off-site vs on-site and others ?s

[Karebear]

Hello

Ok, this is going to sound weird, I live in CA but have been to WDW many more times than Disneyland--I just love WDW and haven't been to Disneyland for probably 15 years. Anyway a group of us are going with small children next Sept. We are thinking of staying at the Embassy Suites as this will give us more room with the kids. Here are my questions--if anyone can help:

1) Are there any advantages of staying at a Disney hotel (like early entry for example)?

2) What character breakfasts would be good for young children--ages 15 months and 22 months?

3) Can you still only get one fast pass at a time or has that changed?

Thanks to anyone who has any input!

 

[CalGal]

Hi Karebear,

Currently, DL does not have an early admission, so that benefit has gone away. There are some minor benefits including being able to have packages bought at the park delivered to your hotel, and separate entrance to DCA from the Grand California or Pacific Pier Hotels. The main benefit of staying on site is being immersed in Disney and, of course, the location for the GC can't be beat. I don't the benefits of staying on-site at DL compares with the benefits of staying on-site at WDW.

My personal favorite character meal, whether its breakfast, lunch or dinner, is Goofy's Kitchen at the Disneyland Hotel, regardless of age. The other two hotels have nice breakfast buffets as does the Plaza Inn at Disneyland. Which is best for you and your group may depend upon the characters you are most interested in dining with.

Multiple fast-passes have been a benefit with a special Park-Hopper Plus ticket available through AAA or Disney. This allows you to collect fastpasses for multiple attractions at one time. As far as I know, it is still available in 04, but I'm not at all sure. With other types of passports, you typically cannot get another fastpass for most attractions within the same park until your time for the first fastpass comes up. I understand that some attractions are not "linked" though so there are some exceptions. Look into the Parkhopper Plus. It was great! Another benefit of my AAA Parkhopper Plus was that we also got a "Breakfast in the Park" coupon that we were able to use for our Goofy's Kitchen brunch. Way cool!

 

[CalGal]

PS--I just read another post where someone claimed that the AAA parkhopper plus (multiple fastpass) is now only available if you buy a package and stay on-site. So that does provide a benefit for staying onsite if you are considering it.

 

[Grog]

I understand that some attractions are not "linked" though so there are some exceptions.

Not only that, but the two parks aren't linked either, and with them being so close, you can do FPs for both in the same hour. If I remember correctly, Roger Rabbit and HM aren't linked to the system in DL, and GRR isn't linked in DCA. During my last trip I held FPs for RR, GRR, Soarin' and Indy all at the same time, all within a two hour window. It made for a bit of walking, but very little waiting.

 

[sierranevada]

You are correct that multiple fastpass is now only available if you book through AAA and stay onsite. Even though we went during a "slower" time, this option was great and we used it every day.

I also highly recommend Goofy's Kitchen - it has the best character interaction. Breakfast with Minnie would be my second choice.

Have fun.