Hotels Outside of Disneyland?

[lurpee]

We will be going to Disneyland in December and I am wondering about hotels outside of the park. I would like close to the entrance as I will have an almost five year old and a one year old who will need naps. We will be there for at least a week. Any suggestions?
Thanks,
Kerri

 

[giftcard]

We will be going to Disneyland in December and I am wondering about hotels outside of the park. I would like close to the entrance as I will have an almost five year old and a one year old who will need naps. We will be there for at least a week. Any suggestions?
Thanks,
Kerri

We picked the Howard Johnson (aka HoJo) based on their ranking on Trip Advisor (#4 out of 106 hotels) and the price. We were able to use our Entertainment Card. It's a 10min walk from the main gate and I've seen many positive things about the hotel here on the DISboards.

Good luck.

 

[skiingfast]

When in December? What prices are you looking for?

I would suggest.

Park Vue Inn
Best Western Park Place
Candy Cane Inn
Hojo
Ramada Maingate

 

[KCmike]

Closest = Best Western Park Place Inn

Best = HOJO or Fairfield Inn for me

 

[coaches24]

http://printfreemaps.com/maps/freedisneylandareamap.pdf


Here is a map view of the hotels around DL/ DCA. You can look up the ones you might be interested in and compare prices.

 

[katejc]

We love the Candy Cane Inn. It's very close to the entrance, has a free continental breakfast, and has its own shuttle bus. We've stayed at HoJo too and it was good, but just a bit farther to walk, which does make a difference at the end of a long day! Rooms at CC are fine and there's a pool and hot tub. People who run it are always friendly and helpful. AAA discount, too!

 

[lurpee]

When in December? What prices are you looking for?

I would suggest.

Park Vue Inn
Best Western Park Place
Candy Cane Inn
Hojo
Ramada Maingate

It looks like December 15th - 25th. I know it will be crowded but my daughter turns five on Christmas Eve and that will be her birthday present this year if it all goes to plan! We have to get there early to overlap with a ton of people for a family reunion! I will check all of these out!
Thanks,
Kerri

 

[lurpee]

Thank you for all the input everyone. I will be checking those out! Thanks again! Kerri

 

[BayAreaMom]

I would highly recommend the Howard Johnson for the kids suite and water park area. I am not sure if you need a suite, but our kids are similar in age and we absolutely have to have a suite over a single room. We get a 20% discount on the HoJo suite and the prices have been great. I would book asap though- you can always cancel.

We have stayed at the Park Vue Inn suite but I was not a fan. It is very close to the park entrance, so if you really want to minimize your walking distance, it might be a good option.

 

[Judy from Boise]

personally I would not factor in the pool for a DEC trip......too cold for me !

 

[SpaceMan5]

I would highly recommend the Howard Johnson for the kids suite and water park area. I am not sure if you need a suite, but our kids are similar in age and we absolutely have to have a suite over a single room. We get a 20% discount on the HoJo suite and the prices have been great. I would book asap though- you can always cancel.

We have stayed at the Park Vue Inn suite but I was not a fan. It is very close to the park entrance, so if you really want to minimize your walking distance, it might be a good option.

We considered the Park Vue for our last trip but stayed at the BWPPI. I am interested in why you are not a fan of PV? It would be great to get your feedback since we are in the beginning stages of planning another trip. Thanks

 

[seagodess]

We will be staying at the Fairfield Inn by Marriott. Its across the street from the entrence.
Leaving for lunch/rest time was also a concern for us as we didn't want to have to walk very far since we will already be doing so much walking.

 

[Malcon10t]

If you would want to consider a hotel slightly further (on ART, so it is easy to and from the park) I would recommend Residence Inn Maingate. Large suites, you can put the kids down at night, and have the family room area to kick back, relax and watch TV or have family over. They have a hot breakfast in the mornings, evening snacks a couple nights a week, they offer grocery shopping service (no charge, you just pay for groceries) and you have a full kitchen if you want. We rarely cook, but it is nice having dishes, microwave, full sized fridge, toaster, etc...

We will be there Dec 22-Jan 4th. I prefer it when we are going to be there for longer than a weekend.

 

[BayAreaMom]

We considered the Park Vue for our last trip but stayed at the BWPPI. I am interested in why you are not a fan of PV? It would be great to get your feedback since we are in the beginning stages of planning another trip. Thanks

I cant find my tripadvisor review but if you read the average and below rating reviews you will get an idea of the issues. Its a motel. We had a ground floor room that was noisy and dirty. The towels were old and thin. The pool very basic. I hated the food. Inedible to me.

There have also been issues with people on this board having refund issues. I didnt have any but i hate worrying about cc refund issues. They require a one night prepayment which is annoying.

Pros were location. Lots of people do like the food.

We are much (like 100x) happier with HoJo.

 

[jcarwash]

I cant find my tripadvisor review but if you read the average and below rating reviews you will get an idea of the issues. Its a motel. We had a ground floor room that was noisy and dirty. The towels were old and thin. The pool very basic. I hated the food. Inedible to me.

Here's the Trip Advisor page for Park Vue Inn. It's ranked #2 which makes it worth looking into, but...

They require a one night prepayment which is annoying.

...the prepayment is also something that is keeping me from making a reservation. I too find it annoying even though they say it will be refunded if I cancel. Other hotels with better rates (at least right now), such as Hojo and BWPPI, aren't doing the prepayment charge.

(To be fair I've only had one previous trip to DL and stayed at the Sheraton Anaheim, so I've not stayed at any of the Harbor hotels, but I've been doing a lot of research for my trip this year.)

 

[SpaceMan5]

Thanks BayAreaMom and jcarwash for your feedback. We will definitely take this into account when booking our next trip.

 

[lurpee]

Closest = Best Western Park Place Inn

Best = HOJO or Fairfield Inn for me

If you wouldn't mind telling me the drawbacks of BWPPI, I would really appreciate it.
Thanks,
Kerri

 

[lurpee]

Thanks everyone. I am now wondering how you prefer to book your trips...Disney, AAA, third party website, break it down yourself, etc...
Thanks,
Kerri

 

[Butterfly123]

We stayed at BWPPI last summer. It was clean, quiet, and comfortable. The breakfast was nothing special, but saved us some money, and gave us a quick start to our day. There are 5 of us, and we stayed in a mini suite. A little crowded for 5 adults/teens, but certainly doable. The parking is very tight, but we park and don't move our car for our stay, so it was okay. The pool is small, but we don't usually use the pool. It was great to be so close, and I would stay here again. This summer we are trying Park Vue Inn, as it does get good reviews on these boards, and I'm up for trying something new. I think most of the hotels on Harbor are adequate...A clean place to crash after a day at the parks. It's nice to be able to walk back to the room for a mid-day break, and BWPPI and Park Vue Inn are the closest, but other places on Harbor are very walkable, too.

We book our own hotel, but we do get our tickets through AAA.

 

[Geemo]

Quote:
Originally Posted by KCmike View Post
Closest = Best Western Park Place Inn

Best = HOJO or Fairfield Inn for me

Quote: Posted by lurpee
If you wouldn't mind telling me the drawbacks of BWPPI, I would really appreciate it.
Thanks,
Kerri

Wondering too???

Noise level? Cleanliness? Comfort of beds?

Reading reviews of all three can be confusing....