.

Hi there, to a fellow Montanan!! Which building were you in? I'm going the end of July, and while I'm supposed to be staying in the "highway" building, I figure it never hurts to ask if one could possibly upgrade! Glad you had such a great time!!

 

[mermaidwannabe]

Hi there, to a fellow Montanan!! Which building were you in? I'm going the end of July, and while I'm supposed to be staying in the "highway" building, I figure it never hurts to ask if one could possibly upgrade! Glad you had such a great time!!

Hi! We were in Building 1 facing Disney. We did get the entertainment rate so that was good. It wouldn't hurt to check! We never heard any highway noise; just a screaming little girl around 11pm, undoubtedly tired from seeing the fireworks and/or Fantasmic.

Have fun! My girls loved Castaway Cove, but we always went over to the Garden Pool to really "swim". I enjoyed the hot tub at Castaway Cove.

We stayed at the La Quinta in St. George, UT on the way down, and it was pretty nice with a fairly nice free breakfast. Have a great time!! It really does make a HUGE difference to get there before opening, but I'm sure you already know that.

 

[fayt19]

Hi! Glad your family had such a great trip! I see you made a long drive. How was that? My family's considering taking a long drive down to Disneyland Resort(from southern Washington). Was it bearable? Did you break it up into days?

 

[teatime]

Hi from another Montana I wish I was able to drive down, wow I bet it was nice!! I can not wait to see more of your trip, did you take pictures?? and did you take pictures of the foods ???

 

[mermaidwannabe]

Hi! Glad your family had such a great trip! I see you made a long drive. How was that? My family's considering taking a long drive down to Disneyland Resort(from southern Washington). Was it bearable? Did you break it up into days?

We drove 10.5 hours the first day and stayed at St. George. Honestly, it wasn't that bad! We do have a DVD player though, but we only watched 2 movies the first day. They entertained themselves, slept, read, drew pictures and looked at the scenery. The next day was 6.5 hours, and we did watch 2 movies that day. I think they just didn't complain all that much because they knew what to expect as we did it last year. Plus, that was the deal this year. I told them we could either do a Montana vacation or maybe Oregon or if we drove, we could afford Disney. Airfare for 5 people plus a rental car gets expensive especially because we went to San Diego for 5 days afterwards.

I haven't uploaded pics to my computer yet but will try and figure out how to get pics onto the site!

 

[mermaidwannabe]

Hi from another Montana I wish I was able to drive down, wow I bet it was nice!! I can not wait to see more of your trip, did you take pictures?? and did you take pictures of the foods ???

We ate at Mimis, got takeout from Mimis, take out from Round Table Pizza for dinners. During the day, we got pineapple spears, pickles, Mickey bars, Dole Whips, Chicken and Beef Spears from Bengal BBQ and jalapeno cheese-filled pretzels from there too. YUM! Oh we did get Quiznos one day too. Oh and churros at DCA. I unfortunately didn't take pics of the food, but we had a nice routine, starting with the fruit and working our way through the meat and sweets.

 

[TnMaryJo]

Where is the Quiznos that you were referring to?

 

[mermaidwannabe]

It's on Harbour, on the way back to HOJOs from DL. It's pretty close to the crosswalk to get to DL. It seems a little pricier than the one here, but still cheap compared to the parks! The sandwiches were good.

 

[aprincess@mail.com]

glad you had a great trip!

 

[Brancaneve]

You have all confirmed it for me....I will book HOJO's today when my husband gets home from work.

The only question is this: We will be renting a stroller in the park which means my DS4 and DD6 will be walking to the front gates. I have heard some people say the walk was fine, others say it bordered on unbearable. What do you all think? Can my kids handle the walk?

 

[mermaidwannabe]

You have all confirmed it for me....I will book HOJO's today when my husband gets home from work.

The only question is this: We will be renting a stroller in the park which means my DS4 and DD6 will be walking to the front gates. I have heard some people say the walk was fine, others say it bordered on unbearable. What do you all think? Can my kids handle the walk?

Honestly, I would go buy a cheap umbrella stroller to get you to the gates and switch off between the two (unless they make double umbrella ones). My DD6 really needed to ride especially on the way back to HOJOs. Last year when she was 5 she needed it both ways. I really think you'll need one, but that's based on my experience of staying there twice with 3 girls. Seems like it would be worth the rental fee to just pick up a cheap one.

 

[Kayla's Mom]

You have all confirmed it for me....I will book HOJO's today when my husband gets home from work.

The only question is this: We will be renting a stroller in the park which means my DS4 and DD6 will be walking to the front gates. I have heard some people say the walk was fine, others say it bordered on unbearable. What do you all think? Can my kids handle the walk?

I think it depends on your kids. We get the free strollers in the parks with our Disney Visa, so both of my girls (7 and 2) walk. DD2 did get carried back to Hojos 2 out of the 3 nights we were there earlier this year. She was fine walking there in the morning. We stopped getting DD7 a stroller in the parks when she was 5. She is definitely tired at the end of the day, but is able to make it.

 

[andee2000]

My kids did fine in the morning, but had a little bit of trouble on the way home. They were the same age as your kids last summer. If I had to do it again I'd get an umbrella stroller to and from the park (and possibly in the park). We rented strollers in the park and they were great and I wished we had them for our walks back to the hotel. Even with that being said, I'm definitely staying at HoJos again next summer.