hotel questions

[BitsnBearsMom]

I just managed to convince my dh that we should do a March break trip to DL next year - I haven't been since I was 3 yrs old so don't remember anything and I'm sure it's changed in 35 yrs!!

We are considering using our DVC points at one of the disney hotels but not sure if I want to spend that many points when I can get more then double the time at DW with them. So a few questions.....

Does DL offer hotel discounts like DW does? We like the look of the paradise pier hotel. How many days would we need to make sure we get it all done - thinking 4 nights/5 days and we are hoping to get the downtown disney area done too and we want time to see more of California too. if we do a 4 day hopper then we would have 2 days at each park..... would that be too much considering the parks are smaller then DW?? My kids are 14 and 8.5yo and are great travellers.

If we decide to stay at a non Disney hotel how do we go about finding one close to the park entrance that is a nice hotel? I looked at the map posted above but found it confusing as to where the park entrance was.

Thanks - I'm sure I'll have lots more questions!!

 

[Vacation Dad]

There are several threads going on now discussing the Best Western Park Place Inn (BWPPI), Tropicana & Park Vue. These are the 3 closest non-Disney hotels – probably about a 5-7 minute walk to the front gates. Hopefully reading about these will help give you some of the information you want.

 

[BitsnBearsMom]

Thanks - i'll go looking!

 

[bethy]

The parks are smaller than at WDW but a lot more concentrated. I think I read that there are only 10 percent fewer attractions at DLR as opposed to WDW. There is a great post at the top of this forum by Hydroguy that discusses "DLR for the WDW vet."

For our family personally the bare minimum is 4 full days inside the parks. But we have young children and like to take our time and take midday breaks. We went 5 days last year and the year before that and still have quite a few attractions we haven't even seen yet! Not including the "scary" thrill rides which we don't do.

The hotels right across the street on Harbor blvd. are actually a closer walk than the Paradise Pier or the Disneyland Hotel. But they are not as nice IMO and do not have theming. But despite that those Disney hotels are not so much better that they are worth 2-4 times the price of the offsite hotels IMHO. Also posted at the top of this forum is a Hotel thread that has awesome maps that show the "realistic* location of the hotels. The Pedestrian entrance to the park is on Harbor - between the two parks. Also I recommend getting Park hoppers and hopping each day. They are so close together it takes about a 2 minute walk across a piazza to "park hop."

 

[BitsnBearsMom]

Wow that DLR for the WDW vet was a great post - thanks for sending me to it!!

Lots of great info here!

 

[harpetj]

I think 4 days/5 nights is perfect. The Paradise Pier is one of our favorite hotels to stay in, I usually go ahead and book a hotel room somewhere that doesn't charge a deposit and then start looking for discounted rooms at PPH or DLR closer to my dates of travel. We have had good luck finding cheap rates. We are actually going to DLR in 3 weeks and are using DVC points to stay at GCH for the 1st time. It will be 72 points for one room for Sunday check-in and Wednesday check-out. We figured it was worth the points for us based on the oop cost of the hotel. It would have been less points to stay at PPH or DLH.