need help on where to stay!

[sunsetbeachgal]

New to the California threads...haven't been to Disneyland in probably 40 years, and we are piggybacking a three day trip in conjunction with a California Coastal cruise in October.

I have no idea where to stay. Are the on sIte hotels worth the $$? Are there any comparable to the moderates or value resorts at WDW in Florida? I see that there are hotels within a walking distance...can anyone recommend a moderate one(s)? Thanks...need a starting point and I'll go from there!!

 

[DCDisney]

It really depends on your budget. We went for a once in many years trip and decided to stay at the Grand Californian and felt it was worth every penny. We are from the East Coast so we were keeping weird hours and meal times and being able to go back and forth to the room easily was magical for us. We loved the hotel and the location with it's proximity to DCA and DTD. We did decided though if we came back for a a return visit that we also liked the location of the Fairfield Inn as it's probably not much longer to walk than GCH and it costs about half as much.

 

[Huff]

Disneyland Resort is quite different than DisneyWorld. At DLR there are only 3 Disney owned resorts, all Deluxe. My budget affords me only Value at WDW. At DLR we stay offsite but we have a car so staying a few miles away is easy. That gets us a Deluxe at a Value price.

In walking distance the most popular is Howard Johnsons on Harbor. I'd rate it a moderate as it has a very good mini water park, slides etc. Its rates can vary anywhere from $50 to $150 a night depending on season and specials in effect.

Another good choice would be Candy Cane Inn. Very nice hotel and short walk to the gates.

There are other choices in walking distance but a few are lower end motel types but all are decent. You do pay a premium for walking distance. Motel 6 is nicer than most other Motel 6's. Its a bit of a walk but doable or they do have a shuttle.

Other non-Disney deluxe resorts can be found all along Harbor blvd. Hilton, Red Lion, Marriot and Sheraton are all centered around the Convention Center. They all have shuttles or can walk to the Disney Toy Story parking lot and use their free buses to Disneyland.

 

[tiggerjay]

If you are looking online be sure to use Google maps or something to see where it really is. A lot of hotels claim they are walking distance, which would be true if you didn't spend all day at Disneyland, but after spend a full day in the park "two blocks away" with kids can be very challenging. You want something on one of the streets boardering the park.

On the other hand, we stay about three long blocks away at our timeshare and bring the car. But that adds the expense of parking as well unless you get a ticket with free parking. In the past, AAA offered free parking with their tickets.

 

[GrandBob]

My favorite map of motels within walking distance:

http://www.accommodationsneardisney.com/Disneyland/default.asp

Stay in the green area, and you'll be fine. My favorite is HoJo's. Candy Cane Inn gets a lot of raves from DISers too, though I've never stayed there.

HTH,
Bob

 

[sunsetbeachgal]

Wow...very helpful suggestions and love the map!

Thanks again!