Hotel Crisis (not really)...EEK!!!

[PirateFish989]

Hello! I need hotel help! We're having quite the dilemma here!

First, We're going to Disneyland!!!!!

Second, my group (two 19 year olds, my mom and her friend and possibly a good family friend and her 12 year old daughter - Girls Weekend, 4-6 people) has stayed at the Candy Cane Inn before and we loved it! We liked not having to cross the street (My mom:"god forbid we cross the street!" ) and the hotel was clean and nice and had a great breakfast. Oh, and they immediately sent us our Pirates of the Caribbean Life game we left there...long story. This time (the dates are still up in the air but we are about 80% sure we are going Jan 23-25) we are considering other hotels. Or rather, I'm researching them and then we'll decide. I looked up rates on Expedia, Orbitz, etc. and location on Google Earth (gotta love technology) and we've (I) narrowed it down to the Candy Cane Inn, Tropicana Inn, Park Vue Inn and the Best Western Park Place.

Can anyone tell me more about these places? Pros, cons, experiences? We love the Candy Cane Inn and are a little hesitant to go to another hotel because we've had such a good experience staying there, but we can save almost $70 staying elsewhere, and these other hotels are closer (even though we would have to CROSS THE STREET! *gasp*).

HELP!

I would greatly appreciate it!!!!

 

[Choc_marg]

We almost always stay the the Best Western Park Place Inn. In fact, we'll be there from 1/28-2/1. It isn't fancy, but it is clean & the closest offsite hotel. They do have a free breakfast, but we don't usually use it. It isn't anything remarkable (cereal, danishes, juice). They have smoking/non-smoking rooms & internet access in all the rooms. If you think you might want to give them a try, call their 800 number & mention their "Exclusive promo" and you can get an additional 15% off the published rates. We got a quote on a king room for $89 & and a mini suite (sleeps 6 - 2 queens & a pullout couch) for $105. We go with my folks, so the 4 of us split the $$ with mom/dad & we all save!

I even recommended it to a friend that always used an AP rate for the DL hotel. She tried it once & says that will be her first choice from now on.

I really wouldn't worry about the walk across the street. In all the times I have gone to DL, I have never crossed that street alone. There are always LOTS of people crossing at the same time.

 

[sahbushka]

I also love the Candy cane! However, I used to be a travel agent and everyone I sent to the Best Western Park Place loved it. Good luck and have fun!

Sarah

 

[fairykin]

I was just wondering if either of you could give a review of Candy Cane Inn..and perhaps show a photo of the rooms.. we've considered staying there.. because it has it's own shuttle to the parks.

Do they have fridges and microwaves in the room?

 

[sahbushka]

I know they have a fridge, but I don't remember about the microwave. I have sayed there multiple times and love it....the shuttle especially. I also love the feel of the room....so much better than a regular hotel. The fabrics are nicer, the shades are lovely, the breakfast is really good in my estimation though would not be considered great by those looking for a full eggs and sausage work up. I might be able to dig out a photo somewhere...I will have to look when I get home from work.

Sarah

 

[pixiewings71]

CCI is nice, we stayed there once and we would stay there again. The rooms were good and the breakfast and free shuttle were great perks. BUT we don't usually stay there because we can stay at the HoJo for more than half the price without using Expedia or Orbitz or whatever. HoJo offers an Ent Rate, they have 3 rates to offer, $59 a nite (no view in this room, no extras like micros or fridges either), $69 a nite (which is normally a garden pool view with a great bed, micro and fridge) or a $79 a nite (which offers a disney view, great beds, micro and fridge). You do need the Ent card to get that rate but you can find them on eBay for $5 or you can buy your local book and you get a card with your book. You don't need the card to make a ressie, just when you check in. Otherwise, we've stayed at the BWPPI and the Tropicana, both are right across the street from DL and are standard hotel rooms. I hope that helps!

 

[PirateFish989]

I was just wondering if either of you could give a review of Candy Cane Inn..and perhaps show a photo of the rooms.. we've considered staying there.. because it has it's own shuttle to the parks.

Do they have fridges and microwaves in the room?

This is the only picture I have of the room...doesn't show much (we were in the process of unloading the car, unpacking, decorating...):

There was a small fridge in the room but no microwave - we used the one in the "breakfast room".

We loved the Candy Cane Inn. The beds were comfortable and the rooms were average size, but very clean and welcoming. The staff was nice and helpful. There are two levels and we stayed on the bottom level. Most of the doors open out to the parking lot, but ours was kind of hidden behind a wall (I forget why the wall was there) but I think it kind of kept the noise at night out. They have a nice pool and hot tub - great for relaxing after a day at the parks. The shuttle is nice too. We only used once, on our last day, and we were the only ones on it! IT takes about the same amount of time to walk there as it does for the shuttle to get there but it was really nice to just sit and let someone else be in charge for 5 minutes.


And thanks to everyone else for their input on the hotels!

 

[Sienna]

FWIW, "the street" isn't a big deal to cross. There's a crosswalk right at the entrance, with a light. We never had problems crossing there.

 

[Mrs.Goofy]

We stayed at the tropicana before and did not like it all that well. The rooms were fine, but the beds were hard. So I would say that its OK, but there are better hotels around. We have stayed at the fairfield and like it. The rooms are small but they work, I like the little food court they have. On most trips we have stayed at the Fairfield. The walk is really short.
This next trip we are going to stay at the Camelot inn, I'm really excited to go to a hotel that I have never been to before.

 

[avalon451]

HoJo's is great, especially if you can get the Ent rate, but for your dates the Ent rate is only available the 23rd. It is about the same distance as CCI, but CCI has a dedicated, free shuttle. For what it's worth, a lot of people on these boards say CCI and HoJo are about the same in quality and distance. They both get very good reviews.

If you can save money by staying at BWPPI, that's where I'd go. It's the closest and from many reviews on here, it's not fancy but it's clean.

Here's a link of hotel pictures with some of those hotels on it: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1745747

Also, go to tripadvisor.com and type in the name of each of your hotels for lots of reviews.

HTH!

 

[Luv Bunnies]

My opinion on the Park Vue is to skip it. The rooms are small, worn and not too clean. We had a giant cockroach roaming our room one night that my husband had to smash with his shoe. Housekeeping never cleaned the coffee maker or left clean mugs. There were 5 of us in the room (suite w/3 queen beds) and they left enough towels for 2 people everyday. We would call for more and no one ever came. We started routinely stopping at the front desk on our way in to get more towels, knowing we would be needing them. Park Vue has the best location (closest to the crosswalk) and always seems to be full. Maybe they know they'll be booked up anyway so they don't bother to provide good service.

 

[tink2dw]

Desert Inn and SUITES is a really good Suite hotel!! Check it out!!
http://www.anaheimdesertinn.com/room_suites.htm

they have a fridge and a micowave!

 

[ter-moo]

I would recommend checking the hotel sites directly for pricing rather than expedia, orbitz, etc. You almost ALWAYS get a better deal.

If you stay at the Candy Cane, would you have multiple rooms? I don't know if they have any connecting rooms or not, so that's something to consider. There certainly wouldn't be room for 6 of you in one room! I personally LOVE this hotel, but you've got other good options, too. You won't have the option of taking a shuttle, however, at the others. It's a quick walk to them, true, but sometimes even THAT is tiresome at the end of the day!

I think there are large suites available at Park Vue and the Tropicana and its sister hotel The Camelot. There's also a really big suite at the Carousel Inn. You might want to check out some of those to fit the size of your party!

 

[50sjayne]

I love these boards-- I mean where else can you find out about great things like the Pirates of the Caribbean Life game?