Help Pick my Hotel

[LitlbitWraps]

i am one who thinks the meal plans are awsome and work perfect for my family some here dont

We would be sooo into the meal plan

 

[JadeDarkstar]

Minnie's 5 Days of Disney Dining Plan
Disney's special dining plans make it easy for you to sample a bit of everything while using vouchers instead of cash. For an extra touch of magic, don't miss our Disney Character Dining experiences, available at these locations (priority seating required*) :
• Goofy's Kitchen
o Disneyland® Hotel (serving breakfast, lunch and dinner)
• Lilo and Stitch Aloha Breakfast
o Disney's Paradise Pier® Hotel
• Chip 'n Dale Critter Breakfast
o Disney's Grand Californian Hotel® & Spa
• Minnie and Friends Breakfast
o Disneyland® Park
• Disney Princess Celebration Character Lunch/Dinner**
o Ariel's Grotto in Disney's California Adventure® Park
Minnie's 5 Days of Disney Dining Plan
13 Disney Dining choices per person.
Adult/Junior Meals included
Character Breakfast 1
Character Lunch or Dinner 1
Dinner with Goofy 1
Breakfast in the Park 1
Snack Voucher 3
$5 Meal Voucher 1
$10 Meal Voucher 3
$15 Meal Voucher 2
Child Meals included
Character Breakfast 1
Character Lunch or Dinner 1
Dinner with Goofy 1
Breakfast in the Park 1
Snack Voucher 3
$5 Meal Voucher 2
$10 Meal Voucher 4
*Priority Seating is required for all table service restaurants in Disneyland® Park, Disney's California Adventure® and the Resort Hotels. Please call Disney Dining up to 60 days in advance to arrange Priority Seating (714) 781 - DINE
Some restaurant locations may charge a nominal fee for guests 2 years and under.
** Voucher for Princess Celebration Character Lunch/Dinner may be applied to the cost of any meal at a Resort Table Service restaurant open for lunch or dinner, including Character Dining. Daily operating hours may vary. Applicable Table Service locations include: Ariel's Grotto, Steakhouse 55, Hook's Pointe, Goofy's Kitchen, PCH Grill, Yamabuki, Storyteller's Cafe, Napa Rose, Blue Bayou, Carnation Cafe, Vineyard Room, Wine Country Trattoria.
13 Disney Dining choices per person Adult/Junior
$188.87
Child
$132.78
-------------------------------------------
Mickey's 6 Days of Disney Dining Plan
Disney's special dining plans make it easy for you to sample a bit of everything while using vouchers instead of cash. For an extra touch of magic, don't miss our Disney Character Dining experiences, available at these locations (priority seating required*) :
• Goofy's Kitchen
o Disneyland® Hotel (serving breakfast, lunch and dinner)
• Lilo and Stitch Aloha Breakfast
o Disney's Paradise Pier® Hotel
• Chip 'n Dale Critter Breakfast
o Disney's Grand Californian Hotel® & Spa
• Minnie and Friends Breakfast
o Disneyland® Park
• Disney Princess Celebration Character Lunch/Dinner**
o Ariel's Grotto in Disney's California Adventure® Park
Mickey's 6 Days of Disney Dining Plan
15 Disney Dining choices per person.
Adult/Junior Meals included
Character Breakfast 1
Character Lunch or Dinner 1
Dinner with Goofy 1
Breakfast in the Park 2
Snack Voucher 3
$10 Meal Voucher 4
$15 Meal Voucher 3
Child Meals included
Character Breakfast 1
Character Lunch or Dinner 1
Dinner with Goofy 1
Breakfast in the Park 3
Snack Voucher 2
$10 Meal Voucher 4
$15 Meal Voucher 1
*Priority Seating is required for all table service restaurants in Disneyland® Park, Disney's California Adventure® and the Resort Hotels. Please call Disney Dining up to 60 days in advance to arrange Priority Seating (714) 781 - DINE
Some restaurant locations may charge a nominal fee for guests 2 years and under.
** Voucher for Princess Celebration Character Lunch/Dinner may be applied to the cost of any meal at a Resort Table Service restaurant open for lunch or dinner, including Character Dining. Daily operating hours may vary. Applicable Table Service locations include: Ariel's Grotto, Steakhouse 55, Hook's Pointe, Goofy's Kitchen, PCH Grill, Yamabuki, Storyteller's Cafe, Napa Rose, Blue Bayou, Carnation Cafe, Vineyard Room, Wine Country Trattoria.
15 Disney Dining choices per person Adult/Junior
$219.41
Child
$158.32
-----------------------------------

 

[LitlbitWraps]

Gosh - a Ton of info! Thanks
I'm gona need to sit down and check it out. I was planning the 4 day meal plan. Someone mentioned a meal plan punch card or ticket or similar to keep track of what you used??

 

[JenDisneylandlver]

Pretty sure DL just has the vouchers. Remember you won't be able to use those at any place in DTD (and of course off site). Basically your just prepaying for your meals, there is no discount to doing the dining plan. Guess that's good if you have trouble with budgeting money for food, and want it prepaid, and plan on eating most meals in the parks.

For us it's never been worth it. I just set aside our food money, and that way we've got a large variety of places to go (cheaper too, since we don't eat every meal in the parks). We like eating in DTD a few times, and at places like Mimi's across the street on Harbor.

 

[JadeDarkstar]

its vouchers
you get a book with the above
you dont get change back thats the bad thing but i didnt see a problem i just made sure i budgeted what we got or added 50 cents here or there it seemed to work well for us.
The 4 day is a bit cheaper and i forget what it dosent have. i just have these two saved on note pad since been planing like mad its front page lol

I like all the charcter meals we did. now the brekfest in park isnt minnies but the voucher can take 12dollers off..and the other doller amounts can be added togetehr to do minnies if you want.

if you have any questions ask ill try my best to answer

I will also be ordering from vons some times we will do lunch in hotle. im gona be useing the vouchers for nice sit down meals an a few quick stops.
I am taribule at saving money if i have it ill spend it (hince a trip every year after sep lol ) I just see it worth it all the way around for us

 

[DangerMouse]

Another Arizonan here and another HoJo fan.

Remember, the new Pirate themed pool could be used on either your check-in day or check-out day as well. Their customer service is excellent and I love their new beds (which are comparable to the Westin Heavenly beds). There is plenty of room for a crib in a 2 queen room, and MiMi's Cafe is right across the street and is a great place for off-site dining.

 

[JadeDarkstar]

i have heard from some one here its not a pool the only pool will be the other one this will be a play area? if any one knows for sure id like to know lol

 

[LitlbitWraps]

Pretty sure DL just has the vouchers. Remember you won't be able to use those at any place in DTD (and of course off site). Basically your just prepaying for your meals, there is no discount to doing the dining plan. Guess that's good if you have trouble with budgeting money for food, and want it prepaid, and plan on eating most meals in the parks.

For us it's never been worth it. I just set aside our food money, and that way we've got a large variety of places to go (cheaper too, since we don't eat every meal in the parks). We like eating in DTD a few times, and at places like Mimi's across the street on Harbor.

We are not much for budgeting
I have just taken over for DH so I think this is a great start.
The only time we will eat elsewhere is the night we get there & the day we leave. Then we will goto Downtown All other meals will be at DL

its vouchers
you get a book with the above
you dont get change back thats the bad thing but i didnt see a problem i just made sure i budgeted what we got or added 50 cents here or there it seemed to work well for us.
The 4 day is a bit cheaper and i forget what it dosent have. i just have these two saved on note pad since been planing like mad its front page lol

I like all the charcter meals we did. now the brekfest in park isnt minnies but the voucher can take 12dollers off..and the other doller amounts can be added togetehr to do minnies if you want.

if you have any questions ask ill try my best to answer

I will also be ordering from vons some times we will do lunch in hotle. im gona be useing the vouchers for nice sit down meals an a few quick stops.
I am taribule at saving money if i have it ill spend it (hince a trip every year after sep lol ) I just see it worth it all the way around for us

I'm even thinking of doing the 5 day meal and splitting the last day during the other time we are there
We will do the breakfast cuz that was soo fun.
Goofy's kitchen looks cool too!

I just PMed Loralee so I am waiting to hear the best wat to book at hojo's

 

[JadeDarkstar]

rember hojos has a dis rate i never knew this till like two weeks ago now i do lol

ya we are only gona be in park for 4 days but we wanted the 5day plan we will use it and the first night were there well secound we will do goofys for sons bday dinner. I hope you have a grate time and goofys and minnies is good. if you like princess id do a brekfest. I didnt like the lunch menu to much.

 

[LitlbitWraps]

rember hojos has a dis rate i never knew this till like two weeks ago now i do lol

ya we are only gona be in park for 4 days but we wanted the 5day plan we will use it and the first night were there well secound we will do goofys for sons bday dinner. I hope you have a grate time and goofys and minnies is good. if you like princess id do a brekfest. I didnt like the lunch menu to much.

A person of my own heart Maybe I should upgrade to the 5 meal and do the same -

I just did the online chat with the disney reservations and they said that I could book and always change before we get there so maybe I'll book the 4 and upgrade to the 5
Just still waiting to hear about the discount I would hat to book and not get the discount!! That is a nice chunk of change for toys

 

[JadeDarkstar]

well hojos dis discount i guess all you do is mintion your on the dis? idk i think its at least 10% maybe 15% the ap one is 20 i think
enjoy your time no matter what you decied i think the 5days gives us plenty of charcter meals and the snack and 5doller voutchers the 4day was missing soemthing i wanted i forget now lol

 

[avalon451]

Do you know what the Hojo disc. is? Is it after the rate I see on the DL website with the full package? How can I get the discount?

Lilbit: HoJo's is a favorite here on the DIS boards. The Hojo's rate that everybody on DIS talks about, is the Entertainment book rate. You buy an Entertainment coupon book (and right now you can get it for your own area, for $10, but you don't have to have it to make reservations, just when you check in). The special rate is only good for certain days and it does sell out, so you'd need to call the hotel and find out if they have rooms available for your dates. You need to call the hotel directly and ask for in-house reservations, not the national reservation lines. The Ent rate is $59 for a standard room, or $74 for a deluxe, Disney-facing, balcony room. I see on their website that the rate is listed as available for August 24th-28th and September 2-4th. However, even if some of your days are in between, you can still get the DIS board rate for those days, which is 15% off.

HoJo is a nice, clean hotel with very friendly staff (Lorealle is the best!), and they have inside corridors, unlike most of the other motels that are directly across the crosswalk from the park entrance. HoJo is up one (long) block, but by crossing the street and walking down on the park side, and going in by the taxi entrance, you cut some time off your walk, and it's only about 7 minutes' walk. It's really just as close as staying in one of the farther towers at DLH.

By the way, I wouldn't book a package. I'd book hotel, air and tickets seperately; you can save a LOT of money that way. Get your parkhopper tickets through GetAwayToday http://www.getawaytoday.com/TicketListing.aspx for the same price as through DL online; plus you will get 2 Magic Mornings instead of just one. Use the discount code "podcast" and they will waive the $10 processing fee.

Hope that helps!

 

[LitlbitWraps]

Lilbit: HoJo's is a favorite here on the DIS boards. The Hojo's rate that everybody on DIS talks about, is the Entertainment book rate. You buy an Entertainment coupon book (and right now you can get it for your own area, for $10, but you don't have to have it to make reservations, just when you check in). The special rate is only good for certain days and it does sell out, so you'd need to call the hotel and find out if they have rooms available for your dates. You need to call the hotel directly and ask for in-house reservations, not the national reservation lines. The Ent rate is $59 for a standard room, or $74 for a deluxe, Disney-facing, balcony room. I see on their website that the rate is listed as available for August 24th-28th and September 2-4th. However, even if some of your days are in between, you can still get the DIS board rate for those days, which is 15% off.

HoJo is a nice, clean hotel with very friendly staff (Lorealle is the best!), and they have inside corridors, unlike most of the other motels that are directly across the crosswalk from the park entrance. HoJo is up one (long) block, but by crossing the street and walking down on the park side, and going in by the taxi entrance, you cut some time off your walk, and it's only about 7 minutes' walk. It's really just as close as staying in one of the farther towers at DLH.

By the way, I wouldn't book a package. I'd book hotel, air and tickets seperately; you can save a LOT of money that way. Get your parkhopper tickets through GetAwayToday http://www.getawaytoday.com/TicketListing.aspx for the same price as through DL online; plus you will get 2 Magic Mornings instead of just one. Use the discount code "podcast" and they will waive the $10 processing fee.

Hope that helps!

Thanks! I was going to try to check the seperate prices but couldn't find the link I just kept getting hotel only or package
We are driving so we just need the room, parkhopper & would really prefer the meals too. Do you know If I can get the meals through the hotel? I thought It was just through the packages
Thanks a bunch!

 

[DangerMouse]

Because our DLR trips are always done as frugally as possible, I have never done a package because I price it separately and ALWAYS ALWAYS it is a better deal to do it separate. I'd skip the meal plan (it doesn't save you anything and really seems like a headache -- why not purchase a Disney gift card and use that for meals?), get parkhoppers through getawaytoday (so you get 2 MM's instead of one), and book your hotel separately. JMO.

 

[JadeDarkstar]

ok 1 I thought there was a rate called the dis rate is this the same as the entertainment book?
2 you have to get the meal plan though disney if you want just tickets and meal they wll do it. i didnt book hotle though them and am still getting the 5day meal plan just as long as i book tickets with them. they will not do meal plan seprate so for ap it wouldnt work.

but to book tickets and meal plan you could

 

[DangerMouse]

Jade there is a separate Dis rate that can be used if the Ent. rate isn't available.

The AAA rate is 10%
The Dis rate is 15%
The AP rate is 20%

The ent. rate is 50% off rack rates which currently equates to $79 for premium and $59 for standard and deluxe.

 

[JadeDarkstar]

ty DM i understand now

 

[LitlbitWraps]

Hi everyone - Thanks so much for all your help & ideas.
I just called inhouse and they are gone so I will call tomorrow.
Question,
The website says $825.99 for my stay and states there is a discount of 15% added already for a stay over 3 days.
Will I still get the Disboard discount on top of that or just the additional on the Ent rates?
I think if I cant do the dining plan I might just take the extra$ and buy the disney gift card then I know it will be used for food.
We will be doing Travelers checks because that worked well for us last time dividing them up per day

 

[Queenbillabong]

I was told just yesterday that Aug 24-28 does not have the entertainment rate (even though on the webiste discussion board it says it does). The best rate I could find for that time period was the AP rate of 20%. I e-mailed Lorealle to see if it is true that those dates are not eligible for the E-rate, but no luck yet. They told me that the dates can change without notice (the dates were updated as 06/16), but that they may come available. It's not that the rooms are all booked up - lots of room at that time apparently. Just not showing the E-rate, even at in-house reservations....

 

[LitlbitWraps]

I was told just yesterday that Aug 24-28 does not have the entertainment rate (even though on the webiste discussion board it says it does). The best rate I could find for that time period was the AP rate of 20%. I e-mailed Lorealle to see if it is true that those dates are not eligible for the E-rate, but no luck yet. They told me that the dates can change without notice (the dates were updated as 06/16), but that they may come available. It's not that the rooms are all booked up - lots of room at that time apparently. Just not showing the E-rate, even at in-house reservations....

Thanks for checking for me
Do you know, if it shows a 15% off online for a 3+ day discount, if the Dis board would be on top of that rate?
Unfortunaty we dont have an AP - so we cant go that way