Disneyland Lodging

If you plan on going to the parks for more than one day I strongly suggest paying for the in-park lodging! It is so NICE! You have the luxury of taking a rest when needed and then going back out...you also get to be there for all the special things like the fireworks or the parades...and if you get the park maps with all the show times, it really makes planning your time so much easier and beneficial! It was a life savor when we went with our kids a few years back and the youngest was only 2...when he needed a nap I was able to take him back to the room and Dad was able to stay out w/the older kids and then we just met up later.

You can also buy food at the grocery store and save money by not having to eat in the park...just a thought.

Have fun!

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My family went to Disneyland a little over a year ago. We stayed at the Comfort Inn Maingate. Here's the website. http://www.comfortinnmaingate.com/
You could walk to the park from there, but it's a long walk for little ones, so it would depend on how young your kids are. But there's a shuttle that picks up less than a block away and goes straight to the park. Can't remember the price, but it was very reasonable. As for the hotel, it's not anything fancy, but has kids suites and was very clean and well kept. The breakfast was simple, but good as well. Have fun!

We also stayed at the Comfort Inn Maingate in a Kids Suite. 2 queen beds in one room and bunk beds in the other - french door with curtain between the two rooms. There was a small fridge and microwave in the room. Complimentary breakfast every morning. We had "camel" backpacks which is the backpack with the water pouch. We would fill them with water and put them in the fridge overnight. Saved us from buying bottled water at the park. There is a Disney shuttle from the hotel next door.

We stayed at the Desert Palm Hotel and Suites and it was fine. It was clean and the continental breakfast was basic but ok. The room was stayed in had a separate living room and bedroom, microwave and fridge. It is about a ten minute walk to the park. We've also stayed at the Carousel Inn and Suites. I don't know what their suite rooms are like but they are directly across from the park entrance and pretty good value.

We have gone twice in recent years. First time we were on a tight budget and stayed at www.parkvueinn.com - DIRECTLY across the street from D-land. I was pleasantly surprised! Although we did not use it, we did see that they had rooms with bunk beds and some more privacy. I don't know if they offer suites, but they were undergoing extensive renovations, so its possible. Our room was PRISTINE, had an air conditioner, fridge, huge bathroom, and everything looked brand new. This was not what I expected. The staff was fantastic. They offered a free continental breakfast which was nothing grand, but it was enough to get us going in the morning - roll, fruit, juice, coffee. They are located directly across the parking lot (very short walk) from IHOP which was fantastic in that it offered a buy 1, get 1 free deal for adults/children.

Down side was that it was a motel (not hotel), meaning the doors open to an outside walkway and it's not as luxurious. It had a pool in the middle of the parking lot, which was sorta weird, but it was surrounded by iron fencing and some greenery. It looks from the website like the pool may have gotten renovations as well.

The thing I really hated was that we wanted to take water from the hotel tap for drinking into the park with us - and I don't know if it's Anaheim or the motel, but it is horrible tasting (when we returned we brought along a bunch of Crystal Lite packets to mix in). Very minerally and NOT in a bottled mineral water sort of way!

Our second trip we stayed at Disney's Grand Californian Hotel and it was indeed grand! However, overpriced for what we got. I actually had more problems with the staff there just not responding to requests (and I'm pretty low maintenance, not a lot of requests), we didn't use the pool at all, and the biggest boon was the proximity to Downtown Disney. We had a view of the park, fancier soaps, etc. Just a different experience, but from my point of view we paid too much being that we were in the park most of the time and not the hotel room.

We're going back in a few weeks. Guess which lodging choice we made!? Park Vue Inn. I felt it was a very good value. If you go to their website, you can get their phone # and call and ask any questions you may have.

When we went, we stayed at the Great California Adventure Hotel...the place where the Bears movie was filmed...it is located right on property and it backed up to the alley that it filled with Disney stores and restaurants and gets you straight to the park (a 5-10 minute walk) it also has the greatest pool we have ever played at for a hotel. I almost think that my kids loved the pool there more than the park! ;-) It is a beautiful hotel and has great food with a restaurant where the characters come to breakfast...They even gave us special birthday presents for the twins (they turned 6) Look it up - its the greatest!

We stayed at the Embassy Suites (South, I think), and while it is not really within walking distance, the Anaheim Resort Transit bus stops right at the hotel about every 30 minutes and then takes you right to the entrance of Disneyland and/or California Adventure. They offer a full breakfast as part of their rate which saves a ton of money. We looked at Portofino Suites but the reviews were iffy. (www.tripadvisor.com).

Try La Quinta Inn hotel ,thats where we stayed in 2007 on our disney family vacation .

Check out tripadvisor.com. They have great reader reviews of just about every hotel on earth. We've used it several times and have always found the reviews spot-on.