Condos to rent near Magic Way and Walnut

[Sixks]

I've been looking on vrbo.com (vacation rentals by owner) at condos/townhouses to rent while staying at Disneyland. I was wondering if anyone had any experience (good and bad) with staying in that location. How were the accommodations? How was the walk to the park? How was the neighborhood (did you feel safe walking back at night). The reviews for each condo on vrbo.com were very positive so I wonder if only the good reviews have been posted.

There will be 4 adults and 4 kids traveling to DL and the condo idea is very appealing with some extra space to spread out.

 

[firefly87]

We have rented homes from VRBO about 3 times down in the Anaheim area for our Disneyland trips. There are many benefits to renting places like that....use of a kitchen for meals, laundry facilities, and like you said extra space to spread out! The cost can be steep but we end up saving in the end as we eat breakfast there, pack in our lunches, and have dinner back in the house. (we're a large travelling group.....11 total!)

The first time we rented a house was near where you are looking. We were off Cerritos Ave, down a little way and off Bayless St. We did walk the first day we were there and yes it is doable. However......its not a straight shot to get onto Disney property. There is a long wall along S Walnut St next to the Disneyland Hotel and you have to go all the way around it to get onto the property. (coming from Cerritos, we went to the left to get around the wall). Once you are around the wall, you will walk thru parking for the DL Hotel, then the hotel, then DTD, and then you will get to the security checkpoint. If I remember correctly, it took us about 25 mins to walk?? The houses where we were seemed like an older well-kept neighborhood, but there were some areas that seemed slightly run down. We didn't see any outright crime or felt unsafe, but I just remember feeling more aware of our surroundings as we walked. We did not do the walk at night however, just during daylight hours.

After a full day in the parks, the walk home was painful!! So for the remainder of our trip, we drove and parked in the parking garage.

Generally, we have had good experiences renting down there. One place had minor issues, like nothing to use for baking in the kitchen (like corning ware or cookie sheets) but the owner bought stuff for us while we were there.

Hope this helps!

 

[wamommy2four]

I've been looking on vrbo.com (vacation rentals by owner) at condos/townhouses to rent while staying at Disneyland. I was wondering if anyone had any experience (good and bad) with staying in that location. How were the accommodations? How was the walk to the park? How was the neighborhood (did you feel safe walking back at night). The reviews for each condo on vrbo.com were very positive so I wonder if only the good reviews have been posted.

There will be 4 adults and 4 kids traveling to DL and the condo idea is very appealing with some extra space to spread out.

We have stayed a the condos on Walnut and Magic Way 2 times now and are reserved to stay there again on our up coming trip in Feb. We have had very good experiences on our trips. We are a family of 6 and we stay for a full week, so the space is definitely nice. After a full day in the parks the kids can go upstairs and play/watch tv while my husband and relax in our own space. We would be on top of each other in a standard hotel room. The kitchen is a huge plus for saving money on food (although we usually end up overbuying on groceries because we don't want to leave the parks once we are there ).

The walk doesn't seem bad to me at all. We have always had a little one in a stroller and younger ones on foot. I would guess it takes us about 10 min. to walk from the condo down Magic Way to the Mickey and Friends Tram. It is more tiring on the back after a long day in the parks, but we are doing it again so I guess it's not a problem for us. As far as feeling safe at night, we live in a very small town in the country so walking home in the dark is different for us. I try to be cautious of what's going on around us as I would anytime I'm out at night anyway. Having said that I have not felt worried when walking back. I've even gone back to the parks at night with just a couple kids while my husband stayed back. It is well lit and there's usually other families walking too.

I would just look through all of the pictures and descriptions of the units on VRBO. They are all owned by different people and the amenities and décor are different. We always ask where in the complex the unit is located. Our first stay was facing Walnut and we could hear trucks in the morning which disturbed our sleep. We are light sleepers though, so it might not be a problem for others. Feel free to ask any other questions I might be able to help with.

 

[brianphill77]

We stayed in one of the condos in that complex last summer, the huge complex just to the west of the intersection of Walnut & Magic Way. As wamommy2four said, they are all individually owned and will vary in quality - for our late May trip we booked in February, and could only find one of those VRBO listings that was actually available. Be aware, many of the owners are not on top of updating the calendars, so don't be surprised if you get excited about a particular place, only to contact the owner and find out it's already booked.

All 4 days we were there we would go to the parks in the morning, come back for the afternoon, and go back in the evening, so we had a lot of back and forth. But we didn't find it to be that bad - we are 2 adults and 2 kids age 9 and 7. It was about a 10min walk to the Mickey & Friends tram. Total travel time from leaving the front door to getting to the security bag check tended to be about 20-25 minutes. At times we had to wait a bit in lines for the M&F tram, especially leaving the parks late in the evening, but it generally wasn't too bad. I never felt unsafe on the walk, even late at night.

We actually ended up using the kitchen far less than we thought we would, because we would scoot out of there early in the mornings and eat portable breakfast on the way, and ended up having lunch and dinner in the parks most of the time. And due to long days at the parks, we ended up going to bed at the same time as the kids, so we didn't really take advantage of having multiple bedrooms and getting the kids off to bed before us. For our next trip we're going to try Hojos because of the quick walk (I'm looking forward to 10 minutes to the gates rather than 20-25) and I think our kids will love the water park area, but I really debated booking one of those condos again while making the decision.

 

[Sixks]

The idea behind staying at those Walnut/Magic Way condos was to save some money. We'll be traveling with Grandma who will pay some of the cost as well as my sister. So, we would end up around $100/night for 7 nights for DH, me and 4 kiddos verses paying for 2 hotel rooms. I figure we could use the kitchen for breakfast and packing lunches and then do a dinner or 2 in the parks and the rest in the condo.

Is the complex big? Does that make a difference in walking distance if you're farther away from walnut?

 

[wamommy2four]

The idea behind staying at those Walnut/Magic Way condos was to save some money. We'll be traveling with Grandma who will pay some of the cost as well as my sister. So, we would end up around $100/night for 7 nights for DH, me and 4 kiddos verses paying for 2 hotel rooms. I figure we could use the kitchen for breakfast and packing lunches and then do a dinner or 2 in the parks and the rest in the condo.

Is the complex big? Does that make a difference in walking distance if you're farther away from walnut?

For us we stay at a condo to save money and for the extra space. I really don't think we could get that amount of space for the price at a hotel. The complex is large, but as the pp said the amount of time it takes is probably more waiting for the tram and getting through security. Although for us we've never actually really had to wait much. We like to get to the parks before opening. We have always been able to get on the first tram of the day. We've never run into much of a line at security either. The lines for a tram in the evening is where it could be a longer wait, but they seem to keep them coming at a steady rate.

 

[aussie shaz]

We stayed there for 9 nights and only used the tram once. We also used the monorail once. Every other time we just walked. It was really easy and not too long at all. We loved walking home while the fireworks were going off in the park. I feel it's a very safe walk. You are on Disney property for all of it until you cross the road to the complex.
We also loved watching the fireworks from either our bedroom window or the pool.
We ate in for breakfast every morning, and cooked maybe twice.
We had stayed at Hojo for the previous 6 nights, which was good, but the walk wasn't heaps different I didn't think. We had a Kids suite there.
It was great having separate bedrooms as well as a living room in the condo. It had absolutely everything you could ever need. There was even some food and drinks left for us in the fridge.

 

[Carolynleanne]

We are staying at one of those townhouse on our next trip (Walts Place) and have heard NOTHING but excellent reviews of it

 

[Sixks]

Thanks everyone for the input. It's so much easier to book something when you know a little more information.