Help me with my fall 2022 trip planning..

[katyringo]

I dream of staying at the Disneyland hotel but have a best western budget. However we are entertaining a split stay.

it would be next fall and we would do three park days and oogie boogie bash. I would time
It to switch on our OBB day and have two nights at DLH. The OOB day would be check in, full park day, and the day we travel home… we would take a late flight home.

I just wonder if it was a big hassle to switch? Like obviously wouldn’t trek all our luggage through security so would probably Uber over there.. check out of BWPP would be I assume around 11 and we could be room less until the offical check in of 3. But I assume you can use the pool at DLH before offical check in?

there is also a small part of us that is thinking of going all in on the DLH for the whole trip. It’s $1000 more. I know “worth it” is subjective. I am a Disney lover through and through if that helps. The lack of park perks for hotel guests is a little bit of why I am hesitant.. and goofy’s kitchen having not opened yet. hoping to see early entry come back that would be HUGE for the way we do the parks.

one more question. We could save the $$ by dropping the park hopper. Before Covid I would say the hopper at Disneyland was a no brainer. But now.. what are folks thoughts? My thought process is with OBB we essentially have 2 days in each park.

 

[wishing4PA]

This month's trip (our first to DLR rather than WDW) was the first time I ended up completely ambivalent on the hopper. We did hop the last 2 days, next to the last day both for a BG and for an ADR. But we could have done without it.
Actually, the BGs would be my main reason to hop -- except that was the only day I remembered to get one at the noon drop. The last day we were sitting at lunch and I decided to do our airline check in and DD kept saying, Mom, it's noon ... Mom, do you have to do that right now? I didn't, of course, but the BG drop was the furthest thing from my mind right then!

 

[EmJ]

We are planning a summer 2022 stay and are also splurging on the DL Hotel after originally budgeting for BWPPI in March 2020. Normally I just won't won't won't pay $600 night for a room anywhere on planet Earth because ARE YOU KIDDING ME FOR REAL?! But we are compensating/rewarding ourselves for having gotten through some extraordinarily difficult times as a family during the past two years, so it's whatever

I too am hopeful that early entry and Goofy's Kitchen will return before our stay, but understand they may not and am okay with that. The pool is a HUGE draw for us since it will definitely be warm enough to swim. And the kid (and us) will be enchanted by all the Disney ambiance and magic touches, I have no doubt. As to hoppers, we are DL first-timers so take this with a grain of salt, but except for WWoHP in Orlando (and exclusively because of the Hogwarts Express), I never buy hoppers anywhere. It seems like a lot of wasted time running back and forth between parks, when I can just stay put and do what I want in Location 1 on Day 1 and Location 2 on Day 2. I've never regretted it. We're planning 3 days in DL and 2 days in CA with ample pool time built in.

Edit: I'm also curious to know if you can use the DL hotel pool before the official 3:00 check-in if anyone knows the answer to that.

 

[Becca1007]

We are planning a summer 2022 stay and are also splurging on the DL Hotel after originally budgeting for BWPPI in March 2020. Normally I just won't won't won't pay $600 night for a room anywhere on planet Earth because ARE YOU KIDDING ME FOR REAL?! But we are compensating/rewarding ourselves for having gotten through some extraordinarily difficult times as a family during the past two years, so it's whatever

I too am hopeful that early entry and Goofy's Kitchen will return before our stay, but understand they may not and am okay with that. The pool is a HUGE draw for us since it will definitely be warm enough to swim. And the kid (and us) will be enchanted by all the Disney ambiance and magic touches, I have no doubt. As to hoppers, we are DL first-timers so take this with a grain of salt, but except for WWoHP in Orlando (and exclusively because of the Hogwarts Express), I never buy hoppers anywhere. It seems like a lot of wasted time running back and forth between parks, when I can just stay put and do what I want in Location 1 on Day 1 and Location 2 on Day 2. I've never regretted it. We're planning 3 days in DL and 2 days in CA with ample pool time built in.

Edit: I'm also curious to know if you can use the DL hotel pool before the official 3:00 check-in if anyone knows the answer to that.

As soon as you check in you can start using the pool and even post checkout on your checkout day (if say you have a late flight) we got a card key that worked for the pool gate when we checked out of the Grand so that we could use the pool until it was time to head to the airport.

 

[Becca1007]

I dream of staying at the Disneyland hotel but have a best western budget. However we are entertaining a split stay.

it would be next fall and we would do three park days and oogie boogie bash. I would time
It to switch on our OBB day and have two nights at DLH. The OOB day would be check in, full park day, and the day we travel home… we would take a late flight home.

I just wonder if it was a big hassle to switch? Like obviously wouldn’t trek all our luggage through security so would probably Uber over there.. check out of BWPP would be I assume around 11 and we could be room less until the offical check in of 3. But I assume you can use the pool at DLH before offical check in?

there is also a small part of us that is thinking of going all in on the DLH for the whole trip. It’s $1000 more. I know “worth it” is subjective. I am a Disney lover through and through if that helps. The lack of park perks for hotel guests is a little bit of why I am hesitant.. and goofy’s kitchen having not opened yet. hoping to see early entry come back that would be HUGE for the way we do the parks.

one more question. We could save the $$ by dropping the park hopper. Before Covid I would say the hopper at Disneyland was a no brainer. But now.. what are folks thoughts? My thought process is with OBB we essentially have 2 days in each park.

So the best option we found in the past for a split stay was a one night stay at a disney hotel (grand or DLH) because we would check in super early and use the early entry privileges and then you also get early entry on the second (checkout) day. If early entry doesnt come back I doubt that I would do a split stay because the hassle of moving is just not worth it.

 

[EmJ]

As soon as you check in you can start using the pool and even post checkout on your checkout day (if say you have a late flight) we got a card key that worked for the pool gate when we checked out of the Grand so that we could use the pool until it was time to head to the airport.

Awesome thank you!

 

[katyringo]

So the best option we found in the past for a split stay was a one night stay at a disney hotel (grand or DLH) because we would check in super early and use the early entry privileges and then you also get early entry on the second (checkout) day. If early entry doesnt come back I doubt that I would do a split stay because the hassle of moving is just not worth it.

This is kinda where I landed last night after hubby and I talked. I dream of staying at DLH… but it’s a lot of money and no perks right now. This may not be the trip to do it.

 

[FeistyDisneyMom]

If you were talking fall this year, it doesn't seem worth it given your priorities and budget. But if you are planning on next year, there is a very good chance more perks will have returned. I think you should budget like your entire stay will be DLH and skip the split stay hassles. If no new perks (or return of previous perks) return before you need to book, you can evaluate then. Worst case you budget way more than you need for hotel and you can spend that treating yourself to more in-park luxuries (or as a starting point for your next trip!).

 

[cruisehopeful]

It's far enough in advance that you can tentatively plan all options and things will begin to make more sense as it gets closer. I usually only sleep and shower in the room. So, being on property doesn't matter as much to me. I am staying on property a couple times this fall, though. It's convenient to go to the Grand and fall asleep after Oogie Boogie Bash and I love the food at the hotel. So, it makes sense for me to stay there. I'll be staying at the DLH in November as part of Dapper Days.

I am not you and probably have different expectations, but if I were in your shoes, I'd do the split stay. I would check out of Best Western first thing in the morning and take an Uber/Lyft to DLH. You can check into the DLH as early as 6am if memory serves me correctly. They will check your bags and you can use the facilities there or still have a full park day without interruption. If perks come back such as early park entry, you may find that you'll want to do your whole stay at DLH. Being a morning person, early entry appeals to me. My adult children are night owls and would never be awake during the early entry. When they were younger, it was pointless for me to stay onsite for early entry because I couldn't use it and they were under 18, so I couldn't leave them asleep in the room.