Which offsite hotel for family of 9?

[Dostert9]

I am having the hardest time making up my mind on where we will stay next year. We will stay offsite due to price this time. Last time we stayed at the DLH. It was very convenient plus with small children and a child with HFA and food allergies it was easiest. Had lots of information through Disney planning on where to eat safe etc. I had my sites set for Marriot Residence Inn Maingate with such great reviews and hotel class of 3 stars I think but I think the walk may be too much for the smallest children being in the park all day of course we would also walk back at lunch for food, naps, rest etc. Here are the main things we are looking for.
At least 2 bathrooms totally a must.
Nice pool for kids.
Kitchenette would be nice because of food allergies.
CLEAN!
We would like a safe.
Reasonably close to parks for easy access. Not afraid to walk but remember we will have a 13 month old, just turned 5 year old, 7, 10 (HFA and FA), 13, 15, and 16 (not worried about the older ones).
Possibly view of the park and fireworks. It's very relaxing to look out over the parks at night and in the morning.
And of course space LOL. Looked in to the 3 br suite at Carousel but the reviews don't seem to be too good.
Any recent reviews of Carousel would be wonderful and and thoughts and suggestions would be wonderful. Can't afford to stay onsite though.
Thanks so much,
April

 

[familyoffiveAZ]

Tropicana has a neat setup for 8 (you could probably squeeze one more in, especially if it's a child under two). It's (2) 2-Queen bedrooms, each with it's own bathroom, and a full kitchen in between. There's a floorplan and pics on their website. Kinda high though -- for my June dates it was $299/night. Full kitchen.......mighty tempting, especially considering food allergies. If you're not opposed to cooking breakfast in the morning for your family, it would save some big bucks vs. eating out every morning.

Camelot Inn has a setup for 8 -- 3 Queen beds and a sofa sleeper. Ah, but only one bathroom.

Desert Inn and Suites would probably be the cheapest. Their largest suite configuration will accept 10, and I think that's with two bathrooms. No full kitchens, but does have fridge and microwave. I also don't know that their pool gets very good reviews. It's indoor and gets alot of complaints about overwhelming chlorine smell and "dirty."

See map here for direct links to these hotel's websites: http://www.geocities.com/ashpsyche/DisneylandLinkMap.html

 

[Albort]

Dont forget Residence Inn on Clemente and Disney Way.

 

[disneydance]

i reccomend embassy suite anaheim south if u get 2 1 bedroom suites it would be great u can see dl from here and it a fun hotel, when u stay there u get a free cook to order breakfast each morning which includes delicious omlets and fruit and everything else u could want a evening reception nice swimming pool with a hot tub great staff and everything else even though we love staying onsite this is a great hotel o yeah did i mention free transportation to disney by bus relax easy vacation here also there is a nice little grill if i do remember correct and a amazing fun glass elevator we just booked r 5th stay here last night

 

[blackjackdelta]

We have stayed at RI maingate many times and you can always take ART back to the hotel. You just have to wait for it.

Jack

 

[NannyPooh]

Blackjackdelta...
RI Maingate was one of the places that we were looking into...can you give any impressions?
We've stayed in other RIs before, and have always had good stays - not luxury, but MORE than suitable! Prices are good, breakfast are a perk, and they have always been clean.
Would you recommend this hotel (especially to a fellow Washingtonian!)?

 

[PattiPB]

Couple of new posters on this thread: to the DL DIS! I'm sure you'll get awesome help and suggestions for whatever questions you've got.

I'm a pretty firm Desert Inn and Suites person, but we don't use the pool. I can appreciate your need for a full kitchen, and minimal walking late at night, so I'll leave it to the experts to help you out.

Happy planning!

 

[allyn]

staybridge suites (by holiday inn) is very nice. they have 1 and 2 bedroom units. you'd have to drive or take a shuttle because it is not within walking distance.

 

[blackjackdelta]

Blackjackdelta...
RI Maingate was one of the places that we were looking into...can you give any impressions?
We've stayed in other RIs before, and have always had good stays - not luxury, but MORE than suitable! Prices are good, breakfast are a perk, and they have always been clean.
Would you recommend this hotel (especially to a fellow Washingtonian!)?

We have always have had great stays there. 1/2 mile from the park and an easy walk if you like to walk or you can catch ART right outside the door. Great hot breakfast, nice pool but always seemed busy. We get the penthouse suite, plenty of room for the 6 of us. Two bathrooms, full kitchen. They will go get grocery's for you and put them in your room. The add the tab to your room. Very friendly helpful staff. They have a evening managers special, lite meal fare. If we weren't going whole hog this summer, we would be staying there. Anything else, please let me know.

Jack

 

[Disneyenthusiast]

http://marriott.com/property/propertypage/SNAAG is for the Residence Inn / Garden Grove.

http://marriott.com/property/propertypage/SNAAH is for the Residence Inn Maingate.

In my opinion, both require a car or shuttle so which one you choose may have more to do with your preferred building style. The maingate one is older and more condo like. The Garden Grove one is newer and is more hotel like. Both of these have full kitchens, including ovens and dishwashers.

Embassy suites has less for the kitchen. They include a microwave, fridge and coffemaker.

 

[BraMax]

We just got back on the 11th from DL and we stayed at the Residence Inn Maingate. It was nice. The staff was friendly and the rooms were clean. I loved having the hot breakfast buffet in the morning. The only problem we had was we had a ground level room and the people above us were very loud. We complained one night but nothing changed so the next night I complained again to someone else and the was no noise after that. We walked too and from the park on the days that we went and my kids are 4 and 6. We did have a stroller for the younger one but he chose to walk most of the time on the way there. There is the ART and there is a stop for it right in the parking lot for people that don't enjoy the walk. Which for us was anywhere 15 to 20 minutes depending how much the kids goofed around. I hope you have a wonderful trip where ever you choose to stay.

 

[NannyPooh]

We have always have had great stays there. 1/2 mile from the park and an easy walk if you like to walk or you can catch ART right outside the door. Great hot breakfast, nice pool but always seemed busy. We get the penthouse suite, plenty of room for the 6 of us. Two bathrooms, full kitchen. They will go get grocery's for you and put them in your room. The add the tab to your room. Very friendly helpful staff. They have a evening managers special, lite meal fare. If we weren't going whole hog this summer, we would be staying there. Anything else, please let me know.

Jack

Thanks so much for your input!
Appreciate everyone's advice - helps to make the planning easier!