I need help with off site Hotel!!!!!!

[nicsdad]

My family and I have been to Disneyworld a ton of times, but this summer instead of going to Florida, we're going to go to California and go to Disneyland. I'm so excited. My problem is the hotel. We like the Pop Century at Disneyworld, so we don't need too fancy, but I don't want dumpy either. We would like I guess a moderate within walking distance. Can anyone give my any advice?

Thank you in advance for any helo that you might give me.

 

[bumbershoot]

I don't know about the moderate thing, but may of us here absolutely love the HoJo.

I'm on a time crunch right now, so I can't get into it all, but maybe someone will followup with the great rates that one *can* get there.

 

[damiel]

I suggest the Howard Johnson - it is a 7 - 10 min. walk to the ticket booths. The rooms are a nice size, they include a fridg. and coffee maker. They have two pools. The best thing about the Ho Jo is the price. I always have gotten the entertainment rate of $59.00 a night! You MUST call the hotel directly (get the number from the web site) and ask for the entertainment rate. You can also try to book te rate on the web site with discount code SD50. Do not call the 800 number - it won't work. My only suggestion is to ask for a room away from the free-way. We like the wing closest to Disneyland - for a shorter walk. Good luck!
P.s. I have seen many threads about HoJO on this site.

 

[dhlovesbelle]

Hey there-
We are going again in the fall for our second time, and I was just made aware of Desert Inn and Suites that is directly across the street from the main gate. I found their prices very reasonable and I love the idea that it's across the street The hojo looked nice too, but for my size party Desert Inn was better. Good luck planning your trip!

 

[grumpymakesmehappy]

So would you recommend the Ho Jo over Candy Cane Inn?

 

[bumbershoot]

So would you recommend the Ho Jo over Candy Cane Inn?

All I have to go on is what I've read from others, b/c I haven't sayed at the CCI. But they are two different places, and both are good, from what I've read.

With CCI you get a nice place to stay, a nice pool, and a continental breakfast. You're a bit further away from the parks, but they are one of 2 (I believe) hotels with their OWN shuttle (not dependent on ART), which could be nice for many people!

With HoJo you get nice grounds, nice pools (or so I've heard, I only saw the quiet pool and never set eyes on the other pool!), nice-sized rooms. The main draw for us here with the HJ is if you can get the Entertainment Book rate (directly through in-house reservations or using SD50 on hojoanaheim.com, never ever try to get the 800# people to give you the excellent entertainment book rate, they havent' a clue), then the value is incredible. All of the above for 59 to 74, depending on the kind of room, per night. Incredible value.

So it's really based on what you want, if you can get the EB rate for your dates, and if you want/need a shuttle!

 

[grumpymakesmehappy]

So which room do you recommend at Ho Jo? The 74.00 is the Disney view. Does that mean it is a closer walk to the parks?

 

[kiwitravel]

So would you recommend the Ho Jo over Candy Cane Inn?

I certainly would unless having a breakfast is of particular importance. Rooms at HoJos are much bigger and it will soon have the best pool complex of any of the off site hotels. However the pool will be closed for the start of this summer as they do the renovations.

If breakfast is your thing then there are plenty of closer hotels that include breakfast: BWPPI, Tropicana, Carousel, Camelot, Park Vue,

 

[DangerMouse]

So which room do you recommend at Ho Jo? The 74.00 is the Disney view. Does that mean it is a closer walk to the parks?

No, they aren't necessarily closer to the parks (well, maybe a few steps closer). Premium view rooms are all in Bldg. 1, and include a balcony that faces DL. You will see the monorail, Matterhorn and Space Mountain. You can also see the fireworks. They have just recently added microwaves to all the premium rooms as well.

 

[Mrs. Bee]

I've only stayed at two hotels in the area and I enjoyed them both.

The Anabella http://www.anabellahotel.com/
This one is a bit on the nicer side than some of the other hotels in the area. They also have a ton of different types of rooms (not all are listed on their hotel.) The grounds are also very nice at this hotel. They have a main pool and a quiet pool for adults. Not sure if you can swim in October though because we never have. I think the rooms are around $90 a night but I can't recall.

The Anaheim Plaza http://www.anaheimplazahotel.com/
It's an older hotel but more affordable than the Anabella. The rooms are just basic but we like that they have fridges and microwaves. They have a really large pool that we used last summer. This hotel is nothing fancy but we've stayed there twice, and will again. The rooms are until $100 a night which is what we like. I think they are usually around $65 a night.

Both hotels are within walking distance to the parks.

 

[Husker Mickey]

We have stayed at the Fairfield Inn by Marriot and the Best Western Park Place Inn. Both are nice and within walking distance. BWPPI is right across the street from the park, the FFI is a short walk from the crosswalk. What I have noticed is that at DW you have the cute shampoos and soaps and housekeeping does cute stuff with the towels and the stuffed animals that you may have brought from home. If you aren't staying on site at DL, you won't get those perks. Oh well! Fortunately, the cost is considerably less because of not staying on site. Have a great time!

 

[tofubeast]

We are staying at the Candy Cane in August. Read great reviews on Trip Advisor. When at WDW, we stay on-site, but I just could not justify the price difference at DLR. I think you get more for your money and disney experience at a hotel within WDW.....esp. when a FL resident using codes.

 

[turtlegurl]

We stayed at HoJo's years ago (has it really been 15!) and it was great. The walking distance was a bonus and the grounds were nicely kept along with a nice pool.
We went through a travel agent again and are booked at the Clarion Maingate, which as I understand is about a 20 minute walk, but hopefully there is a shuttle as we have little ones this trip. I think it is comparable to Candy Cane Inn. I will give you all a review at the end of the month when we are back!

 

[grumpymakesmehappy]

We are staying at the Candy Cane in August. Read great reviews on Trip Advisor. When at WDW, we stay on-site, but I just could not justify the price difference at DLR. I think you get more for your money and disney experience at a hotel within WDW.....esp. when a FL resident using codes.

That's how I feel. We really looked at DL Hotel and the Grand Cali. but after reading reviews on here and Trip Advisor I realized I would probably be disappointed. The one thing I really love about the WDW resorts is all the special Disney touches and I had read that the DL hotels were not "as Disney". The DL Hotel looked the most Disney and we really thought about staying there but then I read that it was a little run down and I knew I would probably be sick spending that kind of money on a hotel room when it's just as good to stay off site at DL.

Now back to the Ho Jo. When does the pool close and reopen. Will it be closed May 25-28? We've got to have a pool wherever we stay. So that will be a huge deciding factor.

 

[mousiemom]

same here! pop century is my favorite. we are also going to DL this summer(june) and after reading on this thread, everyone prefers howard johnson. we booked our room with the ent. rate and we are getting one of the disney view rooms and the rooms are way bigger than pop and they have the refrig, micros, and coffeemakers. it is a short walk across the street from the park. this will be a totally different experience for us. we are so excited about it. did you get your so.calif. passes? that is the best deal if you want to go to seaworld, zoo, and universal which was on our itineary. let me know if you need anything else. now, i'm going crazy with the dining thing. i'm so used to having all of my adrs by now. i'm about to make some priority seating ressies today!!
mousiemom

 

[mousiemom]

I suggest the Howard Johnson - it is a 7 - 10 min. walk to the ticket booths. The rooms are a nice size, they include a fridg. and coffee maker. They have two pools. The best thing about the Ho Jo is the price. I always have gotten the entertainment rate of $59.00 a night! You MUST call the hotel directly (get the number from the web site) and ask for the entertainment rate. You can also try to book te rate on the web site with discount code SD50. Do not call the 800 number - it won't work. My only suggestion is to ask for a room away from the free-way. We like the wing closest to Disneyland - for a shorter walk. Good luck!
P.s. I have seen many threads about HoJO on this site.

i noticed you went to DL in June of last yr? how was the weather and the crowds? we are going june 5-12.
mousiemom

 

[grumpymakesmehappy]

same here! pop century is my favorite. we are also going to DL this summer(june) and after reading on this thread, everyone prefers howard johnson. we booked our room with the ent. rate and we are getting one of the disney view rooms and the rooms are way bigger than pop and they have the refrig, micros, and coffeemakers. it is a short walk across the street from the park. this will be a totally different experience for us. we are so excited about it. did you get your so.calif. passes? that is the best deal if you want to go to seaworld, zoo, and universal which was on our itineary. let me know if you need anything else. now, i'm going crazy with the dining thing. i'm so used to having all of my adrs by now. i'm about to make some priority seating ressies today!!
mousiemom

No, I wish we had enough time to see more of Southern Cal.especially San Diego. Maybe on our next trip. We are actually flying into Vegas for UFC 84 for 3 nights. Since I was so close I added a flight over to Disneyland for 3 nights as well. We've never been to California and I have always wanted to visit DL so this was as good of a time as any. My thinking is we will like it and have to plan a trip back soon with the rest of the family! But for now this is all the time we could take away for work. We're extremely busy during the summer months so most of the vacationing we do is during the winter. But hey, 3 nights is better than none, right?

Does anyone have any idea when the Ho Jo closes it's pool for renovation?

 

[lookingforward]

Am I doing something wrong? I called the hotel HOJO and asked for the entertainment rate and they were REALLY Nice, but the rate is 134.00 per night. They said that in the summer its just a 15% savings? OH well.

 

[bumbershoot]

Am I doing something wrong? I called the hotel HOJO and asked for the entertainment rate and they were REALLY Nice, but the rate is 134.00 per night. They said that in the summer its just a 15% savings? OH well.

Sounds like you're calling the 800 number. Call the hotel in Anaheim itself, talk to the people there AT that hotel. Or go to hojoanaheim.com and use the code SD50 to see if there's the great rate available. If you do that, put in your dates one at a time, or it will only show the rate available through the *whole* stay.

 

[S. S. Columbia]

Sounds like you're calling the 800 number. Call the hotel in Anaheim itself, talk to the people there AT that hotel. Or go to hojoanaheim.com and use the code SD50 to see if there's the great rate available. If you do that, put in your dates one at a time, or it will only show the rate available through the *whole* stay.

Normally, the advice above would be very sound. But I think the problem is that the Entertainment Rate for the HoJo just isn't available during the summer. If the ER dates that were recently posted on this forum are correct, then the HoJo ER isn't available from June 13, through August 17, 2008.

There are many advantages to going in the summer, but unfortunately, cheaper hotels is not one of them.

If it's any consolation, many of the closer hotels (BWPPI, Camelot) are charging around $140 during the summer. So $135 for the HoJo isn't out of line.

It's always possible that the HoJo ER could become available, so it wouldn't hurt to check the HoJo web-site from time to time.

HTH