Help plan a trip for family w/ 8 kids

[michelleh1]

I think the reason why Costco can't find Desert Inn in their system is because it's no longer a Disney Good Neighbor Hotel. I think they'll only book Disney and Good Neighbor hotels for you.

have you figured out if you'll save money by booking yourself? the C2 suite is only $139/night for most of the month of May. you could still purchase the city pass directly from Costco, and book your hotel separately. with the money you'll save with one room at Desert Inn as opposed to 2 rooms elsewhere, you'll probably have enough left over for a character meal.

the Desert Inn does not offer a full kitchen like Staybridge Suites does though. it only has a mini-fridge, microwave, and coffee maker.

 

[michelleh1]

according to the Unofficial Guide to DL, it's a 6:40 minute walk from Desert Inn to DLR. most people do it in less time than the guide states, however, I think I would add on a bit of time with your little ones.

 

[goldies 5]

If you have not already booked it you may want to price it out seperately. Getaway offers good ticket prices too. Also Desert Inn takes AAA. You may even want to call them directly to find out what kind of deal you can get on your own. The deals fluctuate everywhere. Sometimes costco is better but not always.
Also we did see triplet strollers both long and wide in December. I remember wishing I had one.

 

[8timesblessed]

I did put in a reservation at the Desert Inn off of their site and pricing it out seperately saved me about $1000. This will give me more time to keep looking and reading reviews etc.

Are the buses that bad in May?? I know my kids would love riding the bus, at least they did when we stayed up in Whistler. I just don't know about getting the stroller on the bus, it does fold down. It's a Peg Perego and it's long not wide and the seats all come off and the base folds like a normal stroller. We are on our second one because the first one was used so well and I found a barely used one on Craigslist. It makes it so I can go out alone with all the kids and stay sane.

What about the Suites across from Target??? Several friends recommended the Embassy Suites south but I didn't see that great of reviews when I was looking online. I would prefer to find a place that has a King in one room, two queens in the other and the fold-out couch. That always seems to work great for us and I just bring these little sleeping bags that have blowup mattresses for the 3 little kids. Or if we bring other family and I keep the two 2 bedroom suites at the Staybridge, they would be able to stay with us.

So many details! Thanks for helping me walk through this.

 

[goldies 5]

I don't know about the Embassy but someone will. I have taken a double stroller on the bus before, but only once. It was a little bit of a hassle for me. I put all kinds of stuff in the strollers ans getting on and off and having stuff all over is a bit of a pain. We walked the rest of the time, but you are right kids get a kick out of buses. We just look for deals to stay on-site for the convenience, and for us it truly is. If you are having uncertain feelings about Desert Inn, my cousin and her family have stayed there before. She says it is a great location, indoor but small and heavily chlorinated pool, bad elevators, (but in my opinion the PP elevators are pretty bad) parking is tough at times, rooms are big, pillows very bad, clean and great pricing. There is also HOJO's but little feet will get tired on that walk. There is the Candy Cane Inn, not sure about the type of room you desire or not, but they have a private bus, good European style breakfast, and it is also walkable if desired, like HoJo's. You might want to look at package options through Getawaytoday also. And I would always check Expedia for PP, It was down to 100 dollars Oct-Dec. The elevators are a pain with strollers in the morning could take some time, the beds are comfortable, rooms are big and there is a pull out sofa bed. My family fits in there nicely. Yours might be a little more interesting.

 

[momSandy]

We're heading to Disneyland the first week of March and will be staying at the Desert Inn and Suites. I'll let you know how it worked for us if you're interested.

We purchased the five day park hoppers - everyone at the kid price during the time we are there. I thought that was a great deal.

As a large family, you probably already do similar color dress code to help keep track of everybody. I've purchase matching shirts at Old Navy and Target, but am on the lookout for more sales.

We'll be bringing in quite a few snacks so we don't have to buy every single morsel of food in the park.

Our family demographics are a bit older than yours now, but similar in numbers. (Kids aged 16, 14, 14, 13, 11, 10, 9, 9, 9 and the baby will be celebrating his 1st birthday while we're there! 2 girls and 8 boys.)

It will be our kids' first time at Disneyland and we are all so excited.

Sandy.

P.S. I'm not sure of the configuration of your triplet stroller, but our quad stroller was four in a row. So while long, it was no wider than an average stroller. Great for to get everyone from point A to point B. Not great for comments from the peanut gallery though, or for putting on a bus. Also, I now have a stroller lock (every since my friend got her stroller stolen at Sea World, leaving her stranded with 3 one year olds) that I'll be bringing with us.

 

[8timesblessed]

So I still can't decide what hotel to stay at.

I know my kids would love riding the bus and since we are staying 6 nights and not trying to cram alot into one day, what do you think at staying at a hotel that is not in walking distance?

I'm toying between these three hotels:
Staybridge suites, has kitchen, king room, 2 full beds and a pullout couch and a hot breakfast. It looks like it's off of Katella by the freeway.

So how would I find out about the ART system and how many stops between the hotel and the gate at the end of May?

Embassy Suites south
Hot breakfast, big rooms but not as many beds as the Staybridge but it seems nicer from what I've read. It looks like it's south of the gate down by the Target but I'm not sure.

Desert Inn and suites which alot of people here recommended but it's not a neighbor hotel so it couldn't be booked by Costco or Disney so we wouldn't get the extra perks but I'm not sure we need them. With the money we would be saving we could buy a character meal. We could walk into the park. It didn't get great reviews on the pool, too much cholorine smell because it's indoors.

We plan to arrive on a Monday and leave on Sunday May 24-30 and then head to another resort in Carlsbad for a week and relax over the Memorial Day holiday at the resort and then head to do the San Diego stuff and the beach over the next 5 days.

 

[michelleh1]

here's a link to ART. they have all of the information you need on their website. I know my kids would love to ride a bus too (we homeschool as well), but I figure that we can just ride the tram inside of DL.

I had a hard time deciding on the Desert Inn too because of the pool. however, I decided our vacation is about Disneyland, not the swimming pool. we can go to a nice pool another time. I decided on Desert Inn because I want to be able to go back to the hotel easily if needed for breaks during the day.

I really think that deciding where to stay is the hardest decision.

 

[ice_queenocf]

no advice...I'm planning our first trip too, but wanted to say "hi"...I've seen you around GF!

 

[mareeld86]

Why dont you try anaheim plaza they have big rooms and they have connecting rooms call them for a rate its always better than on there website.
It only took me and DF about 4 mins walk prob take 10 mins all the way to the gate with the littlies

 

[BC Disney Lover]

I would recommend staying at the Desert Inn and suites. I think once you get there and see how close it is you'll be happy you picked it. I know you said that your children would love to ride the bus and I agree that in the morning it would be fun but after a long day in the parks I'm sure you'll have a least a few kids asleep in strollers. I'd rather take the stroller right to the room rather than take the kids out of the stroller to put it on the bus then switch again once you get to the hotel.

My other concern is returning to the hotel. I know a lot of people go back to the room for naps but we've had to send my Dh back for many reasons. A forgotten autograph book, camera, tickets that got left behind, a change of clothes after water rides, jackets in the evening when it gets cooler. I would have hated to have to get back on the shuttle to go get that stuff.

Good luck in your planning!

 

[LavenderPeach]

I think having a stroller (any stroller, let alone a triplet) would make me want to stay away from having to get on any type of bus or shuttle. I would personally hate to have to unload kids and packages in order to fold it up and fit it on the bus. In fact, I won't even take the tram from the parking structure over to the parks if i have a stroller since I would either have to fold it up or wait for one of the few spots where you can leave it open. Not worth it to me and I only have one child and a single stroller. There are plenty of vehicles for your kids to ride on at Disneyland. There's even a double decker bus! Maybe you can let the take the bus down main street several times during your trip. Whatever you decide to do I'm sure you'll have a great trip. Good luck making a decision!