Need help with a decision for last minute trip

[mrsbornkuntry]

I need help making a decision on booking our trip. We are trying to plan a last minute trip for March 26-29, we can't really be flexible on our dates because my DH is in the military and is leaving for Iraq in April so he's only getting a few days leave. There will be 6 of us going: DH and I, 10yo, 9yo, 7yo, and 5 yo. We can't afford to stay in a Disney hotel and our family is too large for what they have available anyway. Our choices are:

Book Embassy Suites North through Disney (Good Neighbor). Pros: Full breakfast, being able to do Toontown Madness (my kids LOVE toontown so big plus), trip ins. in case Dh's leave is cancelled Cons: distance from park, would probably pay for parking and drive instead of shuttle. BTW, this is the only hotel the Disney website is showing available to us right now.

Book Castle Inn family suite and buy military tickets. Pros: Cheaper (already got a quote and availability info), walk to parks Cons: No breakfast, no toontown madness

Book through getawaytoday.com. Pros: probably cheapest, great experience with them Cons: Don't know cancellation policy, no toontown madness, worried about getting vouchers in time since it's last minute

So what would you DL veterens do? We went last April and stayed in Portofino, we weren't overly impressed, but it was okay and we could walk. Oh, and do I remember right, DL doesn't have double strollers to rent, right?

TIA for any help/opinions!

 

[Zoemakes5]

We're going close to the same time and it's pretty busy for hotels at that time!
With your kids' ages, I'd take advantage of the shuttle instead of parking if you stay at the Embassy. That way, everyone doesn't have to be the same place all the time if you don't want to. You don't have to deal with parking, and it's not like you'll have a ton of stroller or baby/toddler stuff to deal with.
While I like the Embassy suites, generally, you're right about your two "con's", it is more expensive and it's far away.
If it were me, and I have a 12 & 10 & 5 y.o., I'd use the military option (you may even be able to get a military discount at hotels, if you need to. Cancelation of hotels usually just loses one night's stay, even if it's last last minute. Most of the hotels around DLR have 72 hour cancellation policies, so insurance isn't as significant of an issue. You can purchase your military passes at the last minute, and that way you'd not be out that money, either, if there was a problem.
For me, the trade off of being walking distance to DLR would outweigh the Toontown extra hour. From searching I've done in the past, the cost of the difference between embassy and the Harbor hotels is typically enough that you could cover the cost of breakfast in the parks for your stay, or at least one character breakfast during your vacation time.
I wouldn't go with getaway today this time around.
You can call DL reservations...they may have more options available "in person" than they do online. I know, for example, that Anaheim Plaza and Desert Inn both were showing no availability for spots when I looked online, but was able to call and make reservations at both places. Might be an option to get the best of both worlds.
Good luck! Have fun!
And, I want to thank you and your family for the sacrifices you make to keep me and my family safe!! I understand completely that it's not only the soldier, but the soldier's family that pay that price!

 

[mrsbornkuntry]

Thanks for you opinions, it always helps me to get another perspective. DH and I keep going back and forth on this, I think we're leaning toward Castle Inn, that's a great point you made about being able to cancel the hotel and buy the tix last minute, that was a big concern.

We're going to call Disney when the leave is closer to being approved, right now it looks likely, but that could always change . We are only getting two day tickets so I wasn't even sure if we could do Toontown madness, I've read some threads that say you need 3 day tix, but the Disney website says two so if we're going through Disney just for that I want to make sure we can do it, and I did figure there would be a couple more hotel options when we call. If we do need 3 day tickets maybe we could stretch our vacation one more day .

And thanks for your support

 

[quinns-mommy]

Hello. My DH is also military and we looked at prices on Expedia and Priceline, etc. When we found a hotel that we liked (Marriott Anaheim Suites) we simply called then and asked if they had a military discount and they did!!! Actually, I called 3-4 more hotels just to check prices, to make sure I wasn't getting ripped off, and most of the hotels in that area offer military discount. Our suite is normally like 250.00/night, and we're only paying 110.00 per night most nights, and then some nights are 169/night. But still, that's a really good price. Just thought I would let you know what I found out.

By the way, we're going through the same problem with leave time. My DH is coming home in April for 2 weeks and we're going for 1 week to DL. I know how it is to be kinda weiry about buying tickets. Guess it's just a military thing

Jessica

 

[Alex2kMommy]

Book through getawaytoday.com. Pros: probably cheapest, great experience with them Cons: Don't know cancellation policy, no toontown madness, worried about getting vouchers in time since it's last minute

Why not call/email getawaytoday? Two of your three Cons for them would be answered, and might not be an issue at all.

 

[MATTERHORN]

I agree with ALex2kmommy, call them and see what they say!!! I booked through them one time a week before leaving and it got to us in time. It was an extra $10 or so though!!

Andrea