Our stay at the Carousel Inn was...

[Vanvmom]

exactly what we paid for - you go economy, you get economy.

We arrived at the hotel at 9am to check-in (knowing our room would not be ready yet, but hoping to be able to park there for the day). The lady at the counter had me sign in, and leave a $30 deposit "for any incidentals that may come up." She said to come back after 3pm to complete the check in. We came back at about 5:30. We told the gentleman at the desk that we'd checked in already, and we needed to get the keys to our room. He replied, "welcome, I need to get your signature here acknowledging that since your room is pre-paid, there will be no refunds, then I can give you your keys." I'm serious, it was that quick- the first thing he said to us. Now telling someone right away that there are no refunds does not instill much confidence in our choice to stay there.

We went up to the room - 2 queen beds as requested, but the room is quite small-2 beds, a desk sized table with 2 chairs and an additional chair. We called down to the front desk. I told them our reservation was for 5 people in our room. He said "yes, 2 queen beds." I replied, "where is the 5th person supposed to sleep?" He said he could send up a roll away for an additional cost, but I asked him where it was supposed to fit into the room - there was no way a roll away could fit anywhere in this room - additional cost or not. Instead we asked for additional bedding to make a bed roll on the floor, something we've done before in rooms when no roll-away is available. The room would have held five people if one of them was a toddler in a port-a-crib, but it was way too small for a family of 5 (with kids the age ours are) to stay in that room, and they should not have been able to book 5 people in that room.

It got even more discouraging as the days progressed. The shower curtains were not water-proof fabric, and leaked water all over the bathroom floor each time someone showered. The towels were all various shades of white, ivory and cream - not all the same color, or even the same size towels in the same colors (one cream bath towel, one white one, 2 ivory hand towels, etc). One day the sheet on one of the beds had a big stain on it. One day house-keeping accidentally unplugged the refrigerator causing the yogurt and cheese we'd put in it to get warm and go bad. One day house-keeping took all the glasses and did not leave new ones, and the next day they took all the partially used bars of soap from the bathroom and did not replace them with new bars. Each time we called down to request something they were pleasant enough about sending someone with the towels, glasses, etc. but in my opinion we should not have had to ask for these items each time.

I understand that you get what you pay for, and when you choose to go for an economy budget room (like we did this trip), that is exactly what you get.

 

[abouley]

Sorry to hear your stay was not great. I've stayed at the Carousel several times and have never had those kind of problems. If it makes you feel better, I had very similar problems on my recent trip staying at the Disneyland Hotel. We got a tiny room and there were 5 of us (3 adults and 2 children) so we had to squeeze a roll away bed and a port-a-crib in the room. We didn't have a room with a couch or with the double vanities like my previous stay. Our room wasn't ready at 3:00 when we came back to get our keys and had to wait an hour. Housekeeping didn't show up until late in the day several days we were there. Housekeeping was marginal at that. I

wish there were a "luxury" hotel within walking of Disney! I think next time we'll go off-site again and figure we get what we paid for. I was upset that we paid the extra money for the room and service we received.

Alison

 

[Mom2Joce]

Wow, both very interesting posts! We've been to DL TONS of times and always stay at BWPPI but I always look at the other nearby hotels AND the resort hotels as well. But after reading those two posts I'm sticking with BW Not to say that either of those hotels are going to be like that for us or that we won't ever get a bad experience at BW...just think I'm going to stick with what has worked for us And of course I LOVE the laundry facilities there right next to the pool
Thanks for you input

 

[melancholywings]

I'm sorry your stay was like that. We stayed at the Red Roof last time and it was beyond horrible. I kind of feel like we paid for economy and got third world. ^^
Outside of one very friendly man the rest of the staff was cranky. We arrived early and wanted to leave our luggage and hit the parks before check in, the room to check luggage was a very smelly/dirty bathroom coverted into a storage room. The friendly man got us into our room early so we didn't have to leave our bags there. He was so nice.
We had a corner room, and it stormed that first night so a piece of plastic on the outside corner wall had come loose and kept slapping the side of the building loudly ALL night long. We made several calls to the office to fix it from 10pm to 4am, and it didn't get resolved until after 5am. The next day we entered the elevator to discover someone had peed all over it.
And if all that wasn't enough, one night we woke up to a gang fight in the parking lot - that involved the police flying over in a copter with spot lights.
Thank god disneyland is so amazing. It made up for it.

 

[JenDisneylandlver]

We were going to stay there in June, but decided against it when we found out they didn't have a hot tub. I also didn't think they had much property, with the parking under the motel and the pool on the roof. We ended up staying next door at the Tropicana. That was probably the only off site motel that we've liked so far.

I don't think I've ever had a bad stay onsite, but we sure couldn't go as often if we always tried to stay there!

 

[brenda1966]

I guess I'm just suprised when people are so disappointed in a budget hotel.

These are old motels! There's really not much they can do about room size.

When I book a room for 5, I always make sure to talk directly to the hotel about reserving a cot or rollaway etc. or to make sure the room has a sleeper sofa. Many web sites will just book you without regard for where people will sleep.

That stinks about the refridgerator -- probably an honest mistake.

My stay at Carousel was just fine. Didn't have any problem with the shower curtain, just made sure it was in the bath tub so the water didn't run down it onto the floor.

 

[Vanvmom]

I know you get what you pay for, but by Disney's website, Carousel is considered a Moderate hotel (same as Candy Cane Inn which we've always enjoyed), and not "economy." I equate economy level with budget level. Yes, Carousel is certainly budget compared to Doubletree Suites. On trips to DL we often book moderate level as we are only in the room to sleep, otherwise we are in the parks. We booked this trip trying to stay on a "family budget" (as we are vacationing somewhere else in Dec), but I did not intend to book a budget/economy level hotel room. I hope that's not as confusing as it sounds.

We picked Carousel as many people on this site had given it good reviews, plus there were good reviews on trip advisor. I was just sharing that my experience was not as good as what others have said they experienced-even others who stayed during the same time. Honestly we weren't bitter or whiny in any way about our stay-while we were there, or now. It was just a series of many small things going wrong that together amount to a not so great stay compared to other "moderate" hotels we've stayed at during our trips to DL.

We booked the trip through a TA who then booked through Disney Travel as we purchased a package. Yes, when I book on my own I contact the hotel directly, as this is the best way to get what you really want. DH travels 2-3 weeks out of every month, so we've got a lot of experience booking hotel rooms.

As for the room size, I'm not bothered over the size of the room, as much as the fact that we were booked into a room that small when the hotel offers larger rooms as well as suites. We booked our Nov. trip in June, asked for a room for 5 people, and gave the ages of those people. Disney Travel then enters our info. into their system, and the hotels with rooms for that many people show up as available to choose from. If we needed a cot for the 5th person, we should have been notified when booking the room (as well as what the cost would be for that cot). If the room was too small to allow for a cot, we should not have been able to book that room. For example...at Candy Cane Inn (similar category hotel) they have several deluxe 4 person rooms that are large enough for a cot that you can request for the 5th person, but that is not their standard room. If you use Disney Travel, you can not book a 5 person package at the Candy Cane Inn (even though some of their rooms will hold 5 people), yet you can call Candy Cane Inn directly and book one of those deluxe rooms (and buy your Disney tickets separately).

I just meant to give another review of our stay that gave details as to why we felt the way we did about the hotel. As I said, many people have had great stays at Carousel.

 

[kelmac284]

I def feel your pain. We have 5 in our family. 2 parents a 15 year old and a 7 and 8. We are always on a budget and like you the room is only for sleeping so we like to save money on the room so that we can spend it in the parks etc.

We used to stay farther offsite at the Staybridge suites which we LOVED. This is usually when my mom went with us and they have a two room suite. It has a room with a king bed and a bath and a living room with a sleeper sofa and a kitchen and then another bedroom with 2 queens and another bath. It is PERFECT for our family and also has a wonderful breakfast. This is our preferred hotel but we learned that now that we have to travel during high season the best way to go is staying right across the street so that we can get to the park at opening and take mid day breaks etc.

So unfortunately unless you can afford Disney properties (which is not in our budge) or more than one room we get stuck with these ultra cheapo rooms.

We have stayed at the Fairfiled Inn in July which was nice but a little far to walk. We stayed at the Castle Inn last November and they upgraded us to suite and that was perfect. The room was HUGE but again it was quite a walk. My mom stayed at the BWPPI last July and although she was not impressed I thought her room seemed nice and I would try it.

We stayed at the Del Sol in Oct and I was NOT impressed and I hate to say we are staying there again this weekend. I booked it before our Oct trip and it is too late to change.

The room was VERY small and it too is a very old motel.

The bathroom was so small that you practically fall in the toilet when you close the door. It only has one sink and there was no coffee in the coffee maker.

We ordered the rollaway but the ONLY place we could put it was at the foot of the bed and it blocked the fridge and was right up against the sink. It was really bad. They never gave us enough towels and then would take the dirty ones and never give us any new ones. They also only gave us one roll of TP and of course we ran out with 5 people and then we had to go to the front desk and instead of just giving us one they said they would send housekeeping and we had to wait for 20 mins.

Again I realize you get what you pay for but it was pretty bad.

I just hope it is not as bad this time but I am already expecting it to be the same.

At least this time my oldest is staying in a room with my mom so we won't have to deal with the rollaway and will have more room and we should at least have more towels since there will only be 4 of us in the room.

I def feel your pain though but unfortunately I think by staying right across the street you give up some of the luxuries. I agree I wish they could come up with something that was the best of both worlds!!!

 

[JenDisneylandlver]

I don't ever really find the rooms to be very small in these places. But we do only have 3 people. That makes a big difference. I'd imagine most motels and hotels would be considered small for 5 people!

We had 6 people on our last trip in October. We got two adjoining rooms. I can't imagine trying to do more then 4 in ANY one room. I'd feel cramped, and be fighting over the bathroom! LOL

 

[brenda1966]

In this case, I think I'd be most annoyed at the travel agent for not making sure your room was set for 5 people.

This is why I usually book all my stuff myself. There's a trust level that I just don't have. I want to talk directly to the hotel and make sure I know what I'm getting. I usually call them twice before my trip to make sure they still have my reservation. There's nothing more sobering than walking into a hotel and having them not be able to find you in the computer.

We slept 5 in a Hojo's room with a cot and it is a tight, tight fit. But when you're on a budget you make do.