Helloo!! WDW fan getting chance to see Disneyland! Needs help!

[amg35]

Hi!

So my boyfriend's family lives on the West Coast (Oregon, Seattle) and everyone wants to meet up, so lucky me, they chose California/Disney!

I have only been to Disneyland once many, many years ago and I don't remember it.
I know there are two parks now and new hotels. We aren't looking to spend a ton of money because we are going to WDW the year after that and on a RC cruise this year.

My questions:

Do you stay in the Disney hotels?

I was looking at the Marriott Anaheim - is that any good? It has $30 transportation for us to parks and back. Any other suggestions? I'd like to be close because I may need a break from his family and would like to say "hey, I want to go ride something. you guys hang and I'll be back in a couple of hours" . (I'm laughing, but I'm serious!)

We will be there 4 nights total, but not every moment in the parks. Can we fill up 3 to 3.5 days (two nights) with both parks?

thanks everyone!!!

 

[Imdboss]

Do you stay in the Disney hotels?

I was looking at the Marriott Anaheim - is that any good? It has $30 transportation for us to parks and back. Any other suggestions? I'd like to be close because I may need a break from his family and would like to say "hey, I want to go ride something. you guys hang and I'll be back in a couple of hours" . (I'm laughing, but I'm serious!)

We will be there 4 nights total, but not every moment in the parks. Can we fill up 3 to 3.5 days (two nights) with both parks?

thanks everyone!!!

No we don't stay onsite. I can't justify the cost of $500 per night to stay at the GCH (or $350 at PPH) vs $120 in a suite with breakfast just a short shuttle ride away. Some people swear by the EMH each day by staying onsite but we aren't early risers so that's not a benefit to us. Also some prefer the "disney bubble" effect by staying onsite but we honestly feel like that from the moment we land at SNA!

No experience with the Marriott, we are loyal to Hilton properties (earning those points for free nights). We've stayed at DoubleTree Suites about one mile away, we would walk to the park most mornings and take ART back at night. Worked well for us and kids didn't mind. We also could have used the Toy Story parking lot shuttle (for free) but I didn't really think about that option until we returned. There are several hotels and motels on Harbor Blvd within walking distance. The ones closest to the park are mostly motels if that works for you. There are plenty of full service hotels not far away though. The best thing is to determine what you consider walking distance to the park and if you are willing to use ART to get to/from the park. That might help narrow down your options.

Yes you can easily fill up 3 days at the parks. We go every year for 5 days and there's always things we don't do!

Have fun planning!

 

[Disney Kidd]

Staying onsite at DL is not the same as staying onsite at WDW. In my opinion, it's not necessary. I stay at the Marriott in Anaheim often (the one next to the convention center), and it is also possible to walk to the parks from there, but I typically end up taking the shuttle.

 

[ZamboniNerd]

I think staying onsite is better in California because of the proximity to the parks and Downtown Disney. It is a different style of touring compared to Florida, but we grew up with DL.
We now stay onsite, but understand if you are looking to save money, definitely look at all the local hotels. The Hilton was our favorite off site, check it out!

 

[g-dad66]

In order to economize and to be as close to the parks as possible, we stayed right across the street (at the Desert Inn and Suites). Would have preferred having an outdoor pool, but the location was perfect for popping in and out of both of the parks 2 or 3 times a day.

 

[Lauren in NC]

Some of the off-site hotels are closer than the Disney ones! Disneytouristblog.com is doing reviews of all the hotels in the area. I'm a personal fan of the Candy Cane (free continental breakfast, wifi, and parking), but there are quite a few nice hotels within walking distance. The on-site hotels - especially the Grand Californian - are truly lovely, but I don't think most people would consider it a necessity.

We're actually going to be there for a week in September... but then, we have a toddler so our days are necessarily slower paced. There's plenty a group of adults can do for 3 days, between rides, parades, shows, etc.

 

[Lizzards]

I just stayed at the Anaheim Marriot recently and it was nice. Clean. You can walk from there. Use the ART system or you can walk over to the toy story parking lot and take the free Disney shuttle to the parks. There are a lot of other hotels in the area that offer breakfast, etc Read the reviews on trip websites if you are concerned about cleanliness, room size, park proximity, etc.

You can fill up your days for sure!!!! There is so much to do and fun places to eat!!

 

[Sherry E]

Tom Bell -- of DIS Unplugged, which is part of wdwinfo.com, along with DISboards -- did some great blogs about/reviews of many of the Good Neighbor Hotels. You can find them here - http://blog.wdwinfo.com/tag/good-neighbor-hotel/. Actually, I think some of them are missing from that list, as I recall the last time I pulled up Tom's Good Neighbor hotel reviews, it was missing a couple of the reviews that he had done. In any case, it's a good start.

Candy Cane Inn and Best Western Park Place Inn consistently get good reviews -- they both include breakfast, and BWPPI is very close to Disneyland. CCI has a shuttle.

I actually love staying onsite -- and for me, personally, it enhances my experience and sets it apart as more of a 'vacation.' However, not everyone feels that way, and they are perfectly content with staying off-property.