Disneyland frugally with 6 kids

[christineka]

We are planning to go to Disneyland the first week of February. We will drive (all day) on Monday and then leave on Saturday. It will be dh, myself, and our 6 children aged 7 months to 10 years. We have the disney visa card and are eligable for discounts.

I called disney travel and they could get us a 2 room suite (4 queens) at motel 6 and 5 day park hoppers passes (apparently the same cost as 3 day?) for $1601.

Fil is going too and told us he got a room at Anaheim Plaza Hotel. I checked it out. The 2 room suite and 3 day park hoppers passes (we'll only be there for 4 days anyway) would be $1508.

The big problem though is dh. He is insistant that we need to stay across from the park so that we can walk and have a "short" walk. 2 rooms (not even adjoining ones) at the Park View Inn, plus the 3 day passes totals $1923. Personally, I cannot see spending $400 more just so we can do less walking! It looks like (I'm not so good at map reading.) the park view inn is only 1/4 of a mile closer to the park. Also, fil and I think mil too will be at the plaza inn and would be glad to grab a child's hand on the way to the park.

So, tell me, which would you choose? Or another hotel? The Anaheim Islander Inn is $1568 (with the 3 day passes).

Now, on to food. We are going to drive all day on Monday and Saturday. We will be eating fast food. I know from the past that I just can't deal with eating all fast food/restaurant food for a week. We will go to the store to buy stuff for breakfast. I'm also considering lunch too and keeping a cooler. Do you think that could work? Anyone in the area have a nearby grocery store recommendation? We enjoy good bakery items for breakfast and delicious bread for lunch. How about recommendations for lower cost restaurants for dinner? We'll need a variety of kids' meals so the children don't eat chicken nuggets for a week.

Any other advice?

 

[DangerMouse]

Have you checked out the Howard Johnson Anaheim? It is highly rated here on the Dis. Especially popular with young kids because of their Pirate-themed Splash playground. They also have new pirate themed kids' suites. All their rooms have new pillowtop beds and fridge's and a majority of their rooms have microwaves, which cuts down on the cost of food. The ever popular entertainment rate is available during the first week of February, which brings the room price down by 50% off rack rate prices. It's quite a deal!

Here's the HoJo board link that shows their Ent. Rate dates:

http://www.hojoanaheim.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=14

Oh, and MiMi's Cafe is a great family restaurant right across the street. Great for splitting meals.

 

[DizNee Luver]

I'll pipe in on the food/meals thing:
We too are a very large family & meals can be quite expensive.....but keep in mind that most of the sit down restaurants at Disneyland/DCA & DownTown Disney are huge!!! If you have kids that will split meals, you can save a bit of money this way. Even the adults have split meals & not walked away hungry.

The parks have lockers you can rent to keep snacks & a picnic lunch in...so take advantage of that.

 

[Huff]

I've never been willing to pay the price for the hotels across the street. Almost all of the area hotels have their own shuttle or are serviced by Anaheim Transit hotel buses that run every few minutes. The buses pick you up in front of the hotel and take you to the front gate. About as little walking as you can get! You do have to buy passes for the shuttle but some hotels include it free with your room cost.

A great hotel for kids is the Comfort Inn on Harbor a mile or so south of Disneyland. The kids suite has a main room with 2 queens and a seperate room with 2 bunk beds. The hotel itself is nothing fancy but the room was large and perfect for kids and clean. The hotel gives a free breakfast of cereals, waffles, juice, etc.

Their website shows some specials which are good but they offered me an even better deal when I called and asked for the best deal they can do for me.

http://www.comfortinnmaingate.com/

 

[DisneyMomma81]

Definitely stay @ HoJo's ~ either 2 rooms @ $59 each or a kids suite! The walk is easy (cross the street right there ~ don't walk with everybody else and cross at the main cross walk). We love it there!

 

[Quilter007]

We had 6 kids under 10 in our group. We saved a boatload by not buying snacks. We pre-made enough rice krispy treats for everyone to have one a day, a granola bar a day, bag of chips a day, water bottle a day, etc. We made the kids eat fruit with their breakfast or else they wouldn't get their snacks in the park -- so they had giant breakfasts -- not just cereal.

I would definitely pick a hotel across from the park with little kids. An extra 1/4 of mile might as well be 1000 miles at the end of the day. Check out HOJOs.

One thing we did was a meal at the Pizza Port. We bought one pizza, 3 salads and drinks. That fed 4 adults & 6 kids. The 9 year old boy has a hollow leg and ate 1/4 of the pizza by himself! If we'd been thinking, we wouldn't have bought drinks for the adults and stuck w/ water.

 

[melbarkwith]

What about Desert Inn and Suites? It's right at the crosswalk, and was pretty cheap last time we were there.
I would also recommend Hojo's. That is a little further, but worth the walk especially if you can get the entertainment rate.

As for food, we had groceries delivered from Von's to Hojo's the day we arrived. That would save a lot of money, even if only for breakfast foods.

 

[Leofoenget]

We are planning to go to Disneyland the first week of February. We will drive (all day) on Monday and then leave on Saturday. It will be dh, myself, and our 6 children aged 7 months to 10 years. We have the disney visa card and are eligable for discounts.

I called disney travel and they could get us a 2 room suite (4 queens) at motel 6 and 5 day park hoppers passes (apparently the same cost as 3 day?) for $1601.

Fil is going too and told us he got a room at Anaheim Plaza Hotel. I checked it out. The 2 room suite and 3 day park hoppers passes (we'll only be there for 4 days anyway) would be $1508.

The big problem though is dh. He is insistant that we need to stay across from the park so that we can walk and have a "short" walk. 2 rooms (not even adjoining ones) at the Park View Inn, plus the 3 day passes totals $1923. Personally, I cannot see spending $400 more just so we can do less walking! It looks like (I'm not so good at map reading.) the park view inn is only 1/4 of a mile closer to the park. Also, fil and I think mil too will be at the plaza inn and would be glad to grab a child's hand on the way to the park.

So, tell me, which would you choose? Or another hotel? The Anaheim Islander Inn is $1568 (with the 3 day passes).

Now, on to food. We are going to drive all day on Monday and Saturday. We will be eating fast food. I know from the past that I just can't deal with eating all fast food/restaurant food for a week. We will go to the store to buy stuff for breakfast. I'm also considering lunch too and keeping a cooler. Do you think that could work? Anyone in the area have a nearby grocery store recommendation? We enjoy good bakery items for breakfast and delicious bread for lunch. How about recommendations for lower cost restaurants for dinner? We'll need a variety of kids' meals so the children don't eat chicken nuggets for a week.

Any other advice?

http://www.accommodationsneardisney.com/Disneyland/default.asp

I prefer to stay across the street. Desert Inn has 4Q suites, + cheapo breakfast. Hojo is a board favorite, and Anaheim Plaza is also very cheap and they have suites. I personally vote for staying across the street.

 

[pixiewings71]

If you can't get the HoJo go with the Anaheim Plaza. We have stayed at both places and find the walk to be very similar, under 10 min. for our family of 4. It's VERY walkable, very affordable and much better then a Motel 6 IMO. I'd try the HoJo first tho, it's my favorite "across the street" place to stay.

As for snacks/food, not everything at DLR is fast food, and remember there are other places to eat besides the parks. You can take your own snacks in and that will help keep the cost down, you can take your own water in. If you're driving yourselves take a cooler and a case or 2 of water, if you run out you can run down to the Target on Harbor and get more. Also, if you're driving you'll be able to go down Harbor to eat off site and that's cheaper as well. We like the restaurants at the Garden Walk, Joe's Crab Shack, Red Robin, Outback are down the way and there's a Bucca Di Beppo too. Across the street is a Denny's, good prices, good service and they get you in and out, there is also a Mimi's and Millie's, both are good but we prefer Mimi's, there's a McDonald's too but they don't have quite the same menu as your neighborhood McD's. Avoid the Captain Kidd's on Harbor and avoid the IHOP, the IHOP is way overpriced and CK's is just gross.

 

[momofeva]

I also have 6 kids, 6 to 19. We just went over Christmas. We stayed farther away, Hojo Huntington Beach, we went to the beach too. We drove to the park, we had a cooler in the van filled with sandwich makings. PB & J and bologna. We took a backpack with fruit snacks, granola bars, crackers, spray cheese, pepperoni, candy, peanuts, and 3 water bottles-one for the small kids, one the big kids and one for the parents. We just refilled the water bottles in the park. We snacked as needed until late afternoon then went back to the van and ate sandwiches, cookies, and fruit. We went back to the park and when we were done for the day, after fireworks or fantasmic usually, we went back to the hotel where we had dinners that we could microwave. Our last day we went to Carl's Jr. and got dollar burgers and chicken sandwiches for our late lunch. One day we bought a couple of turkey legs, somewhat expensive but, it is a tradition that dates back to when the kids were almost the same size as the turkey leg.

No one was hungry, we all were able to snack as we needed to and the time in the van we were able to eat and relax for a little while.

 

[ballarinamom]

Desert Inn was the only hotel that would garauntee adjoining rooms. They actually called it a suite but it was two adjoining rooms. And it was very inexpensive. It was actually cheaper for the 2 adjoining than single rooms at Best Western,This was better for us anyway because we had two full baths. There is a microwave and a good size fridge. It is one of the closer hotels to the cross walk. There is an ok continental breakfast as well.
There are several places in the park that have HUGE potions for sharing. Rancho del Zacholo has a half chicken with beans rice and tortillas for about $12. HALF a CHICKEN!!
We did Von's delivery as well and it was great to have a list at home and take my time so I didn't forget something or buy an impulse item I really didn't need

 

[ballarinamom]

Oh yah,
I noticed you said you called Disney travel. Try to get pricing al a carte by calling the hotel directly and look at online tickets like from Getaway today or Ares. Maybe even try Costco if you have one in your area. That can save money sometimes as well

 

[8timesblessed]

I have 8 kids and we are planning a late May trip for our twins 5th birthday and I've been having a hard time with housing as well because I have no clue what my kids are going to do in the park, will they get tired or will they be all happy and ready to play?? I've made reservations at the HOJO and the Desert Inn because I can't make up my mind. I called Costco because they could get me the CityPass because we plan to spend another week doing the beach and San Diego attractions. I thought I wanted a suite with kitchen farther away but after reading and reading and reading....I've decide that with our strollers I would just rather walk across the street then hassle with taking the kids out of the stroller and then putting the kids on and off the bus when they are tired and so will I be! Good luck making your decision.

 

[pbbecker]

I'm trying to decide where to stay for our trip in April Hojo, Best Western or Desert Inn & Suites. We have 7 people in our party. I wanted to mention a few dining options. I always bring a suitcase full of healthy snacks. Last time we were at DL my sister drove to see us I sent her to the grocery store for sandwich fixings and fruit oh and cases of water. If you are driving you can stop at a grocery store along the way. We discovered Marri's italian resturaunt they deliver right to your room. The food is delicious and no entre is over $11 and the portions are big. I'm thinking of trying the von's delivery too. You can take you food right onto the park which is really nice. Hope it all works out for you.

 

[christineka]

The cheapest rates I've found are for the anaheim plaza hotel and howard johnson with the entertainment discount. After reading reviews I've decided I'd rather pay a little more for a comfortable bed.

 

[DangerMouse]

The cheapest rates I've found are for the anaheim plaza hotel and howard johnson with the entertainment discount. After reading reviews I've decided I'd rather pay a little more for a comfortable bed.

The new HoJo beds are

 

[8timesblessed]

The new HoJo beds are

The good bed reviews were a big thing for us as well!!! That's why I liked the HOJO over the DIS, not very many people gave rave reviews about the beds. We are also looking at Fairfield Inn because they would guarentee connecting rooms and they are slightly closer then HOJO but I liked more room at HOJO but we would be seperated at night but together all day!

Also if you look into booking through Costco, if it's a hotel they book, they offer a premium character dinner and that was $278 for us if we added it. Just more things to think about.

 

[christineka]

A question regarding this entertainment rate- Do I just have to buy the orange county entertainment book? Do I need the book prior to making reservations? Can we save money at restaurants with this book?

I'm going to have to look into online shopping at von's. That's safeway, right? (We used to live in northern CA some years ago.)

Can you buy decent souvenirs at target and walmart? Any recommendations for souvenirs that are around $10? I'm not really into souvenirs, but dh insists. I really, really do not want more stuffed animals, nor do I want "cheap junk". Maybe we have to up the cost...

 

[DisneySuiteFreak]

OP, fyi, Anaheim Plaza is just as far in the opposite direction as Hojos is from the crosswalk. So if the walk from Hojos is walkable, than so is the one to Anaheim Plaza. I'd book both and wait to see which ends up cheapest, cancel by the cancellation date - usually 48 hours. You can't gurantee when the Ent rate becomes available, so it's good to have several backups.

A question regarding this entertainment rate- Do I just have to buy the orange county entertainment book? Do I need the book prior to making reservations? Can we save money at restaurants with this book?

You can buy any book, even the one for your area. I would just buy the card however, as I never use it for anything but Hojos. You can get it on ebay for around $5 or even less. You only need it when you check in.

 

[Katiebell]

I've done DL with three kids on the cheap. There is excellent advice on this thread.

HoJo's is really nice, usually can get a reasonable deal, and the pool is pretty good, too. I understand your DH's concern about the walk -- at the end of the day, who's going to be lugging the littlest ones who can't walk another step?

Stock up your room with lots of non-perishable snacks and easy breakfast items you can keep in a cooler (fruit, granola bars, string cheese, yogurt, peanut butter and bread). Insist everyone eats breakfast, and bring non perishable snacks into the park (trail mix, rice krispy treats, etc). You aren't supposed to bring food in, but if you have a few snacks in the diaper bag and backpacks, nobody usually says anything at all.

Sounds silly, but if you have a lot of kids to feed, PoFolks restaurant on Beach Blvd was a pretty good deal, at least a few years ago, and the food was decent, if a bit heavy (Southern grandma-style cooking).