DL first timer with many hotel questions!

cegreenf

Mouseketeer
Joined
Dec 26, 2010
Messages
112
Hi everyone!

I've been to WDW many times, but we are now thinking of doing of DL trip in March, so I've been trying to do my homework on the hotels.

I was wondering if there were any real benefits to staying at a Disney hotel rather than a "good neighbor hotel"? I know at the Disney hotels you can sync your room key with your park ticket and have packages sent to your room, but besides that?

I also was curious if anyone had any feedback about staying in a suite in of the Disney hotels? There will be two couples going, so we thought it might be nice to have one room with two "bedrooms" if the price difference wasn't extreme.

Thank you everyone for your help!!
 
Staying onsite keeps you in the "magic". You are guaranteed entrance if the park gets to capacity. You get Magic Mornings on all days it's offered during your stay. You can charge everything to your room & have packages sent to the hotel.

The rooms at PPH are big rooms, so a standard room would be plenty big enough for 2 couples. The DLH rooms also would be roomy enough. I haven't stayed at the GCH, but have heard the rooms are on the smaller side. I also haven't had the opportunity to stay in the suites, so can't comment.

Now with that all being said.........the Good Neighbor Motels are decent places to stay while on vacation. We rarely have the money to stay onsite, so we stay across the street. Most of the ones I've stayed at is closer in walking distance than the PPH or DLH.

The thing I look at when deciding (if money isn't a factor).....how much time am I going to spend in my room. If you just need a comfy bed & shower, then spending the extra money probably wouldn't be worth it. If you want down time in your room, then staying in the resort hotels might be the better option. Also if swimming & gyms are a high priority, you'll find your options better onsite.

Good Neighbor motels we've stayed at & loved: HoJo (Howard Johnson) & Carousel Inn. We enjoyed the Tropicana Inn as well but didn't think the beds were as comfortable.
 
Hi everyone!

I've been to WDW many times, but we are now thinking of doing of DL trip in March, so I've been trying to do my homework on the hotels.

I was wondering if there were any real benefits to staying at a Disney hotel rather than a "good neighbor hotel"? I know at the Disney hotels you can sync your room key with your park ticket and have packages sent to your room, but besides that?

I also was curious if anyone had any feedback about staying in a suite in of the Disney hotels? There will be two couples going, so we thought it might be nice to have one room with two "bedrooms" if the price difference wasn't extreme.

Thank you everyone for your help!!

My family has always been able to stay @ Hojo (Howard Johnson Anaheim)...7 minute walk from DLR...but if you can stay @ a DLR hotel...go for it! You get extras like early mornings...either way have fun:banana:
 
The Magic Mornings are excellent, but they are "only" offered 4 days a week (Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday), and if you buy a 3-day or more pass, you USUALLY get one Magic Morning (only a few ticket types don't offer it). So if you were (for some reason) arriving Sunday afternoon and your last day in the parks was Wednesday, and you had a 4-day pass, you would just get one Magic Morning, on Tuesday, whether you stayed on-site or off-site. Most on-site guests will get at least one extra Magic Morning, but there are some cases where you wouldn't.

Disney hotel guests can use the special entrance to DCA through the Grand Californian. They can currently enter 30 minutes before everyone else (usually 9 AM, with Condor Flats/Soarin' being opened to everyone at 9:30 and the entire park open at 10 AM). I believe Disney guests can still ride The Little Mermaid ride from 9 - 10 AM (there are mixed reports as to if off-site guests can ride from 9:30 - 10).

Anyway, there are some definite advantages to being on-site, but off-site can be as short a walk as on-site in many cases, and often it costs 2-3 times as much to stay on-site as it does off-site. With 2 couples I would probably stay off-site and get 2 rooms, but that's just me.

Have a great trip!
 

Thank you everyone! There are a lot of factors to take into consideration , but all your information helps so much! :)
 
This is great information as I am planning a first visit to DL too. Not sure if I want to go in the Spring of '12 or the Fall of '12.

Any opinions on spring v. fall? I am thinking Halloween in DL would be awesome!
 
Any opinions on spring v. fall? I am thinking Halloween in DL would be awesome!

Spring break is busy from about mid march through the 3rd week of April. May is not until the last week. September is not busy compared to October after Labor Day week. For some the decision is based on the DCA grand reopening which will include the opening of Carsland, happening next summer.
 
Spring break is busy from about mid march through the 3rd week of April. May is not until the last week. September is not busy compared to October after Labor Day week. For some the decision is based on the DCA grand reopening which will include the opening of Carsland, happening next summer.

Yup, pretty much the same with the busy times at WDW. Is there a date for Cars Land to be done?
 
Hi everyone!

I've been to WDW many times, but we are now thinking of doing of DL trip in March, so I've been trying to do my homework on the hotels.

I was wondering if there were any real benefits to staying at a Disney hotel rather than a "good neighbor hotel"? I know at the Disney hotels you can sync your room key with your park ticket and have packages sent to your room, but besides that?

I also was curious if anyone had any feedback about staying in a suite in of the Disney hotels? There will be two couples going, so we thought it might be nice to have one room with two "bedrooms" if the price difference wasn't extreme.

Thank you everyone for your help!!

I prefer to look at the lodging options as THREE separate categories (& prefer not to use the term "good neighbor").

- Onsite. (Always best if you can swing it.....but sometimes the price difference is too great). Many advantages to staying onsite

- Offsite Walking distance Hotels - Most are "good neighbors", the closest & most preferred are ON Harbor Blvd. Look at a map. Identify the CCI & Hojos & consider those two (both are great) & also consider all the others BETWEEN THESE TWO on Harbor.

- Offsite (take a stinkin shuttle bus to the parks just like "the resort in the swamp") Hotels. Some are nice hotels, some are dumps.....but many Diser's here prefer to use our feet to get to Walt's park. It's better for 6 different reasons, including being easier to take a mid day break.

If you haven't read Hydroguy's tip threads (including his DLR for the WDW veteran thread & his Hotel thread) then those two & all the others are recommended reading.

Have a great time planning a visit to Walt's Park.

:)
 


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