Please help with hotels!!

[Nermel9]

Hi everyone,

I'm going to Disneyland for the very first time the last week of April. We're staying 5 nights at the Disneyland Hotel with the Dapper Day rate, but we need a place to stay our first 2 nights before we can switch to the Disneyland Hotel.

I'd like to stay in one of those good neighbor hotels across the street, my question is, for 2 nights, does it really matter which one I pick? I'm looking at park vue, the Best Westerns, and the Fairfield inn. They're all about the same price. Some are unavailable booking through Disney so I'd have to use Orbitz or book directly through the hotel.

Are any of these better than the others? Also is there any benefit to booking through Disney? Is using Orbitz ok? And buying park tickets, is it ok to buy them separately? I'm used to WDW where I usually book everything together!

Thanks!

 

[planningjollyholiday]

There is no benefit to booking with disney, and you will probably get a better deal if you shop around and book it yourself directly with the hotel or through a site like orbits. All the motels across the street are somewhat the same, so for only two nights i wouldn't stress about it and just pick the cheapest. Also the "good neighbour" aspect doesn't mean a lot. There are non good neighbor hotels that i would consider better than some of the labeled "good neighbour" hotels. Any of your three choices will be perfectly fine.

 

[bumbershoot]

Any of those are good.

You're going to feel bummed about how much further the walk is from dlh once you move there though!

I don't do packages even at WDW. Better deals abound, even when I'm not using DVC points there. Check out the freedom of room only and tickets elsewhere next WDW trip!

 

[Nermel9]

Thanks! I don't really care where we stay those first 2 nights, my priorities are just cleanliness and being able to walk across the street! Are there hotels close that aren't good neighbor hotels? I don't really care too much about that label, I've only been looking at them because I've been going off of the Disneyland website!

 

[Pakey]

Yes there are other hotels right across the street that are not listed as "good neighbor" that are comparable in quality and price. You can check a website like Tripadvisor which gives you the hotels and how far they are from the park. I usually go with a large group of friends and we just care that it's close and reasonable in price. I just got back last night from 3 nights at the Camelot Inn/Suites across the street and had a great stay. I needed 3 rooms--they had availability combined with best rate. We go every 4-6 weeks and it's been a different hotel each time depending on the rates/room availability.

 

[bookgirl]

Post #3 in this thread is what I thought of Best Western Park Place Inn.

http://www.disboards.com/threads/my-recent-west-coast-mickey-trip-wrapped-up-6-3.3412362/

 

[Diszona]

Those are all good, as far as distance the BWPPI and Park Vue are the closest, the Fairfield is not too far but a little farther away. You might want to check with Desert Inn and Suites, which is next to the Park Vue. They usually have good rates but they don't show up on Orbitz so you might need to go directly to their website.

 

[Nermel9]

Thanks again everyone! It seems like everyone likes Park Vue but I don't know, I have a bad feeling about it. It just doesn't look clean to me lol.

Best Western PPI would be my first choice, but it's booked, so I would have to do the other Best Western, the Plus Anaheim if I do end up booking a BW hotel.

What does everyone think of the Tropicana or Carousel Inn? Another big concern is parking, do all of these hotels have decent parking? I know you have to pay at a few of them, which I'd rather not do, but I'm more concerned with there being spaces available than paying.

Also, the Red Lion has a great rate on Orbitz and it looks really nice, but is it a very far walk?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Congo Queen]

Why not reconsider Fairfield Inn? I have stayed there 4 times in the past 5 years. It is our offsite hotel of choice when we do not stay at the DLH. It is only a few steps farther (maybe 3-5 min addtl walk) from BWPPI. I actually like it better than BWPPI as I find the rooms quieter and the beds more comfortable- though I always stay on the top floor park facing rooms at the Fairfield Inn, so can't say what the interior floor rooms are like. Overall Fairfield is clean and the parking is plentiful and secure.

 

[sherilaine]

We have only ever stayed at the HOJO and never found the walk an issue so anywhere within that walk distance is certainly manageable, but I'd consider the Red Lion well out of that range.

We have never found parking an issue at the HOJO but they do have to monitor it as people like to try to park there that are not staying at the hotel - which is very risky since I was told they will tow people. I am sure all the other places in the area run into the same issue. We went to get something out of our car on the way to the parks one morning and were approached by staff asking to see our room keys as they watch people quite closely! This is a good thing as the parking should be for guests only.

 

[Nermel9]

I am still considering the Fairfield Inn, it does look very nice and the walk doesn't seem too bad. The only place I've kind of ruled out is Park Vue.

I'll have to look into HoJo's as well, I just assumed it was too far away but if it's not bad I'll consider that one also!

 

[ADLFAN]

We loved the FFI! And the pool area was much calmer than BWPPI. We also used the small store a lot for drinks. The beds were almost as comfy as the ones at the DLH and the walk was about the same, too. Plus they just opened a Panera Bread in the parking lot, yum!

 

[lk2500]

If you do stay at the FFI request an upper floor room away from foot traffic as Congo Queen mentioned.

 

[SoCalTrojanSkip]

I'm not sure I can offer a recommendation on *WHERE* to stay as I am local...

The Anaheim Hilton is our choice for D23, and the Homewood Suites next to the Toy Story Lot seems pretty nifty and has gotten a lot of good discussion on the board.

I can however tell you where NOT to stay....

Whatever you do, avoid the Clarion next to the Anaheim Convention Center like the plague.

 

[Diszona]

Thanks again everyone! It seems like everyone likes Park Vue but I don't know, I have a bad feeling about it. It just doesn't look clean to me lol.

Best Western PPI would be my first choice, but it's booked, so I would have to do the other Best Western, the Plus Anaheim if I do end up booking a BW hotel.

What does everyone think of the Tropicana or Carousel Inn? Another big concern is parking, do all of these hotels have decent parking? I know you have to pay at a few of them, which I'd rather not do, but I'm more concerned with there being spaces available than paying.

Also, the Red Lion has a great rate on Orbitz and it looks really nice, but is it a very far walk?

Thanks in advance!

We have stayed at the Tropicana Inn and really like it (we are possibly staying there in June depending on which week we go). We haven't stayed at the others so I can't say what they are like.

 

[Keels]

I like the FFI - we've stayed on the third floor, where Pizza Hut is - but at the far end of the walkway. I could walk outside at night and see the fireworks, and every morning when I left my room, I would get a glimpse of Space Mountain. It was pretty awesome.

It never took me more than 10 minutes to walk from my room, get through bag check and to the gate of either theme park. Looking forward to staying there again as part of a split stay for our Girls Weekend in May!

 

[Nermel9]

So just when I thought I'd finally settled on FFI, I went and looked at Desert Inn and Suites and now I'm considering them. I'm also back to considering Park Vue. And HoJo's. I'm the absolute WORST when it comes to booking a hotel. You should see me try to pick a WDW resort...

I know a lot of people seem to like Desert Inn and a lot of people don't. I have to remind myself this is only a 2 night stay so it really doesn't matter THAT much. If it was a week, that would be one thing, but we'll be in and out of there so fast, as long as it's clean and I can park, I really shouldn't care. Desert Inn is the cheapest, the others are about the same. Ughhhh. I was all set to book FFI and then I went and looked at more places!

It's really too bad the Red Lion is so far away, they're are the cheapest out of all of them, and it looks like it's really nice!

 

[sherilaine]

Two nights is a big part of the decision I'd say. When we got to DLR we stay for more than a week each time, so we like to have lots of space. If you are only going to be sleeping there for two nights, then I'd pick close, cheap and clean! If you can get all three then you are all set, but if you have to give up on one of them they'd I'd not sacrifice clean for cheap.

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

Two nights is a big part of the decision I'd say. When we got to DLR we stay for more than a week each time, so we like to have lots of space. If you are only going to be sleeping there for two nights, then I'd pick close, cheap and clean! If you can get all three then you are all set, but if you have to give up on one of them they'd I'd not sacrifice clean for cheap.

All sensible points that I agree with. Hojo is our preferred location because we don't care about being right at the crosswalk and have always found Hojo to be very clean and comfortable. We stayed at the FFI once 9 or 10 years ago and had no complaints. My mother-in-law has stayed at FFI more frequently and far more recently and has always been happy there. So I would say you are probably ok with either of those choices.

 

[Nermel9]

Thank you guys so much for all of the help! Someone suggested I try promo codes with Orbitz, which I did when I was looking at FFI and it wasn't eligible so I assumed none of them were. Then just for fun, I tried HoJo's and it was eligible and with the discount, it turned out to be pretty cheap! I checked a few other places but for some reason, I just felt like HoJo's was the one to go with so I booked that one! I'm very excited, I've read lots of reviews and watched some videos on YouTube and it looks pretty nice and clean! And parking is free so that's a plus!

Now that the hotel decision is out of the way, I can finally start the planning! Thanks again!