Residence Inn Maingate or Garden Grove

[flying kiwi]

We have got our shortlist for hotels...
We are coming from New Zealand, and haven't travel in the US before.

We are thinking of Residence Inn Maingate (advantages, .6miles from Disneyland entrance, but disadvantage of a one bedroom suite - so parents and kids sleeping in the same room)

OR
Residence Inn Garden Grove (disadvantage 1.6miles from Disneyland, but advantages of
1. 2 bedroom suite - so parents don't have to sleep in same room as children,
2. cheaper)


Also, at home, we live in a VERY quite street, should I be worried about traffic noise at either of these locations???

Have you had any experience of either hotel; (comments please)
and is 1.6miles too far away from Disneyland???

Thanks.

 

[miss.potatohead]

I've stayed at RI Maingate and have nothing but praise for it (I have no idea about Garden Grove, sorry, but it may be a bit of a distance to walk especially with young children).

We had the family loft rooms but the one bedroom suite is very similar, except it does not have the extra bed in an above loft. There are two beds in a separated section to the room, which has folding doors closing it off from the lounge room and kitchen. A bathroom is connected to the bedrooms. I believe the couch in the lounge can be converted into a bed, if sleeping in the same room as your children is an issue.

Our room overlooked Clemintine St and we had hardly any street noise. The noise from the fireworks can be heard and is quite loud - we were all awoken at 9pm on our first night (we were asleep by 6pm, got to love jetlag) but otherwise there was little sounds, although it might depend where you are situated.

The free breakfast was a great way to start the morning; bread, bagels, muffins, fresh fruit, hot breakfast meats, waffles, cereal, juice and coffee. There was also a 'managers special' once every few nights, where they had nachos, hot dogs or other foods.

The managers are amazing and helped us book any tours that we needed or call the shuttle bus to pick us up for the airport. There may be some people who say that the location of RI Maingate is too far to walk; this is not the case. It took us no longer than 10 minutes each morning and night to walk to the gates of the park. It is also closely located to a bunch of shops and restaurants at the Garden Walk.

 

[specialks]

I have stayed at the RI GG. It is NOT in walking distance unless you and your kids are really used to walking almost 2 miles to get to the parks then another 5-8 miles while in the parks, them another 2 back to the hotel. I would never consider it walking distance. We drove each day. The hotel is getting run down a little. The beds were saggy and we actually had to change rooms because of the bad sofabed. You can see my trip report below (Dec 2010 trip). The staff were excellent but next time we will stay close by. I'm sick of the driving & parking at DLR.

 

[blackjackdelta]

I've stayed at RI Maingate and have nothing but praise for it (I have no idea about Garden Grove, sorry, but it may be a bit of a distance to walk especially with young children).

We had the family loft rooms but the one bedroom suite is very similar, except it does not have the extra bed in an above loft. There are two beds in a separated section to the room, which has folding doors closing it off from the lounge room and kitchen. A bathroom is connected to the bedrooms. I believe the couch in the lounge can be converted into a bed, if sleeping in the same room as your children is an issue.

Our room overlooked Clemintine St and we had hardly any street noise. The noise from the fireworks can be heard and is quite loud - we were all awoken at 9pm on our first night (we were asleep by 6pm, got to love jetlag) but otherwise there was little sounds, although it might depend where you are situated.

The free breakfast was a great way to start the morning; bread, bagels, muffins, fresh fruit, hot breakfast meats, waffles, cereal, juice and coffee. There was also a 'managers special' once every few nights, where they had nachos, hot dogs or other foods.

The managers are amazing and helped us book any tours that we needed or call the shuttle bus to pick us up for the airport. There may be some people who say that the location of RI Maingate is too far to walk; this is not the case. It took us no longer than 10 minutes each morning and night to walk to the gates of the park. It is also closely located to a bunch of shops and restaurants at the Garden Walk.

Totally agree here.

Jack

 

[cyclenut]

You should not consider the Ramada GG walking distance. You should expect to take a shuttle or a cab. The Ramada Maingate is DEFINATELY walking distance. In fact, I think you are closer to the turnstiles staying there than you would be staying at the other end of Downtown Disney at the Disneyland Hotel. I've not measured it, but that's my guess.

I have not stayed at either hotel personally but I do know the location of each. I imagine the street noise for both is pretty similar. I'm guessing you'll not notice since you'll be wiped out from all the adventure.

 

[Saskiwi]

Just to throw another idea out there from a fellow Kiwi - we love the Howard Johnson hotel (Hojo) - easy walk to DL, nice and quiet if you ask for a room away from the freeway - and very nice staff. They have lots of Kiwi/Aussie guests - Air NZ holidays often has good deals to stay with them or you can use your NZ Entertainment Book card to get great rates: $59 or $79 US a night.

We will be staying there again in October.