Favorite Non-Disney Accommodations?

[prgal0715]

I'm staying at Lulu next week (Feb 20-25) and will be happy to report back.

Honestly? Having looked at Trip Advisor for many of the places I was considering, they are ALL mixed - to varying degrees, but I did not see any that were 100% glowing. (Even the JW and the Westin had some not stellar reviews. I've traveled enough that two people can stay at the same place at the same time and have very different experiences, so unless something is universally horrible I will look at reviews but not stake my life on them.

I would love to hear about your experience at Lulu. Thank you in advance!! I'm making the decision of where to stay far too difficult. Lol

 

[prgal0715]

Some of our favorites are the Hojo, Camelot inn and park vue inn across the street. We also just had a really nice stay at the grand legacy in the Luxury room which is the “hotel” part of the property. The rest of therooms their are motel style.

We have a room tour video and walking videos of both Hyatt house and Lulu on our channel if you want to check it out.

https://youtube.com/c/AnaheimParkTourist
have fun trip planning!!

This is so helpful, thank you!! And terrific videos, too!

 

[crystal1313]

This is so helpful, thank you!! And terrific videos, too!

No problem at all! So happy the videos are helpful! Have a wonderful trip!!

 

[mseyre]

I have stayed at the Lulu twice when it was still the Red Lion Inn. I had no issues at all with it, I have also stayed at the Hojo. Next month we are at the Fairfield. Proximity is important to us, and Lulu is the furthest we have stayed at, but totally manageable.

 

[felice]

It's a bit further away than most of the hotels, but the Sonesta ES Suites (Staybridge Suites) on South Manchester at no 1855 was always good to us as a hotel.
The old Holiday Inn nearby was also reported to be good, but we didn't stay there personally.

 

[pokee99]

Is there advantages to staying on the Disneyland Drive side, and entering via DTD? I've always stayed on/near Harbor Blvd so I thought I'd stay at the Westin this time to switch things up. I'm a Marriott/Bonvoy member and usually stick to those hotels, and it's actually cheaper to stay at the Westin than it is to stay at the Fairfield!

 

[q2b]

Also stayed at Lulu when it was Red Lion. It was nice. We would stop at Starbucks each morning on the way to the parks. We’re booked for Kings Inn in April. That was a budget decision more than anything but hoping it’s decent.

 

[LSUmiss]

We walk 1 mile from Dolphin's Cove, a timeshare.

How is it there? I have seen a lot of bad reviews online.

 

[bwvBound]

How is it there? I have seen a lot of bad reviews online.

We have a choice between two Worldmark/Wyndham timeshares each ~1 mile walk from DLR. One is a modern, purpose built property on Katella; the other is Dolphin's Cove, a converted apartment complex. Of the two, we choose D'Cove every time and have stayed in 1BR, 2BR and 3BR units.

What we like about the property:

• Parking is free for guests.
• Parking is 'secure' (behind a key-carded gate, security present).
• Parking is covered and tall enough for our SUV.
• Rooms are clean, safe and comfortable.

Beyond that ... the property is pretty 'average' as timeshare goes:

• Most units have a King bed in the main bedroom. (A few units offered only a queen.)
• Functional full kitchen.
• Small dining table with chairs.
• TVs in living room and bedroom.
• Plenty of outlets for charging all our gear.
• Mini-split AC/Heat in Living Room and Bedroom.

The units have strange layouts given their original purpose as apartment units rather than short-term vacation units. For example, the original layouts had triple-wide closets (huge!) but the trade-off was an extremely cramped bathroom. Many units have the bathroom accessed through the bedroom - which may make it difficult for those sleeping in the living room? Sadly, the units do not include in-room laundry -- but each unit does have a laundry basket and packets of detergent to help you make use of the shared laundry feature on the property.

The property offers pool/spa, business center, mini-golf, and some fun landscaping. Once we park the car behind the gate, we are snug, safe and comfortable in our little oasis in Anaheim.

 

[RedVines2001]

What kind of park visitor are you? Do you plan on hanging out at the hotel or is it just somewhere to sleep? Solo traveler or couple or kids? And also how much do you wanna spend. There really are a lot of options so knowing those would help with a good recommendation.

 

[RedVines2001]

Is there advantages to staying on the Disneyland Drive side, and entering via DTD? I've always stayed on/near Harbor Blvd so I thought I'd stay at the Westin this time to switch things up. I'm a Marriott/Bonvoy member and usually stick to those hotels, and it's actually cheaper to stay at the Westin than it is to stay at the Fairfield!

I think the DTD security checkpoint is almost always quicker than Harbor.

The walk to and from the park would albe more peaceful. The Disneyland Drive walk from Katella to DTD is the same distance from S Harbor/Katella to the S Harbor gate. But there aren’t any businesses on Disneyland Drive so there’s usually less pedestrian traffic and almost everyone is going to and from the park. S Harbor is a very busy street with lots of vehicular and pedestrian traffic. There are lots of stores that attract a decent amount of transients. Usually it’s not a problem but for me personally it’s not something I feel like dealing with on vacation with my kids in tow. My opinion. Hope that helps.

 

[smartlabelprint]

I think the DTD security checkpoint is almost always quicker than Harbor.

The walk to and from the park would albe more peaceful. The Disneyland Drive walk is the same distance from S Harbor/Katella but there aren’t any businesses on that block so there’s usually less pedestrian traffic and almost everyone is going to and from the park. S Harbor is a very busy street with lots of vehicular and pedestrian traffic. There are lots of stores that attract a decent amount of transients. Usually it’s not a problem but for me personally it’s not something I feel like dealing with on vacation with my kids in tow. My opinion. Hope that helps.

We stay on a harbor and the walk to the park doubled to 40 minutes walking through downtown Disney. I’m confused.

 

[RedVines2001]

We stay on a harbor and the walk to the park doubled to 40 minutes walking through downtown Disney. I’m confused.

Sorry someone had mentioned staying at the new Westin so that's what was in my head when I wrote that. The Westin is pretty much at Katella and Disneyland Dr, so walking from there to the DTD gate is the same distance as walking from the hotels at S Harbor and Katella, like the Hyatt House, to the S Harbor gate. Although I've walked from the Hyatt House over to the DTD gate before and while the walk may have been longer I think I still saved time from the line being much shorter.

*Edited my previous post. It was confusing.

 

[pokee99]

Sorry someone had mentioned staying at the new Westin so that's what was in my head when I wrote that. The Westin is pretty much at Katella and Disneyland Dr, so walking from there to the DTD gate is the same distance as walking from the hotels at S Harbor and Katella, like the Hyatt House, to the S Harbor gate. Although I've walked from the Hyatt House over to the DTD gate before and while the walk may have been longer I think I still saved time from the line being much shorter.

*Edited my previous post. It was confusing.

Okay now I'm confused... isn't it necessary to walk through DTD when entering DL gates from Disneyland Drive? And therefore take 40 minutes to reach the DL entry gate?

If not, what route for walking that takes the least amount of time from Disneyland Drive?

 

[RedVines2001]

Okay now I'm confused... isn't it necessary to walk through DTD when entering DL gates from Disneyland Drive? And therefore take 40 minutes to reach the DL entry gate?

If not, what route for walking that takes the least amount of time from Disneyland Drive?

No you're right. What I'm saying is comparable is the distance to the DTD security checkpoint from Katella/Disneyland Dr where the Westin is and the distance to the S Harbor security check point from Katella/S Harbor where the Hyatt House/Hilton Garden Inn is.

You are right that once you go through the DTD security checkpoint you still have to walk through the entire DTD to the gate and that walk is longer than the S Harbor check point. But the shorter lines on the DTD side makes up for it and I personally like walking through DTD. If you're staying in any of the hotels on S Harbor north of Katella I wouldn't go to Disneyland Dr unless the S Harbor security lines are insane.

Sorry for the confusion.

 

[smartlabelprint]

Sorry someone had mentioned staying at the new Westin so that's what was in my head when I wrote that. The Westin is pretty much at Katella and Disneyland Dr, so walking from there to the DTD gate is the same distance as walking from the hotels at S Harbor and Katella, like the Hyatt House, to the S Harbor gate. Although I've walked from the Hyatt House over to the DTD gate before and while the walk may have been longer I think I still saved time from the line being much shorter.

*Edited my previous post. It was confusing.

The Westin maps shows it 1 min faster plus shorter wait to the resort security.
From residence inn it’s 12 min longer to go through the resort. So that’s probably a wash on time and just adds steps.

 

[DizneeRailFan62]

Our go-to off-site is the Double Tree by Hilton Anaheim Orange County. It does require the resort bus or POV to the park, but it cost 3x's less than Paradise Pier (wife's fav) and more than 5x's less than GCH (my fav). We've always been treated great there.

 

[Gypsybear]

I really like the Hotel Indigo on Katella as a solo traveller - the walk is a bit longer than those on Harbour, but it has a more contemporary feel (and Aveda products, lol) without an insane price tag. Also has free parking so local friends could meet me there and we would walk to the parks together.

We've also stayed at the Hotel Indigo. We enjoyed our stay. The ONLY complaint I had was that parking was tight. I'm referring to the entrance which loops around and down to the fence/gate. It's a tight turn if someone is coming out of the garage while you're trying to go into the garage.

The staff was actually VERY friendly during our stay. And like the original poster, we had friends meet us there, and we went to the coffee shop across the street on Katella. It's also right near the shopping center there on Katella. Decent theatre (we saw Eternals on opening night there). There are many restaurants there on Katella near the Indigo. Just for variety. Oh, and it's near the CVS and the Walgreens drugstores too.

Anyway, enjoy your trip!!

 

[smartlabelprint]

Our go-to off-site is the Double Tree by Hilton Anaheim Orange County. It does require the resort bus or POV to the park, but it cost 3x's less than Paradise Pier (wife's fav) and more than 5x's less than GCH (my fav). We've always been treated great there.

I think we stayed here once because my family wanted a bus. It was super annoying. If you’re there open to close it’s probably fine.

 

[DizneeRailFan62]

I think we stayed here once because my family wanted a bus. It was super annoying. If you’re there open to close it’s probably fine.

Yes, we are not ones to take a break and go back to the hotel...one bus in the morning and one at night whenever we feel done. And the wife is super-particular about what constitutes an adequate hotel room.