Sherry E
Currently tag-less...
- Joined
- Jan 5, 2008
Great topic, Emmers! Here is the thing for me - technically, I do NOT have the money to stay on-property and should never even consider it, really, but I cannot imagine staying offsite because the DLR hotels are truly part of the whole Disney experience for me. When I envision going to DLR in my mind, I always think of staying in one of the hotels - it is all part of the package for me. I am one of those who likes to be immersed in the magic from the second I step out of the car to when I load my bags back in the car to go home. I like walking up to the Check-In desks and getting my Key to the Magic with my name on it. I like getting the bright pink Goofy folder (it used to be pink, anyway) with my paperwork and hotel brochures inside. I like walking into the room and seeing the fun bath products with Mickey heads waiting for me in the bathroom. I like knowing that we may encounter a Hidden Mickey anywhere we go on the grounds of the hotel. I like having access to MM, being able to use the GCH entrance into DCA and being able to send any purchases back to the room so I don't have to schlep them around or get a costly locker. I like knowing that even if we take a break from the parks mid-afternoon and go back to the hotel to rest, we will still be "in the magic" the whole time. I like waking up on the morning of check-out and opening the final bill slid under the door to see if they have offered me an extra night's stay at a discounted price! I just love that everything 'feels' very Disney en route to or from the DLR hotels, everywhere you look.
That is not to say that I won't eventually take advantage of a great HoJo's rate or something, because I probably will given my finances, but since I get to DLR only a couple of weekends a year (though this year could be more than that), I want to make it special and staying at any one of the 3 hotels is key to the whole thing for me. If I were to go to DLR many, many times a year, I have a feeling HoJo's would be new best friend! If I had kids and I had to think about buying more souvenirs and paying for extra food, it would be a different story. If I lived right down the street from DLR, I probably wouldn't bother with a hotel at all because I would be there so often.
But the bottom line is, it feels more 'vacation-like' to me when there is a DLR hotel stay involved. My friend (who DOES live 5 minutes down the street from DLR but does not have an AP) was asked once, while we were standing in line for POTC and chatting with the nice couple behind us, why she would want to stay at any hotel when she could just drive down the street and go home. Her answer to him was, "It makes it like more of a vacation when I stay at the hotel. It makes it seem like I am somewhere else other than 5 minutes from my home." That was a good answer, I thought, because ultimately, a trip to DLR (for me) is meant to kind of transport me to another time, place, world, land, etc. I don't want to feel that the real world is just outside the door, and since DLR is not as expansive as WDW, the closest thing I can get to being totally immersed in the Disney experience at DLR is to stay onsite.
That is not to say that I won't eventually take advantage of a great HoJo's rate or something, because I probably will given my finances, but since I get to DLR only a couple of weekends a year (though this year could be more than that), I want to make it special and staying at any one of the 3 hotels is key to the whole thing for me. If I were to go to DLR many, many times a year, I have a feeling HoJo's would be new best friend! If I had kids and I had to think about buying more souvenirs and paying for extra food, it would be a different story. If I lived right down the street from DLR, I probably wouldn't bother with a hotel at all because I would be there so often.
But the bottom line is, it feels more 'vacation-like' to me when there is a DLR hotel stay involved. My friend (who DOES live 5 minutes down the street from DLR but does not have an AP) was asked once, while we were standing in line for POTC and chatting with the nice couple behind us, why she would want to stay at any hotel when she could just drive down the street and go home. Her answer to him was, "It makes it like more of a vacation when I stay at the hotel. It makes it seem like I am somewhere else other than 5 minutes from my home." That was a good answer, I thought, because ultimately, a trip to DLR (for me) is meant to kind of transport me to another time, place, world, land, etc. I don't want to feel that the real world is just outside the door, and since DLR is not as expansive as WDW, the closest thing I can get to being totally immersed in the Disney experience at DLR is to stay onsite.
I would be there ALL the time! 
I am the same way. I will go back and fix little spelling errors and typos if I catch them before anyone has replied. 
So I have to say that part of my liking for being onsite is that it represents a kind of milestone in my life.
My Jan stay was a quickie birthday trip with my adult daughter and we stayed at Hojos. We are going again in July for 1 night for her birthday and will again stay at Hojos. I love the staff there and the hotel is very nice, especially for $59/night! In Aug we will be vacationing in Hermosa Beach so we won't have a hotel room at all.
