Disneyland Resort Vs Good Neighbor hotels etc.

[Tia Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Tia]

Hi,
I'm looking for input from those that know in putting together our first trip to California in July/Aug, we have 2 teenagers. Trying to include Disney and the San Diego coast area.

I was looking at a Disney 2 day Park Hopper/ 3 nights hotel combination. I checked a couple packages on the Disney site. It looked like it will cost less buying park tickets seperate from the hotel?! By staying at a Disney resort I read you get "park reentry" . Does this mean you aren't able to reenter once you leave when staying at one of the Good Neighbor hotels? Is it best to buy park tickets ahead rather than once you get there?

Thanks

[Luanne Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Luanne]

Last time dd and I went to Disneyland we stayed at the Candy Cane Inn, which is one of the good neighbor hotels. I just couldn't justify the extra money to stay on site, especially since none of the hotels are really that close to the entrance (except for the Disneyland Grand Californian which has it's own entrance into California Adventure, and is the most expensive of the Disney hotels). We were very happy with the Candy Cane Inn. It's on the same side of Harbor as the park entrance, is walkable and also offers free shuttle service. They provide breakfast, which was substantial enough for us.

You can re-enter the parks with ANY type of ticket (you just need to get your hand stamped when you leave). I purchased a package for airport transport, hotel and park tickets through the Disney website. We got a few "extras" by booking this way. I found the Disney website very helpful in planning our trip.