Help/Advice Needed, newbies here.

[timandlesley]

We would LOVE to add on three nights (2 days in the parks) before our upcoming Disney trip, I'm trying NOT to break the bank on this one though. Although staying at the Portofino with the express tickets is SUPER tempting, it's so much more. Have you traveled without the express tickets in the summer, will we wait FOREVER for everything? Is it doable?
Any hotels that are pretty nice (we'll have a car but would like to be close to the action) on the "good neighbor" hotel list.
Any advice, help is MUCH appreciated!
Lesley

 

[Darcy03231]

We've been in the summer and stayed off-site. The best thing to do is to arrive early and be at the gates about 15 min prior to park opening. We found we got a lot done in the first couple of hours. We also took advantage of the single rider lines. By noon the lines for the popular rides were long (an hour+).

We stayed at the Sheraton Studio City which was really nice and about 1/2 a mile away.

Having said this, with Harry Potter opening this spring, my guess it will be really busy all day. I would plan to stay on-site for at least one night to get 2 days of unlimited express pass (check in day and check out day).

 

[bubba's mom]

If you are going in the summer, there is NO way I'd go w/o express pass....esp. w/ HP opening.

You might want to consider Hard Rock or Royal Pacific to save some $.....the Portofino is usually the most expensive of the 3.

 

[Grace&Carolinesmom]

Don't forget, if you have a AAA membership you can usually get a substancial discount on the room. Call the reservation line for your dates and see if it is available.