Paradise Pier = Fairfield Marriott

[Daisy_74]

Hi

I need your help , I'm planning my first trip to Disneyland next November ....I know it's almost 1 year....already done WDW 9 times ...so I'm ready for new adventure

Can wait to be there

Planning 8 nights ...with 5 days park ....only with my husband....we plan to visit Hollywood, LA...

But my question ....I would really love to go to the Paridise but the Marriott is 130$ less by night ....

So what would you do ??? Does the paridise worth the difference???

Need your comments!

Thanks a lot

 

[Girimama33]

Welcome ~

Not for me....but everyone is different. I don't have to be in a "Disney Bubble" nor feel the EMH everyday is worth the additional expense.
We love staying at the Marriott FFI. It is actually closer to DL/DCA than PPH.
Good luck with your decision.
If you haven't checked out this thread yet, I suggest reviewing it:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1162599

 

[storralva]

I have never stayed at paradise pier, but I would stay at marriott to have extra spending money! And the previous poster has a good point that Fairfield Marriott is closer than PPH.

Or maybe spend 4 days at marriott and one at paradise pier just for the experience?

Good luck with your decision!

 

[FourM's]

We normally stay at the GCH. But when we can't we always pick the Fairfield. It's nice and close, clean and the price is usually very good.

 

[8timesblessed]

I would do a split stay and focus on the days when there is early entrance into CA, like on Sunday and Monday are early entry into California Adventure and to me that's worth it but we love Toy Story and CA Screamin.

 

[YukonMommy]

My personal opinion is why pay extra $ for a room you just sleep in. I would rather have the extra money for special things like fancy candy apples, an extra day or two, etc.

 

[Daisy_74]

Thanks everyone....not sure if we will make a split stay or 1 or 2 more nigths

I will check out the tread thanks Girimama33

 

[Michael623]

Stayed at Fairfield in May and absolutely would again. I really didn't find PP to be be very well themed or worth the money.

 

[bbeagle]

I have never stayed at paradise pier, but I would stay at marriott to have extra spending money!

I love how people budget differently.

It looks like you have a set dollar amount you will pay for a vacation, and if you find a deal one place, you can splurge on something else.

We, however, do NOT have a set dollar amount PER VACATION, but a set dollar amount we pay PER MONTH for all vacations we take.

If we stay at the Marriott, our Disney vacation costs us say '10' months, if we stay at the Grand Californian, our Disney vacation costs us say '16' months. The months are the months we must wait before we can go on that vacation. (We will look to find deals to lower the months time whenever we can - like we are renting DVC vs. normal hotel rates)

'Kids - we can go to Disneyland in August 2013 staying at a Marriott and eating in the hotel room, or we can go in February 2014 staying in the Disneyland Hotel all week and getting made up like princesses, eating snacks and food in the parks, etc.'

We chose February 2014.

 

[Zbugz]

I've stayed at both and like them almost equally. For me the main reason to stay at PPH is for the early entry. Is that worth $130 per day? Maybe. One can get a lot done in that first hour. But, since I have BTDT, I am fine with FFI and missing out on the early entry. I like the idea of doing a split stay.

 

[Kittyskyfish]

I vote the Fairfield. Well, for one, it's our preferred crash pad when we visit (and I'm in one of the guest rooms right now typing away!) so automatically it gets my vote. The rooms are very comfortable and the coffee at the Pizza Hut Express is pretty good. I'm LOLing at myself because coffee comes as a high priority with me! Forget about room size or if the place has a refrigerator.....If I can get a good cup of coffee at 6:30 a.m. - I'm SET.

Second, we're adult travelers w/out kids so while the enticements of a Disney property are really nice, I think the $130/night extra might be more worth it for families w/ kids who need to spend more time at the hotel and pool, or because they have a "with kids" pace and need the daily early entry perk to get more rides done early so they can watch shows and parades later.

We're two adults w/ APs and don't need the early entry because we can move and get a lot done during normal park hours. Clearly we're not speaking for everybody's pace but consider the fact you already have 5 days planned for the parks and IMO that's enough time to get everything done and revisit quite a few rides. Besides, even if you stay at the Fairfield you'll already have one Magic Morning (early entry at DL) with your Park Hopper tickets.

JMO!

 

[bumbershoot]

But my question ....I would really love to go to the Paridise but the Marriott is 130$ less by night

Remember that prices can and sometimes do come down. So don't get yourself stuck in an reservation that can't be cancelled with Fairfield, just in case there's a deal that comes out for PPH.


I haven't stayed at FF. I have stayed at, and LOVED, Paradise Pier. Love the theming, love the bright cheery rooms, love the CMs, love it all. In the mornings and evenings I get to walk through the best part (in my family's opinion) of the Grand Californian (the free part, that is).

But...$130 per night more? That's getting tough for me to find enough value. (I'm dealing with a Universal Orlando issue of our fave hotel being $69/night more than our second fave hotel there, trying to figure out if we really love it THAT much more...so you can imagine what $130 would do to me LOL)


Getting in to the parks early EACH day of the trip could sway things. But...are you going to have a time difference? If so, which way? If you're an east coaster, that time difference will make the early entrances so very much easier. If you're from Hawaii, though, that's harder. (like when we head out to FL from WA...the early morning stuff can't happen for the first few days unless we want to feel horrible) If you have that time zone advantage, do you WANT to go early every day? Or do you want to do night time activities? You'll burn yourself out (this goes especially if you have little kids) if you try to do it both. Ultimately is USING the early entrance experience for every day you are there (including checkin and checkout days, if you are there for it) a reasonable expectation?

Of course there's also sending things back to the room and charging to the room if those are valuable.

 

[kathy884]

We're planning our first trip too. It's a popular spring break week and our Anaheim portion of the trip is just three nights / two and a half days.

I think it's a really personal decision. And I'm making a very similar personal decision about the same kind of thing, except I'm looking at a different Disney property and the Fairfield.

I currently have reservations that I can cancel at the Fairfield Inn and at the Grand Californian and although I've flip flopped back and forth a few times, I'm thinking that I'll go for the Fairfield Inn. For our stay the Fairfield Inn would cost us about $600 and the Grand Californian is more than twice as expensive at around $1400, $800 more.

I want close, clean/comfortable, and relatively updated, and the Fairfield hits all those criteria. I also, based on what we want to hit at the parks, don't need that extra early entry hour. The kids I'm traveling with are 18 and 22.

My more whimsical side thought I might like a bit of a Wow factor and I know my kids would love it (It's my decision, though, since they aren't footing the bill), so I booked the other property too until I could decide for sure. And there was a period of time when I thought I wanted to stay at the Grand Californian for sure. This week long trip is our main vacation for the year, and so it seem very reasonable to spurge and given how few days we are staying, the Grand Californian would be in budget.

When it comes right down to it though and I gave this some thought again, I think I'm more of a Fairfield Inn kind of person, and would be happier all around staying there. I'm value conscious. Although the Grand Californian fits in my budget, on top of the high priced hotel rooms, I'd be paying more for food etc. And truth be told, at some beautiful high end hotels I've stayed at in the past, I really hated paying all the extra charges for internet, high food costs, etc. It just bugged me and I felt nickeled and dimed or should I say twenty "dollared" and thirty "dollared"

For DS who is a picky eater, the McDonalds, Pizza Hut, and Mimi's café right by the Fairfield are a big plus too.

Paradise Pier is a little less expensive than the Grand Californian, but all in all it's a higher class hotel, and I think the decision you are looking at is very similar to what I'm doing.

So bottom line is I'd pick the Fairfield, but can totally understand and appreciate someone making the other choice. It's something I almost did too. And I still just in case I change my mind again I still have two reservations. lol

 

[mikedoyleblogger]

Remember that prices can and sometimes do come down. So don't get yourself stuck in an reservation that can't be cancelled with Fairfield, just in case there's a deal that comes out for PPH.

Or even in case the rates go down at the Fairfield, itself. You can always rebook the same hotel if you find a cheaper rate. We did that in March at the HoJo and saved $30 a night on the exact same room.