Never been and need advice

[AmyMama2AvaNtheo]

Sooooo ... been to Disney World numerous times, but we currently live in Hawaii so a trip to Florida is too far and expensive for us next year.

I would love some advice on DisneyLand and all it has to offer. We (will be) a family of 6 when we want to travel next Spring Break. My kiddos will be off from March 16-28.
Kiddos ages will be: 11, 9, 5, infant

We are military and plan to use whatever discounts are available. We would like to stay on property if at all possible.

What hotel(s) are best for larger families? Is that time of year going to cost me a ton? Any tips would be fantastic!! Thank you

 

[offwithyourhead]

If cost is a concern, staying on-site might not be the best decision. The Disney hotels are significantly more expensive than the surrounding hotels, especially if you book well in advance for off-property hotels. Paradise Pier (the cheapest one, it looks like) is something like $250+ per night, and that gets you a 2-queen plus a 'day bed'. If you have two of your kids share a queen and get a crib, that might work.

In contrast, the Desert Inn and Suites across the street, for example (and you'll find many other hotels in the same spitting distance that are similar) has a 4-queen-bed room which would probably run you $160 per night if you book early. Take a look at google maps for the street along the front entrance. Anything that has "suites" will likely fit the bill in terms of size for your family.

Spring break is always more expensive since it's a crowd-draw so book as early as possible. It's also very crowded because of the break, so take that into account.

 

[tarheelalum]

Staying onsite at DL is very expensive. Most people stay locally at hotels that are walking distance or ones that have a shuttle. You will save a fortune by staying off site.

 

[cherice95403]

I'd recommend staying at the Grand if you want to stay on property. You can ask for a room with bunk beds and there is a trundle so there are 5 sleep spaces. It IS expensive so it really depends on if you are willing to spend the money. It's worth it to me, but not everyone agrees. I'd price everything out as if you were going right now and that will give you and idea of what it will cost next year. It's VERY busy during spring break. Look at the crowd calendars for this month to see the best time. Guessing it will be as early in March as possible.

 

[ehrawn]

Welcome to Oahu! We are a mil family, here as well. The obvious discount is the Military Salute Tickets (3 day Park Hopper for DLR). They're available at ITT Office at Pearl, but also at the gate ticket offices. There is very little advantage to purchasing them ahead of time. The villas at GC will be the largest rooms, but as stated, very expensive. Alternatively, there are suites, such as Springhill, available close by. All hotels in the Resort Area are very close. We tend to meet family in Anaheim, so we end up staying off property to keep everyone together. It just doesn't compare to the immersive experience of staying at the resort, though.

The best advice I can give you is to take it easy in the Park. There's less ground to cover than DW so you have time to stop an enjoy some of the smaller magical moments. There are plenty of threads that discuss strategy. Start with Hydroguy's pinned threads above.

Now that you are kama'aina, book a night or two at Aulani and make sure to ask for the discount. It's significant. It's a great way to bring a little bit of the magic home. Again, welcome and feel free to ask me any questions you might have about living on the Island.

 

[YukonMommy]

So the first thing you must know is although Disneyland is smaller size wise, it has almost equal amount of rides to all of Disneyworld! Park hopping is super easy at DL because they are right across from each other.

There are numerous hotels that can accommodate your family of 6 (we are a family of 6 also). But off property at DL does not mean far away, google hotels by Disneyland and you will see numerous options with under a 10 minute walk! It is also WAY cheaper than any of the Disney hotels.

But book asap as March is a busy time!

Happy planning!

 

[AmyMama2AvaNtheo]

Welcome to Oahu! We are a mil family, here as well. The obvious discount is the Military Salute Tickets (3 day Park Hopper for DLR). They're available at ITT Office at Pearl, but also at the gate ticket offices. There is very little advantage to purchasing them ahead of time. The villas at GC will be the largest rooms, but as stated, very expensive. Alternatively, there are suites, such as Springhill, available close by. All hotels in the Resort Area are very close. We tend to meet family in Anaheim, so we end up staying off property to keep everyone together. It just doesn't compare to the immersive experience of staying at the resort, though.

The best advice I can give you is to take it easy in the Park. There's less ground to cover than DW so you have time to stop an enjoy some of the smaller magical moments. There are plenty of threads that discuss strategy. Start with Hydroguy's pinned threads above.

Now that you are kama'aina, book a night or two at Aulani and make sure to ask for the discount. It's significant. It's a great way to bring a little bit of the magic home. Again, welcome and feel free to ask me any questions you might have about living on the Island.

Thank you! We actually visited Aulani last Spring break! My kiddos loved it and so did we. Expensive little get away, but just what my Disney loving heart needed

I think looking into hotels off site needs to be an option for us. We want to travel to both DL and Legoland and inorder to fit in (and afford, haha) both I think we will need to make some sacrifices somewhere. I did just notice that there will be a Disney 3night Baja Cruise in May 2016... options!

 

[minnie mum]

As a long time WDW vet, but only an occasional DLR visitor, I agree with getting an off site hotel. Unless you were accustomed to staying in TPV rooms at the monorail resorts you will probably find that DLR onsite resorts come with their own magical sticker shock. Plus they just don't have all the same perks as WDW resorts. There are numerous Good Neighbor hotels within walking distance of the parks that can accommodate your family. And you can get very good rates by booking early.

Get PHs!!! We rarely bother with these at WDW, but find that they really are beneficial at DLR.

And last, but by no means least, read Hydroguy's Guide to DLR for WDW Vets here: http://www.disboards.com/threads/a-dlr-guide-for-wdw-vets.1162599/ I found it extremely helpful.

 

[luulu1999]

I would love to stay onsite one day but every time I look into it I say dang that is a lot of money that could be spent elsewhere, Park Vue Inn has suites and it is right across the street from DL entrance, it also has free breakfast, free wifi and free parking and the breakfast is really good, they have rooms that have 2 queen beds AND bunk beds, a dbl queen mini suite that has a pull out sofa and a triple queen suite with 3 queen beds, I will say I think the bigger rooms fill up fast so I would maybe email to see when you could start booking for that time frame and get it reserved as soon as you could. I am not sure when that area is on spring break but that would depend on if it would be super busy or not. DL is AMAZING have an awesome time!!

 

[Carolynleanne]

Since you are a large family on a budget, I really recommend looking into Staybridge Suites Anaheim. It offers 2 bedrooms suites with a kitchenette and it includes an amazing FREE breakfast buffet each morning. It saves us a fortune on food AND their rates are really really reasonable. It's not walking distance, but you can take the ART to and from the parks and we've never had issues. We're staying there for our fourth time next month!!
http://www.ihg.com/staybridge/hotels/us/en/anaheim/laxad/hoteldetail