Parking Conundrum

[MaskedRose86]

So we were originally going to be staying within walking distance to the hotel. But hotel had to rebook us at a different hotel which is now 2 miles away from the parks (Embassy Suites Orange).

We have the option to either take ART or drive and park at DL (we will have a car with us).

My concern is I'm reading that ART starts 1/2 hour before the park opens and that parking at DL opens an hour before park opens.

Do they take into consideration the early morning admissions? We have a magic morning with our 4 day pass, and I want to make sure we will be able to take advantage of using it!

 

[MaskedRose86]

I don't suppose I can make a stink with the Hilton guest services about how inconvenient this is. They have hotels closer and for whatever reason booked us at ES.

While I wouldn't mind a walk myself, I have twin 3 year olds that probably wouldn't handle a 2 mile hike back to the hotel after a long day already.

 

[grnflash]

Honestly I would be calling and insisting on being moved to the closer hotel. You booked a hotel specifically within walking distance. They need to move you, already a miss on their end, but it happens so I could roll with that - to the next closest property. But 2 miles away when there's a property on Harbor? Nope. Call and insist. They are switching you to the Orange property to benefit them (harder to fill rooms there) not you.

 

[Astylla]

This is tricky for sure. Because the hotel isn't opening on time there may be limited hotels with availability that could accommodate your party size and time frame / and or that they are "working with" in this particular situation.

While it doesn't hurt to try , I would consider trying to rebook something on your own also. While all the hotels are under the same group ( IHG I believe in this case) , there may be other circumstances also.
Definitely try to speak to someone about it but understand those you are speaking with likely have no authority on where you are moved to , just are doing what they are told ( I worked in a call center so know how it can be).


To answer your question though - YES both ART and the parking structure open follow the schedule according to magic morning on those days - Tues , Thurs , Saturday. However always re-check the daily calendar as on rare occasions they are not provided.

 

[MaskedRose86]

My frustration is since we were told this so late, rates for the other hotels I considered are crazy high. Too high.

We wanted something nicer than PVI since we had a so so experience last time.

This is Hilton brand of hotels.

 

[SMD]

The parking lots will open before MM. You could drive that day and take ART the other days if you'd rather do that.

 

[Geemo]

My frustration is since we were told this so late, rates for the other hotels I considered are crazy high. Too high.

We wanted something nicer than PVI since we had a so so experience last time.

This is Hilton brand of hotels.

I never really understood why people booked more than one place for a trip. Then deciding on which to use and which to cancel at the last minute. For your situation this would have been nice to have two reservations.

What are your dates? Someone here might know of something that might work for you.

Good luck

 

[MaskedRose86]

Geemo,

We are going Nov 4th and leaving the 7th.

Thanks.

 

[bumbershoot]

To answer your question though - YES both ART and the parking structure open follow the schedule according to magic morning on those days - Tues , Thurs , Saturday. However always re-check the daily calendar as on rare occasions they are not provided.

Good info!


That said, have them move you to at least the Embassy Suites Anaheim on Harbor Blvd!

 

[Astylla]

Geemo,

We are going Nov 4th and leaving the 7th.

Thanks.

Oohh there's the issue. This weekend ( 6th and 7th) is Blizzcon a HUGE gamer convention which sells out hotels months and sometimes a year in advance since they contract special rates. Many also go to Disneyland and make more than a weekend of it too.

As a regular attendee for many years finding a good rate this late will be difficult. Whenever there's a huge convention all prices go up significantly, it's just the way of it unfortunately.

Try orbitz with code "feelgood" you may find something. Good luck.

 

[Astylla]

I wanted to add I would not recommend Priceline as they only gurantee occupancy for 2 people. If you need to go that route Hotwire is better. Doing a quick search on your dates for Hotel tonight app just for reference the rates are all pretty high and slim pickings so this may be one reason you were moved to that property.

Sorry I couldn't help more.

 

[MaskedRose86]

I wanted to add I would not recommend Priceline as they only gurantee occupancy for 2 people. If you need to go that route Hotwire is better. Doing a quick search on your dates for Hotel tonight app just for reference the rates are all pretty high and slim pickings so this may be one reason you were moved to that property.

Sorry I couldn't help more.

No this was a lot of help! I really appreciate your time and thoughts. Super frustrating situation but only so much that can be done.

I will probably just stick with what I have since the hotel gets good ratings overall. Only other option was to stay at Fairfield for one night ($149) our first night so we could get to the magic morning easier on Thursday. I need to see what my husband thinks about hotel hopping though.

Ugh do you suppose the parks will be really busy? I'm not overly worried (trying not to be ) since we are going Wed afternoon, all day Thursday, Friday, and Saturday morning. We have more than enough time to have fun and I plan to get there at rope drop every day since my twins are crazy early risers anyway.

Does Blizzcon always happen this weekend? I came on the first Friday last year, and the morning was great, certainly picked up in the afternoon but nothing we couldn't manage.

 

[Astylla]

Well my power went out as I was typing so let's try again LOL

Parks being busy honestly could go either way since the 60th has already drawn crowds on it's own.
People do come from all over the world to attend Blizzcon so it's always possible. When we went in 2010 for our Honeymoon we also did 3 days at DL before and after the event and saw a good number of people at the parks.
Try to focus on a list of must do things - and for some rides like Peter Pan just stick out the wait..it rarely goes down. Usually 45 minutes is standard if anything less is posted just do it LOL.

Blizzcon has varied in dates from early years in April to most recently last several years in Early/mid October to first week of November.

I don't know if hotel hopping would be ideal in your case with young kids as it could cut into park time or if for any reason the other hotel was running behind on clean rooms , etc.
I don't have kids so take it with a grain of salt but I think I'd rather take the one reservation and be done with it.

Also , make sure you have confirmation numbers in hand to avoid any issues or "lost reservations". You could also call directly to assure your reservation is there also.

 

[MaskedRose86]

So would this idea be crazy for the magic morning? My husband drives the family early and drops off the rest of us really early (like 2 hours before regular opening), and goes back to the hotel and takes a taxi to meet us at the front gate?

That's probably silly but something I thought of when one of my daughters woke me at 2am and I was having trouble going back to sleep. haha.

 

[Bud Ice]

Did someone say BlizzCon? Oh yisssss...

Anyone wants some fun? This has some great cosplay, better than SDCC, going on outside the Convention Center.
Food trucks. And a Linkin Park concert to wrapup festivities.

Wonderful to stop by for anyone at DLR this week.


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About transportation...

See if the hotel has a shuttle service. Otherwise I would follow the advice of calling to see if they'll rebook. Makes it inconvenient to be that far. I means you could pay for parking at Mickey and Friends. But I would ask to be reimbursed. If you also want to Downtown Disney allows 2-4 hours of free parking. DTD parking charges usually don't start til about 11am on most days.,

 

[Rowlf]

I would just Uber back and forth to make it easier.

 

[RemainSeatedPlease]

If I were you, I would call the hotel and since they can't seem to move you closer, I would request that they give you a credit that would cover the amount of parking at DLR. This way you can drive yourself and not have to worry about bus schedules. Of course, they may refuse, but it doesn't hurt to ask, right?

 

[Winnowill]

I don't know if this is a regular thing, but on our MM (7:00 am) in August, we got to M&F at 6:10 to be told that they didn't open until 6:30. This was a problem for our "first into the park" strategy to get to Peter Pan. So my husband drove us over to DTD, then he went back to the garage. We were first in line at the gate and he joined us there, but it was certainly not something we were anticipating.

 

[az4boys]

My sister goes often and doesn't stay close. They like to be first in line, or close to it in the morning. Her husband drops off the family then goes to park the car.