Need planning advice for WDW vets- 1st time to DL

[nuttyliser]

We are a retired military family of 5, with 3 older girls ages 12-18. We have been to WDW several times and always stay on property and enjoy completely immersing ourselves in the Disney culture. Once on property we always relied completely on Disney transportation and were very happy. Looking into prices for DL hotels....I'm overwhelmed by the pricing difference and hear it's not really necessary to stay on site there. So, with that in mind I'm looking for recommendations from you! We can use military discounts for best pricing and will be driving from WA state, so would have our own vehicle, though would really prefer not to have to deal with DL parking lots!

 

[chickapin parterre]

what are the dates?
are you on vacation or just doing a hard core expedition of the park?
Can you walk 15 mins to the park?
price range?

 

[Imdboss]

Hello from another WA family! We are loyal to Hilton as DH travels a lot on business so we take advantage of his Diamond status with them. That said we really like the DoubleTree and the new Homewood Suites. Both are walking distance to the park but we prefer to walk to the Toy Story parking lot and get on the shuttle that takes you right to DL. To us just being in the area feels immersive. The walk from Homewood is about 5 min and DoubleTree is about 10 min.

 

[nuttyliser]

what are the dates?
are you on vacation or just doing a hard core expedition of the park?
Can you walk 15 mins to the park?
price range?

Looking at a July visit- probably last half. Vacation definitely. We COULD handle a 15 minute walk to the park, but would prefer a bit shorter of a distance. Everyone handled all the walking we did at WDW very well though. Would prefer something $150 or less a night...

 

[chickapin parterre]

so I did a check on my three choices, if you are on vacation, you will probably need to spend $200.00 a night. Right now I found motel 6 for your target weeks at $106, plus tax, that would be 120.00 a night and that is not a vacation lodging. Marriot has 250.00 before taxes, but 50.00 of that will pay for breakfast. And there are two marriot that are vacation lodgings.

So give us some help on some brands that you are comfortable hanging out in the summer.

walking is not a problem then, so you have many choices and can still see the matterhorn, monorail and the big tips of DCA and find lodging that is still immersive. But many of those are not vacation lodgings.

 

[Khokhonutt]

For what it's worth, we're in a similar position to you. We're WDW vets (and military vets) making our first trip to DLR in late June. We'll be driving out and meeting up with our daughter (who is in the military) and her boyfriend in Vegas. Then we're driving out to Disney where we'll meet our son (who is also military). If you haven't already, you should check out A DLR Guide for WDW Vets. There's some great information in that post for WDW vets who are new to DLR.

I really went back an forth on hotel choice, for the same reasons you list. For us, we've always done the value resorts at WDW because we're just not at the resorts enough to justify the extra expense of the more expensive resorts. If we're up, we're in the parks. If we're back at the resort, it's to take a nap or jump in the pool to cool off. On top of that, we're sharing hotel expenses and all buying our own tickets. With the kids being enlisted, getting the best value was important. With that in mind, we just couldn't justify staying in one of the DLR resorts. We ended up getting a mini-suite at Best Western Plus Park Place Inn & Mini Suites. They have breakfast included, which will save everyone a little. It's also the closest hotel to the parks, with the exception of the Grand Californian, so it'll be very convenient to the parks.

We'll see how it all goes, but at this point, I'm good with our decision. As many have suggested, we're approaching this as a unique experience. It'll be impossible not to compare the two resorts, but we don't expect DLR to be WDW. That will start with an off property stay, but the closest, easiest access to the parks we've ever had.

Good luck with your planning and decisions.

 

[chickapin parterre]

after reading the posts, I find it interesting that WDW folks strive for convenience when visiting Disneyland. I have never considered convenience significant to a visit. after tossing the concept around, I think I discovered that as a child in the 60s, it was a one day visit, bookend between three hour ride in the morning and three hour ride home. Convenience had not been invented in the 60s. So I have no problem being blocks away, because Disneyland was always hours away.

 

[hsmamato2]

we just went as a group, and we stayed at Hotel Indigo (one group) and Anaheim Plaza Inn and Suites (2nd group) Hotel Indigo was 'higher end' and very nice, but the 2nd hotel was a good price (I think around 100 per night in December),basic,clean,and very close to the parks for walking in!

 

[MichiganScott]

after reading the posts, I find it interesting that WDW folks strive for convenience when visiting Disneyland. I have never considered convenience significant to a visit. after tossing the concept around, I think I discovered that as a child in the 60s, it was a one day visit, bookend between three hour ride in the morning and three hour ride home. Convenience had not been invented in the 60s. So I have no problem being blocks away, because Disneyland was always hours away.

I'm just not following what you're saying, can you clarify?

 

[Khokhonutt]

after reading the posts, I find it interesting that WDW folks strive for convenience when visiting Disneyland. I have never considered convenience significant to a visit. after tossing the concept around, I think I discovered that as a child in the 60s, it was a one day visit, bookend between three hour ride in the morning and three hour ride home. Convenience had not been invented in the 60s. So I have no problem being blocks away, because Disneyland was always hours away.

I'm not sure "strive" is the right word, at least I can say it's not for us. To me convenience is just another consideration.

I get what you're saying, I made many trips to the Magic Kingdom in the 70s that involved a 3 hour drive. I guess we were lucky because it was a couple hours up to Grandma's place, then we did a little over an hour each way to and from the park. I have to say that staying on property or even in Orlando was a big treat, when I was able to do it. We've stayed on property at WDW since I started making trips with my kids, but then we drive 10 hours to get there now.

I'd offer that WDW folks probably mention the convenience of staying close because it's one of the biggest knocks I've heard from DLR vets about WDW. I never considered the bus ride to the parks or DTD (now Disney Springs) at WDW an issue, but I've seen plenty of posts where DLR folks do. With that in mind, I'm very interested to see what staying across the street from parks is like. For us (our family), it is part of the conversation, but not necessarily the primary reason we chose to stay where we did.

 

[VandVsmama]

Looking at a July visit- probably last half. Vacation definitely. We COULD handle a 15 minute walk to the park, but would prefer a bit shorter of a distance. Everyone handled all the walking we did at WDW very well though. Would prefer something $150 or less a night...

Hm, ok, this might be a bit of a challenge because your needs/wants are:

• closer walk than 15 min to park
• lodging for 5 people
• $150/night or less. For the sake of argument, I'll assume you mean that total price to include taxes as well.

There are some trade offs on this. For example:

• You can find $150/night or less incl. tax but it won't include free parking and it will be ~15 min away.
• Closer properties will be, on average, a bit more than $150/night and parking will be added on top of that. For example, BWPPI (Best Western Park Place Inn) charges ~$11-$12/night for parking. And you can't park in their lot after 11am on your check out day.

I don't know how many days you want to allot for your DL trip, but let's assume for the moment that you check in on Sunday, 7/23, and check out on Wed, 7/26. Here are some lodging options for those dates. And the prices below reflect a military discount if the motel/hotel offers one:

• BWPPI - $199/night not including tax or parking. Free breakfast.
• BW Stovall's - $149/night not including tax or parking. I've stayed here before. It'll take you 10-15 min to walk to the park entrance from here. Free breakfast.
• Motel 6 - $111/night not incl tax. But on their website, I could only pick up to 4 people per room.
• Tropicana - located next to BWPPI. $152/night military discount rate not incl. tax or parking.
• Desert Inn & Suites - $129 before tax & parking. Don't know if there's free breakfast. Probably 7-8 min walk.
• Fairfield Inn - also on Harbor Blvd (like BWPPI, Tropicana, & Desert Inn & Suites are). $189/night not incl. tax or parking. No free breakfast that I'm aware of.
• Grand Legacy at the Park - on Harbor Blvd. Used to be a Ramada Inn I think, but is now an independent establishment. $209/night not incl taxes or parking.
• Howard Johnson's - $189-$209/night incl free parking. No free breakfast. This is on Harbor Blvd. Probably 10 min walk.
• Park Vue Inn - $204-$239/night not incl. taxes or parking. This one is on Harbor Blvd.

 

[nuttyliser]

Hm, ok, this might be a bit of a challenge because your needs/wants are:

• closer walk than 15 min to park
• lodging for 5 people
• $150/night or less. For the sake of argument, I'll assume you mean that total price to include taxes as well.

There are some trade offs on this. For example:

• You can find $150/night or less incl. tax but it won't include free parking and it will be ~15 min away.
• Closer properties will be, on average, a bit more than $150/night and parking will be added on top of that. For example, BWPPI (Best Western Park Place Inn) charges ~$11-$12/night for parking. And you can't park in their lot after 11am on your check out day.

I don't know how many days you want to allot for your DL trip, but let's assume for the moment that you check in on Sunday, 7/23, and check out on Wed, 7/26. Here are some lodging options for those dates. And the prices below reflect a military discount if the motel/hotel offers one:

• BWPPI - $199/night not including tax or parking. Free breakfast.
• BW Stovall's - $149/night not including tax or parking. I've stayed here before. It'll take you 10-15 min to walk to the park entrance from here. Free breakfast.
• Motel 6 - $111/night not incl tax. But on their website, I could only pick up to 4 people per room.
• Tropicana - located next to BWPPI. $152/night military discount rate not incl. tax or parking.
• Desert Inn & Suites - $129 before tax & parking. Don't know if there's free breakfast. Probably 7-8 min walk.
• Fairfield Inn - also on Harbor Blvd (like BWPPI, Tropicana, & Desert Inn & Suites are). $189/night not incl. tax or parking. No free breakfast that I'm aware of.
• Grand Legacy at the Park - on Harbor Blvd. Used to be a Ramada Inn I think, but is now an independent establishment. $209/night not incl taxes or parking.
• Howard Johnson's - $189-$209/night incl free parking. No free breakfast. This is on Harbor Blvd. Probably 10 min walk.
• Park Vue Inn - $204-$239/night not incl. taxes or parking. This one is on Harbor Blvd.

Wow! Thanks for the the rate quotes. Looks like I'll have to plan to spend a little more.

 

[mkla2015]

We just checked out of the Fairfield Inn this morning- we were happy with it and would stay there again- clean, friendly staff. It was just your basic hotel room.

We are WDW vets and this was our first trip to DLR- we always stay onsite (usually at Baylake) so we did factor in convenience- I wanted to be within walking distance. I timed the walk from the Fairfield- 9 mins at a leisurely pace from hotel to park security.

I will say WDW has definitely spoiled us with the convenience of magic bands and being able to completely plan out our days. DLR took some adjusting for us.