Those traveling with little kids

[Valentina1234]

For those of you who have traveled to Disneyland with little ones, where did you prefer to stay and why? We have a week booked at the Hojo, but only 3 days we could get a suite. The reminader of our time will be in a regular room with 2 queen beds. Our kids are 5 and 2.5, so we have thought of booking a house through VRBO. Only thing is it won't be within walking distance so we will have to drive. I would prefer to walk so that we could go back and forth if our little guy needed a nap or just to relax a bit.
Also how many days for little kids? We are thinking of doing a 4 or 5 day park hopper. We don't want to be rushed.

 

[Staceycs]

We have been to DL when our kids were very little (10 months and 2) and from this our mantra now is always "Location, location, location". We have stayed at HoJo in the past and while I know many people like it because of the waterpark, for us it still felt like a big walk after a long day. Our room was at the back of the property too, and this added quite a bit of walking time.

We've found the hotels close to the crosswalk (such as the Desert Inn and Tropicana) to be excellent in terms of options for Family Suites and booking rooms with lots of space to move around. I can be funny with hotels, but we keep going back to the Desert Inn because of the space they offer. Our kids will be 2.5 and 4.5 on our next trip and we are splurging on GCV for the amazing location.

If you have the time to spare, I think a 4 or 5 day hopper is a sensible purchase in your case....it takes away so much pressure to cram it all in. We'll be in Anaheim for 7 days and will be taking it very slowly...we plan on spending short chunks of time in the parks and building in LOTS of quiet time back at the hotel.

 

[l4dyj8]

With young kids, the closer the better. I have a 7 yr old and a 20 month old. Young ones need naps and everyone needs a break. We didn't even do the pool when our oldest was little... so HoJos water area and pools wasn't a big sell for us. But we did stay there once because they offer great rates. I know it a favorite among parents but it was just ok.

Personally we like staying in the Disney bubble. And since we have small kids and DL is a staycation for us, we spend a lot of time in our room.

Of course, that isn't always financially possible. We have stayed at the Hilton a few times. It's further but they often have last minute rates under $150 on a Saturday. You can also get a view room and see the fireworks. It's a business class/convention hotel. The walk is doable. But on hot days, we walk across the street to the toy story lot and catch the shuttle. I prefer this over the tram from Mickey & Friends. It's a bus and the lines are orderly.

Speaking of which... I hate boarding the tram with a full size stroller. Leaving DL is a chaotic mess. (We use an umbrella stroller now but still doesn't help that end of day rush to the tram.)

I would stick with your HoJo plans even if you have a smaller room. Also I know Anaheim was cracking down on AirBnb/short term rentals. Not sure if it has taken effect.

 

[Glynis4]

We are going to Disney in November with our 5 & 2.5 year old. Staying at HOJO in a deluxe Queen room. So it has a small balcony we are hoping to utilize if the kids are asleep before us and we still want to chat. We have 5 day park hoppers. Doing 3 days, 1 day break, then 2 days. The plan is to go back to the hotel for afternoon naps every day. We are bringing our double stroller. I wanted to avoid trams/ART with a stroller, so walking distance was key. So, obviously I think HOJO's is a great choice for your entire stay, and I think the 5 day park pass will allow a more relaxed touring pace with room for down time

 

[Aurora_Australis]

We have to have a separate room to sleep in and a proper breakfast and don't mind a walk to get these at a price we are happy with. We didn't take a pram last time but DH just threw the little one onto his shoulders to go back to the hotel for a nap. We really didn't mind the walk down to Katella at all. The Residence Inn CC was where we stayed, a nicer pool than other places in that price range.

 

[onlyoneash]

I have little kids too and learned the hard way that when a hotel says "only a 7 min walk" to Disneyland, it is usually the time a single adult walks at a brisk pace in a zero crowd situation.

Just mentally double that at least. Once you enter "Disneyland" there is also still a walk to security/turnstiles, plus walking through a crowd, plus little legs can't walk as fast as an adult.

So a hotel that advertises "7 min" will be at least a 15 min walk from the turnstile to your room door.

Still seems like no big deal, but wow is a 15 min walk hard after chasing little kids all day at Disneyland!

Next time I am literally staying right across the street if possible! When my kids get a bit older, I am fine with venturing further or getting a condo.

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

I have only stayed one and only one night (I'm a local). It was just me and my 2 year old so we stayed at the Grand Legacy. It's a motel, nothing special but WOW it was close. The walk was amazing. I was through security and at the gate in 7 minutes total and that includes pushing a stroller through the crowds. This was really nice when we went back for a midday break and also at the end of the night. I don't know if Grand Legacy has larger rooms but I would look at the hotels that are right next to Grand Legacy (there are many) because being that close to the parks was amazing. Especially because I have a stroller that is loaded up with all of our gear, I don't like trams or buses. Just stepping out of our hotel room and being in the park in minutes is amazing.

 

[scrapshappen]

Even with big kids, we like to be as close to the park as possible. To me, HOJO is too far. We have a son with some special needs and when we need to take him back to the room to finish his meltdown, the closer the better. We like Tropicana and are planning on Desert Inn for our next trip.

 

[Elima2015]

FYI on the VRBO option - Anaheim has nearly ended the ability to do short term rentals, so you will either need to look farther away from DL and drive in every day or be very very cautious booking a VRBO in Anaheim. We rented a condo (1.5 years ago) and it was way too far away for us. The walk took 40 minutes. It ate up way too much of our day to walk back and forth. We had an extenuating circumstance in the middle of the stay and moved to the HoJo. We loved it. For us, it wasn't a far walk at all. It was pleasant. My kids loved loved the pool area and it was perfect for the day we took a break from the parks. The room was plenty spacious for 5 of us (2 queen beds and one in a pack 'n play). I would definitely stay there again. We have also stayed at BWPPI without kids and it was a fine option - biggest perk was the provided breakfast and directly across the street from the esplanade.

I would opt for 5 day park hoppers and plan to not go full days - or at least take a decent mid-day break. If your kids haven't been before, just be prepared for the possibility that they get overstimulated. Mine didn't really cope very well in the parks (they did ok, but not as great as I had hoped). You could buy 4 day park hoppers and upgrade to 5 days if you decide you want that extra day - you just have to make the upgrade before the end of your 4th day.

 

[geergirl]

If we could afford it we would stay at the Courtyard every time. That's not going to happen though. In terms of distance anything along Harbor is find for us. The reality is we're mostly driven by budget. The Holiday Inn on Walnut has been way cheaper whenever I look. We have stayed there once and have another stay booked. We don't love it - the room isn't very big, it's a longer walk, there's no restaurants nearby, and the kids have to share a bed. But the on-site restaurant is good, inexpensive, and kids eat free, there's a spray park, and the price is right.

 

[GatorChris]

We've stayed at the HoJo three times - all 6-7 day trips. And we have 3 kids, now aged 6, 10, and 12. First, we always stay in a room with just 2 queen beds. We either rent a roll-away or bring a single air mattress for my son to sleep on. There's plenty of room for us, so there's plenty of room for the 4 of you in a double queen.

As for distance, the HoJo isn't that far of a walk. Yes, there are places closer. But HoJo just isn't that far. Plus with the little water park, your kids will love HoJo. They'll even love going back to the hotel if they know there's a water park waiting. Even after a week of being there, we think the walk aint that bad. And since you'll be bringing a stroller one or both of them, little legs won't matter much on the walk back. Staying at a rental house means you have to drive and park and take the tram. Seems like a lot of work when you can stay across the street and walk.

I would choose 5 days personally. That gives you 2 full days in each park, and 1 day to go back and do whatever you want. But 4 days will be plenty if you're on a budget.

 

[ExcitedMama]

I have traveled to Disney twice now with small children. I'm too cheap to spend money on rooms that are just for sleeping so we've always shared a room with the two beds, once at the HoJo and once at the DLH. It's definitely a trek with small kids to the park from the HoJo! Even DLH isn't exactly close but walking through DTD is just more fun looking at everything and there are places to stop. The walk also seemed sketchy from the HoJo which I didn't like with small kids, especially at night.

I would recommend staying at the parks if your offsite. If you're staying on site it's easy enough to go back to the pool or the room for a break but it's too much trouble off site IMHO. DD was 1 on our first trip and 2 on our second and with babies I'm very regimented about sleep schedules so this was her first experience with me winging it. She napped all over, on the train and at the Aladdin show. There are lots of places like that where you can relax and a child could sleep. My oldest was 3 and then 4 on those trips and he never wanted to rest until nighttime and that was when he'd still nap at home. He fell asleep waiting for fireworks but then woke up to enjoy them. Personally I'd skip worrying about getting a house and just enjoy being at the parks and then just sleep wherever you stay. I think we did 5 days both time and it was perfect. We had plenty of time so weren't rushed and we did a lot of shows to relax for a bit.

 

[HuskyGal]

We've only stayed at hojos and I Wont consider staying there again. Like pp, we stayed in the furthest building and the walk felt long at the end of the day. I may have felt different if I had paid more for the closer building. Also the tub was icky enough that I told my kids not to sit down in it. I'm considering either onsite or courtyard. When I did the price comparison, with the bunk beds courtyard was the bigger bang for my buck. It's a tad closer than hojo and won't need to deal with folding a full double stroller to get on a shuttle.

 

[Valentina1234]

Thank you everyone for your advice. We are going to stick with hojo for the first 3 nights, and we found a suite at homewood Hilton for the next 4. We would have rather stayed as close as possible to the park but we are leaving sept 30 and all the really close hotels are fully booked.

 

[mummabear]

We have stayed at HOJO several times, I think the walk is a really comfortable one, and it is really splitting hairs about anything closer.

As far as being in one room, we have 3 kids who are now 7,5 and 3, every trip we have ever been on we have slept in one room across 2 beds and a portacot. It has worked for us fine (admittedly we are in a big time difference so usually when the kids go to bed at midnight we are going with them, we may wake up earlier and read a book while they sleep some more).
For our family we would rather spend the money on other things than bigger rooms.

 

[beachdreamr1229]

I know you already decided to move to Homewood for part of your time, but I just wanted to mention that my family of 5 is very comfortable in HOJO rooms. We've never stayed in the suites and have always had a 2 queen room without it being an issue. My kids are 7 and 3.5 now, but we have been staying at HOJO since the little ones were 1. The walking distance is not bad at all.

Homewood Suites is nice, too, but the walk is much further than from HOJO. Are you planning to use ART, the Toy Story shuttle, walk, or drive?

Enjoy your trip!

 

[Valentina1234]

We won't be walking to Disneyland. By the sounds of things, the toy story parking lot is a 5 min walk from the hotel, so we will walk there with the kids in the stroller and then take the shuttle to Disneyland.
We are still staying at the hojo for the first three nights but we have a suite. I really need my down time at night to relax with DH, and going to bed when the kids do is just not a great option for us.

 

[smartlabelprint]

Our last trip we stayed at the HomeWood suites convention center. We will likely stay there again in March. The shuttle takes the same amount of time as walking so we'll likely just walk there and bus home. It's annoying. But to stay at our 2nd choice the Camelot suites costs more and no free food. The free doesn't matter but it took FOREVER at McDonald's.

 

[lcp9]

Our kids are now 6, 3, 1, and we've been 5-6 times in the last 3 years. We prefer the residence inns, and specifically the new on on Katella/Harbor is awesome and brand new! For little kids, it's super helpful to have a full kitchen (so we can pack snacks/milk) in our stroller for the day, and also a free full breakfast. Last time, 3 and 1 were in stroller and 5 walked, and it was probably 10 mins. Our kids are good about napping in the stroller so we don't generally go back in the afternoon, but you could if you wanted to.

 

[smartlabelprint]

We won't be walking to Disneyland. By the sounds of things, the toy story parking lot is a 5 min walk from the hotel, so we will walk there with the kids in the stroller and then take the shuttle to Disneyland.
We are still staying at the hojo for the first three nights but we have a suite. I really need my down time at night to relax with DH, and going to bed when the kids do is just not a great option for us.

How long is your trip? HomeWood suites offers a discount over 7 days. Camelot over 5 days.