Is this Disneyland package a good deal?

[mrs_z]

Our family of 6 is thinking of driving down to DL a few days before Christmas. I called Costco and made a tentative reservation (no commitment on my part - yet). Arrive Dec. 19th for 4 nights.

- Desert Palm & Suites - room for 6 (4th night free included)
-Vacation protection insurance
-$20 gift card
- Character Breakfast for all 6 of us
- 3 day park hopper (souvenir tix)
- a few other perks like preferred seating, etc. the usual Costco things

for a total of $1953. 85

Does this sound like a good deal? Is the hotel decent and reasonable distance to walk from the park? We would be getting the Character Breakfast even if we didn't get this package so that is a big savings for us.

Thanks in advance for your input!!!

Mrs_Z

 

[skiingfast]

Does that include tax and hotel resort fees? How many adults and how many kids? That makes a difference on the park ticket cost.

Still it is probably the best deal you will find, unless you stay at a cheaper hotel.

 

[mrs_z]

Does that include tax and hotel resort fees? How many adults and how many kids? That makes a difference on the park ticket cost.

Still it is probably the best deal you will find, unless you stay at a cheaper hotel.

I believe it does include the tax and fees but I would double check. There are three adults and three kids (15, 10, 6) and they said only the 6yo would get the kid rate for the park.

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

5 3-day hoppers age 10 and older plus 1 3-day hopper age 3-9 will equal $1095 if purchased separately in advance.

A character meal at Plaza Inn in Disneyland for your group will cost at least $154 before tax and tip.

So the remaining $$ are room, insurance, $20 gift card, and "perks". It's not bad for the time of year and size of your group. I hear it can be challenging to find good priced lodgings sometimes for more than 5 people at a time.

We have stayed at Desert Palms only once. I have to admit I would not choose to stay there again. It wasn't awful since we only stayed one night and about the only thing we did was sleep and shower, but I really felt I wouldn't like to be stuck there longer. Our room was outdated, dark, and smelled kind of mildewy. It was also a strange narrow shape and felt really small. We never went to the breakfast since it didn't open until 7 AM, and we really wanted to be heading to the park. The distance is definitely walkable, we did it, but it's not a short walk. Our limits are usually Howard Johnson's or Candy Cane Inn which are probably each about 1/2 mile from the DL gates. Desert Palm is just beyond the Candy Cane Inn, and for us, just that extra bit of walking at the end of the day felt tiresome. On the plus side, the room was clean although it smelled odd, the front desk staff were very friendly, we had no trouble getting early check-in, parking was ok, there were on-site eating options (which we did not try), and there is a convenience store nearby.

 

[mrs_z]

5 3-day hoppers age 10 and older plus 1 3-day hopper age 3-9 will equal $1095 if purchased separately in advance.

A character meal at Plaza Inn in Disneyland for your group will cost at least $154 before tax and tip.

So the remaining $$ are room, insurance, $20 gift card, and "perks". It's not bad for the time of year and size of your group. I hear it can be challenging to find good priced lodgings sometimes for more than 5 people at a time.

We have stayed at Desert Palms only once. I have to admit I would not choose to stay there again. It wasn't awful since we only stayed one night and about the only thing we did was sleep and shower, but I really felt I wouldn't like to be stuck there longer. Our room was outdated, dark, and smelled kind of mildewy. It was also a strange narrow shape and felt really small. We never went to the breakfast since it didn't open until 7 AM, and we really wanted to be heading to the park. The distance is definitely walkable, we did it, but it's not a short walk. Our limits are usually Howard Johnson's or Candy Cane Inn which are probably each about 1/2 mile from the DL gates. Desert Palm is just beyond the Candy Cane Inn, and for us, just that extra bit of walking at the end of the day felt tiresome. On the plus side, the room was clean although it smelled odd, the front desk staff were very friendly, we had no trouble getting early check-in, parking was ok, there were on-site eating options (which we did not try), and there is a convenience store nearby.

Yes that's the thing - we won't be using the room much but I hate to go back to a not-so-good room. I called Hojos to see if they had a family suite but they didn't (and promptly hung up on me when they realized they didn't have what I was looking for!?!?).

Costco had other options - Hampton Inn, Holiday Inn, Best West Raffles, for more money (not sure if they are doing the 3rd or 4th night free at all) and they seemed a little further away. Are they much further or would we have to plan on riding the bus?

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

I'm pretty sure none of those other hotels you mentioned are considered walking distance. Like I said, Desert Palms is walkable; I just wanted you to know it is one of the longer walks, not right across the street or next door. I agree with the sentiment of wanting to stay somewhere that doesn't require driving and parking or taking ART. You might want to search these boards for other opinions on the hotel. Here's one thread: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2584047&highlight=desert+palm
I really don't think you're getting a bad price for the time of year, and you may end up in a nicer room than our group of 4 did.

 

[mrs_z]

I'm pretty sure none of those other hotels you mentioned are considered walking distance. Like I said, Desert Palms is walkable; I just wanted you to know it is one of the longer walks, not right across the street or next door. I agree with the sentiment of wanting to stay somewhere that doesn't require driving and parking or taking ART. You might want to search these boards for other opinions on the hotel.
I really don't think you're getting a bad price for the time of year, and you may end up in a nicer room than our group of 4 did.

I agree, and thank you for confirming what I had a feeling was the case. We had originally planned on visiting during off season and possibly staying on site - but with the large group of us at Christmas, staying on site would be way too expensive since we would need 2 rooms.

I'm kind of thinking this is a good deal, too, since we tend to stay at the park from opening until almost closing. When the kids were younger it was nice to go back to the room for a nap (on site) but I can't see them doing that now. We originally had planned on a different trip over Christmas -- that's why I'm doing all this at the last minute! Had I known there was a chance of going at Christmas I would have made reservations at least by end of summer.

 

[lwilkison]

Yes that's the thing - we won't be using the room much but I hate to go back to a not-so-good room. I called Hojos to see if they had a family suite but they didn't (and promptly hung up on me when they realized they didn't have what I was looking for!?!?).

Costco had other options - Hampton Inn, Holiday Inn, Best West Raffles, for more money (not sure if they are doing the 3rd or 4th night free at all) and they seemed a little further away. Are they much further or would we have to plan on riding the bus?

This is really bad service and usually the Hojo strives for excellence. If I were you I would contact In-House reservations and maybe speak with Lorealle. Let her know what happened. They will definitely try to remedy that!

Hojo is usually on these boards as well so maybe someone from there can help?!

Good luck! Have fun on your trip where ever you stay!

We are heading to Hojo's and Disneyland in 31 days!

 

[bumbershoot]

I called Hojos to see if they had a family suite but they didn't (and promptly hung up on me when they realized they didn't have what I was looking for!?!?).

That's definitely not normal behavior for them. You called the Anaheim hotel directly, proper area code, during Pacific business hours? Did the phone connection "act" strangely? Many many rings, any clicking, etc? If it acted weird you were probably being sent to the 800# operators, and if you called outside of business hours for pacific time (including during lunch), you were sent over to the 800# people. I'd call back during the right hours, ask for in house reservations, and see if Lorealle is available, to give them your feedback and ask again.


With the 6, obviously you're limited to either more than one room or a suite. So I can understand why the Palms came up for you. Just compare it to what you might choose of the local hotels, and what it would be a la carte, and if your'e happy, go for it.

 

[mrs_z]

I thought the call with Hojo's was odd also - I shouldn't have even mentioned it. I'm going to assume that the hang-up was something to do with the phone lines and not the person I was talking with.

So we had an agonizing family meeting this afternoon and decided to wait and schedule our Disney vacation for spring. While the appeal of Christmas at Disney is almost irresistible we are afraid it will be too crowded and we'd also like a better selection of hotels. The possibility of going came up so quickly that we didn't realize how booked everything would be during Christmas. We also have about a 20-hour drive and would have been dependent on our son's plane arriving on time from across the country - there were too many variables.

If we stay off site this spring I'd still like to try for HoJo's. Last time we were there I noticed how close it was and everyone has such good things to say about it!

Thanks everyone, for the timely input. I'll be back after the new year in planning mode again.

Mrs_Z

 

[Goofy_Mom]

We book the package a lot, usually for it's pay off in installments feature. This year we booked the Camalot Inn, almost directly across the street from pedestrian entrance (The Best Western Park Place Inn is closer by one hotel). We're staying 4 nights (4th night free) 3 day hoppers for 2 adults and 1 child (9), my son is free because he's only 2 (almost 3, but still free). We also got the magical extras, Morning madness and prefered seating at DCA. We don't get the insurance becasue we drive and we've gone so many times we "know what we're doing". I can't justify the vouchers for dinning either. Our dats are 23-27 of November. Our total with tax is $1064. If I booked the hotel and tickets separatly, I'ld have only save $50.

So, I think you've got a good deal. With that many persons in your party, I think insurance would be a good idea to have, too many things can go wrong. With respect to your character voucher, find out the actual cost of it. Usually they're based on the more expensive option, so it you go to a not so expensive meal, you'll lose money.

 

[skiingfast]

I thought the call with Hojo's was odd also - I shouldn't have even mentioned it. I'm going to assume that the hang-up was something to do with the phone lines and not the person I was talking with.

So we had an agonizing family meeting this afternoon and decided to wait and schedule our Disney vacation for spring. While the appeal of Christmas at Disney is almost irresistible we are afraid it will be too crowded and we'd also like a better selection of hotels. The possibility of going came up so quickly that we didn't realize how booked everything would be during Christmas. We also have about a 20-hour drive and would have been dependent on our son's plane arriving on time from across the country - there were too many variables.

If we stay off site this spring I'd still like to try for HoJo's. Last time we were there I noticed how close it was and everyone has such good things to say about it!

Thanks everyone, for the timely input. I'll be back after the new year in planning mode again.

Mrs_Z

Since you are looking that far out I would look for cheaper hotels. Maybe even two rooms instead of a suite. You will have a lot of advantage since you are booking a few more months out.

Also wait until after the holidays and maybe Disney will run a ticket deal.