Pretty sure that I am going to choose the Disneyland Hotel. Yes, we will walk a little more, and I may regret it at the end of the park days, but I could pay for a lot of splurges over the 5 nights with $600 and not fell guilty. I love the feel of the DLH and the rooms and the headboards. I get lost in the GCH and never know which way I am going. Yes, the lobby is lovely, but we can stop in.
DH, who is not going on the trip, thinks I should book the GCH. DS who is going, will go along with whatever I choose.
It could be a lot of many things, adult beverages that I wonât normally pay for, some souvenirs, a couple of extra ADRs. The lobby at GCH is so cozy but usually pretty crowded.
I think I will cancel one in the morning, so that worrying about having the wrong choice doesnât keep me awake.
I really appreciate all of the information, even if I stay on property this time. If it wasnât for the 25% off rooms for on property, I would have probably booked on Harbor. When we come the next time with the DGDs and my DD and DSiL, we will likely be off site at a property that is a Marriott, a Hilton, Hyatt, or Holiday Inn.
I am going to keep the reservation at the Grand Californian Hotel. I will appreciate the convenience and location. It is only me and DS, so not as much money for tickets and food for only 2 people. Not planning another Disney trip this year, donât know how many Disney trips I have left in me. The added cost of staying at GCH compared to DLH is less than the character dinner for 8 people that I paid for in December.
Even though I am a little old lady, we will go from rope drop well into the evening, usually without a break. But being at GCH, maybe we will take a break. Over Christmas, my group including my DGDs ages 9, 7, and 3, typically had about 7 LL and hit about 12 or 13 attractions each day even with the Christmas crowds.
DS will go on some attractions without me because I am not allowed to ride attractions that jerk my head around Neither of us will go on the nausea inducing rides like Soarinâ.or Guardians. The CMs donât have to warn me to walk at rope drop because I am a rule follower and I would likely trip.
Enjoy the trip with your son. Will the orchestra be performing at Disneyland? My DD got to perform in WDW and at Pearl Harbor with her high school band.
How fun! I went to WDW with my middle school orchestra in the late 90s. I hope your son enjoys his trip as much as I enjoyed mine. Getting to do something like that with your friends is rare and memorable.
I saw the news about the ART bus being discontinued - another blow to our Dec 2026 family trip. First they drop early entry, now this. That said, whatâs a favorite hotel for a family of 5? We need at least 3 sleeping surfaces with 2 teens and one preteen. 4 would be even better, but we are averse to the âjust get 2 roomsâ thing. Itâs so much more expensive, plus we like to be together in one room. With the bus option going away, it would be nice to be close, but we can rideshare easily since weâre far removed from needing car seats.
Most rooms in the Courtyard have two queens and a bunk bed, which is great for families as big as 6.
Some Fairfield rooms have a third sleep surface.
The Grand Legacy has 2-BR (two queens and a couch bed) and 3-BR (I think 4 queens and a couch bed) suites for a decently good price in their new tower.
The Park Vue has a limited number of rooms with 2 queens and a bunk and is as close as you can get. They also have a suite with 2 queens and then a separate kitchenette & living room area that has a sleeper sofa in the living room.
The Tropicana Inn and Camelot also have a single sleeper sofa (as do most of the Fairfield rooms).
In the Convention Center area there is the Marriott Residence Inn with suite configurations with a gigantic sofa sleeper and 2 queens as the standard in their smallest suites. And a full kitchen. There is also a Springhill Suites by the Convention Center and they have suite configurations with 3+ sleeping surfaces. And a Hyatt House is pretty close there too and I believe they also have bigger suites.
There is a Holiday Inn on Manchester St (kinda tucked behind Harbor) that I considered staying at because that would be a doable walk and the rooms looked spacious and weâve always had a good experience our Holiday Inn stays in Orlando. But that one requires you to valet park and it was a ridiculous $30-something/day so with us driving I did not want to do that, but if youâre not driving or if the valet parking doesnât bother you, it looked like a decent hotel option for a bigger family.
And all the options Jeff mentioned are great too. Just giving you some additional options to price out.
We have stayed at AoA and then YC with our kids. Usually on other vacations we stay at Hampton Inn or similar because they have 3 sleeping surfaces and free breakfast. We are usually pretty busy on vacation and not sitting around relaxing at the hotel, so itâs just a place to sleep. It is easier to justify splurging a bit at WDW because of the convenience factor. My husband is pretty practical most of the time, but YC made sense, due to the tangible benefits we got. We would do that again.
They will replace it with some form of transportation. Too many people use it each day! In a pinch, the public bus along Harbor Blvd will work, too. With 5 paying passengers, I would weigh the costs of public transportation verses driving! I would also throw in the parking cost at the hotels and convenience of having my car in that equation!
You already have some excellent recommendations. I would throw the Hilton Garden Inn and Home2 Suites on S Manchester in the mix. There are rooms with a couch/sofa bed. Those are my go to hotels when Iâm at DLR. itâs about a 12 minute walk to the intersection where DLRâs entrance is. They are relatively new hotels, finished around 2022 or so. By the time my kids were in late elementary school, they wouldnât sleep on a sofa bed anymore! It was too uncomfortable. But they would sleep on the couch!
I have also stayed at the DoubleTree Suites at the Convention Center, if the rate is good, and use ART.
Iâm here this week at the Embassy Suites South in Garden Grove. The ART stop is outside the hotel. The public bus stop is across the street. There is also a Hampton Inn and Suites next door. For a little bit more money, I would always chose the Embassy for my family because it offers a full breakfast buffet and cooked to order eggs. Itâs a much better spread and more delicious than a Hampton breakfast!
Based on this I think you will be fine with any of the recommendations given so far.
Another one to throw into the mix is the Wyndham Anaheim, which my BIL and his wife have stayed at a few times and love. It is a mid-tier walk â not one of the very closest, but not very far. Prices are about $300-400 including taxes and fees.
