Hojo v Courtyard

mcm574

Mouseketeer
Joined
Oct 9, 2012
My kids have a long weekend off of school in March, and I'm thinking of trying to sneak down to Disneyland for a couple of days. I'm thinking I'd just fly down Saturday morning, do hotel/DTD Saturday afternoon, one park each day Sunday and Monday, then have a leisurely morning Tuesday before heading home.

To make that fun, though, I think we need to be at a good hotel where we'll all enjoy that downtime! I currently have 3-night reservations at both Hojo and the Courtyard Maingate, knowing they both have water parks. Which would you choose? (Also, are there other options I'm missing? - while I'd love to stay on-site, I just can't justify the expense - but wondering what else is out there I don't know about!)
 
Ah, good question! They'll be 5 and 10 at that point - they're in Kindergarten and 4th grade. ETA - both daredevils and thrill seekers!
 
I’m not sure I’d go with either. The 5 will
Probably love it. But will the 10?

I just think there are better hotel options in the area.
 


I'd love suggestions! Our first DLR trip was when my older son was 4, younger not around yet, and we stayed at the Fairfield; then, when they were 2 and 7, we were there for a full week, so we rented a house via VRBO. Both were great for those trips, but I don't think they're the right solutions this time around!

One other detail - we really value having a separate space to be after the kids go to bed at night (5yo still goes to bed around 7:30 at home - while it probably wouldn't be quite so early on vacation, I don't see him being able to stay up past 8:30 or 9, and definitely not for multiple nights), so we prioritize finding a place where we can get either a suite or connecting rooms.

Any recommendations appreciated!
 
I like the kid suite at Hojo because of the two bedrooms and two bathrooms, but maybe I find that two bathroom thing so much more important because I have teenagers.
 


We have to have a separate sleeping space for our kids so we liked the homewood suites convention. We’re there for a week though and get a discount for that. Mon-thurs dinners; breakfast every day. It’s a bit of a hike—20 min. My sis and I are staying at BWPPI simply for the short walk in dec.

I’d compare:
Residence inn convention
Country inn & suites
Park vue inn Suites
Camelot inn suites

I agree courtyard is probably the best because it’s new. But we need breakfast on site prepared. And the cost was a little higher than others properties.
 
Have stayed in both ( family/2rm suite at Hojo ), and usually the Courtyard is too much $$, it is superior ( newer, outstanding staff, etc ) but not worth the extra $ IMO.
I think Hojo may be a better fit.
 
We stayed at the Courtyard Marriott in December (3 boys- 11, 9, 1 at the time). We LOVED it! The pool area was great and we had a corner room with bunkbeds and fireworks view. So much space. Well worth the extra money!

I haven't stayed at Hojo, but I liked Courtyard Marriott better than DLH when considering price/value.
 
We have stayed at both, and even though my kids have kind of aged out of Hojo's waterpark area, they still like staying there because they are playful and enjoy the nostalgia of going there. (They are now 10 and 13.) They ask to go to the waterpark area for a little while just to play and then we all move to the pool area. Hojo's is a great value, in my opinion, for a short-ish walk and very nice grounds and (if you go for a "superior room" option) a potentially amazing view from your balcony. The renovations to the rooms in that tower were awesome, and we were all very happy with our most recent stay this past summer. We stayed at the Marriott a few summers ago and enjoyed it incredibly--and have booked it (despite Hojo's being the nostalgic favorite) for next summer because it has exercise facilities (which Hojo's doesn't), which my husband would like and because I think my daughter, who will be 14 then, might prefer a "real" waterslide area--even though I'm sure she will always appreciate Hojo's waterpark area nostalgically. (But we have a short stay tentatively scheduled for the spring at Hojo's, too.) Honestly, they are both very good choices.
 
I’m not sure I’d go with either. The 5 will
Probably love it. But will the 10?

I just think there are better hotel options in the area.

My 11 year old still enjoys the kiddie pool area at Hojo and likes to go to it. Mine are 11 and 7 and we hit both the kid pool area and the normal pool. The 7 year old prefers the kiddie pool though. The 11 year old is happy at either.

As for which you should choose that just depends on your priorities. Courtyard is obviously newer but some of the Hojo rooms were recently renovated. Depending which room type you have booked, Hojo might be significantly cheaper. Courtyard has the starbucks in the lobby if that matters to you. Hojo has the Keurigs in each room. Honestly I think you'll be happy at either. We stay at Hojo. Love the price, free parking, staff, grounds and both pools.
 
Courtyard is getting close to Paradise Pier pricing (maybe $50 per night depending on room at Courtyard) and you get early entry, plus they have the best on property slide and a better pool than Courtyard.

I've stayed at HoJo (in 2013) and would look elsewhere before going back - it was expensive for what it was then.
 
I’ve stayed at both and prefer the Courtyard. The water park is nicer, I like having the coffee shop in the lobby, and I liked having the bunk beds for the kids and the separate eat in area.
 
Courtyard is getting close to Paradise Pier pricing (maybe $50 per night depending on room at Courtyard) and you get early entry, plus they have the best on property slide and a better pool than Courtyard.

i second the paradise pier option. since you're spending an entire day at the hotel and DTD it might be worth the premium for an on-property hotel to stay inside the bubble. just checked all four saturday to tuesday stays in March and they're all 351 per night plus tax =.
 
Thanks for the responses, all! (I was offline most of the weekend, apologies for the delayed response.) It's funny that McNs and RedVines both brought up Paradise Pier - long story short, when I looked at our schedule and plans, and started pricing things out, I realized it actually was worth the extra - not just for Paradise Pier, but Paradise Pier concierge level. (Ironic, given that one of the first things I said was that I didn't want to pay that much, and now I'm totally contradicting myself!)

Anyway, I realized we could really benefit from early entry, since we'll just be there two days with no PH, which got me thinking about PP; but that that would probably mean a 7am entry one day, which got me thinking about breakfast options. That's what started me down the Concierge path, and I realized this essentially allows us to not budget for three days' breakfasts - and then, I realized we would almost certainly partake on arrival day in snacks in the afternoon and (for two of us, anyway) tasty adult beverages in the evening, and perhaps enjoy snacks on our departure day as well (we fly out of SNA around 3pm).

So I cancelled Courtyard and Hojo and made a PP reservation. We'll see, maybe I'll change my mind again, who knows?!... Anyway, thanks again, everyone!
 
I was going to suggest exactly what you did! Request a cabana room. That will get you a courtryard area right outside your door where you can sit after the kiddos are in bed and direct access to the pool. For only a couple of days, it is totally worth it and you will likely save money going for conceirge level because of the free food and drinks.
 
I was going to suggest exactly what you did! Request a cabana room. That will get you a courtryard area right outside your door where you can sit after the kiddos are in bed and direct access to the pool. For only a couple of days, it is totally worth it and you will likely save money going for conceirge level because of the free food and drinks.

Here's the thing, though, one other thing that appealed to me was having a room on one of the higher floors, because I'm a pretty light sleeper, so do well being further away from ground level and its attendant noise. Did you not find the cabana rooms noisy? (Also, related question - I've heard it's possible to see the fireworks from the pool deck - what about WoC, can you see that from there? - could be fun that first night!)
 

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