Tinkerbell 1/2 Marathon 2013 - Where should I stay with my family? About This Page:

[SweetDisney]

My family has been to WDW many times. This is our first trip to DL. I am slightly concerned about where to stay. Since I am planning on the park being packed is there any benefit to staying in a Disney hotel or is it the same for the neighborhood hotels? Also does anyone have any suggestions on hotels and beating the crowd?

Thanks

[disney_duke]

Well, I did a first time DL trip for the Disneyland Half marathon in Sept. 2010. I couldn't decide between a Disney hotel or otherwise either. But eventually decided on the Candy Cane Inn. It gets great reviews, cont. breakfast, the location is darn close, and has a convenient shuttle! It worked out just fine for race day. If you've run some races in Florida, then you know about the long walk from the Epcot parking lot to the coralls - it's about a mile. The walk from Candy Cane to the coralls was maybe about the same, but it felt shorter. Maybe because there weren't as many people, I'm not sure. After the race, I used the shuttle back to the hotel and it worked out great!

As far as crowds and benefits for Disney hotels, I didn't think there was much benefit. Rather I should say, for the price difference between Candy Cane and the Disney hotels, I didn't think any added benefits were really worth it. You can buy tickets with the extra magic hour (or whatever it's called) and make use of that should that be important to you. I did not make use of it, but my friend did on race day. With that race being on Labor Day weekend, I was expecting huge crowds so we just planned accordingly. We got early starts every day, and made the best use out of Fastpasses and riding rides during parades/fireworks. The crowds were manageable, as long as you had a plan of attack for each day. I think that's more important than counting on any benefits from staying at one of the on site hotels. Make special note as to which rides offer FP and which don't, and then which rides get the long lines - and maintain those long lines all day long. Be sure to hit those rides first thing in the morning. And you may have to spread them out among your few mornings there. That's what we did and it worked out great. I waited 3 days to ride the Matterhorn, but finally did!

I'm sure someone will point out some better obvious selling points to staying onsite at a Disney hotel. But for my planning purposes, it didn't make sense for my budget. I didn't have my kids along on that trip (just a girls weekend), but I don't think that would have changed my mind much. The Candy Cane Inn suited our needs just perfectly, and for the price, I couldn't have asked for anything better.

[Papa Mouse]

The HoJo is offering a 25% discount from the regular price for the Tinkerbell Half Marathon 2013 but it is across the street off property.

HojoAnaheim Innsider Boards • View topic - Disneyland Half Marathon Tinker Be

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