We USUALLY stay right across the street at DI&S but because DH was going to be at the convention center, we stayed closer for him. We were going to stay at the Clarion but after reading reviews we chose to stay at the Hyatt Place and I am SO glad we did. It was SO nice. New. Clean. Staff was friendly. Breakfast was awesome. Room was super clean, elevators were fast and there are 2. Because it's slightly further than others, there were fewer families with strollers so we rarely encountered another group on the elevator we couldn't get in with. The room was really nice. 2 queen beds and a pull out couch bed is PLENTY for our family, but we only brought the toddler and my sister.
We chose to use ART to get to the parks. The first day DH and I got on route 1, it stopped a few more times and we made it to Disney in about 20 minutes. The ride back that night was faster. The next day when DH went to the dental convention and my sister joined us we tried taking the 3 because it had fewer stops (it was out front of the clarion which was a 2 minute walk) UNFORTUNATELY it was FULL so we just walked to Disney. It took 15 minutes and wasn't too bad. If it hadn't been so miserably hot we would have walked every time. Day 3 we weren't in a hurry to get to the parks and we went a little late and took 3, but the convention traffic was terrible. It took almost 30 minutes that time.
We rented a jogging stroller from City Stroller rentals as well as a pack and play. They were waiting for us at check in. Both were very clean. It was fantastic to have the huge canopy and great push but it was kind of a pain on ART. I had brought my own smaller stroller (babyzen yoyo) for the flight and decided on the last leg of our last night to bring it instead and it was so much easier to deal with on ART. It's also small enough we were able to fold it and bring it on both pirates and small world so we didn't have to go searching for it in the dark.
We ended up buying a spray fan thing for $18. Yes it's expensive but it was the best $18 we spent. We also brought frogg toggs which were invaluable. I was disappointed in the heat but we still had fun. We did let the toddler run in the water over at bugs land which was probably her favorite part of the entire trip. I changed her clothes and just put her back in a t shirt and diaper for her nap. The spot by the waterfall near GRR is fabulous for a nap. Unfortunately a tour group came by, stopped there and the guide was YELLING over the water and woke her up.
Overall it was a wonderful trip. We took advantage of the free ice water every where we went. We probably drank a gallon each. When it's that hot, plan on LOTS of extra diapers if your baby is drinking more. We were on the last of 8 by the time we got back to the hotel! Oh! And we were super happy to find on our last day that Indiana Jones was back up! And due to an extremely awesome timing of a breakdown on thunder mountain, we got a pass to go on ANY ride so we chose Indiana with about a 10 minute wait. YESSSS!
We chose to use ART to get to the parks. The first day DH and I got on route 1, it stopped a few more times and we made it to Disney in about 20 minutes. The ride back that night was faster. The next day when DH went to the dental convention and my sister joined us we tried taking the 3 because it had fewer stops (it was out front of the clarion which was a 2 minute walk) UNFORTUNATELY it was FULL so we just walked to Disney. It took 15 minutes and wasn't too bad. If it hadn't been so miserably hot we would have walked every time. Day 3 we weren't in a hurry to get to the parks and we went a little late and took 3, but the convention traffic was terrible. It took almost 30 minutes that time.
We rented a jogging stroller from City Stroller rentals as well as a pack and play. They were waiting for us at check in. Both were very clean. It was fantastic to have the huge canopy and great push but it was kind of a pain on ART. I had brought my own smaller stroller (babyzen yoyo) for the flight and decided on the last leg of our last night to bring it instead and it was so much easier to deal with on ART. It's also small enough we were able to fold it and bring it on both pirates and small world so we didn't have to go searching for it in the dark.
We ended up buying a spray fan thing for $18. Yes it's expensive but it was the best $18 we spent. We also brought frogg toggs which were invaluable. I was disappointed in the heat but we still had fun. We did let the toddler run in the water over at bugs land which was probably her favorite part of the entire trip. I changed her clothes and just put her back in a t shirt and diaper for her nap. The spot by the waterfall near GRR is fabulous for a nap. Unfortunately a tour group came by, stopped there and the guide was YELLING over the water and woke her up.
Overall it was a wonderful trip. We took advantage of the free ice water every where we went. We probably drank a gallon each. When it's that hot, plan on LOTS of extra diapers if your baby is drinking more. We were on the last of 8 by the time we got back to the hotel! Oh! And we were super happy to find on our last day that Indiana Jones was back up! And due to an extremely awesome timing of a breakdown on thunder mountain, we got a pass to go on ANY ride so we chose Indiana with about a 10 minute wait. YESSSS!
