Residence Inn or Doubletree?

[TSRE]

Is there any significant difference between these? We have always stayed at the Disney hotels before, but have decided for this trip (with a 9-month old plus 2 other kids) more space and a separate bedroom for baby naps matter more to us than being on property. We are going to be driving to the parks either way, so we don't care about shuttles, and the Residence Inn being a little further away won't really make a difference. Is one nicer/better than the other? Prices are pretty similar.

Thanks!

 

[cethridge]

There are 2 residence inns near the park. One called "maingate" and the other called "resort area". Maingate is closer. Both are on the Anaheim resort transit route so no need to drive. Maingate has free parking, resort area charges. Resort area residence inn is more "Disney decorated".

Residences inns have full kitchens (not kitchenettes) plus full utensils, plus full hot breakfast buffet, plus they will grocery shop for you for free.

We prefer residence inns overall. More space, more amenities at no additional charge.

 

[specialks]

We stayed at the RI Resort GG last Dec. The customer service was excellent, but we actually preferred the Homewood Suites (they were refurbed not long ago). The RIGG is starting to show some wear and we preferred the rooms in the HS. You can look in my sig below for a link to my Dec trip report with info & photos about our RIGG stay. With kids I would choose the RI over the DT because of the free breakfast in the morning. Good way to fill their bellies before you get to the parks. Also, if you are set on driving to the parks, look at AAA for your park hoppers; they include parking at the M&F garage. However, driving does take a lot of time out of your day, so be prepared for that.

 

[dizneekrazee]

When are you going?? We are staying at the DT on our next stay, which is in 17 days , so I could easily give you a review of the hotel once we return.

 

[TSRE]

We stayed at the RI Resort GG last Dec. The customer service was excellent, but we actually preferred the Homewood Suites (they were refurbed not long ago). The RIGG is starting to show some wear and we preferred the rooms in the HS. You can look in my sig below for a link to my Dec trip report with info & photos about our RIGG stay. With kids I would choose the RI over the DT because of the free breakfast in the morning. Good way to fill their bellies before you get to the parks. Also, if you are set on driving to the parks, look at AAA for your park hoppers; they include parking at the M&F garage. However, driving does take a lot of time out of your day, so be prepared for that.

I was looking at Homewood Suites, too, as well as the closer RI, but I didn't see rooms with separate bedrooms available at either - bummer. That is our most important thing right now. Do they have those rooms? I may have just been reading the listings wrong.

I saw the AAA tip for free parking here a few weeks ago (yay Disboards), so we did get those. I know driving takes time, but I sort of hate shuttles, even if they are nice, so I think it will work better for us to drive. We may change our minds once we are there - who knows.

Is the breakfast at RI kind of a typical hotel breaksfast, or is it more like what you might get at a restaurant for breakfast?

When are you going?? We are staying at the DT on our next stay, which is in 17 days , so I could easily give you a review of the hotel once we return.

That would be great! We are going in early September so will probably have booked the hotel by then, but I would still love to hear at least that it wasn't horrible!

 

[specialks]

We had a 1 BR suite at HS which had a living room w sleeper sofa and the bedroom had 2 queens. They also have 2 BR rooms. You can always call the hotel if you are trying to fidpgure out what type of room your package is quoting. We booked with AAA in 2009 and had a 1 BR suite. Another note, the elevators are slow at the HS. It wu,dnt keep me from staying there, but it is sometimes frustrating to have to wait so long.

We have driven and parked on all of our last 3 trips. It is totally fine but really takes more time out of your morning, but last Dec we spent 45 min waiting to get out of the garage after the park closed early. We also never left for afternoon breaks. We actually typically skip the M&F shuttle and walk to the parks bc the lineups cam be brutal and strollers are limited to only loading at the front of each tram section.