Help a newbie--am I too late to book for 3 weeks from now?

[kandbp]

I thought with it being off season, this would be okay. We've never been to Disneyland before as a family (neither dh nor I have been since we were kids), and we have a family wedding in LA on May 2nd, so we decided to make a road trip of it and take our 3 kids to Disneyland at the same time. We're all super-excited.

Now I'm a little panicked though, because Howard Johnson, which had rooms when I first looked it up a few days ago is booked all around our dates. I called them, and was able to get two nights--May 3rd and 4th--but we really need 3 nights there, I think. That would have us checking in on Sunday, and our plan had been to not actually hit the park until Monday, but then we would have to check out again on Tuesday. That doesn't sound very good. Also, the only available rooms were NQQ1 rooms in building 2, and the rate I got isn't very good at all--$139+tax. They said I could cancel up to 48 hours before with no penalty, so I figured I should at least take that, while I was trying to figure out what to do. (It didn't seem worth trying to get a better rate yet, when I don't even know if we'll take that reservation--maybe that was a bad move, I was flustered though, to find it was all booked up.)

Any advice for me? I'm pretty overwhelmed with this whole thing, and stressed about getting it all planned. If I can just get our hotel booked, that would be a big weight off.

I appreciate any and all advice--thank you in advance!

PS--Does anyone know why it's so booked for the end of April/beginning of May?

Kirsten

 

[ORMom2Four]

I was at Disneyland October and May of last year (and are coming again this May, the same dates you will be there).

It seems like there is NO off season anymore. Maybe an off day here or there, but in the past few years, the seasons don't slow down much. I've found hotels to be booked pretty far in advance no matter what time you go.

Keep checking around while keeping the first few nights booked at HOJO's. Something might open up there since they have a pretty relaxed cancelation policy!

 

[pixiewings71]

You just need to check other hotels. The HoJo is very popular so it books up fast. Keep trying, I've been able to book hotels during peak season with just a few days notice. Try this link for detailed hotel info.....
http://www.geocities.com/ashpsyche/DisneylandLinkMap

 

[MickeyManiac]

Have you checked the search engines like Kayak, Orbitz, Travelocity, etc.? You can atleast get an idea of what hotels have rooms available and go from there. I noticed on Orbitz the Carousel had rooms for your dates and it's right across the street. It's not as nice as Hojo but would definately do for a few days. I've stayed there several times.

 

[CluelessCoolness]

I believe you can certanly still book. I just came back from disneyland and we booked our vacation 2 weeks prior to going. No doubt it was the spur of the moment type thing but still very fun!

 

[peppermint]

You can always try Priceline, too, if you don't mind using a shuttle to get back and forth. You can check out biddingfortravel to see what hotels people are getting.

 

[ykmom]

Parkk Vue right across the street still has rooms available for our around that time so you may want to check them

 

[Mikscrap]

Have you tried the Candy Cane Inn? We are staying there just before you plan to arrive and we just booked our room a week ago with no trouble.

 

[luvsmickey1968]

I definitely don't think you are too late!
I wouldn't judge the occupancy rate by Howard Johnson because based on my limited research, they are pretty booked up on dates other hotels are not.
I think that is attributed to their Entertainment Rate which is fantastic and their ever-growing reputation of great customer service.
I think their new website and their participation here and on other discussion boards is helping too!
According to a quick look on Expedia, there are many hotels with occupancy on your dates!

 

[cruise cruise cruise]

By playing around on http://www.geocities.com/ashpsyche/DisneylandLinkMap.html and checking out various hotel sites,
I have found for May 3,4 and 5

Best Western Park Place Mini Suite $144
Tropicana 2 doubles web special $91.75
Carousel 2 queen $119

and these are the only 3 I have checked.

 

[bumbershoot]

I'm sure you can find something, but this is primo spring break season (if you realize that various schools across the country are taking their springtime breaks anywhere from mid-march to mid-may, you'll do well in this world, LOL) so get to looking!

 

[kandbp]

Thanks so much for the suggestions and links so far. I'm realizing I need to be more flexible and willing to go with a different hotel. I guess I made the mistake of doing all my research without keeping aware of availability and settling on the one hotel I wanted, so now that I'm having trouble booking "the one", I feel disappointed to have to switch to something else. We were excited about the kid pool water play area at HoJo, and the proximity. I'll have to get the hotel maps out again (thanks for the link, Pixiewings) and come up with plan B, C and D, yet still hope a vacancy will open up at HoJo. They have the dates before May 2nd available, which we may be able to do, but it sounded like not as good of a room (I can't remember what they called it), and those dates are not ideal for us.

Kirsten

 

[JadeDarkstar]

did you call desert inn (its late an i skimed the post but hay might help)

 

[disneyfan4ever54]

I thought with it being off season, this would be okay. We've never been to Disneyland before as a family (neither dh nor I have been since we were kids), and we have a family wedding in LA on May 2nd, so we decided to make a road trip of it and take our 3 kids to Disneyland at the same time. We're all super-excited.

Now I'm a little panicked though, because Howard Johnson, which had rooms when I first looked it up a few days ago is booked all around our dates. I called them, and was able to get two nights--May 3rd and 4th--but we really need 3 nights there, I think. That would have us checking in on Sunday, and our plan had been to not actually hit the park until Monday, but then we would have to check out again on Tuesday. That doesn't sound very good. Also, the only available rooms were NQQ1 rooms in building 2, and the rate I got isn't very good at all--$139+tax. They said I could cancel up to 48 hours before with no penalty, so I figured I should at least take that, while I was trying to figure out what to do. (It didn't seem worth trying to get a better rate yet, when I don't even know if we'll take that reservation--maybe that was a bad move, I was flustered though, to find it was all booked up.)

Any advice for me? I'm pretty overwhelmed with this whole thing, and stressed about getting it all planned. If I can just get our hotel booked, that would be a big weight off.

I appreciate any and all advice--thank you in advance!

PS--Does anyone know why it's so booked for the end of April/beginning of May?

Kirsten

Just a small clarification You mentioned that you had reserved a NQQ1 room in bldg. 2. The rooms in bldg. 2 are NQQ2 and the rooms in bldg. 1 are NQQ1.

 

[kandbp]

Oops, I think I meant NQQ2 (all these acronyms are new to me, and making my head spin ) It's a deluxe room with two queen beds, facing the garden pool (would we be able to see fireworks at all from here?)

Jade--No, I haven't called anyone else yet. I need to look at all the other options tomorrow and decide where else to call. I expect we'll be spending some time at the hotel, and won't be in the park the entire time, so I want it to be somewhere we will enjoy being.

Kirsten

 

[disneyfan4ever54]

Oops, I think I meant NQQ2 (all these acronyms are new to me, and making my head spin ) It's a deluxe room with two queen beds, facing the garden pool (would we be able to see fireworks at all from here?)

Jade--No, I haven't called anyone else yet. I need to look at all the other options tomorrow and decide where else to call. I expect we'll be spending some time at the hotel, and won't be in the park the entire time, so I want it to be somewhere we will enjoy being.

Kirsten

Yes, those would be NQQ2 rooms and they're great. We love that building and those rooms. There is no view of the fireworks from those rooms, but if you go to the Jacuzzi area, you can easily see them from there.

 

[Brady's Mom]

Thanks so much for the suggestions and links so far. I'm realizing I need to be more flexible and willing to go with a different hotel. I guess I made the mistake of doing all my research without keeping aware of availability and settling on the one hotel I wanted, so now that I'm having trouble booking "the one", I feel disappointed to have to switch to something else. We were excited about the kid pool water play area at HoJo, and the proximity. I'll have to get the hotel maps out again (thanks for the link, Pixiewings) and come up with plan B, C and D, yet still hope a vacancy will open up at HoJo. They have the dates before May 2nd available, which we may be able to do, but it sounded like not as good of a room (I can't remember what they called it), and those dates are not ideal for us.

Kirsten

Sometimes other places like getawaytoday or ares travel will have blocks of rooms at certain hotels and you may be able to book through them. Their prices may or may not be better - but it doesn't hurt to look. I have seen HoJo available through getawaytoday. We loved the NQQ2 rooms in building 2 and had a great pool view and we could watch the fireworks from the parking lot if we weren't in the Park.

 

[GrandBob]

Yep, I just checked getawaytoday.com, and they have rooms for that time period. Try them out.

-Bob

 

[kandbp]

Wow, I do see those available on getawaytoday. I can't totally figure the site out, though--can you do just hotel through them, or do you have to do a package? I also can't see how to choose different room types, and am a little nervous to just accept whatever double room they might put us in. Any advice there? Does anyone know the cancellation policy if you book through a site like that?

Thanks so much for the help!
Kirsten

 

[cruise cruise cruise]

Wow, I do see those available on getawaytoday. I can't totally figure the site out, though--can you do just hotel through them, or do you have to do a package? I also can't see how to choose different room types, and am a little nervous to just accept whatever double room they might put us in. Any advice there? Does anyone know the cancellation policy if you book through a site like that?

Thanks so much for the help!
Kirsten

What I would do is keep your exisiting ressies you have directly through Hojo. And book only 1 day through the travel company.
This way *if* the entertainment rate comes open for either of your first 2 days you can get the discount.
After you book through the travel agency, phone Hojo inhouse reservations and have them link your two ressies and you can also pay $10 (dont quote the price) to *upgrade* to a NQQ2 from the run of the house you would recieve with the travel agency.