Disneyland Hotel or Candy Cane Inn

[livinintexas]

We are going June 2-7. I booked a premium room at CCI for 5 nights. Today I priced a AAA package at the Disneyland Hotel for $500 more and no breakfast. I have read such nice things about CCI that I do really want to stay there. DL hotel sounds very nice too, and we will be spending a lot of afternoons at the pool. Our girls are 8 and 10. I was so happy with booking CCI, but now I want to consider DLH too. Any other advantages/disadvantages or thoughts to help me make up my mind???? I should have just left well enough alone!!!!




ETA- yikes I reread my post and made so many errors- I had to fix them!!!

 

[Mortimer Mouse]

While CCI is very nice, for 100 hundred dollars more a night, DL Hotel will give you more magic. The Neverland pool would be awesome for the girls. Use some of that tax rebate and go for it.

 

[bumbershoot]

Well I'm personally in favor of offsites, but I'm also in favor of really knowing the differences!

So the one pro on DLH's side is that you will get all the Magical Mornings offered during your stay (including check-out day if that's an MM day). You'll only get the one from your parkhopper, if you stay at CCI.

I know nothing about the breakfast value at CCI, though.

We chose to first downgrade from PPH with a package to Carousel, then we upgraded again a few months later, and I did like the extra early days (then called EE). For us I'm not sure they are a $500 value, but for others they can be, especially if you're family listens to you and actually gets to the gates early enough to really take advantage of it. (unlike mine)

 

[Hound 109]

Welcome to the DL board.

Do you visit WDW & if you do where do you like to stay?

imo if staying at a nice hotel or being "immersed" at WDW is important to you (& you can swing the extra 1/2 C note)....then I'd do the DLH for your first DLR visit. (Plus you'd get an extra day or two of MM/EE)

If it was ME for 5 nights at DLR, I wouldn't pay the extra $100 per night....but I've DONE a DLR hotel (& loved it), & my family is more commando. (but if it was $50 difference a night, i'd do it in a heartbeat).

Have fun planning a visit to Walt's park.

 

[jaakna]

Disneyland Hotel!! We have stayed at CCI numerous times, and never had any complaints. The breakfast isn't anything special, but is very nice. Cereal, toast, coffee,bagels etc. The CCI pool is very small and pretty crowded for the afternoon swims, but managable. No comparison to the DIS Hotel pool. For a hundred dollars more a night we would definitely go DIS Hotel. The DIS Hotel is usually over double the price per night of CCI. You are smack dab in the middle of all that is Disney there. Hard to beat that at any cost!!

 

[livinintexas]

Thanks for such quick and great replies! We stayed once at Wilderness Lodge in WDW and loved it. We go to WDW every March (but not this year) and stay offsite b/c we have a timeshare week that is easy to use at that time.

This trip is a total bonus as we have 3 other nice vacations planned, but none of them overly expensive! One is a timeshare week, one is five nights in Chicago (my hometown) using hilton points, and one is a cabin with my parents in MN and we are sharing the costs. I just went back to teaching after 8 years of being home with my kids, so this is my reward for all my work!!

I am surprising our girls. I'm driving my friend to the airport (she is meeting her family in WDW) and will tell the girls we have to walk her to her gate (although seasoned travelers, I don't think they no the security rules!) and see how long it takes them to figure something out! My dh will take our luggage as he is leaving the day before for work!

I think I'm going back to the AAA site to book this!!

 

[Hound 109]

If you enjoyed the Wilderness Lodge, I would do the DLH (or the GCH...but thats another topic) over the Candy Cane. & definitely visit the GCH as it's similar to your Wilderness Lodge.

Another benny to staying on site is each hotel has a character meal (which given your kids you might want to enjoy one or two) & it would be easier logistically to enjoy DTD, the GCH & Character Meals if you're on site. Better pool, too.

Sounds like a great trip.

(take a look at HydroGuy's Tip Threads if you haven't done so & let me know if your older girls like Star Wars.)

 

[hlbtimes2]

I think it really comes down to what is important to you and what makes a vacation for your family. For my family, we would rather have the $500+ to spend on "things". I would rather do a couple character meals and more souviners then the expensive hotel.

We have stayed at the PPI, conc. level, so we have stayed on site. We will never spend the money on that again. Our last 3 trips have all been at the CCI and it works for us. We are going in May and will either stay at the CCI or the BWPPI. We are a family of die hards- we spend the entire day at the parks. We usually take a 2 hour break mid day for a quick nap, but other then that we are in the parks from open to close. NO need for a fancy hotel room!

 

[lulubelle]

CCI is very nice, and we enjoyed the free breakfast, free parking and free dedicated shuttle. That said, staying on site is such a notch above. You mentioned the pool being a factor. The Neverland Pool and area are absolutely fabulous. Last time I stayed there I ordered a fruity rum drink and sat in a lounger and just took it all in for a couple of hours. The families and children there were having such a fun time and the whole atmosphere there was just wonderful. If the $500 does not make a huge impact on your vacation budget, by all means, stay at DLH - you will love it. But if you are struggling with the decision because of the $$, go with the CCI. Good luck deciding

 

[livinintexas]

I did it!!!!! We are a family of experience over things. Since I want this trip to be special and we will have some down time each afternoon, I think the pool and location will best meet our needs!

With the AAA package we get a character call. I set it up to come while we are waiting at the airport! Thanks for all the great tips!

I have read Hydroguys stuff. He also posts on Tour Guide Mike. My girls are not into Star Wars.