Is it REALLY that big of a deal to stay 1 mile away?

[ManusDei]

Here's my two cents.

Having personally stayed at Embassy Suites two trips ago during Memorial Day weekend with my family, I can tell you that if you decide to drive and park, consider parking at the Toy Story lot. Sure, it's farther and all, but I felt like there was always plenty of space, and it was fairly easy getting from the hotel to that lot on local roads while avoiding traffic on Harbor Blvd. You mentioned you were early risers, so you could leave the hotel around, say, 7, get to the Toy Story parking lot around 7:15, take the shuttle to the entrance plaza, and be somewhere in the middle of the rope drop crowd already inside the park before the park officially opens.

Note though, my family went early, and stuck it out until closing without breaks (we're all adults), so I don't know anything about taking a midday nap.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

... No one mentioned a shuttle. Do they even have one?...

Yes, the Embassy Suites Garden Grove uses ART.

 

[Bungle]

We've stayed close enough to walk before, but on our next stay we are choosing a place farther away. We aren't really rope drop people so I don't think the shuttle will be a big issue for us. We are more like have a lazy breakfast, shower, and take our time getting there and stay all day type so for us I feel it will work, plus I really like staying places that have a hot breakfast and more room for us to stretch out in. Regardless of where you stay I'm sure you will have a great time

 

[HydroGuy]

Yes, the Embassy Suites Garden Grove uses ART.

If so then I think the proper answer would be "No they don't have a hotel shuttle, but it is served by the public ART system".

FWIW, for me personally I have heard enough about ART that I would never depend on it for Disney trips. In my experience the hotel shuttles have a much higher level of dependability.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

Since so few hotels in the Anaheim Resort area still have a their own shuttle (Candy Cane Inn and the Sheraton Anaheim are the only ones that quickly spring to mind), ART is now the general answer to the question, "Does X hotel have a shuttle?" Yes, your answer is more specific (and, to be fair, you didn't ask if the hotel had a proprietary shuttle, so I understood you to ask if there was some mode of transportation from the hotel to the parks that would not require a private/rental car), but some people just want the general answer. And, while you have heard many negative reports, trip reports on using ART for that specific hotel and the others immediately surrounding it (OC Hyatt, Sheraton GG, etc.) have good things to say. Maybe one's experience with ART depends on which route one is using -- and whether one has a stroller. I trust the OP to know what will work best for her family. YMMV, and that's fine (after all, you know what works best for your family) -- and other people's mileage may vary as well. All that is just par for the course at DLR -- what works badly for someone can work very well for someone else.

 

[bumbershoot]

We recently stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn right next door to the ES down at Harbor and Chapman-ish. We walked. All days but one evening (when we caught a cab), we walked.

It's actually not that bad, and if your child is in a stroller it would be even easier (rather than having an 8 year old talking about his tired legs).

The only issue is that there's a block or so there that *feels* sketchier than the rest of the walk. But there are tons of touristy hotels, so it probably isn't sketchy...just feels that way to me.


There were many people walking to that Toy Story lot and taking the bus in (without parking and paying). If I'd been with someone who had done it before I might have tried it, but we're not big on doing that sort of thing when we don't know exactly where to go and we aren't entitled to it anyway. So we walked.


Now, HGI says they have their own shuttle, and there's a sign pointing guests to the front of the Embassy to get a shuttle. I saw plenty of ART stops along the way, as well as OCTA stops. One day I saw a plain white bus pulling up to the stop right in front of Embassy. I don't know what sort of bus it was, but there were plenty of people (without luggage, just dressed for the parks) waiting for it. Again, we didn't really know the procedure and wanted to walk anyway, so we ignored the bus and walked.


While the HGI was decent, and the walk did good things for our health...gotta say, it was way better to stay in *short* walking distance! If only those nicer hotels were the ones across the street from the main entrance, right?

 

[ksdisneyfan]

We have stayed at Embassy suites south a couple of times. We have used the ART shuttle with no problems, even with a stroller and 4 kids. We're always at rope drop and extra early to the gates. And we usually come back to the hotel for an afternoon break.

 

[MamaChelle]

I don't think it's a big deal depending on your needs and what you really are looking for in your DL trip. For my family and I we like to stay across the street for the convenience of walking back to the hotel for naps, or if we forget something or half of our party wants to go back they can. We also like to be at the parks when they open so even if we get up a little late we don't have to scramble because its only about a 5 minute walk. If you have younger children, being closer is a huge plus. I remember going back when I was 13 and we stayed a mile away and always caught a shuttle to DL which was fine because we didn't need to take breaks during the day. I think once the kids get older if hotels farther away have better deals then we will go for those! But for now, across the entrance works out perfectly for us