Where are people staying off site these days?

[DisSurfer878]

Depending on your dates, is booking two nights a possibility? With Park Vue now off the table for us with their policy change, I just found a weekend where two nights at Desert Inn and Suites was only $30 less than one night at Park Vue/Best Western/Tropicana. So we're planning to check in the night before, do Disney all day, not have to drive home late at night and check out the following morning.

We could. Mostly we were worried about the cost. But thats worth checking into

 

[roxy72]

We stayed at the Residence Inn at the Convention Center for a 3-night stay during mid-May. The 1-bedroom rooms are great, but the walk sucks at the end of the day!

We are eyeing the new Hilton Garden Inn across the street. It's attached to the new Home2 Suites by Hilton. Note that I don't know about the parking situation you've referenced, but keeping to the original thread title re: where folks are staying off-site these days.

 

[confetti]

Has anyone stayed at the Embassy Suites South on Harbor? We are planning to stay there in Sept. I keep looking at all the different hotels. We want to have a 1 bedroom suite with a little more space than a normal hotel. We'll have a car, so we don't mind driving to the park. I like the proximity of the Fairfield or the Best Western that are right across from the park but the rooms are smaller and they're more expensive. We plan to take breaks so it would be nice to have a little more room to relax at the hotel in the afternoons. The price at the Embassy is pretty good compared to others around. My dream is to stay on site at Disneyland but it's crazy expensive.

 

[HenDuck]

We used to stay at the Embassy Suites South all the time. It's a wonderful hotel. We stopped staying there because I wanted to be able to walk to the parks.

We now stay at the Homewood Suites Anaheim Convention Center. it's on Harbor right next to the Toy Story parking lot, so you can use the shuttle buses if you want.

Both hotels feature free breakfast and evening reception (although modified right now). Both are suite-style hotels, although Homewood does have non-suite rooms as well. Homewood has full kitchen-ettes, so you can cook in your room. also includes a full sized fridge, which makes a big difference.

Hope this helps!

 

[confetti]

We used to stay at the Embassy Suites South all the time. It's a wonderful hotel. We stopped staying there because I wanted to be able to walk to the parks.

We now stay at the Homewood Suites Anaheim Convention Center. it's on Harbor right next to the Toy Story parking lot, so you can use the shuttle buses if you want.

Both hotels feature free breakfast and evening reception (although modified right now). Both are suite-style hotels, although Homewood does have non-suite rooms as well. Homewood has full kitchen-ettes, so you can cook in your room. also includes a full sized fridge, which makes a big difference.

Hope this helps!

Thank you for that info! I just looked at the Homewood Suites and I think I like that better. Does Disney allow you just walk into the Toy Story lot to ride the bus without actually parking there? Is the only entrance off Harbor?

 

[HenDuck]

yes, you can use the shuttles without parking there. you can only enter from harbor, but there is usually an open gate right off the sidewalk on the Homewood Suites side.

 

[Matrixleos]

Thank you for that info! I just looked at the Homewood Suites and I think I like that better. Does Disney allow you just walk into the Toy Story lot to ride the bus without actually parking there? Is the only entrance off Harbor?

There are some signs posted that say for no pedestrians and that Toy Story lot is only for anyone parking a car there. Although that doesn't prevent anyone from the close by Harbor Hotels from using the bus services. Looking at the lot, not sure how they would even prevent people from entering from the Harbor side, unless they hire full time security official's to monitor everyone entering from Harbor for parking tickets.

 

[HenDuck]

Those signs must be new...

 

[DYOBL0305]

This will be our first trip to DLR with kids (and in several years for me)...staying at Homewood Suites (Convention Center) for it. Read some great reviews on it and I really like that it's right next door to the TS parking lot.

 

[Disneyland1084]

Just stayed at Park Vue Inn. It was fabulous. Right across the street from the parks and very clean with friendly employees. And they have 100% free parking that to my understanding you can leave the whole day of checkout, but I'm not 100% sure on that piece.

EDIT: Just checked and they allow parking on day of check out until 4pm.

Oh, this is soooooo wonderful to hear. My family and I are checking into Park Vue Inn in three weeks.

 

[Malcon10t]

There are some signs posted that say for no pedestrians and that Toy Story lot is only for anyone parking a car there. Although that doesn't prevent anyone from the close by Harbor Hotels from using the bus services. Looking at the lot, not sure how they would even prevent people from entering from the Harbor side, unless they hire full time security official's to monitor everyone entering from Harbor for parking tickets.

Do you have a picture? This is new. Now I am going to have to drive by on Thursday to get a picture!! Disney has always welcomed people from the hotels to walk in and ride.

 

[Matrixleos]

Do you have a picture? This is new. Now I am going to have to drive by on Thursday to get a picture!! Disney has always welcomed people from the hotels to walk in and ride.

This isn't a good picture but these are some of the "No Pedestrian " signs that will be posted time to time at the Toy Story lot.

Again, no real way for them to enforce it and most people from near by hotels still use the bus service.

 

[sjmac42]

This isn't a good picture but these are some of the "No Pedestrian " signs that will be posted time to time at the Toy Story lot.

Isn’t this more to do with the fact they moved the bus pickup area to the rear of the lot so they don’t want people and cars sharing that entrance rather than saying you have to park there to ride?
https://disneyland.disney.go.com/guest-services/parking/“Guests seeking transportation close to the Main Entrance to the theme parks are encouraged to park in the Toy Story Parking Area and utilize bus transportation”.
Just says guests are “encouraged” to park there and utilise the buses which has always been the case. I think these signs are more about safety than anything else since they redeveloped the Toy Story lot.
Might also be true of course that moving the bus pickup to the rear of the toy story lot is designed to make it less attractive to people staying on Harbour using the buses or encouraging them to actually park there? It’s a bit of a hike from some hotels that used to be a lot closer to the bus pickup area these days from what I understand.

 

[Matrixleos]

“Guests seeking transportation close to the Main Entrance to the theme parks are encouraged to park in the Toy Story Parking Area AND utilize bus transportation”.

I think it's all about interpretation of the statement above. I think the key word is AND in the statement above. Park at Toy Story and then utilize bus transportation. It's not really meant for people staying at near by hotels to use the buses as pedestrians.

Plus I think the key is, unlike Walt Disney World, Disney does not own the buses that shuttle people to the parks at Toy Story Lot. Disney instead outsources that service out to ART (Anaheim Resort Transportation) to use their buses to shuttle people to the park entrance on Harbor. So maybe those portable signs are from ART to discourage people from near by hotels from using the free Toy Story service and use their paid service instead???

If anyone has more info on this, I'd be curious to read about it.

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

The parking lot was never even close to full in the 6 nights we stayed there from Dec 21st to 27th.

I think word is out on their parking. I parked there back in May and the lot was full by 8:30, and it was either $25 or $30. When I went in June I just parked at Gardenwalk because I got there after 9 and Anaheim Hotel lot was full.

 

[roxy72]

Has anyone stayed at the Embassy Suites South on Harbor? We are planning to stay there in Sept. I keep looking at all the different hotels. We want to have a 1 bedroom suite with a little more space than a normal hotel. We'll have a car, so we don't mind driving to the park. I like the proximity of the Fairfield or the Best Western that are right across from the park but the rooms are smaller and they're more expensive. We plan to take breaks so it would be nice to have a little more room to relax at the hotel in the afternoons. The price at the Embassy is pretty good compared to others around. My dream is to stay on site at Disneyland but it's crazy expensive.

I have not stayed at the Embassy Suites South on Harbor, but I also enjoy having a 1-bedroom suite for more space. I stayed at the Residence Inn at the Convention Center in mid-May and it was great. Our room was large, we had a full kitchen w/full size fridge, etc. It's nice to have the extra space and separation between bedroom and living room. They also accept pets, so we brought our dog along. It was walkable but tiring at end of the day.

Today I just booked a 1-bedroom suite at the new Hilton Garden Inn nearby the main entrance since I want something more walkable/nearer the entrance, but still with the space of a 1-bedroom. They only have mini fridges though, so no full kitchen. :/

Haven't tried Homewood Suites yet, but maybe another time!

 

[Hyphen677]

We stayed at the Fairfield Marriott on Harbor June 23-25th. We didn't have a car and if we did, I don't think I would have had the patience to deal with the limited parking. I got a bit anxious watching some folks try to get through there.

Overall it was fine. The bed was comfortable and the shower temps/pressure were excellent. I'd love to see housekeeping in the room again but who knows what the post-Covid hotel cleaning will be like. I think if these places can get away with not paying staff, they will.

 

[crystal1313]

We stayed at Hojo opening weekend and they said if we wanted to stay parked in their lot after check out it would cost $20. I thought that was a great deal! Not sure if they’re still offering that now that capacity is increased or not. Might be worth a call to see.

 

[crystal1313]

I have not stayed at the Embassy Suites South on Harbor, but I also enjoy having a 1-bedroom suite for more space. I stayed at the Residence Inn at the Convention Center in mid-May and it was great. Our room was large, we had a full kitchen w/full size fridge, etc. It's nice to have the extra space and separation between bedroom and living room. They also accept pets, so we brought our dog along. It was walkable but tiring at end of the day.

Today I just booked a 1-bedroom suite at the new Hilton Garden Inn nearby the main entrance since I want something more walkable/nearer the entrance, but still with the space of a 1-bedroom. They only have mini fridges though, so no full kitchen. :/

Haven't tried Homewood Suites yet, but maybe another time!

I believe the Home 2 suites right next to the new Hilton garden inn has full kitchens. We are staying there in October. Can’t wait to check it out.

 

[konagal]

We have an upcoming stay at Hojos. The latest information is $20.00 per day until noon of checkout day then vehicle “will be flagged for towing”.