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mycutekitties
03-17-2007, 01:12 PM
We are so excited about our trip next week we are thinking about leaving a day sooner than planned.
The old plan was leave 3/24 Modesto, CA about 6:30 a.m. and arrive in Anaheim about 2:00 p.m. or so (we have 2 kids under 3 so we will be stopping a lot).
But now we are thinking to leave Friday 3/23 and stay in a cheep hotel an hour or closer away. Anyone have any hotel suggestions?

Bytebear
03-17-2007, 06:06 PM
A friend recently stayed at La Quinta in Santa Ana. They were upgrading several rooms and it has a beautiful courtyard. It is 10 miles from Disneyland. But shop around, there may be better deals closer to Disneyland.

http://www.lq.com/lq/properties/propertyProfile.do?ident=LQ2006&propId=2006

bassett1976
03-17-2007, 06:09 PM
I would suggest coming down to the Pasadena Area. It's about an hour away. There are some nice hotels in Arcadia as well.

Malcon10t
03-17-2007, 10:21 PM
We are so excited about our trip next week we are thinking about leaving a day sooner than planned.
The old plan was leave 3/24 Modesto, CA about 6:30 a.m. and arrive in Anaheim about 2:00 p.m. or so (we have 2 kids under 3 so we will be stopping a lot).
But now we are thinking to leave Friday 3/23 and stay in a cheep hotel an hour or closer away. Anyone have any hotel suggestions?Done this exact drive (maybe not exact, we are over Briggs/Claus) MANY times (only with 4 kids...) Why not leave the 23 and drive all the way? You don't have to leave as early and just spend the evening getting settled. Why stay an hour away? That puts you in Santa Clarita or so.

Koukla
03-17-2007, 11:22 PM
You didn't say whether you're coming down the 5 or the 99, but I checked La Quinta Inns in the Bakersfield area for you and found two right off the 99. I love La Quinta b/c I travel a lot w/my German Shepherd, there's no extra charge and they've been great to me. The rooms are nothing fancy, but the price is reasonable, the breakfast is free, the rooms are clean, and most have free hi-speed internet.

http://www.lq.com
There's a La Quinta on Riverside Drive. Looks to be an older one. Room rates for 3/23 are $75 best available or $67.50 w/AAA. This one is adjacent to an IHOP.

There's a nicer La Quinta Inn & Suites a little further down, on Spectrum Parkway. Best available is $119.99 and w/AAA it's $107.99. This one has a Denny's on property.

If you're leaving after work on Friday night, you can easily make it to Bakersfield in 3-4 hours with young children. It'll be another 2 hours to Anaheim, but if you eat breakfast at the hotel and leave by 6 or 7, you'll be a lot more rested once you get to DLR and hopefully will have less traffic to deal with in the early morning hours.

Enjoy your trip! :D

mycutekitties
03-18-2007, 10:44 AM
Done this exact drive (maybe not exact, we are over Briggs/Claus) MANY times (only with 4 kids...) Why not leave the 23 and drive all the way? You don't have to leave as early and just spend the evening getting settled. Why stay an hour away? That puts you in Santa Clarita or so.

We live by the new Target in Riverbank (Oakdale/ Clairabel). :) If my husband gets off work in time we will drive all the way.

adriennek
03-18-2007, 12:21 PM
oh, Bakersfield - That's a bit more than an hour away, but, I happen to have a favorite hotel in Bakersfield: The Doubletree.

Normally, this isn't a property in my price range but this is Bakersfield so when we stayed there, it was a reasonable rate. (This was a couple of years ago, but we did get a great deal through my AAA agent.)

When we checked in, they upgraded us from a two queen room to a two room suite with a king in one room and two queens in the other room. :D

The moral of this story:

1- This is why I book with my travel agent. We get really great treatment at hotels and on the one or two occasions when we haven't, they've fallen over themselves to fix things and apologize.

2- The Doubletree in Bakersfield isn't a very popular destination so they have some wiggle room to treat you well. My agent has sent other clients there as a stop-over point during car trips and they've been happy with their stays as well.

Adrienne

biolabetty
03-18-2007, 05:38 PM
I live in Santa Clarita and drive quite often to Bakersfield to see my mom, who lives just off the freeway. It takes about 1 hour and 10-15 minutes to travel that distance. From Santa Clarita to Anaheim it does take an hour, but only if there is no traffic, so plan well because the traffic doesn't always cooperate with you. It took me 45 minutes at 1 in the afternoon on Friday to drive from Burbank back to Santa Clarita.

mycutekitties
03-18-2007, 05:52 PM
Thanks everyone! I think if we do go on friday we will just go all the way.
I am soooooooooo excited!