Anything Disney hotels

Any fans of Disneyland, Disney World, Disney Paris or Tokyo or Hawaii (Aulani), or Disney cruises? I live in Los Angeles and when family members visit DisneyLand I will meet them there, fun place but expensive $100 admission. Family stays inside the park at Grand California Hotel at $475 per night.

 

Longtime Disney World tradition here, have taken our two daughters and then their spouses, and now our grandsons totalling 14 trips plus one to Disneyland. Our oldest daughter honeymooned at Grand Floridian. Always stay on property, usually moderate resorts since we pay for everything and require 3 rooms, or Yacht and Beach Club on occasion. Some popular Character meal reservations require almost 12 month advance so planning that far ahead takes some doing. Park Prices and dining have sky rocketed in recent years. What's funny is, as much as our kids and gandkids love the parks, they absolutely love hanging out at the resort pools which are one of the few free things at Disney so we always add an extra day. Expensive vacations as numbers have grown from 4 people to eight people, but the memories, ahhh, the memories.

 

I have a love/hate relationship with Disney. Long lines, crying babies, expensive everything (food, admission, hotel rooms, $20 parking, etc.), hot during the summer months, etc. But for some reason Disney has a special allure to it, magical in a word. At night it's fascinating to see the electric light parade with all those lights going down Main Street. And the fireworks. And seeing the expressions on the kids faces when they see the live characters such as Sophia, Frozen characters, Chipmunks, etc.

I try to do it as cheaply as possible. For instance I park my truck in the Anaheim neighborhood and ride my bike inside to avoid the $20 parking fee. I bring my own half frozen bottle of water to avoid the $5 water inside. We usually eat at the concessions such as $12.99 for a roast beef sandwich or $8 hot dogs. Someone said the fried turkey drumstick is very good but I have yet to try it due to it being closed the time we went.

As for rides, the best one I liked was called soaring over California at California Adventure park. It was a simulated hang glider ride which seemed like a real hang glider ride with different scenes such as going over the ocean, flying threw mountains and valleys, etc.

 

Disney World is a magical place. I love it and I don't even have a family. It is very expensive though.

 

We have a timeshare in Florida and love doing the Halloween Horror Nights in Sept Oct
The parks reopen at night, US and IoA, and put one hell of a display of grotescarry, um is that a word? we love it and are going again this year
GF Sh1ts herself everytime especially through the halls of horror but always goes back for more Afetr a full days theme parking and then the evening too it can be exausting tho

 

We have been on Disney Cruises on at least 3 of the boats. They are first class all the way. The boats are immaculate, the service is great, and the food is better than other cruise lines. The downside is that you are definitely paying for it. (As my buddy says "the Mouse will suck you dry!"). That said I would rather cruise extra days versus spending days at the park. Send me a PM if you want details on the Disney cruises.

We stayed at a resort in Ko Olina near Aulani a few years ago. All of the resorts on that side of the island are really nice and laid back, with man made beaches and lagoons. You can probably go cheaper than Aulani but we really enjoyed ourselves on Oahu.

 

I absolutely love Disney despite my complaints with the crowds and prices. Every time I drive onto the property Mickey Mouse is pointing at me like the pirate in Captain Phillips saying "Look at me. Look at me. I'm the captain now". Flights to Orlando from Boston are pretty cheap though (I was able to fly my family of five last year for under $1000).

We stay on property about once every other trip. My kids love the Cars and Nemo themed areas of Art of Animation Resort and I personally loved staying at the Disneyland Hotel. Between Orlando and Anaheim we've done Disney 4 years in a row now, so I think this year we're looking to change it up a little bit.

 

We are in the midst of trying to get a DVC rental for the marathon time frame in January. Nothing is available for our entire trip. So guess we will be doing two hotel rooms. Really wanted to be able to relax with a living room area. Oh well.