help me decide between offsite or onsite...

[taaren]

Not true, everyone must have an AP that is doing the AP early entery. Says so in the FAQ of the email I got. One AP person can reseve for the entire party, but once at the gates everyone will need an AP to do the early entery.

Sorry thought that's what I was saying. Perhaps I was unclear. If OP takes one or two of her APs (her family of 5 already has them), she can make a reservation for a party of 6 for the AP MMs. Then when she gets to the park, they can upgrade her neice's ticket to an AP to use the reserved MMs.

This is what I meant by this:

If you don't want to spend the $$ on on-site, what about just buying an AP for your niece? Given the recent announcement of having MMs for AP holders (and with one AP activated you can reserve a morning for your entire party, then just buy it for her/activate it when you get there for hers), this might be a viable option for at least 2 days for your party.

At least from this post

Five of us will have APs. Only my niece will have a PH with MM.

I got the impression that OP already has 5 APs for her own family, so she could reserve the MM, then all 6 could enter when she bought a 6th AP which would still be cheaper than staying on site.

 

[ashnjam]

@Argento HAHAHA

 

[indygirl99]

Sorry thought that's what I was saying. Perhaps I was unclear. If OP takes one or two of her APs (her family of 5 already has them), she can make a reservation for a party of 6 for the AP MMs. Then when she gets to the park, they can upgrade her neice's ticket to an AP to use the reserved MMs.

This is what I meant by this:


At least from this post
I got the impression that OP already has 5 APs for her own family, so she could reserve the MM, then all 6 could enter when she bought a 6th AP which would still be cheaper than staying on site.

The AP MM must be registered with the individual AP number for EACH pass. So the AP must already be activated when you make the ressie and must still be active on the visit date.

Plus each AP gets to register for ONE MM at each park from June to Sept.

 

[jojomojo]

Offsite is the way to go! It's way cheaper, the walks aren't bad at all and onsite prices are for suckers. Really, it's the hands down choice!

That said, I would never stay offsite.

Thank you, that is very helpful

A few more options:
A) How would you feel about a split stay? Perhaps Hojo for 3-4 nights, then PPH for 3 nights?

I brought that up to my husband once, he didn't seem to like the idea of it. I'm not sure if I do. I think I'd be happier offsite the whole time rather than having to pack stuff up mid trip.

Sorry thought that's what I was saying. Perhaps I was unclear. If OP takes one or two of her APs (her family of 5 already has them), she can make a reservation for a party of 6 for the AP MMs. Then when she gets to the park, they can upgrade her neice's ticket to an AP to use the reserved MMs.

This is what I meant by this:


At least from this post
I got the impression that OP already has 5 APs for her own family, so she could reserve the MM, then all 6 could enter when she bought a 6th AP which would still be cheaper than staying on site.

We don't have APs yet. I'm going to buy them pretty soon here and we'll activate them when we get there. From what I read, I wouldn't be able to register until the APs are activated, then I can register for an AP MM 3 days out (which our trip is long enough for, but I'm not counting on it being available that late in the game).

My husband is going to talk to his parents tonight about going on the trip, keep your fingers crossed for me

 

[Amy&Dan]

I would make the two reservations. That is what we have done for our July dates. I currently have a reservation at the DLH for four nights, with one night at a Super 8 (we arrive late, no sense paying $400 for that night) and then I also have a reservation at the Candy Cane Inn for all five of our nights.

I was able to get a AAA discount of 10% which helps but I am still not 100% I want to pay that much. So I have my back up plan!

I do agree onsite is for suckers, and I am one of them. We have done 17 trips to DL and all but four of them have been onsite. But the rates have gotten insane and I do have my limits!

Good luck, it will be a wonderful trip no matter where you stay. But it will be very crowed. Still we have done peak and off peak times, and we actually do prefer peak times. We like the longer hours, like that all the shows and rides are up and running every day (hate not having fireworks during the week when we go off season) and with fastpass and knowing to get there at opening each day, we make out fine.

Magic Mornings are great, but to me they are not the key reason for staying onsite. I just enjoy being immersed in the magic, love the nicer pools and love the walk up DTD vs. Harbor.

I lean towards more days for you, but think you should make the onsite reservation. Nothing is worse than when you decide to "go for it" and the onsite hotels are sold out. And they almost always are, especially for this summer I am thinking!

 

[taaren]

The AP MM must be registered with the individual AP number for EACH pass. So the AP must already be activated when you make the ressie and must still be active on the visit date.

Plus each AP gets to register for ONE MM at each park from June to Sept.

Ah, I went back and looked at the site again:

Who is invited to Annual Passholder Early Entry? All valid Disneyland Resort Annual Passholders have an opportunity to participate in this event! Please note that space is limited and based on availability, and currently only offered from June 18, 2012 through September 13, 2012. Advance online registration is required. Each Guest must have a valid Annual Passport for the day of the event for Park entry.
How many people can I bring? Due to the size of the event and number of Passholders, event participation is limited to registered Passholders only. During the registration process, a Passholder may register up to eight (8) Passholders for the same event date. All Passholders in the party must have an active Annual Passport, both at the time of registration and on the date of the selected event.

I remembered reading the Bolded part but not the italicized part.

OP- its a pity the AP MMs or a split stay won't work for you. Just keep reminding those in-laws of how great a trip it will be to see the look on their grandchildren's faces when they're at Disneyland!! We love having grandparents around anyways, more hands with kids is always great.

 

[jojomojo]

If we didn't have 4 kids with us, a split stay would be great! But then again...if we didn't have 4 kids with us, we wouldn't need to consider one lol Packing up after that many kids at the end of the trip is bad enough, I can't imagine doing it twice - especially with two teen girls in the mix!

 

[Goofy_Mom]

Ah, I went back and looked at the site again:

I remembered reading the Bolded part but not the italicized part.

OP- its a pity the AP MMs or a split stay won't work for you. Just keep reminding those in-laws of how great a trip it will be to see the look on their grandchildren's faces when they're at Disneyland!! We love having grandparents around anyways, more hands with kids is always great.

I'm thinking that if they bought the AP's before they leave that they should still be able to make the reservations for the early entry, even though they haven't activated the APs. Disney would have a record that the AP's are current even though not used yet. It doesn't hurt to call and ask, the worst they can say is "No".

 

[Goofy_Mom]

One more tip, now that I know you're AP holders. A couple of off site hotels offer AP discounts. HoJo and Park Vue, both within walking distance to the parks. HoJo has an awesome pool and a kid's suite option (bunk beds). If you're lucky you can get the "retro" rate at HoJo's. We're staying the first week of June for the first time at HoJo's and got a double queen room for $69/night. The retro rate for the kids suite is $129 I think. If they don't have retro rates available, you'll still get a discount. You have to call Anahiem HoJo directly, though, not the 800 number. the number is 714-776-6120 ask for in house reservations.

I wanted to bump this post for the OP.

 

[jojomojo]

I'm thinking that if they bought the AP's before they leave that they should still be able to make the reservations for the early entry, even though they haven't activated the APs. Disney would have a record that the AP's are current even though not used yet. It doesn't hurt to call and ask, the worst they can say is "No".

I called and the person I talked said that the APs would have to be activated.

I wanted to bump this post for the OP.

On Monday I booked some October dates at $69/night at HOJOs

Tomorrow I'll book my reservations for July/August. I'm going to go with HOJOs for that too, kids would LOVE the pool!

 

[mouseymommy]

I called and the person I talked said that the APs would have to be activated.



On Monday I booked some October dates at $69/night at HOJOs

Tomorrow I'll book my reservations for July/August. I'm going to go with HOJOs for that too, kids would LOVE the pool!

I called HOJO yesterday to check prices for July, They were quite high! Almost $140 for the standard room! This was for mid July, but I did tell her we were flexible on dates. We decided to go back to the BWPPI. It was the same price and it has breakfast and it SOOO close!

 

[jojomojo]

Is it that much closer than HOJOs? Its the pool that really draws me to it. I plan on bringing quick breakfast foods with us. Continental breakfasts are hit & miss with our group (I'm allergic to eggs, dh and I don't eat sugar/flour, kids can't have artificial food dye, I think my niece will be the only cow milk drinker, etc).

 

[mouseymommy]

Basically it's the closest you can be to the gates! I have heard the breakfast has expanded, but they usually have cold cereal, muffins, biscuits and gravy, fruit, donuts, danish. I have heard they now have pancakes and scrambled eggs. The pool is just a normal pool. Nothing special. We almost always stay at BWPPI because it is so close and convenient.

 

[jojomojo]

I have been reading reviews of offsite motels all morning and I just keep jumping from one to the other trying to find the best one.

Here's an example of what I'm used to....if we're on a 2 day car trip and we need to stop for the night, a clean room & hot shower aren't enough to do it for me. Like when we travel through Denver, we always stop at the Staybridge Suites in Lone Tree - usually get a 1 bedroom suite anywhere from $120-$180. The onsite rates don't bother me, it just bothers me that I need to get a whole second room because of one extra child. Two rooms at those rates are just too much (still no word on if the grandparents are going).

I read a review for Ramada Maingate where someone said a roach crawled across the headboard, took it to the front desk and they gave him a coupon If something like that happened to me, I wouldn't sleep for a week (and probably feel the urge to burn my luggage when I get home).

We're staying at HOJOs in October, so I wanted to try something different. Plus, I was hoping for a slightly shorter walk. But its looking like it might be the only hotel I'm happy with.

Some things that just aren't that important to me - freeway noise (all heavy sleepers), continental breakfast (we'll bring/buy our own stuff), 5 min vs 10 min. walk (when you consider the full day in the park, an extra 5 mins walking shouldn't break us lol), etc.

Do the parlor family suites at the desert inn get better reviews than that hotel in general? That's the other one I'm leaning towards. We'd only need one room, and if the ILs came along, they could pay 1/4 of the total (avg 237/night).

I really appreciate everyones help! My head is spinning trying to make the decision. Unfortunately, its true when mamas not happy aint nobody happy (and I don't want to be in a foul mood because of hotel choice lol).

 

[Brady's Mom]

The one thing that keeps me coming back to HoJo is that the beds are quite comfy. We always stay NQQ2 overlooking the garden pool and sleep really well.

The walk doesn't bother us - unless it's VERY late at night and the two younger kids are too tired to walk.

The problem I'm having is that we have ressies for HoJo the first part of Oct. and now we have friends who want to come with us and the cost for a room there is substantially more now. We want adjoining or next door rooms, so I am spending a LOT of time trying to find another option.

I've never found good prices for any of the other Harbor options - the prices always seemed higher than HoJo and I was happy to stay there. Now with the price increases at HoJo we may have to find another go to hotel. But, one really big thing that I like is inside corridors and even the Fairfield Marriott is outside corridors.

 

[Goofy_Mom]

Normally, I'd suggest the name-your-own-price through priceline. Even if you get a great rate, you may only have one bed. For us it's not a problem 'cause it's just me and my two kids usually. You could bid for two rooms, though.

I usually get a 3 1/2 star hotel for $69/night (HoJo is listed between a 2 & 3). Even if you get two rooms, that only comes to $140-ish/night. Also, you wouldn't be within walking distance. You'd be taking the shuttle that picks you up from out front of your hotel lobby and drops you off inside the pedestirian entrance. You also don't know what hotel you get until your bid is accepted. I have never been disapointed and I'm a bit picky on my hotels. In fact a fellow Dis-er got Staybridge suite for $65/night with June dates.

You're dates are coming up soon. With the opening of Carsland and it being peak season, the rates of most hotels may be on the rise. The sooner you can get a room, the lower your cost may be. Good luck and happy hunting

 

[jojomojo]

Grandma & Papa are coming too! I have two rooms at the PPH booked for 7/29 - 8/4 (might shave one day off though...undecided). Already have everyones APs and tickets purchased and the itinerary half complete



This board is great, thanks for the help everyone!

 

[mouseymommy]

Grandma & Papa are coming too! I have two rooms at the PPH booked for 7/29 - 8/4 (might shave one day off though...undecided). Already have everyones APs and tickets purchased and the itinerary half complete



This board is great, thanks for the help everyone!

AWESOME!! So exciting for you!