What do we do?!?! What do we do?!?!

[jacs1234]

We're coming over there guys, so you better watch out!

We are coming from the 25th of November to the 7th of December.

We have booked our whole stay (13 nights) in the view room at the Carousel Inn, but my mum would love to stay at the Grand Californian so I've just booked the first 4 nights at the Grand to surprise her (shhhhhh). Double We need two rooms to fit our four kids , the mummy (me) and the daddy and the Grandma. It is so much more expensive but we could, or we are thinking about trying to be able to afford the next 3 nights at the Disneyland Hotel. My dh loves the idea of the new headboards (thanks to you guys ) and I love the idea of popping down to Goofy's kitchen and dinner and the kids pool area.

Should we do it? We'd have to save the extra money, we could but that is the price of a new couch or dining table and we need both of those

What would you do if you could just afford it? Stay at the Carousel Inn and have the extra money to come home to or use the extra money to stay at the disneyland Hotel?

So we would have 4 nights at the Grand, 3 nights at Disneyland hotel and the rest at the Carousel Inn.

 

[Minnie Loves Mickey]

I wish that when my kids were young, we did not have to worry about money so much. If I think back about all our trips to DL and there were many, the ones where we stayed on sight stick out the most in my mind. Your kids will grow up and you can't go back, but you can always get a couch and dining room table once they are grown.

 

[Scribble Kitty]

Personally, I hate having to switch hotels mid-stay.

But on the other hand the Disneyland hotels are really nice...

I'd probably save up more and just stay on-site the whole time! So what if I'm eating ramen and mac&cheese for a month after? I went to Disneyland and had a great time, that's all the nourishment I need.

 

[jacs1234]

So you guys are happy to spend my money?

 

[Scribble Kitty]

So you guys are happy to spend my money?

It's always easier to spend someone else's!

 

[mad hatter fan]

If you decide to divide your time between on and off site, I would definitely start off site and finish up on site. I would really be disappointed to downgrade mid trip!

 

[rentayenta]

I agree with the PP: don't down move down especially from one of the resort properties to off site. I'd spend more to stay at the resort.

 

[Aust]

As a fellow Australian - my opinion on my 2 trips to DL has been we are spending so much on the airfare, that staying at DLH and GCH seems cheap by comparison! And travelling so far helps me justify it too.

I'm another one that thinks you'd be better off starting at the Carousel inn, then move to DLH, then to GCH - so you end your trip on a high. We've stayed 2 different places on a trip to Queensland and started at the better place - it was not nice to downgrade for the second half of the trip.

 

[skiingfast]

I agree with the PP: don't down move down especially from one of the resort properties to off site. I'd spend more to stay at the resort.

I also agree. Finish on the high note.


There may be a room deal during that time too, so you might make a reservation for plan A, B, and C. When it comes down to nonrefundable time cancel what doesn't work out.

 

[jacs1234]

We want to do the Grand first because we are surprising my mum with the stay there. We're hiring a limo from the airport and think it would be cool to arrive at the Grand.

 

[Susie63]

We have a saying round these parts....Go big or go home.
Not really...... but it was my travel plan when we went to DL last year.We stayed at the DLH for 8 nights.Did I get a great deal...nope. Did I care.....nope. I reckoned if I was gonna go all that way, I wasn't gonna worry about money. There's always gonna be more money.Trips tp DL will be few and far between
Have fun........wish I was you!

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

Very nice of you to want to surprise your mother with the trip to the Grand. So it seems you "can't" change that being first. I'm with the PP who said start and finish on-site if you're planning on breaking the trip into 3 parts anyway. Do the Grand, then the Carousel, then the DLH. For me, that would be a lot of moving around, but I do understand that you won't be coming all this way that often, so you want to get to experience as much as you can. There are supposed to be some deals released on 9/13 for the resort area hotels, so definitely try to get in on those. They've already started the deals for holders of the Disney Visa card.

I guess the only other thing I would say about staying at the DLH over the Carousel is make sure you're not skimping on the overall experience for the sake of the hotel. OK, you're willing to sit on the old couch at home for another year before you get a new one, but are you also going to be giving up any tours, dining, or other Disney-related experiences you were planning on in order to pay for the more expensive hotel? Are you going to take advantage of the hotel perks and amenities enough to make this a good trade-off?

 

[skiingfast]

I'm curious with all of those days there. How many are park days, offsite days and relax at the hotel days? The DLH will be the place for the kids to play. The Carousel might be the one you want to drive from because your car will be close if you are using a rental.

 

[ConnieB]

I wish that when my kids were young, we did not have to worry about money so much. If I think back about all our trips to DL and there were many, the ones where we stayed on sight stick out the most in my mind. Your kids will grow up and you can't go back, but you can always get a couch and dining room table once they are grown.

I guess it depends on the kids. My family stayed at Disneyland Hotel when it was the only Disney hotel (but not owned by Disney), lol.....and I don't remember it except because of photos we have. But I remember a LOT of great things about our various trips from Nothern California to Disneyland while I grew up.....but little or nothing about hotels. Most kids don't remember the hotel because it's a non-issue to them.

Having said that though, if OP can afford it, then GRANDMA will remember the surprise of a stay in GH. And to ME that would be worth waiting a year or two for new furniture (assuming you're not sitting and eating on the floor because you have neither, lol).

BUT...personally, I'd do the GH at the END of my stay. It can be quite a letdown to go from something like GH to even a nice off site hotel...but going from a "this is nice" hotel to "oh my god it's the GH" is a bit easier, lol.

 

[larina]

Another chime in to not downgrade during your stay. I get why you planned it that way, but I wouldn't do that. I can't imagine starting at the Grand and ending up at Carousel. I'd try to pull off the whole thing on site, ending with the Grand. I agree the limo to the Grand sounds awesome, but it would be just as fabulous for her if you surprised her twice on the trip. Once with the limo and staying on-site at all, and again with the move to the Grand.

 

[Minnie Loves Mickey]

Another chime in to not downgrade during your stay. I get why you planned it that way, but I wouldn't do that. I can't imagine starting at the Grand and ending up at Carousel. I'd try to pull off the whole thing on site, ending with the Grand. I agree the limo to the Grand sounds awesome, but it would be just as fabulous for her if you surprised her twice on the trip. Once with the limo and staying on-site at all, and again with the move to the Grand.

I think this is true!

 

[tzeitel]

So you are staying in 3 hotels? I think that would be a bit of a pain.

 

[jacs1234]

It's done!!!!!!!!!!! I read the responses after booking but we booked 4 nights at the Grand, 3 at Disneyland Hotel and the rest at the View room at the Carousel Inn. I totally see what you all mean about ending on a high note so we'll look into doing the Disneyland hotel on the last 3 nights.

I know it will be a pain moving from place to place but my big strong dh will do alot of it while mum and I entertain the kids at the park. We'll book out of the Grand in the morning before the parks open as the parks won't open till 10 that day. We'll leave our stuff there until 2ish and will transfer our luggage and have a break for a few hours before going back to the park. It shoud work out OK although it will be a pain.

My mum would LOVE to stay at the Grand, she had our kids for a week last year while dh and I spent our 15th anniversary at Disneyland and dh surprised me with a stay at the Grand. It was amazing. I want to do that for her although with having to have two rooms we can't afford it for the full stay.

Me on the other hand, I've also always dreamed of staying at the Disneyland hotel, ever since that first ever breakfast at Goofy's kitchen. It was all so magaical. That was back when they had the neverland pool and it looked so enchanting. I'm dissappointed it's gone.

Skiingfast - we have 1 day we'll go to Legoland but the rest are Disneyland days, well spend hours in the afternoons at the pools and afternoons shopping and stuff like that but mostly we'll be in the parks. And believe me, we don't get bored with the parks doing it. At least we won't have to rush rush rush all the time and if we don't make rope drop, we'll live :0)

 

[skiingfast]

Me on the other hand, I've also always dreamed of staying at the Disneyland hotel, ever since that first ever breakfast at Goofy's kitchen. It was all so magaical. That was back when they had the neverland pool and it looked so enchanting. I'm dissappointed it's gone.

Skiingfast - we have 1 day we'll go to Legoland but the rest are Disneyland days, well spend hours in the afternoons at the pools and afternoons shopping and stuff like that but mostly we'll be in the parks. And believe me, we don't get bored with the parks doing it. At least we won't have to rush rush rush all the time and if we don't make rope drop, we'll live :0)

I wouldn't be surprised if you like the DLH the best. And with the new pool maybe open when you get there you will make some great new memories.

Going slow should be make for a great vacation.

 

[AussieDisneyNut]

Hi, I just wanted to chime in with my opinion ... please re-think the limo transfer! When we went in March I booked a limo transfer and we were pretty disappointed in the experience.
We were a party of 7 (3 kids and 4 adults) and the limo was very crowded, lacked seatbelts, had limited views, was decked out in very tacky finishings and could barely fit all our luggage. On top of that the driver did not utter a single word to us the entire trip. In hindsight I should have booked a private shuttle van transfer and saved the dollars. I think the van offers a better viewing height, seatbelts for everyone and more luggage room.
On a positive note we stayed at GCH and loved it! Perhaps you could price the Paradise Pier hotel and stay there instead of the off-site hotel??
Good luck and have a fantastic trip.