Please Help Me Decide Hotels: Off Site Value + Disneyland Hotel vs. Off Site Moderate

[Mouse Skywalker]

Greetings Everyone: I would really like to take my family for a trip the week after Easter, and I got interested in Disneyland because of the "Kids Play Free" promotion. I'm weighing my options, and would really like some opinions.

Here's what I'm considering: A 4 night stay - Easter Sunday 4/16 to Thursday 4/20 - My dates are flexible depending on airfare anytime from Thurs 4/13 (at night) to Sunday 4/23.

Option 1: Off site value 3 nights + 1 night @ Disneyland Hotel
I could do 3 nights at a value such as the Castle Inn and Suites and 1 night at the Disneyland Hotel. I got an offer of ~$803 from Getawaytoday.com.
Advantage would be the last 2 days of the trip would be on site, and could take advantage of the nice pool, etc. We could spend 1 whole day just at the hotel. Disadvantage - Castle Inn room might be too sketchy.

Option 2: Off site moderate all 4 nights
I could do all 4 nights off site in a place like the Desert Palms, and get the Yuha Kids suite for ~$839. Advantage would be a bigger room, with a separate space for the kids and breakfast included all days. Disadvantage would not get to stay in an onsite hotel, and Desert Palms might be a little farther.

What do you all think?

 

[disney-super-mom]

The Castle Inn and Suites - YUCK! No way would I stay there, especially with my family for a special Disney vacation.

You'd be better off staying at a nice moderate inn like:
Howard Johnson
Candy Cane Inn
Best Western Park Place Inn (which is closer to the front gate of DL and DCA than the DLH.)
Fairfield Inn by Marriott
Hilton Anaheim (this is obviously more deluxe than a moderate inn)

I know that getawaytoday.com offers packages with Hilton Anaheim, Park Place Inn, and the Fairfield Inn.

Of course maybe the Castle Inn has been rennovated, but if they haven't, I wouldn't stay there.

 

[LoveMyLAP-BAND]

Well, my vote would be to stay off-site at The Best Western Park Place Inn. I would hate to change hotels, but that's just me.

Also, the BWPPI is highly rated on this site and is soooooooo close to the entrance of DL/DCA. The rooms seem a good size and breakfast is included. I found the best rate for this hotel on the Best Western Website. The rate on the hotel's site was higher and sites like Expedia, etc were even higher.

The hotel also has a pool and you can still go to the Disney hotels and enjoy the other things that they have there.

Have a great time.

 

[schmo]

My recommendation is the Red Roof Inn Anaheim Maingate.
I will be staying there on Friday night. Their rates are extremely reasonable and it is fairly close to the park.

 

[carmel]

We were there last Easter and stayed at the HoJo. My only complaint? It was one of the longer walks of the off-site hotel?

Everything else was FANTASTIC!!! We could watch the fireworks from our balconey, our room was HUGE (I'm serious - it was one of the biggest hotel rooms I have ever had), the room was very clean, there is a sundries store onsite that has pretty much anything you could want, it is close to many restaurants, the pool is very, very nice......it was just a great place to stay.

In a perfect world, Tink would carry me back to my hotel at night but walking really wasn't that bad!!

 

[Mouse Skywalker]

Carmel: How crowded was it at Easter? That's my other concern that the crowds may just be unbearable.

 

[laura&fam]

We stayed at a value off site hotel two weeks ago and loved it! We were rarely at the hotel, although we did return for naps (it was so close it was easy!). We were so busy playing at the park from when we woke up to bed time that we hardly spent any time in the hotel. We could see the fireworks from our hotel on our arrival day, which was nice.

Our hotel room had a microwave and fridge, which was a nice place to get drinks cold for the park the next day and supplement the hotels continental breakfast (which wasn't very impressive).

We stayed at the Aniheim Desert Inn and Suites and I would stay there again, close and cheap. Those are my priorities!

 

[disney-super-mom]

Carmel: How crowded was it at Easter? That's my other concern that the crowds may just be unbearable.

I know you didn't ask me, but I'll give you my experience at this time of year.

It will be fairly crowded, and it's possible that the 50th may make it even more crowded than usual during that time. It won't be Christmas or Thanksgiving crowded (which can be crazy-crazy crowded), but it'll be more like spring break crowded. If you don't have anyone in your family in a stroller, than you should be able to have an enjoyable time. Just use that fastpass system to your advantage, and get to the parks EARLY. The first couple of hours the parks are open, you should be able to get in all the rides you want to go on. Take a break in the afternoon (but before you go grab a couple of fastpasses) for a nice lunch, a swim, or maybe a rest, and then go back to the parks in the evening. Since you already got fastpasses before you left for your afternoon rest, you can concentrate on having fun and getting to ride a few rides during those crowded evening hours.

 

[carmel]

It was actually a bit less crowded than I was expecting. Having said that, it was still crowded.

In the area of Fantasyland (where we spent the vast majority of our time), it was manageable. However, I tried 2 times to get on Indy and both time the FP was already 'sold out' for the entire day. Splash time was 120 minutes, you could forget Buzz or the Matterhorn. We lucked out and got on Small World with about a 15 minute wait. We did pretty well on the Pooh ride. I really wanted to spend time in Tomorrowland but you could forget it. It took us about 20 minutes to inch our way to the monorail station. It was so crowded that people were actually touching me because there was no where else to go. DCA was a lot better. Adventureland and Tomorrowland were nuts.

 

[AFMom]

Just wanted to say that a while back there was a thread about the Castle Inn and soooooo many people said it was horrible.... well - you may want to check the posts - but I'd go with what people around here advise!!