Disneyland Half Marathon 2024

[princess_jamie]

You won't be walking alone! Tons of people will be coming from all the hotels in the area. Even if you start out alone, once you step outside you're bound to join lots of foot traffic.

I know, I was thinking that is probably the case. I suppose I meant alone from my group, but I know there will be a ton of people coming from all directions!

 

[Let's Get Kronk]

So called Disneyland and they said to make my room only a package I had to cancel and rebook. So I decide nope on that since Paradise Pier is booked up and I got the cheaper rates on it since I booked it that day.

This is really disappointing, but it also made me wonder: what's the advantage of booking a package? If I add park tickets to my existing Pixar Place reservation, would I not basically pay the same price as for a package? I'm not sure I've ever noticed some huge savings by bundling everything together as a package.

 

[DisneyMountainWoman]

This is really disappointing, but it also made me wonder: what's the advantage of booking a package? If I add park tickets to my existing Pixar Place reservation, would I not basically pay the same price as for a package? I'm not sure I've ever noticed some huge savings by bundling everything together as a package.

Nothing really other than I get the tickets now... also deals tend to be packages.

 

[Let's Get Kronk]

Nothing really other than I get the tickets now... also deals tend to be packages.

I guess that's a good point on getting them now. I would like to be able to lock in a 3-day park hopper with Genie+ now before they (most likely) raise prices and potentially stop allowing you to pre-buy Genie+. But, I don't want to lose the price on my PP room, and I just looked and the standard view is indeed gone for my dates so I'm not sure if they'd let me still have the room regardless.

 

[nekonekoneko]

I just looked at room prices... Holy expensive Batman!

I had prebooked rooms up and down Harbor (thank you no pre-payments!) And then cancelled everything a month ago, and I'm sticking with BWAI. I think I'm good!

 

[DisneyParrothead]

I guess that's a good point on getting them now. I would like to be able to lock in a 3-day park hopper with Genie+ now before they (most likely) raise prices and potentially stop allowing you to pre-buy Genie+. But, I don't want to lose the price on my PP room, and I just looked and the standard view is indeed gone for my dates so I'm not sure if they'd let me still have the room regardless.

I'm waiting on tickets too. I know TA's said they can book packages for Good Neighbor Hotels, but I locked in my room at the Candy Cane Inn in February and I'm not messing around with that for anything. The CCI is sold out too on those dates, and I would assume many Good Neighbor Hotels are too.

 

[nekonekoneko]

I'm trying to price things out. The only real "competition" that I found is Castle Inn, which is $500 cheaper than staying at BWAI for 5 nights. But I don't have any young kids who would really be in awe of staying in a hotel with a castle facade.

 

[Bree]

This is really disappointing, but it also made me wonder: what's the advantage of booking a package? If I add park tickets to my existing Pixar Place reservation, would I not basically pay the same price as for a package? I'm not sure I've ever noticed some huge savings by bundling everything together as a package.

Some of the good neighbor hotels are cheaper through a package. I had a room booked at the Westin and with the Disney package (5th night free!) it is cheaper even after upgrading the room type.

 

[Grabnar]

They really are gouging these rates huh. I booked a while back at the Westin and I have a deluxe studio for the 10th-15th for $2400; that rates's gone up a full $500! The 5th night free is a great deal if you're still looking for a room, though.

 

[pluto377]

I'm so indecisive. I'm considering Castle Inn, Grand Legacy, Hotel Lulu or Cambria. I'm traveling alone and I'm not sure yet if I'll have a car. Which would you pick? Price is very important to me, but having a nice room is too. By nice I mean not run down and skeevy.

 

[princess_jamie]

I'm so indecisive. I'm considering Castle Inn, Grand Legacy, Hotel Lulu or Cambria. I'm traveling alone and I'm not sure yet if I'll have a car. Which would you pick? Price is very important to me, but having a nice room is too. By nice I mean not run down and skeevy.

From that list I've only stayed at Castle Inn (in 2016 too so it's been a while) but that hotel is a never again for me. It was dark, dingy, and my bedsheets were put on incorrectly. I just didn't enjoy my stay. I've never looked too closely at Hotel Lulu or Cambria, but I see a lot of influencers sharing the Grand Legacy. I like the location of the GL personally. But I know how hard it is. I'm over here being indecisive too.

 

[Naomeri]

I'm so indecisive. I'm considering Castle Inn, Grand Legacy, Hotel Lulu or Cambria. I'm traveling alone and I'm not sure yet if I'll have a car. Which would you pick? Price is very important to me, but having a nice room is too. By nice I mean not run down and skeevy.

I watched several YouTube reviews from 2023 on Castle Inn before I booked it. One of them complained that it just wasn’t as updated as they hoped, but they didn’t have any cleanliness complaints. I’m also a solo runner (though my grandma is hopefully traveling with me) and the location is good. I stayed at the The Anaheim Hotel (right next to the Castle Inn) in 2021 and I really hated the room, but the distance to the parks was perfect.

 

[SheHulk]

I'm so indecisive. I'm considering Castle Inn, Grand Legacy, Hotel Lulu or Cambria. I'm traveling alone and I'm not sure yet if I'll have a car. Which would you pick? Price is very important to me, but having a nice room is too. By nice I mean not run down and skeevy.

We stayed at the Castle Inn in July, and having watched a few "review" videos on YouTube that said it was run down, I was a little hesitant. And yes these rooms are not updated really at all. But, we checked in late and left early the next morning, and the front desk staff were very friendly and helpful no matter the time. And the room was really pretty clean and the coffee maker worked. Another plus is that the walk to the front gate was shorter than I even expected. It was very convenient.

My view may be a bit more positive than it would be otherwise, because the night before we stayed in a motel in Burbank to go to Universal Hollywood, and that place was nothing like advertised on hotels.com. I actually texted DH (he didn't come on the trip, it was me & DS) and told him I was worried the room might be broken into, it just felt skeevy. So maybe anything looks good compared to that.

I was influenced by a YouTube influencer who has stayed at Hotel Lulu a few times and raved about it (of course she is being reimbursed) so I booked that and also Desert Palms for race weekend. I'll decide later. Looking at more "honest" YouTube reviews, one of them really felt that Hotel Lulu was not clean (this was 2 years ago) but looks more updated, while Desert Palms was the opposite: looked not updated but very clean and comfy. Still trying to decide which reservation to keep.

Disclaimer: we are not fancy people, and as long as a room is clean we can look past a lot. We normally travel to WDW and have stayed in every resort but Boardwalk, and don't see much of a difference in the quality of the rooms for instance. They are all clean and the beds are comfy. So take my opinion with a grain of salt.

 

[Let's Get Kronk]

Well, my charity reached out and said they had a 5K bib come available, which I took as a sign from the heavens that I'm supposed to do all three races. I'm hoping that since at least the first race is for charity, my work will be cool with me being out for one more day. But now I have to figure out accommodations for Thursday night as I'm not checking into PP until Friday. Any suggestions for something semi-affordable that is really close to the park? Proximity is going to be more important to me than it being super nice, but a clean, safe place that is very close to the start line would be ideal.

Also, @nekonekoneko please add me to the 5K list on the first page.

I guess I am officially an unofficial Club 71 participant!

 

[nekonekoneko]

Well, my charity reached out and said they had a 5K bib come available, which I took as a sign from the heavens that I'm supposed to do all three races. I'm hoping that since at least the first race is for charity, my work will be cool with me being out for one more day. But now I have to figure out accommodations for Thursday night as I'm not checking into PP until Friday. Any suggestions for something semi-affordable that is really close to the park? Proximity is going to be more important to me than it being super nice, but a clean, safe place that is very close to the start line would be ideal.

Also, @nekonekoneko please add me to the 5K list on the first page.

I guess I am officially an unofficial Club 71 participant!

WOO HOO! Club 71 Unite!

And as for a hotel, pickings are getting slim around Anaheim. Race weekend, MLK weekend, it's busy! At this point, find something on like Priceline or Trivago or booking or whatever?

 

[Sleepless Knight]

I'm so indecisive. I'm considering Castle Inn, Grand Legacy, Hotel Lulu or Cambria. I'm traveling alone and I'm not sure yet if I'll have a car. Which would you pick? Price is very important to me, but having a nice room is too. By nice I mean not run down and skeevy.

I stayed at Castle Inn in 2017. It's not too terribly far from the parks. I don't remember it having any sort of even light breakfast whatsoever, but I can plan for that ahead of time.

I watched several YouTube reviews from 2023 on Castle Inn before I booked it. One of them complained that it just wasn’t as updated as they hoped, but they didn’t have any cleanliness complaints. I’m also a solo runner (though my grandma is hopefully traveling with me) and the location is good. I stayed at the The Anaheim Hotel (right next to the Castle Inn) in 2021 and I really hated the room, but the distance to the parks was perfect.

It's been many years since I stayed at the Anaheim Hotel. The location is great, but I feel like it doesn't offer enough amenities to justify its prices considering that it's not much cheaper than even closer hotels that offer a lot more amenities.

WOO HOO! Club 71 Unite!

And as for a hotel, pickings are getting slim around Anaheim. Race weekend, MLK weekend, it's busy! At this point, find something on like Priceline or Trivago or booking or whatever?

Exactly. Yes, some rooms will free up later for a variety of reasons, but book what you can now and then keep trying for something else later.

 

[Let's Get Kronk]

WOO HOO! Club 71 Unite!

And as for a hotel, pickings are getting slim around Anaheim. Race weekend, MLK weekend, it's busy! At this point, find something on like Priceline or Trivago or booking or whatever?

I went ahead and grabbed a room at Desert Palms for now. It looks to be really close and the rooms look nice enough for a quick night. I will keep looking at other options as well, but I wanted to have something to fall back on. I'm going to check out Hotel Lulu as well.

I am realizing I haven't gotten a confirmation email for Desert Palms and it's been like an hour since I booked. @SheHulk, did you get a confirmation email when you booked?

 

[Naomeri]

I stayed at Castle Inn in 2017. It's not too terribly far from the parks. I don't remember it having any sort of even light breakfast whatsoever, but I can plan for that ahead of time.

It's been many years since I stayed at the Anaheim Hotel. The location is great, but I feel like it doesn't offer enough amenities to justify its prices considering that it's not much cheaper than even closer hotels that offer a lot more amenities.

Exactly. Yes, some rooms will free up later for a variety of reasons, but book what you can now and then keep trying for something else later.

The thing about the Anaheim is that the room I got looked nothing like the rooms on the website. I don’t know if they were just halfway through a refurb or something, but it was old compared with the crisp, clean-looking rooms shown online. It was a last minute trip because my grandma made me cancel my Universal Orlando trip during one of the bad Covid strain outbreaks, so I just went with the first hotel that seemed decent, nearby, and affordable

 

[SheHulk]

I went ahead and grabbed a room at Desert Palms for now. It looks to be really close and the rooms look nice enough for a quick night. I will keep looking at other options as well, but I wanted to have something to fall back on. I'm going to check out Hotel Lulu as well.

I am realizing I haven't gotten a confirmation email for Desert Palms and it's been like an hour since I booked. @SheHulk, did you get a confirmation email when you booked?

We booked through hotels.com, and the reservation is in our account right now. I don't know if DH also got a confirmation email but I'm pretty sure he did from the website, not the hotel.

 

[RunWI1265]

This is really disappointing, but it also made me wonder: what's the advantage of booking a package? If I add park tickets to my existing Pixar Place reservation, would I not basically pay the same price as for a package? I'm not sure I've ever noticed some huge savings by bundling everything together as a package.

I think the only real advantage of booking a package is everything is refundable and you only owe the deposit upfront instead of one full night. If you buy tix separately they aren’t refundable.