Disneyland newbie in need of info on hotel

[momtimesone]

Hi everyone after much research and going back and forth we have finally decided to go to Disneyland the week of July 27 09 for our very first time ever. We would love to stay at the Anaheim Desert Inn & Suites. We would be staying for 4 nights and 5 days as for some odd reason for us a trip to Disneyland is more expensive then a week stay at a value WDW resort. I would like to know if this is a good hotel for its price?. (We 2 adults one 9 y old) just want a place that is close walking distance and is near food places. I noticed on the Disneyland website this hotel will not come up in the good neighbor hotel search but they are listed as one. Can we book a package thru Disneyland to stay at this hotel? When should I book my trip? Does this hotel offer any Discounts ever? Thanks all for helping me plan and yes I know our month is a busy one but we really do not mind as long as the park hrs are long.

 

[cruise cruise cruise]

We would love to stay at the Anaheim Desert Inn & Suites.
Just curious why you have decided you would "love to stay here" vs some of the other hotels?

We would be staying for 4 nights and 5 days as for some odd reason for us a trip to Disneyland is more expensive then a week stay at a value WDW resort.
Im sure your calculations are correct, but wow, this surprises me.

I would like to know if this is a good hotel for its price?.
I have not stayed here. I do have reservations (also ressies at Hojo for the same week). It gets good reviews here on this board.

(We 2 adults one 9 y old) just want a place that is close walking distance and is near food places.
Here is a link to a map that shows all the close hotels and some of the restraunts
http://www.geocities.com/ashpsyche/DisneylandLinkMap.html

I noticed on the Disneyland website this hotel will not come up in the good neighbor hotel search but they are listed as one. Can we book a package thru Disneyland to stay at this hotel?
No, I dont beleive so. However I have found it is often less expensive to book things sepratly.

When should I book my trip?
IMO, the sooner the better. Especially if you do not book a package because then your room is always refundable. And at least with Desert Inn and Suites I noticed the farter out you book the less the rates are.

Does this hotel offer any Discounts ever?
I dont know

Thanks all for helping me plan and yes I know our month is a busy one but we really do not mind as long as the park hrs are long.

As a side note, Desert Inn has an indoor pool which I have read gets pretty stuffy in the summer months. That would be an issue for me, but not necisarliy for you.

 

[bumbershoot]

Availability through disney's site, for various good neighbor hotels, varies. They are acting as a travel agent, and travel agents only have a certain number of rooms for certain days, and if they sell out, that hotel won't show up. When we were booking our package last year, various GN hotels showed up, disappeared, showed up again, while we figured it out.

And yes, DLR can be more expensive than WDW.

Really look into your options. When we booked our package I didn't look into the booking separately option well enough, and later on realized that we would have done MUCH better financially to book separately, especially since our package was at Paradise Pier Hotel and we were going during one of the fabulous AP rate times there, and we knew we were upgrading our tickets to APs.

Then again, it's kind of fun to book the package and get the stuff in the mail, and it's quite possible our first WDW trip will be on a package even though I might do better $$wise doing it separately...just seems more fun for the first time.

To give you a time-walking perspective, looking at the map cruisecruisecruise gave you, even HoJo is *maybe* only 4 or 5 minutes further away from Desert Inn or Tropicana. The map makes you feel like you're going into the boonies, but in reality it isn't that very far away.

Have fun!!!

 

[ballarinamom]

We stayed at Desert Inn in November and had a great time. The location can't be beat- especially after a long day of walking. We were always out of the hotel before the Con;t breakfast started. But we had ordered groceries from Vonn's and they had it at the hotel when we arrived. Rooms were clean and the front desk was very accomodating. We called directly for reservations and got a much better rate than through DL web site. Since it is a Good Neighbor hotel, you will not receive the unlimited MM entries. So the only extra benefit to booking with Walt Disney Travel would be the Toonotown Morning Madness. We got our park hoppers through Get Away Today and received 2 MMs entries.

 

[momtimesone]

We decided on the inn because I am cheap and like the idea of a close place that is not too expensive. I am used to going to Disneyworld in July and staying in the values so this was the closet hotel within my budget. I think its more expensive because of Airfare.Thanks for the advice I really cannot wait to go and who knows If we like it we will come back.