dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
Long gone are the days were we went on holiday and stayed at a single hotel. This time round, we will spend time in a total of 4 different hotels. I have already said plenty about Aulani, but here are the 3 other hotels.
Crowne Plaza Manchester Airport
This has become a bit of a tradition. Although we only live in the city centre of Manchester, more often than not we spend the night before we fly on holiday at the Crowne Plaza Manchester Airport. This eliminates the stress of getting to the airport during the morning rush hour and it also feels like the holiday has started as soon as we check in at the hotel. This time round, I have to work the day before we leave so I will head straight from work to the hotel and will meet Graham there. I managed to get a fantastic rate on a Club Room so we will have access to soft drinks and snacks all day and will have a two hour cocktail hour with alcoholic drinks and Appetisers. It is always nice to have some pre- dinner drinks in the club lounge and then head for dinner to their fantastic oriental restaurant. As part of the deal, we also have a choice between a continental breakfast in the club lounge or a full English breakfast in one of the hotel restaurants. We usually just go with the continental version as neither of us is a big breakfast eater.
Disney's Paradise Pier Hotel
This is a new hotel for us. We have been there for the character breakfast twice and also had a look around their public areas, but we usually stay at the Villas at the Grand Californian. Unfortunately the nights that we needed were not available at the 7 months mark and my wait list had not cleared when my banking window was about to close. So I decided to use my points for three nights at Disney's Paradise Pier Hotel. I have recently seen some photos of the rooms at Paradise Pier on somebody's trip report (Hello Jen!) and I actually really love the understated beach decor. We have a standard view booked. I would love to watch World of Color from the hotel, but as my body clock will still be on UK time we will be ready for bed before it starts and it may be dark in those two days anyway as World of Color Winter Dreams starts later that week. I am really looking forward to staying there. An added bonus is that we don't have far to go to get to the Surf's Up Character Breakfast.
Howard Johnson Hotel and Water Playground Anaheim
This is a new concept for us. We have stayed offsite on our first three visits to Disneyland and in that case it was really offsite as far afield as La Habra or near the Angel stadium. In recent stays, we have stayed at the Grand Californian. We have never tried one of the Good Neighbour hotels. I know that this hotel is very popular and we got a great rate for it so we decided to try it. It is actually supposed to be closer to the parks then the Disneyland Hotel and Paradise Pier. I have to admit that I rather walk through Downtown Disney then through the shuttle area, but we are paying for 8 nights pretty much what we would pay for 1 night at the Disneyland Hotel during that period. The rooms look nice and they have some handy extras like a fridge and free WiFi. The pool area also looks nice and you can see the monorail go past. I hope that we will enjoy our stay there.
Crowne Plaza Manchester Airport
This has become a bit of a tradition. Although we only live in the city centre of Manchester, more often than not we spend the night before we fly on holiday at the Crowne Plaza Manchester Airport. This eliminates the stress of getting to the airport during the morning rush hour and it also feels like the holiday has started as soon as we check in at the hotel. This time round, I have to work the day before we leave so I will head straight from work to the hotel and will meet Graham there. I managed to get a fantastic rate on a Club Room so we will have access to soft drinks and snacks all day and will have a two hour cocktail hour with alcoholic drinks and Appetisers. It is always nice to have some pre- dinner drinks in the club lounge and then head for dinner to their fantastic oriental restaurant. As part of the deal, we also have a choice between a continental breakfast in the club lounge or a full English breakfast in one of the hotel restaurants. We usually just go with the continental version as neither of us is a big breakfast eater.
Disney's Paradise Pier Hotel
This is a new hotel for us. We have been there for the character breakfast twice and also had a look around their public areas, but we usually stay at the Villas at the Grand Californian. Unfortunately the nights that we needed were not available at the 7 months mark and my wait list had not cleared when my banking window was about to close. So I decided to use my points for three nights at Disney's Paradise Pier Hotel. I have recently seen some photos of the rooms at Paradise Pier on somebody's trip report (Hello Jen!) and I actually really love the understated beach decor. We have a standard view booked. I would love to watch World of Color from the hotel, but as my body clock will still be on UK time we will be ready for bed before it starts and it may be dark in those two days anyway as World of Color Winter Dreams starts later that week. I am really looking forward to staying there. An added bonus is that we don't have far to go to get to the Surf's Up Character Breakfast.
Howard Johnson Hotel and Water Playground Anaheim
This is a new concept for us. We have stayed offsite on our first three visits to Disneyland and in that case it was really offsite as far afield as La Habra or near the Angel stadium. In recent stays, we have stayed at the Grand Californian. We have never tried one of the Good Neighbour hotels. I know that this hotel is very popular and we got a great rate for it so we decided to try it. It is actually supposed to be closer to the parks then the Disneyland Hotel and Paradise Pier. I have to admit that I rather walk through Downtown Disney then through the shuttle area, but we are paying for 8 nights pretty much what we would pay for 1 night at the Disneyland Hotel during that period. The rooms look nice and they have some handy extras like a fridge and free WiFi. The pool area also looks nice and you can see the monorail go past. I hope that we will enjoy our stay there.