Lodging Advice

[Briarrose1306]

Hello all, I'm hoping you can offer me some advice. I am currently going to be staying at the Tropicana Inn on Feb 26 & 27 but I received an offer from a friend last night who lives in Newport Beach, around 17 miles away to stay with her. I have never not stayed close to DL where I could easily take breaks during the day if I wanted to or had to deal with parking at DL. Hoping for some advice on whether saving roughly $500 would be worth it. TIA!

 

[GatorChris]

$500 is a lot of money to save. It depends on what you want from your trip. Do you want to just walk into the park everyday, or do you want to drive through LA traffic each morning and night? We have friends that have offered who live in Seal Beach, but 1) it's a long drive to and from the parks, and 2) we came to Disneyland to spend time as close to the DL bubble as possible. I guess it depends on if you like spending a lot of time with this friend. I like spending time with friends/family AND doing DL at the same time, as long as I don't feel I'm short changing my kids.

 

[Briarrose1306]

I'm only going to be there two days and while I got to DL pretty frequently, I also don't plan on spending a lot of time with my friend. We were just going to have dinner for the most part. The thought of dealing with LA traffic that often and having to deal with parking makes me anxious. I've thought about staying with her Thursday and getting the hotel for Friday since the park will close at 8 on Thursday and 12 on Friday but am still uncertain.

 

[Canuck16]

With only having 2 days at the parks I would stay at the hotel and avoid having to drive and park each day.

Maybe your friend could meet you for dinner one night near DL instead?

 

[GoBears 1980]

Newport Beach and Disneyland are not in LA so you will not deal with LA traffic at all.

Stay in Newport and park in the Toy Story lot.

 

[Briarrose1306]

That's what I had originally hoped for but she's a little older and isn't used to driving in LA at night yet. I'm thinking of staying with her Thursday and checking in Friday morning but that would still leave me with parking Thursday and LA traffic Friday morning which I'm sure is no picnic! lol But I'm also thinking of possibly using the money I'm saving on the hotel for a chef's counter dinner at the Napa Rose.

 

[Briarrose1306]

Really? When I mapped it last night it was going to be about 45 minutes to go 17 miles.

 

[SMD]

Really? When I mapped it last night it was going to be about 45 minutes to go 17 miles.

If you're just planning to drive up Harbor, it probably will take that long. If you're trying to get there for an 8am parking opening there probably won't be much traffic on the freeways, I think it will be under 30 minutes. Also, driving back after 8pm, it should be similar. I think the pp was saying that you won't be experiencing LA traffic because you are in a part of Orange County with different traffic. I think if you can't change the image you have in your mind of bad "LA" traffic then you shouldn't drive.

 

[Briarrose1306]

Yeah, I don't feel a desperate need to be there for rope drop so I think I'll be okay. Thank you all for your advice!

 

[julesann]

I think staying close to DLR is really worth it--maybe not $500 worth it, but it looks like you could get a much better price for close hotels for 2 nights for your dates.