Preference for hotel with toddler

[Ratherbeatdisneyland]

This is our first time taking a child with us to the parks. I'm wondering what the preference is for staying with a child as far as hotel. Do you prefer one you can walk quickly to, or do you mind driving back to your hotel? Right now we are reserved for half our trip at the Hojo (we will be driving just because we are switching hotels) and the the other half at the desert inn and suites. I'm trying to decide if I should see if we could get a better room rate at a "nicer" hotel. I kind of wish I had booked us all nights at the hojo...but they are totally booked now.

 

[lalasmama]

My preference is the closest place I can afford. (Thankfully, DH agrees!) For us, that means we're staying at Park Vue Inn. It's close, it's small, the rooms are huge, the beds are comfortable, and the hot tub is nice. On the kid/parent side of things, should a last-minute meltdown occur, or any need to get back to the room in a hurry, it's just 6 or 7 minutes from the gates to the hotel room, with only 1 crosswalk. Honestly, it was nice when it was even just BFF and I, as we could just run back to the room if we got wet on Grizzly (which we did, again and again!).

While I know people drive to Disneyland, even from their hotels, every day, it just seems like a hassle to me if you are staying within walking distance. To drive, you have to... Get everyone ready. Get the diaper bag packed. Get the stroller into the car. Get kid(s) into car seat(s). Drive. Park. Get stroller out. Put diaper bag on stroller. Corral kid(s) into stroller. Hike to the tram. Get kid(s) out of stroller. Get diaper bag out of stroller. Fold stroller. Wait for tram. Hop on tram. Get off tram. Open stroller. Wrestle child into stroller again. (Is mine the only kid that became an octopus the moment she saw a stroller?) Get diaper bag into stroller. And then reverse the process to get back to the hotel each night! Versus just loading the stroller up with your bag, wrestling the kid into it, and walking the block or so to the parks.

 

[Aladora]

For me, it's all about location and the closer the better!

 

[Geemo]

This is our first time taking a child with us to the parks. I'm wondering what the preference is for staying with a child as far as hotel. Do you prefer one you can walk quickly to, or do you mind driving back to your hotel? Right now we are reserved for half our trip at the Hojo (we will be driving just because we are switching hotels) and the the other half at the desert inn and suites. I'm trying to decide if I should see if we could get a better room rate at a "nicer" hotel. I kind of wish I had booked us all nights at the hojo...but they are totally booked now.

Close is my choice with or without a kids.

We have stayed at the Desert Inn & Suites the last several trips. The location is great. The rooms are clean and the beds are comfy. The free breakfast is..... free.....

The walk time is so nice. From Tower of Terror to our room at DI&S was a 15 minute walk. With it so close, it's easy to go back to the room for a quick break. It also mean I don't have to carry the days needs in a backpack.

I think you'll like being so close. I know I sure do.

Geemo

 

[Ratherbeatdisneyland]

I think you are all right! We decided to do Hojo because we will be there on our "break" day so I thought the water park would be fun for my son. I guess I will leave things as they are!

 

[adykate]

I have two kids, currently 2.5 and 4. We will be going to DL this week for our 4th time since they were just past 2 years and about 10 months. Our first trip we were in our motorhome and stayed at an RV park, so we drove in each day. The second time we rented an amazing vacation home that was about 1.5 miles round trip walking to the parks. We chose to walk as we didn't want to deal with the car and we don't mind walking. Our third trip we stayed at HoJo one night, and the Disneyland Hotel the other 4. This trip we are staying exclusively onsite. In my opinion, being within a decent walking distance, and not hassling with the car is the only way to go when you have little ones. HoJo is great, and very manageable walking. We have chosen to stay onsite simply because we are there for the "race" weekends, and we want to be close to the start/finish. I would suggest you keep checking with Hojo (if you want to stay put for your entire stay). Chances are something will open up. People change reservations all the time as other deals arise, so it is very possible you might be able to add on days if you want to. Also, you might try calling and asking, not just checking online, as they sometimes have availability that is not showing on their website, or a third party site.