Where to Stay First Night?

[jicarv]

We arrive at LAX on a Saturday night at 10:30PM. Our reservation at PPH starts on Sunday and our first day in the park will be Monday. I don't want to spend over $200 for Saturday night, since we arrive so late and just basically need a room to sleep. Should we stay near LAX on Saturday night and head down to PPH on Sunday, or are we better off staying at a cheaper hotel near PPH on Saturday night? Any hotel recommendations for this purpose? Many Thanks!

 

[DianaSparrow]

This past June we were in the same situation and decided to use Priceline for a one night stay before our stay at the DLH. This worked out really well since we only paid $65 including tax. We stayed at the Doubletree, but we did go to the Parks the day of our DLH reservation. The bell hop stored our bags, we checked in, but couldn't access our room until around 3pm. We expected this and just enjoyed the Parks until we could get to our room. So, I would suggest using Priceline, just keep your bid resonable, and select at least a 3.5 star or higher room.

 

[taaren]

We have done this, and it partly depends on how you're getting to DLR from LAX and what time.
Personally I hate driving to DLR in the morning; I'd want to make the half hour drive in the evening simply to have a significantly less chance of traffic if I was driving. That being said I like crashing in a nice hotel near the airport and taking a shuttle down when I have layovers in L.A. because you can get significantly better hotels for a comparable price near LAX as compared to near-ish to Disneyland ... so the answer I'd say is if you're shuttling down and a professional is driving you in the carpool lane, stay near LAX, if driving yourself, stay in Anaheim.
For a very cheap hotel in Anaheim that's pretty decent I like Best Western Meridian Suites (I usually see suites for the $70-80 range) its a few miles away from the resort but no freeway driving so easy access to checking into PP the next morning ... there's also, as PP mentioned, the idea that you can Hotwire/Priceline any 3/3.5/4* in the Anaheim area since for that one night you wouldn't be too picky about the where of where you end up. Have seen people say they can get the Hilton for the $50 range. Check betterbidding to see what people have been getting lately.
If you're staying near LAX on the weekend, being a Marriott person I really like the Courtyard's weekend rates. There's several with airport shuttles.

 

[jicarv]

We are renting a car and picking it up at LAX, so driving to DL. Thanks for the Priceline tip...I didn't think about that!

 

[goofyfordisney]

Definitely drive down to DLR on Saturday night - even though you'll be tired...nothing like waking up knowing that you're close to DL!

I was going to suggest Priceline for a hotel for the first night too - especially since you are not trying to go to the parks until Monday. I sometimes check biddingfortravel to see what some recent bids were accepted before bidding on Priceline.

You can stay packed at your 1st night hotel and just go to PPH in the morning and check-in. Even if your room isn't ready, you can have bell services store your bags and begin enjoying the PPH pool and DTD.

Have a great trip!

 

[jicarv]

Thanks! Will try Priceline tonight for Anaheim.

 

[oumagic]

If you need to guarantee you have beds for more than 2 people, also look at Hotwire. I have used Hotwire a number of times for various trips and use them over Priceline because I know I will have beds for all 4 in my family. Priceline is great for solo or double-occupancy but not as good (in my opinion) for 4 people.

 

[jicarv]

Which is better area to bid on Disneyland North or South?

 

[oumagic]

North and south both have good hotels at Hotwire and Priceline. You can check out betterbidding.com and there is a pretty good list for Anaheim to let you kind of guess what you will get. I have used Hotwire more than Priceline because I rarely travel with less than 4 people.

 

[bumbershoot]

Be sure to use betterbidding.com for research, so you have a good idea of the hotel you're about to get, so you can check out parking prices! We pricelined and got the Hilton for about the same that we were going to pay at Motel6, and if I hadn't known that it was almost certainly the Hilton which let me find out the parking fee first, I would have been so annoyed to pay that extra $15 or so!

Our reservation at PPH starts on Sunday and our first day in the park will be Monday.

Just in case you don't know...if you started park days on Sunday, you could get to PPH really really early, and take advantage of Magic Morning on that day. As it is, you'll have to wait until Tuesday for your first MM.

 

[jicarv]

Just in case you don't know...if you started park days on Sunday, you could get to PPH really really early, and take advantage of Magic Morning on that day. As it is, you'll have to wait until Tuesday for your first MM.

I thought about that but I'm afraid that the park may be too busy on Sunday, so that's why we are leaning towards starting our days at the Park on Monday. Our package indicates that we get 1 MM morning but I thought if you were staying at a Disney hotel you were entitled to MM every day that you are at the park. I'm I mistaken?

Thanks to all for the great advice! I've been reading this board often and it's been a huge help in planning our trip.

 

[Huff]

I prefer the hotels in Disneyland South which includes Hilton, Crown Plaza, Red Lion, Sheraton, Marriot etc. All have been in the $50-$65 rangeon Priceline but keep in mind most of the 3-4 star hotels in the Disneyland area charge $10-$15 for parking so figure that in for your nights cost.

Lately we've been using Hotwire to book the Radisson Resort near Knotts. It's 5 miles from Disneyland but both are right off freeway exits so quick and easy. Radisson shows up on Hotwire under Buena Park as the only suite hotel in the region indicated by the STE icon on Hotwire. It is a large two room suite with mini kitchen and free hot breakfast and free parking. Cost is generally $59-$75. If not showing up on Hotwire try booking at Radisson.com and use promo code CARLSONF. Should get you a rate of around $80 if available. Either way a great value for a 3 star hotel.

 

[DisneyMomma81]

I thought about that but I'm afraid that the park may be too busy on Sunday, so that's why we are leaning towards starting our days at the Park on Monday. Our package indicates that we get 1 MM morning but I thought if you were staying at a Disney hotel you were entitled to MM every day that you are at the park. I'm I mistaken?

Thanks to all for the great advice! I've been reading this board often and it's been a huge help in planning our trip.

On site guests are entitled to MM each day of their stay *including check in and out day - it's likely that the Sun MM will be less crowded *if it starts earlier than the Tues. MM* When are you visiting DLR?

I've used Priceline twice for DLR visits *both times early 2009 - we stayed *here* I called the hotel right after my winning bid, requested 2 beds and that's what we got both times....
My price per night *pre resort fee* was no more than $45

 

[jicarv]

On site guests are entitled to MM each day of their stay *including check in and out day - it's likely that the Sun MM will be less crowded *if it starts earlier than the Tues. MM* When are you visiting DLR?

We arrive Sat night 8/20 and our PPH reservation is from 8/21-8/25. We have purchased the Southern CA Citypass, since going to SD also, so we have park hoppers for 3 days.

 

[jenpace]

We do this for every trip: book a hotel (usually onsite) for the duration of our stay but for the night we arrive use Priceline. We're staying at PPH in a week and a half but the 1st night we got the Marriott Anaheim Suites for $59/plus tax.

 

[LisainCalifornia]

In june before our stay at the Grand Californian, I Pricelined a 3 1/2 star hotel in the "Disneyland South" area. We ended up with the the Double Tree Hilton for 45.00 (that was my first and only bid). By the ammenities listed, I was already fairly sure I was getting the Double Tree. It was located in Orange and featured a free shuttle to Disneyland. It was actually a really nice hotel and we had an amazing fireworks view that night, witch was nice.

 

[TigerlilyAJ]

Our package indicates that we get 1 MM morning but I thought if you were staying at a Disney hotel you were entitled to MM every day that you are at the park. I'm I mistaken?

Just to clarify on what I think the OP might be saying: You get to MM every day there is a MM during your stay at an on-site hotel, including check-in and check-out days BUT there is not a MM every day. MMs are every day except MWF. So SuTuThSat have MM. If you check in on a Monday and check out on a Wednesday, for example, the only eligible MM is the Tuesday of your stay. Conversely, someone staying the same two nights, but checking in Sunday and leaving Tueday, could attend MM on Sunday AND on Tuesday. So two MMs for a two-night stay rather than one MM. Something to consider if booking a DLR hotel.

Thanks for these tips for finding an inexpensive one-night option.

AJ

 

[jicarv]

I used the tips above and I got the Doubletree Anaheim through Priceline for $55. I called the hotel directly right after I got the confirmation from Priceline and requested two double beds. That hotel actually looks really nice. Thanks again to all for the help!

 

[bumbershoot]

I thought about that but I'm afraid that the park may be too busy on Sunday, so that's why we are leaning towards starting our days at the Park on Monday.

There are good parts and bad parts of each...a MM that probably starts earlier b/c weekends tend to start earlier and therefore it will be less heavily attended, or an MM that starts later (so more people will be attending it) on a weekday with possibly lower attendance overall.... In the summer, I really doubt that I, personally, would care either way...summer is summer, people are on vacation during the summer, I'd think both days will still be busy.

Seems that you're coming in from NJ, so you're going to have a timezone advantage; if MM is at 8 it's going to feel like 11 to you and you will have NO problems getting up and going! The longer you stay, however, the less of an advantage you will have as the timezone changes sink in, and as you wear yourself out at the parks.

The time we did the Hilton through priceline, we got up at something like 5 am (and this is after getting IN at around midnight, with NO timezone advantage), headed over to PPH, checked in. Got their "family of the day" which is called the Big Kahuna family, which got us upgraded to a suite (your mileage may vary, we have no idea how we got picked as this, especially since it was just DH checking in as I gave our bags over to Bell Services!), and we headed on over to hit Magic Morning! We knew we would be exhausting ourselves in that short stay, and wanted to do MM while we were relatively fresh and excited.