Is there any good reason to stay in a Disney hotel?

[Krisj]

We are going to be there the 2nd week in Dec. My FIL lives nearby. We could stay at his house for free. IS there any reason why I should consider staying in a DIsney property? There is no early entry anymore. Anything else I am missin?

 

[WDW2002]

IMO, there is absolutely NO REASON to stay on property, esp. if you can get your lodging for free. Just think an extra $150 +/- to spend on other things.

 

[siouxi31]

The best part I found about staying on site was the short trip back to where I was going to sleep. After having a late night at Downtown Disney I loved being able to just walk over to my hotel to go to bed. It's a relief not having to get into a car and drive while exhausted. I suppose it's just all about your priorities and what you're willing to pay for convenience. Have a nice trip whatever you decide to do.

 

[honeymom]

We used to live in LA and do daytrips to DL. We used to go early, stay late and do it all in a day. That was before Downtown Disney and California Adventure. You can probably do it all in two days and maybe space those days apart. You didn't say how far your father in law is. He could be pretty close by. Even the DL hotels (with exception of Grand Cal) involve some work for getting into the parks. We stayed at DL Hotel this trip with a 6 year old and 3 1/2 year old and it is a long walk from Cal Adventure to the hotel when you are carrying two sleepy kids. May have been easier to jump on a tram to a car and driven home.

 

[Krisj]

Well, FIL lives in Lakewood. So not super close, but not far either. We are buying a 3 day hopper so we won't be doing the Dumbo or die in a day plan exactly. We do have kids though ages 10 on down to 2 yrs old.
We did WDW last year and stayed on site. We loved it so much. I can't imagine going and not staying, but then again when we went last time to WDW there was still early entry and enights if that is still around, so it was definately worth it.
Just was making sure there weren't any perks we will be missing by staying at the in laws(besides not staying with the inlaws! lol)

 

[Sonya in Boise]

There are many non disney hotels that are just across Harbor and you can walk to the main entrance in 5 minutes. These are not the Ritz Carlton or anything, but they are nice, clean, decent motel sytle lodging and many are priced around 50.00 bucks for a standard room. Some of these have suites for under 100.00 There are many of site hotels near the convention center that have shuttles and more the Hilton types.

I remember when we were kids we stayed with my aunt and uncle when we went to disneyland so my parents could save money, but it didn't save them their sanity. As we got older and my aunt and uncle didn't have the room for all of us, we stayed at the cheapest off site motels my parents could find and my parents enjoyed the vacation more since we didn't have to drive very far to get the cranky/fighting kids to bed.

The area hotels have been cleaned up since my last visit (8 years ago) and many walking distance hotels are very nice.

 

[MrShiny]

The only hotel there that is a real destination in itself is the Grand Californian. That being said, there is not nearly the benefit to staying at a Disney hotel there as there is in Florida. There is that Disney magic, but unless you have small kids in tow or ample cash, it's hard to justify. Still it's nice once in a while (and I have small kids - so I HAVE to do it for them!)

 

[Judy from Boise]

I would say unless a themed pool is a very high priority, either a walking distance motel, or staying with relatives is OK. But with kids being kids, sometimes a good pool is a huge priority.

One big perk of staying at the GC, is that you can pool hop to DLH, and get two good pools.

 

[BeanoC]

We always stay at the Farifield Inn Marriott, right across the street from D'land. WAY cheaper than staying in a Disney Hotel and you can walk not only to the park, but to Denny's, IHOP, etc. It's a very nice hotel and it is a "good neighbor" hotel with Disney, which means you can still book a package deal with that hotel and park hoppers. I highly recommend going that way.


'Beano'