My December Trip

[apafloyd]

I'm planning on going Dec. 4-8 maybe the 3-8 and staying at one of the disney properties. Leaning towards the GCH but I'm having trouble wanting to shell out the price. My dh who is not a disneyland fan has listened to me try and plan this trip out for the last two months. He says to stay where I want and have fun, but then he isn't comming with me. So I'm taking my little sister who is 17 and my daughter who is 11. I've never actually gone on a trip as the responible adult and I'm very excited and a little paniced. I'm hoping that by using the DL travel agency on the web or something similar I can take care of everything at once. So that brings me to why I was writing this post in the first place, I had some questions that I'm hoping you all can help me with. If I stay at the GCH can I call and ask for a certain view or is it luck of the draw? Is the Disneyland Hotel crowded? It seems that with the three towers there'd be people every where and I'm not a big people person, when I go back to the hotel I want some space and quiet time. Just seems like there'd be tons of people milling about. Also if I stay for 5 days and get the 5 day meal plan will it actually cover the cost of food for 5 days if we eat moderately or should I plan on extra cash? I'm also worried about how much extra money I should bring. Going to make my reservations monday or tuesday night depending on how the star testing and work goes, figure then it's pretty much set in stone and I can stop stressing over it. Ugh gonna quit rambling now, sorry bout such a loooooong post.

Pamella

 

[RADOPT]

You can reserve a park view and make requests but that is all they are. I have stayed there and it is very nice. We had a park view. I am glad I did it that time because I have a handicapped daughter and she wanted to go home until I opened the drape. I would only stay at the hotel for her though. We (2 adults) just stayed at the Desert Inn and Suites. It is clean and nice. Since you don't have any little ones, you may not be spending much time in your room and it is alot of money just to sleep. There is a number of places to eat near the hotel, they have a indoors pool and it is a short walk across the street to the enterance. We were in room 235 - very quite.

If you don't want to spend the money staying on propert - don't. There are plenty of close places to stay and you can visit the disney hotels.

You might want to just bring cash for the food. That way you can eat where you want. We like doing take-out and relaxing at the hotel.

Extra money depends on what and how you like to spend - everyone is different. We usually take about $100.00 per day for 2 of us to spend plus a couple of hundred for emergencies. We usually come back with a little less then half.

 

[crazymomof 4]

You sound a lot like myself. I had the same worries and fears on my last 2 trips. First one was a GC (we did not have a park view but of a garden space, nice enough). The rooms are kind of small there though and we only stayed there because they had deals as good as off campus in 2002. Last December we stayed at the Disneyland Hotel and requested (more than once) a view of the DD District. I even called 3 days ahead and the girl was rude on the phone and told me yeah you requested it didn't you? Well needless to say we ended up in the Marina Tower (wrong one) over the top of a coffee shop where they were drilling away all the time on the rooftop. I stupidly bit my tongue(first time ever) having had a baby 3 weeks earlier and not wanting to ruin anyone else' vacation. I paid more money for this??? The one thing is that the beds are comfortable though! Anyway, this year we are staying at the PP theme park view. I can't see how this one can go wrong. We also booked through the WDTC this year first time ever but they had a better deal than AAA, and yes the earlier you get there the better off you are. We are going the 12-17 of December because Pirates is scheduled for refurb until the 12. The food plans in my opinion are not worth the money. You actually spend more on them as opposed to cash. The character breakfasts are not that great and the food is kind of cold. At least it was for us. Needless to say everything is a learning experience and I am still trying to figure it out too!

 

[SeansMom]

We recently stayed at the Grand Californian. You can see reviews for it at tripadvisor.com (Hope it's okay to post that site???) Anyway...it was very conveniet but we had big issues with cleanliness, which was very disappointing given what we paid for the room.

You may want to consider other less expensive places, or somplace a bit further away if you want some peace and quiet. We've stayed at the Sheraton several times. They have REALLY big rooms and quiet grounds. I've always enjoyed that!

Hope that helps...but I'd check out tripadvisor before making the final decision.

 

[abby]

We stayed at the DLH in mid april and I loved it. Room was nice, not too special, but nice, and the grounds were great to go talk a walk and relax after a day in the parks. My dd who is loved the pool. We were in the Marina tower, mostly a view of parking lots, but did get to see some fireworks from our room by looking a little to the right. I'd stay there again.

 

[Blackunicorn]

It definitely depends on you and what your tastes are. There are those of us who can't stay at Disney without being in one of the on-site hotels. I, being one of these people, feel that then you get to be surrounded by the Disney ambience. It's a real kick for me to see all the little touches--I know it's bad, but I steal the little soaps any chance I get. : The DLH has a very cool pool--see my tag--which my children love. The PPH has a beach theme which I just love. The cast members are (for the most part) kind and helpful people who make my stay that much better. I have a hard time remembering the research that I've done, but I believe that I found out that the rooms at the PPH are about 250 sq. ft. and the rooms at the DLH are about 300 sq. ft., which is really very large for hotel rooms! I like feeling like I haven't left the magic behind when I leave the parks.

However, the are a large number of people who are perfectly happy staying off-site. There are several hotels that are closer to the main gate than the Disney hotels, and I believe that at least a couple of them come highly recommended on this list. These hotels cost less than the on-site hotels. I haven't got much experience with off-site hotels, but the one I stayed at was comfortable, I liked the pool, and the day staff made up for the mean night staff.

Only you can make the decision on what factors are most important to you! There are plenty of choices out there.