For Those who have stayed at Residence Inn...

[Supermavs]

So, realistically, is it within walking distance, or should we plan on the ART? I know that sometimes stroller owners are given a hard time...we will have 3 between all 5 families...I think I am up for walking, but not sure of actual walking time?

We personally have 5 kids...two youngest can ride the stroller. And, i am thinking middle of day heading for naps we will use ART, but at night it is pretty swamped and would take forever to get to hotel, right?

Thanks! It is crazy that we leave in 10 days!

Becky

 

[WendyT]

For me the walk to the HoJo is the longest walk I would want to do (10 min). If I remember correctly the walk to the Residence Inn Maingate is 15-20. Personally I would take ART. If it is the Residence Inn Garden Grove then ART is definitely the way to go.

 

[bzkds]

We stayed there once. I think our youngest was still in a stroller. It seemed like a *very* long walk back at night when we were tired. At that time, Residence Inn had their own shuttle vans. It did not work out at all for us. 20+ people would be waiting for a van that seated 12. Dh finally drove us over in the morning and took the car back and then he walked back to DL alone and met up with us (eventually.. it seems to take forever when you're alone with 4 young kids! lol) I definitely would not have made that trek back/forth multiple times in a day. I can't speak about the ART, we have never used that.

On the other hand, having a nice big room with the kitchenette was really nice for our family!

Beth

 

[Supermavs]

Oh dear, well, perhaps the ART is the way to go. I had thought it was only a 10 minute walk.

But, I sorta thought ART was supposed to be horrible. As in, super crowded and long waits (bus would fill up so you would wait more than one 20 min inbetween)

Becky

9 days til DISNEY!

 

[SarahDISer]

We stayed there in July and we weren't bothered by the walk at all.

We also found that the footpaths were pretty much empty which made it a stress-free walk. All the crowds were heading in the other direction towards HoJo's.

We wore trainers and power-walked with baby in a pram and DD8 kept up without complaints. It never took us more than 10 minutes but we are quite brisk walkers.

I guess it depends on whether you enjoy a walk or not during everyday life.

 

[firsttimemom]

Our kids have been walking to school, about 10-15 minutes so I'm thinking we'll probably walk in the morning and take ART or cab it back in the evening when we're worn out.

 

[avalon451]

My brother, his wife and 5 year old daughter stayed there last spring. They're in good shape, but the walk was too far for my niece, especially for the midday breaks. (they rented a stroller at the park, so they didn't have it to go back and forth to the hotel.) They took ART a few times, but got frustrated with it, especially since ART tends to take midday breaks between 1-2 or somewhere around that time... you need to ask the drivers when they'll be on break that day.

Some days they just got tired of waiting and grabbed a cab. They said it was worth the $7.00.

However, they really liked the Residence Inn.

 

[WendyT]

Just an extra comment - I LOVE staying at this property. I hope you don't change your mind due to the location. It is great to have a room with a kitchen and extra space when you bring the kids. Their breakfast in the morning can't be beat. This really is my favorite place to stay while at Disneyland.
We either drive (my husband prefers this) or we take ART. Either way I think you will love the hotel and your stay!

 

[blackjackdelta]

We have stayed at the RI maingate more times than I can count. We love it for our family of 6. We do not have stroller sized people and walk most of the time. It is a nice walk, but it depends on how you walk, what time it will take, us usually at 10-12 minutes.
ART runs a funk schedule, many times we can be back at the hotel in the time it takes for ART to show up.
When we go to DLR we are prepared to walk alot so most of the time the end of the day walk does not bother us, kinda refreshing. Any questions about the property, please write.

Jack

 

[bec_oakley]

We found the ART to be quick but very unpredictable. The walk was never a problem for us or the kids, even after a long day at the parks, but we don't have any in strollers.

If there are people waiting at the stop when you come out of DLR it's likely one hasn't been past in a while, so go ahead and wait. If it's the end of the day you might be less interested in how long it takes you to get back than you are in how much effort you need to expend

If you want to get a good idea of how far the walk is, look it up on Google Maps and then hit 'street view'. Start at the RI (Yay! Love the RI!) and "walk" to the DLR. You can see what the footpath looks like and get a better feel for how far it is.

 

[21yankees]

I stayed there w/ my 3 kids last spring. 2 were in our double stroller and oldest daughter walked. We all enjoy walking so it wasn't to big a deal for us. 15-20 minutes tops. Even in the afternoon/evening it wasn't bad. But like I said my kids and I are walkers.


steph

 

[DahliaRW]

We stayed at the other RI, but to chime in ART was wonderful and we had no issues, even at night. There was always plenty of room and we never waited longer than 20 mins for a bus.

 

[BraMax]

I know that tons of people have replied but we have stayed there 2 times and now has become the hotel of our choice for whenever we go back (well price depending). Anyways we never had any problems walking or taking the ART and the cool thing is your on I believe route 6. Which had a A and B route. The B I think takes you to the Residence Inn and A drops off/picks up at the Motel 6 behind, so if your room is at the back of the property you could take either. But we didn't have problems walking and we had an 8 and 5 year old with us.

 

[Supermavs]

I so am going to do the google 'walk' over there...great idea!
Thanks for all the comments. It turns out that part of my package is that we all have ART passes, so I think we will end up doing a mix of both. Good tip on the back and front pick up too.

Becky
Leaving in 7 days

 

[jennie-pooh]

We stayed at the Motel 6 last Feb. ART was great the first few days when it ran all the time, then it sucked. We walked it back and forth most of the time. I lost 3 lbs, so that was great. Both my kids were in strollers though.

If we do it again next year, we will probably make use of the 15 minute (or whatever it is) parking and ferry the group over then ditch the car and hoof it over. Not ideal, but a fab room rate would make it worth it!