Offsite hotel help...

[ADisneyFamilyof5]

We have only stayed at the DLH when going to Disneyland, and that includes our trip we are taking in September. But next year we are going and my parents want to come too. I am thinking of staying offsite to keep costs down as we are also planning a WDW trip in the not-so-distant future. So here is my question: Where do we stay?

There will be 4 adults and 3 kids (8,6 &1). Since we are use to DLH I want a place that won't make my kids miss staying onsite too much. That's why I was hoping to find a place with a kids suite. I only want to stay within walking distance (10 min walk max) and the pool is important to my boys. We do spend quite of bit of time in the room, so I want to stay at a nice place.

I was thinking of the Desert Palms Inn & Suites. How far of a walk is it? Does it have a nice interior and pool? My other thought was the Tropicana Inn, Candy Cane Inn or the Portofino Inn & Suites.

All suggestions/advice is very much appreciated! Thanks!

 

[ronandannette]

We have only stayed at the DLH when going to Disneyland, and that includes our trip we are taking in September. But next year we are going and my parents want to come too. I am thinking of staying offsite to keep costs down as we are also planning a WDW trip in the not-so-distant future. So here is my question: Where do we stay?

There will be 4 adults and 3 kids (8,6 &1). Since we are use to DLH I want a place that won't make my kids miss staying onsite too much. That's why I was hoping to find a place with a kids suite. I only want to stay within walking distance (10 min walk max) and the pool is important to my boys. We do spend quite of bit of time in the room, so I want to stay at a nice place.

I was thinking of the Desert Palms Inn & Suites. How far of a walk is it? Does it have a nice interior and pool? My other thought was the Tropicana Inn, Candy Cane Inn or the Portofino Inn & Suites.

All suggestions/advice is very much appreciated! Thanks!

I couldn't recommend Portofino; I doubt it could meet even one of your criteria. We stayed in 2013 in a family suite (self, DH, DS and one of his buddies, both 16). I really WANTED to love it since the price was so good but while the service was very satisfactory, everything else was a disappointment. The pool was particularly sub-par; a small rectangle of concrete behind a chainlink fence on the edge of the parking lot. No theme or landscaping whatsoever, not even any patio umbrellas for shade.

We just got back 3 weeks ago from the Castle Inn and I would suggest you take a look at what's available there. While it's nowhere near the quality of DLH, the facade is winsome, it was recently renovated and clean, and the service was excellent. I know they have several types of family suites although as this trip was just DH and I, we didn't have one.

 

[Baxhappyplace]

Fairfield Inn have themed rooms and within walking distance. You can get connecting rooms.

http://www.marriott.com/hotels/hotel-rooms/laxoc-fairfield-inn-anaheim-resort/

 

[DisneyAZfam]

We've stayed at the Desert Palms before. Its a really nice hotel with a great breakfast room and decent sized rooms (we had 3 adults and two kids in our room though one was in a pack and play). The walk is about 10-15 minutes. Walking there was great but sometimes the walk back seemed longer. It does have an ART stop right out front. The pool is pretty basic and is kind of in the center of the building.

 

[Happytotrip2]

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[Gisele]

This link may be of help too:

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

 

[crystal1313]

Hi. We are staying at the Ramada Maingate next month in their 3 room suite. It will be me, DH, DS4, DS6 and my parents. It's 950 sq ft. 4 queen beds plus a sofa sleeper and 2 full bathrooms. The proximity to the parks is excellent and free parking, breakfast and wi-fi too. Biggest plus for me is the building they are in is only about a year old. Be aware, they are doing renovations right now to the older buildings, so there is some construction going on. Here is a link:

http://www.ramadamaingate.com/new-bu...-rooms-suites/

Their pool looks fun! It's a zero entry and it has water sprayers, etc. We've stayed at the Ramada a lot but never used the pool! Plan to in July.

You might also look into the Hilton at the convention center. It would be most like the DLH in terms that it is a hotel not a motel. We just stayed here last month. We really enjoyed it. The room was spacious and super clean/modern. Guest services was wonderful. Also, we didn't check it out but they have a great kids splash area at the pool. As typical for a Hilton, they charge for parking $16 and wi-fi. There's a Starbucks in the lobby and a food court too.

We walked....but it was a long walk especially at the end of the day. We thought if we stayed there with the kids we would probably grab a cab on the way back. There is an ART shuttle that comes by too.

 

[ImTooExcitedToSleep]

Fairfield Inn have themed rooms and within walking distance. You can get connecting rooms.

http://www.marriott.com/hotels/hotel-rooms/laxoc-fairfield-inn-anaheim-resort/

The themed rooms aren't all that themed.

I've reviewed the Fairfield Inn and several of the other Good Neighbor Hotels for The DIS. You can find a list HERE.

 

[Happytotrip2]

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[crystal1313]

Just for info purposes... the Ramada Maingate does not have an Art shuttle service stop at the Motel, or close to it. The closest would be the Desert Palms likely which is a little farther South and across the street, but would likely negate any kind of help it would be to take the Art Shuttle since you would still have to walk back to the Motel from there.
Keep in mind that the new building that has the larger suites there is set quite far back on the property, and likely to take a good 11 min walk or so to the Turnstiles that go into either Park.

I don't know why they would need a shuttle from the Ramada, it is easily a 10 min walk or less depending on how fast you are walking, just like the OP asked for. Desert Palms is much further away on Katella. Yes, the new rooms at the Ramada are at the back of the property, but it's not that large of a property. The only thing with Desert Palms is that you wouldn't have to wait to cross harbor, but you still have to wait to cross where the shuttles come in at. Mapping it on google maps, Ramada is 0.3 miles to the esplanade and Desert Palms is 0.6. Here is the link to the map:

https://www.google.com/maps/@33.8068298,-117.91775,904m/data=!3m1!1e3

 

[ADisneyFamilyof5]

Thanks everyone for the info! It looks like I will be doing some research, but at least I have a direction to go in now.

 

[CrabbyPatty]

We've stayed at both the Fairfield Inn and the Ramada Maingate.

The themed rooms aren't all that themed.

The Fairfield Disney-themed rooms are nice - I'm not quite sure how much more Disney-themed they could be! We had a Cars-themed room with a Cars-pattened bedspread, a Cars shower curtain, a few Cars pictures on the walls. The only way it could have been more "themed" was if one of the beds was in the shape of Lightning McQueen

In comparing Fairfield and the Ramada pools, we LOVED the Ramada pool area. It's got enough room and chairs/tables sheltering by the palm trees, the zero entry part is nice for younger kids, and the various "toys" on the outside of the pool (sprayers, etc) are fun. As adults, we really enjoyed the pool as well. The Fairfield pool was boring ...... it's right in front of the hotel by the front entrance, and it's smaller.

Also, I thought the Fairfield seemed MORE set-back from Harbor than the Ramada (and we started in the very back corner of the Ramada lot in a superior room). We could get to DL fairly quickly from the Ramada and even walking back at night with 3 kids wasn't too difficult. But, I tell you, last year at the Fairfield, it just seemed like FOREVER to get back to the hotel at the end of the night. Again, maybe it was because once you get to the McDonalds, you still need to walk to get to the hotel itself.

 

[ladeedeb]

Thanks everyone for the info! It looks like I will be doing some research, but at least I have a direction to go in now.

You may also want to look at the Howard Johnson. They have a good pool and kids suites. It's not directly across the street, but shouldn't be more than a 10 minute walk. Restaurants near by and some rooms have park views. I believe they also have indoor corridors.

 

[nannyz]

I can confirm that the HoJo does have interior corridors, which is a must for me. And their kids' pool area is very nice. I have seen kids of all ages enjoying it.

 

[disnyluver]

We stayed ant the Carousel In and Suites. We stayed in one of their resort rooms. It was very nice. 2 rooms 2 bathrooms. One room was like a master suite large king bed (very comfortable) with a table and chairs and a 32 inch flat screen TV and a full bathroom. 2nd room was a very spacious room with 2 queen beds (Very comfy also) a full bathroom and flat screen TV as well. In that room was a mini refrigerator a microwave and safe. Oh and the coffee maker was in that room as well. We had 6 in our party 2 adults, 2 teens, 1 toddler and 1 baby. Oh which by the way the master suite also fit her pack and play crib perfectly with plenty of space left over to move around!! All in all this was a very nice place and the customer service was amazing. Very professional and courteous. There is also a bigger suite that sleeps more. It's located right across the street from Disneyland so its a quick easy walk.

 

[sweethannah]

We stayed at the Howard Johnson in May and the walk was approx 8 minutes. There are interior corridors and it didn't feel very motel-like at all. The staff and service we received was always great. They do have kids suites and they have an nice pool area and also a spray park area which is a lot of fun but unfortunately they aren't connected so you can't be in the pool and watch the kids from the spray park. Given the ages of your kids I think you would spend a lot of time in the spray park area as they have a small zero entry pool for the wee ones as well as a dump bucket, small water slides and a hot tub for the adults.