Just planned! Feb 7th-10th!!! MAJOR UPDATE!!!

[valenrandy]

Ive been saying it for a week but now its official.

I really wanted to stay at hojo's but i'm on a budget and the entertainment rate they offered me was a lil over 100$ per night and it was not a disney view so I settled for the redroof/motel 6 down the street on disney way. I really don't mind the hotel choice as it will save us nearly 50% and it will only be used to sleep. That came out to about 150$

We will use Art to get to DLR.

We already have AP's so we wont have to spend money on tickets and spend more on disney goodies.

We got a great deal on rental car for only 12$ a day.

No USH......... been there done that..... USO offers more.

So what do yall think? We will eat some of Mimis and del taco and In-n-Out.

What do you think the crowds will be like for those days? thanks!

 

[lulubelle]

Well ValenRandy, I really have no adivse but want to offer a big CONGRATS on firming up your trip!!!
Enjoy In-N-Out and Mimi's, they are both yummy, it is so hard to decide what to have a Mimi's, their menu is huge with several excellent offerings. Where at In-N-Out you only decide if you want a single or double-double . I've never heard of your motel but if it is on the ART route, it must be fairly close. Hopefully there will be no rain and you two will have a fabulous time. As for crowds, I think it will be "medium". It's the week before Pres Day and some local schools have Monday Feb 11th off but it won't be too bad.

 

[eargal]

My husband has a business trip in Anaheim the week before and we just decided to have me join him for the weekend!!!

I'll be there too on Friday the 8th and Sat. the 9th!

I would plan on moderate crowds but nothing too crazy or busy at all.

 

[bumbershoot]

Very cool!

It probably won't make the difference for this trip, but FYI, HoJo anaheim offers AP holders a 20% discount. Not as good as THE entertainment book discount (which is $59 for a normal room when available), but still pretty good!

You'll have to come back and do a report, and a review on the Motel 6! As a kid, we always stayed at Motel 6, and we actually found an OK one in Oregon in September, when we absolutely could not drive anymore. I've heard the one near Disneyland is actually pretty good, so you'll have to let us know!

 

[valenrandy]

This will b my 3rd trip to DLR. It will be the 1st for DW.

Last year in april I took my lil brother on a suprise trip with a not so big budget. I found the redroof/motel 6 and they offered me then a 45$ a night deal which I thought was great. I'm not too picky because i'm up at 6am and asleep at midnight.

I feel this hotel is a great value for price. It did not have a smell to it. The room was simple and about the same size as one at Pop. Its an 18 minute walk if you must. Or jump on ART. They have a pool but I did not use it.
Free parking. The staff was helpful.


I hope crowds wont be too bad friday....
I hope the winds will die down at night......

 

[bumbershoot]

Very cool! Thanks for the review!

 

[Disney Hot Mama]

Ive been saying it for a week but now its official. Just planned! Feb 7th-10th!!!

We will be there too on the 8 - 10th. I have a big function at the Anaheim Mariott and my kids will be there with my DH on Friday afternoon and then again on Saturday and we will all be there Sunday.....
We will keep an eye out for you... I agree about the hotel stays... I usually book a cheap clean room as I am only really using the room for sleeping especially during the winter time. If it is summer then maybe we will head back to the hotel to swim but you won't want to swim in early February!

Have fun!

 

[dsnymoners]

tell me how you got such a great rate on your car..we are going the end of this month and would love a great deal like that.

 

[Oscar T. Grouch]

I will be there for that same time.

Have fun.

 

[thewesterberg]

I"ll be there too!

CAN'T WAIT!!

Have a great trip! And I'd like to know too where and how you got such a great car rental rate!

 

[valenrandy]

I will be wearing an Astroworld Shirt probably but most notably a black epcot center hat I got at epcot in october.

As for rental car...... I'm not sure about the rules on this site

but I did not go through a travel compny of any kind.
I did it straight through their own website.

All I can say is $$$$DOLLAR$$$$$ DOT com

Sometimes the rates are ok and more times than not they are great.

Right now DW and I are wishing for new monorails on our trip!

And little to no wind at night!!!!!

 

[valenrandy]

MAJOR UPDATE!!!!

After much debate and concideration and a 500$ lottery ticket
We decided to book DLH but was full but settled on

PARADISE PIER!!!!!!!!!

First time onsite!!!! So excited.!!

Dont get me wrong I love the inexpensiveness of that motel/6 but with the AP5 rate I could not resist.

Cali Adventure view and requested an upper floor!

157 a night!!!!!!

Now Ive stayed at Hojo and this will be a first!!

I really don't know the full benefits of staying onsite but help me out guys.
What tips can yall give me?
What days can you get in early?
Should I request a specific room?
Also, I have an AP but have never used it for fastpass? Is it the same as a paper ticket, as you feed it in to the machine or do they give you a paper ticket?

thanks guys!!!!!

 

[ksoehrlein]

Just wanted to say "Howdy, neighbor!" I will also be at Paradise Pier early next month, but just for the night of the 8th.

Congrats on the lottery win!!!

I don't know the answers to all your questions as this will be my first overnight trip to DLR, but I do know that Saturday should be an early entry day. I plan on being there for EE on the 9th -- hope I'm well rested after closing DL on the 8th!

The APs at WDW are on mylar paper stock and are inserted into the FP machines the same way you would a park hopper. I'd assume DLR APs work in a similar fashion but I have no idea.

 

[BecBennett]

Wow, how lucky are you? Winning $500 and a trip to Disneyland!
Well I'm jealous.
I think early entry is Sat, Sun, Tue and Thur? I'll be going in March, and staying offsite, so I'll only get 1 EE, and I'll be using it on Tuesday.

Congrats again!

 

[valenrandy]

Thanks guys!

The DL AP is not like the wdw ap in which DL uses a plastic ID photo card.
you would think spending 500$ for a wdw ap you would get a nice one like that too.

Regardless we are even more excited now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So far so good ans still wishing for some pixie dust on.......

New monorails running!
Clear blue skies!
Light winds at night!
Low crowds!

Ive read many reviews here about PPH and most seemed to show that they were not so "thrilled" about it, but its ok. As long as we have a nice view up top I guess we can manage. We would have much preffered DLH but there were no discounts of this caliber available.

 

[bumbershoot]

valenrandy, you'll get early entry every day it is offered during your stay, since you're onsite. They will give you a white slip of paper, which can be used to charge things to the room; that is what they will need to see, along with your AP, to get in early.

Be sure to find the good way to the parks; leave through the front doors of PP, cross the street at the stoplight, and go through the Grand Californian and out towards the end of DTD. Whatever you do, don't follow the signs to DTD inside of the PP, or it will take you a million miles out of your way.

As you must know, our AP is hard plastic. It works just fine in the FP machines.

You can charge food and merchandise to your room using that white slip of paper I mentioned. You can have merchandise sent to the hotel; it will be delivered the next morning. I'll tell you though, that didn't work for us, because each store we tried to have things sent back from were "out" of the forms they seemed to need.

 

[bumbershoot]

"you would think spending 500$ for a wdw ap you would get a nice one like that too."

I've read over and over that the plastic/paper polymer that they have at WDW is VERY strong and relatively rarely get destroyed. Whereas the hard plastic can break. Also, three times of the 8 days I've used my AP it hasn't been "activated" at the gates, though the third time I knew it and made her run it until it "took". That made it impossible for me to get fast passes; if that happens (the FP machine spits out something saying that your card wasn't used for admission that day) go to city hall and get a special ticket to use in the FP machines.

Anyway, I've read that the soft aps at WDW are actually better than hard plastic (even though they might not look as nice).

 

[Handbag Lady]

Congrats on that $500 winning ticket!!!

When you check in, ask nicely if there are any free upgrades for lottery ticket winners. Seriously. They upgrade to better rooms there a lot at the PPH for silly reasons.

I like the PPH but it isn't everyone's favorite because it isn't on top of either park. They have a fun water slide and a decent lobby bar area. I like the Mickey lamps in each room and please ask for a wake-up call as those are fun.

The other poster was right in hoofing it through the Grand. Nice walk and the Grand is always lovely.

But!!! Keep calling twice a week to see if the DLH has any cancellations on their AP rates. People cancel rooms all the time and one might be an A/P room.

 

[valenrandy]

Thank you for the replies!

We have wdw AP's and they are the same as the regular tickets and while you might be correct about how tough it is, its not as cool as the ID card at DL

I will keep calling every other day to see if DLH has on opening. I honestly cannot complain really but you know....

I guess I should book lilo and stich huh? I've read that its inside PPH.

Is it anything like Ohanas?

 

[valenrandy]

Well...... Based on the AL LUTZ update I might as well forget the new monorail for our trip