It'll probably be warm enough to swim because they heat the pools, but it won't be 89 degree Florida bath water sort of temperature.
If you can afford the GCH, then totally stay there. Otherwise, there's some great options across the street along Harbor Blvd which cost way less money. Some even include free breakfast. And that would leave you extra $$ for extras like a World of Color dessert party, character meals, etc. In terms of off-site hotels, we've stayed at a few:
- Hojos (Howard Johnsons) - they have great customer service. No free breakfast, but free parking until 3 pm on your check out day. The splash pad area is awesome for children. My kids loved it. The cheapest rooms only have a fridge, not microwave, too.
- Park Vue Inn - we stayed here last weekend. Pool is in the parking lot. It's no comparison to the DLH or GCH pools, of course. But free parking and free breakfast. Breakfast starts at 7 am. Beds were comfortable & the room was clean. I'd stay here again. This is right next to the Best Western Park Place Inn. <5 min walk to the Esplanade. My DH wants to stay here next time.
- Best Western Stovalls - has 2 pools, is on Katella Ave. Long walk. Room VERY clean. Free hot breakfast every morning. Parking is ~ $10-$11/day. You have to move your car out of their lot by 11 am on check out day, so consider that if you're going into the parks on your check out day. Not an ideal location if you want to take an afternoon break.
- BW Plus Pavilions - a little farther down from Stovalls on Katella Ave. Pool was nice. Room VERY clean. Longer walk than from BW Stovalls. Free parking. Room rate includes free breakfast for 2 at Denny's next door, but I think it only starts at 7:30 am. So if the park opens at 8 and you want to be there for rope drop, then you miss out on the free Denny's breakfast. Rooms have fridge and microwave like at BW Stovall's. Marri's Pizza is next door...local place with good Italian food at reasonable prices. Enormous portion sizes. 1 adult meal can feed 2 people.
Touring Plans - don't use it for DL. I used RideMax a LOT on prior trips. RideMax is GREAT and is very good at helping you maximize rides while minimizing wait times. I used it a lot when my kids were the same age as your kids. It TOTALLY made for successful trips.
I followed the advice of other DISers when our kids were your kids' ages. Here's what we did to take advantage of limited time there:
- Use your Magic Morning entry if you're staying off site. Assuming that you'll have 3 day or more tickets. MM is on Tues, Thurs, or Sat. Try to make your MM day earlier in your trip, which is when your kids will have more energy.
- Devote that MM hour to Fantasyland. Go on rides all morning until ~ 10:30 am...
- Then go have a late breakfast at the Plaza Inn...it's a character meal and it's the best value in my opinion of all of the character meals. Plus it's the cheapest and it's the only one IN either park. We often see 6-8 characters there. This will be just about the time that you and your kids are ready for a break.
- You'll probably finish up breakfast by 11:30. 11:30 am is when it switches over to quick service for lunch. Use a FP that you've grabbed earlier and go on that after your late breakfast. Go on other rides until ~ 1-1:30 pm.
- Then leave and go to the hotel, rest, swim.
- Return to the parks ~ 4:30-5:00 pm. Go on 1 or 2 rides, then eat dinner early ~ 5:30 pm (you beat the dinner rush this way). Then more rides after dinner.
- If seeing fireworks is a priority, do that earlier in your trip because sometimes they're cancelled.
- If you want to see Fantasmic and don't want to have to stand, do a dinner package for that.
If your kids are into princesses, Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique is fun...it's pretty much the same as at WDW.
Peter Pan & Captain Hook often roam around in Fantasyland for the 1st couple of hours that the park is open. Peter plays games with children. There's no photopass photographers with them. No FP to see characters.
Best way to meet Mickey Mouse with out a wait:
Be at the gate to Toon Town 1 hour after regular park opening.
Walk to Mickey's house and wait <5 min to meet him.
Meet the other main characters who will be out walking around in Toon Town. They likely won't have PP photographers with them (Mickey's meet & greet will).
Go on Roger Rabbit with no wait.
Go on the Gadget's Go Coaster with very little wait.
Then when you're done in Toon Town, go on It's A Small World with a wait probably < 15 min. Or if FP are available for it, use the Disneyland app to check for return times for it and get a FP for it ~ 9:30-10:30 am.