Homewood Suites/Toy Story Lot & Strollers!

[kristensideaoffun]

Has anyone recently stayed at Homewood Suites and used the Toy Story shuttles to get into the parks? I’m recovering from a foot injury and I’d like to limit my steps. We are going to rope drop so we plan on walking into the lot at 7am when it opens. We guess, worst case scenario if they don’t allow us to walk in, we can just go get our car and drive in. Also, how does it work getting in the shuttles if you have a stroller? Probably a silly question, but I haven’t used a DLR lot (besides the on-site hotels) in over a decade.

 

[smartlabelprint]

Can you stay closer? This is a solid 20 minute walk. The bus stop in the lot is further away than it used to be. You won’t really save time and only a few steps.

 

[gelatoni fan]

In February, I walked in just fine from Harbor. But it is quite a long walk across the entire parking lot to the trams. The entrance is literally the exact opposite side from the trams. I've never gone with a stroller so I can't answer that.

 

[brightlined]

If it helps - I walked in on the Katella side last week, no issues. I think everyone broke down their strollers before getting on.

One random backup plan if it were cost-effective to do so - the 43 OC bus picks up just south of Homewood Suites (in front of the Ramada) and has a drop off right across from the Harbor entrance (in front of the Best Western). I used the OC buses a few times to get places (didn't have a car this trip), and found them to be pretty nice. ($2/trip.)

 

[kristensideaoffun]

Can you stay closer? This is a solid 20 minute walk. The bus stop in the lot is further away than it used to be. You won’t really save time and only a few steps.

Someone else on another thread from a few months ago measured the distance. It’s about .3 miles from Homewood to where the buses now pick up, and about .85 miles from Homewood to where the buses drop off, so it saves a good mile round trip. I take the baby back to the hotel for a nap in the afternoon, so it saves 2 miles a day. We normally stay at the Courtyard when we don’t stay on sight, but they didn’t have any 1 bedroom suites available when I booked. I can’t sleep in the same room as the baby. He makes too much noise and it makes me anxious and ruins my sleep. But I just looked at the Courtyard again and they have suites available again so I switched us to there!

 

[Katiebird]

You'll have to fold the stroller and carry it onto the bus, and (I think, unless I've suppressed memories or it has changed) hold on to it during the ride.

 

[cdoc29]

Stayed here Jan 1-8 with kids and again March 3-7, This is my review from Jan but it applies to both stays

Location - This hotel is right next to the Toy Story parking lot. You can walk approximately 1 mile to the Park or about 1/3 mile to the busses. We usually walked in the morning to the park and rode the bus home at the end of the day. In the am you go through security in the parking lot which can or can not save time, depends on how busy it is. Also you can walk to Garden Walk which has a ton of restaurants and there are a lot of food options nearby. We had a car and parking was never an issue despite being a busy week.

Room - We had a 1 bedroom 2 Queens. The room showed the normal wear and tear any hotel room has. It was clean, the furniture and bed were comfortable and the water hot and plentiful. There is currently no daily house keeping but they are very responsive, fresh towels when asked, trash can be left outside your room and is picked up, will come in and do a cleaning if you ask (we did this on day 4) Having the full kitchen was awesome, especially with our son who is on the spectrum and is a super picky picky eater. being able to prepare him a dinner in the room help keep the trip sane for us.

Staff - Shout out to Gwyn at the front desk, we had a minor issue with the first room and when they were not able to solve it she moved us to another. Much appreciated. Also on the first day we asked for extra hangars and they were in our room before we got back upstairs. Maintenance was quick to respond the two times during the week we needed them and were very friendly.

Breakfast - The only downside and I attribute it to being Covid Times. It was limited to eggs, breakfast meat and potato. (a staff member served these to you when you went up to get food) We stopped going after the third day. They also had Raisin Bran and Corn Flakes. Toast (no muffins, bagels) some fruit, oatmeal and coffee/tea. No make your own waffles much to my kids dissapointment. Not up to the usual non-covid times breakfasts. Also they have an evening reception that was on hiatus due to covid

Hotel Amenities - Nice pool and hot tub, They said the pool was heated but it didn't feel that way, didn't stop my two kids from swimming in 70 degree weather but too cold for me. They also have a putting green, half court basketball, a couple of nice gas grills built into a outdoor kitchen type space and outdoor gas fire pit to sit around in the evenings. There is also an Arcade out by the pool. The gym was what you would expect from a hotel gym and they have a guest laundry room with two washers and two dryers.

Overall I will stay here again on our next Disneyland trip, the room are large and comfortable with a kitchen, the staff was superb and location was great for us.

 

[smartlabelprint]

Someone else on another thread from a few months ago measured the distance. It’s about .3 miles from Homewood to where the buses now pick up, and about .85 miles from Homewood to where the buses drop off, so it saves a good mile round trip. I take the baby back to the hotel for a nap in the afternoon, so it saves 2 miles a day. We normally stay at the Courtyard when we don’t stay on sight, but they didn’t have any 1 bedroom suites available when I booked. I can’t sleep in the same room as the baby. He makes too much noise and it makes me anxious and ruins my sleep. But I just looked at the Courtyard again and they have suites available again so I switched us to there!

I’m so glad they had rooms! We stay at homewood and I know the trek is long.