This or That?!?

[mhalpern]

We booked our flight for mid July (yippee!!). Now I have to make 3 decisions to book our package. We have been to WDW several times but this is our first (and maybe only) trip to DLR. This are the things I'm debating at the moment.

1. We are going to spend the first 5 nights at a Good Neighbor hotel. I'm looking at Tropicana Inn and Best Western Park Place. Both seem like they are in the same location, same price range, have fridge, have pool, free breakfast, etc. We don't spend a lot of time in the room but want someplace close, clean, and my kids will want to swim.

2. To get the full experience we are going to do a split stay and spend the last 3 days at a Disney hotel. I'm debating between Grand California and Disneyland Hotel. Is GC worth an extra $75 a night? The group will include me, DH, DD(11) and DS(9). The pool at DH looks fun but I can't tell if it is too young for my kids. I can't find a picture of GC pool. We are probably going to be at the resort on days that we are not at the park.

3. We want to do one character meal. We want to go on a non park day so we need one that is in a resort. DD is a big fan of Stitch and DS is a fan of Chip and Dale. We heard that Max was somewhere and we never "met" him so that would be fun.

Thanks!

 

[Belle Ella]

We booked our flight for mid July (yippee!!). Now I have to make 3 decisions to book our package. We have been to WDW several times but this is our first (and maybe only) trip to DLR. This are the things I'm debating at the moment.

1. We are going to spend the first 5 nights at a Good Neighbor hotel. I'm looking at Tropicana Inn and Best Western Park Place. Both seem like they are in the same location, same price range, have fridge, have pool, free breakfast, etc. We don't spend a lot of time in the room but want someplace close, clean, and my kids will want to swim.

2. To get the full experience we are going to do a split stay and spend the last 3 days at a Disney hotel. I'm debating between Grand California and Disneyland Hotel. Is GC worth an extra $75 a night? The group will include me, DH, DD(11) and DS(9). The pool at DH looks fun but I can't tell if it is too young for my kids. I can't find a picture of GC pool. We are probably going to be at the resort on days that we are not at the park.

3. We want to do one character meal. We want to go on a non park day so we need one that is in a resort. DD is a big fan of Stitch and DS is a fan of Chip and Dale. We heard that Max was somewhere and we never "met" him so that would be fun.

Thanks!

1. The only Good Neighbor hotel that I am familiar with is the Howard Johnson - which I absolutely adore! The rooms are clean, you can't beat the price if you are able to score the Entertainment Rate, and their Pirate-themed pool is pretty nifty! You'd get the mini fridge there, but unfortunately not the free breakfast.

2. If I had the $75/night to spare I would stay at the GC in a heartbeat. The hotel is breathtaking in my opinion and really reminds me of home (it's the same Craftsman style that my Grandfather has been building his entire life and looks so much like the houses he's built for himself). Another big plus is just how much closer it is to the entrance to both parks (it even has it's own entrance to DCA). But on the other hand, the DH is pretty close to the Monorail which you can take into the park (or take back to DTD if you so choose). The DH is also in the middle of refurbishing their rooms and the new look is a huge, huge, huge step up! I don't have much to say on the pools though as I have never used any of them at the DLR. Saving that extra $75 a night could mean a lot more 'play' money, lol.

3. In my experience, Stitch has been pretty easy to find over in DCA but as far as at character meals I believe the only one you'll find him at is Mickey's Surf's Up (at least I think that's the name) over at the Paradise Pier Hotel. Chip and Dale are a little easier to find. I have yet to have one trip where I do not find them multiple times inside DL and from experience and other people's feedback they are almost always at Goofy's Kitchen, Minnie & Friends, and Storytellers. The one and only time I have seen Max was at Minnie & Friends, although that's not a guarantee by far!

Hope that helps a little.

 

[3Minnies1Mickey]

The DLH pool is definitely NOT "too young". It looks neat, however the pirate ship is just decor (can't climb or sit on it). Both pools have slides (I believe) that are for older children. I'd definitely go with GCH if you can swing it.

 

[Golfing Goofy]

2. We always stay at the GCH except for the one time we stayed at DLH. We enjoyed our stay at the DLH. A big difference between the two properties is that the rooms at DLH are much bigger. It was very spacious and we loved the DTD view and view of the fireworks. But we didn't care for walking through DTD. Our whole family just prefers the GCH. We love the decor and love the location. We like to come back to the hotel mid day and swim and eat in our room. My kids love the rapids ride at DCA and we tend to do it everyday of our trip and I love the convenience of running back to our GCH room so I can change... I know, it seems a little silly...but that's me.... So my opinions are a little biased.

At the GCH you can request a room with a queen bed and a bunk bed. My kids always loved that type of room. However, the bunk beds are a little short and the kids got too tall. So, now we always request a room with two queen beds and the daybed couch. It works out great for us. (At the DLH we received the same type of room with 2 queens and a daybed couch.)

I agree with 3Minnies1Mickey regarding the pool. Our kids loved swimming at both pools.

3. Just like Belle Ella the only place we ever met Max was at the Minnie & Friends Breakfast at Plaza Inn - BUT, that was 2 years ago....So, I have no clue if he is still there. Sorry.


HTH!

Have fun planning and enjoy your trip!!!

 

[bumbershoot]

I don't think DLH's pool is "too young". If anything, it's useless for the younger set, b/c they can't go on the big slide, can't climb on the pirate ship, and basically it's just a big fancy-looking body of water.

If you stay right across from the entrance plaza the first part of your trip, walking from DLH is going to see like a very long trek.

While I do adore the hojo, the pirate themed area is more of a water play area than a pool. The proper pool is just a pool in the garden area (lovely, but not amazing).

GC has 3 pools, actually. One has a slide.


I *think* Stitch still appears at the PPH's restaurant's Mickey character breakfast (it used to be Lilo and Stitch as hosts instead of Mickey). Chip and Dale are the hosts of the breakfast at the Grand's character breakfast (but go well before 10:30, because they have other obligations).

But Chip and Dale wander DCA quite a bit, and I've seen Max repeatedly in the Hollywood section of DCA. People say Stitch appears in DCA but we haven't seen him.


We've now stayed at all three onsite resorts, and PPH is actually my favorite. I found out the other night that DLH is hubby's fave, but I don't remember his "arguments" as being all that good, LOL.

 

[Vala]

3. We want to do one character meal. We want to go on a non park day so we need one that is in a resort. DD is a big fan of Stitch and DS is a fan of Chip and Dale. We heard that Max was somewhere and we never "met" him so that would be fun.

Thanks!

We saw Max at Minnie's in November. He was also out in DCA near the Animation Academy building pretty frequently.

We've seen Stitch at Sunshine Plaza in DCA exactly once during an almost two weeks stay.

 

[reynmagsmom]

lilo and stich have been seen by us near the midway in paradise pier every trip we've been on and best place to catch max on in hollywood area of DCA he has been there every trip also last trip was 08/2009