Where would you recommend staying for a family of five?

[Zoemakes5]

We are a family of five and are heading to DL in November.....
Where would you recommend? Not just generically which hotel you'd like, but keeping in mind accomodating 5 in a room?
Thanks!

 

[TiggerCate]

Hi! We are a family of 5 going in October and we are staying at the Embassy Suites in Garden Grove (Disneyland South). It's hard to find hotels that take 5 in one room- Embassy does and has free cooked to order (eggs, bacon, pancakes, etc. as compared to just some muffins) breakfast included for all of us, which when you are talking breakfast for 5, that pays for itself!

I stayed there in Sept. of 02 when I only had 2 kids and we enjoyed it. I had a former boss who had 4 kids and she always stayed Embassy when on trips with them.

 

[TiggerCate]

PS- Our DS is autistic. I don't know about your DS with Aspergers, but he is PICKY (and on a special diet) about food, so I liked having all the breakfast choices. We stayed at Hilton Suites in Orange in 98 and their breakfast and accomodations were even better, but their prices are now more than I want to pay.

 

[Albertan mom]

Our family of four stayed at the Park Inn. It is right across the street, very close to the entrance. If you brought a cot in there, it would be do-able, but pretty crowded. But, the price was right, location was excellent. Pool-decent. Continental breakfast was pastries, cereal, juice, oatmeal, fruit. There are hotels on Harbor Blvd that have suites in them. To me, you can't beat the location. Not having to use the shuttles is great.
Our friends have a family of 6. They stayed at the Staybridge suites and thought it was great. Apparently they have great breakfasts. They also have a free sundowner supper a few nights a week. They had a kitchette with dishwasher (that they didn't discover until their last day there-lol) free laundry facilities and a two room suite that slept 6. THey did have to take the shuttle to DLand though.

 

[karylrocks]

The Disneyland Hotel, and I believe the other Disney hotels, allow 5 in a room with 2 queens and a daybed. We will be staying there with 4 adults and a teen. The rooms are also fairly large.

 

[boosmom96]

The Disneyland Hotel, and I believe the other Disney hotels, allow 5 in a room with 2 queens and a daybed. We will be staying there with 4 adults and a teen. The rooms are also fairly large.

The DL Hotel Bonita Tower rooms are bigger than the others They have 2 queens and a daybed. We always try to stay in this tower because of the room size difference. My DD is in a wheelchair and they're a little easier to move around in. They are however, the farthest from the DTD monorail station.
The GC has rooms with 1 queen and a bunk bed with a trundle. We haven't stayed there, but I have seen the rooms and they are pretty small. Paradise Pier is showing single room "family suites" that sleep 6 and look pretty good. (I have the latest AAA brochure with a photo.)
I think staying onsite would probably be easier with your #1 son. My brother's best friend's daughter is high functioning autistic and this makes a really big difference for them.
Nov. is a great time to go!! The Christmas decorations are wonderful!!!

 

[HydroGuy]

We have four kids and six in all, and are planning to stay at Best Western Park Place (http://www.parkplaceinnandminisuites.com/) in August. They have suites with two queens and a queen roll out, plus a microwave and fridge. This BW gets pretty get reviews, and is right across the street.

Howard Johnson's gets good reviews, but is a little farther walk than BW. Two years ago we stayed at HoJo and noticed the extra 5-7 minutes of walking each way took its toll. You can get a cot to go with two queens at HoJos to fit five. We had to sleep one on the floor.

Also, check out Bret's Disneyland Lodging Map here:

http://www.geocities.com/ashpsyche/DisneylandLinkMap.html

 

[CrazyDreamer]

I'll second the Park Place recommendation! Don't get it confused with the Park Inn, both are decent, but I prefer the Park Place.

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

If you want to stay at a Disneyland Resort hotel, then you can stay at any of the three & five will fit. All three offer two queens and a daybed, but I know that you MIGHT get two queens & a pad & sleeping back at the Grand Californian if they run out of the other rooms. The Best Western Park Place Inn offers mini suites that easily accommodate 5, and it is the closest non-Disney hotel to the park entrances. If you'd like more room/suite try the Residence Inn Maingate or Residence Inn Resort Area - both have suites and offer full breakfasts.

 

[LucyKate]

The standard rooms at the Howard Johnson are quite big and take 5 in two douible beds and a rollway. They also have home office suites which will easily take 5.

This hotel is rated highly here and on tripadvisor.com and is only 10 minutes walk. We had 4 in one room, loved it, and did not find it too cramped - there was plenty of room for our lugagge etc.

 

[caimakale]

Personally, when I booked all of my hotels, I booked them for 4 people because I was having the same problem as you. I refuse to put my children in a different room in an unfamiliar situation. We will easily fit into a room because of how young mine are. (7, 4, 2). If I get in trouble then I guess I will deal with that then. I can always sleep in the car.

 

[tlovesdis]

We had a party of 6 back in October of 2004 and we stayed at www.residenceinnanaheim.com. It was fantastic! It'a about a mile down Harbor, but has a shuttle service that picks up right next door at the Hyatt and there is a Starbuck's right where the bus picks up!!!

We had a two bedroom / 2 bath suite with a kitchen. The free breakfast is great!

I totally recommend this place for anyone with a big party!

 

[degrapevine]

I totally agree with tlovesdis!
We had a Kids Suite, with 2 bedrooms (one with a king and full bath, the other with bunk beds, a kid-sized table & chairs and full bath), a living area with pull out sofabed and desk, and full kitchen with dining table.
There were also 3 tvs, which the kids watched a little in the morning.
This was perfect for our family of 5!
The boys shared the bunkbed room and the little princess got the sofabed all to herself.
But the biggest plus here was the additional bathroom - Saved us SO much time getting ready in the morning!
They also have a great breakfast buffet (not cook to order, though) with eggs, potatoes, french toast, belgium waffle machines (with pre-measured cups of batter), fruit, stuff to make breakfast burritos, donuts, muffins, crossaints, cereal, juices, and coffee (and a soda machine which we filled our collectible cup with each day!).
The buffet does get crazy around 8 (we found this out the day we left late to go to Legoland), but if you're out before then, it's manageable.
There's also an evening reception on weeknights (Monday-Thursday, I think) with things like nachos or soup and salad.
We were able to get a rate of $150/night through Expedia.
The shuttle is dependable, running every 30 minutes to the park and every 20 and 50 minutes after the hour from the park, leaving from the Hyatt next door.
It's the first stop on the pick up route, so even though you might have to stand for the short ride, we never faced a bus that couldn't fit us in.
The Hyatt also has a Pizza Hut Express, which we used one night for a late snack before I got a chance to go grocery shopping.
We loved this hotel and its friendly staff and would recommend it to anyone looking for a suite hotel who needs that extra bathroom!
Happy planning ...
Rose

 

[bclydia]

We'll be staying at the Comfort Inn Maingate at 2171 Harbor Blvd.
We stayed there last year and loved it. There is a continental breakfast included and the kids suite sleeps up to 7. The mainroom had 2 queen beds and the kids room had bunk beds with a tv and kids activity table in their for them. It was SO great to be able to close the french door and let the kids sleep without us having to go to bed too!!! Also, the rate is much more reasonable than many. My sister has $65 US a night in August and we're paying less than that for Sept. (found a low rate on hotels.com and the comfort inn matched it on our existing reservation)
Let us know what you decide on!
Have a great time!
Lydia

 

[hip]

We recently stayed at the Park Inn with 3 adults and 3 kids. We had a 2 room suite that had 2 double beds in one room and a double bed and sleeper sofa in the other room. It was roomy, clean, affordable, and very close to the parks. It's just a couple of doors down from the Best Western Park Place. We would stay at the Park Inn again even with just five of us.