Sheraton Anaheim
 

'Taking the kids to Disneyland on spring break and looking for a decent hotel. Has anyone stayed at the Sheraton Anaheim? How are the kid facilities? How is the pool? Thanx.

The Sheraton is nice. They seem to cater more to the business traveler and/or convention goer. The pool is okay but I would not consider it resort quality.

If you are planning the trip around the kids, I highly recommend staying at the Disney resort. Specifically, the PAradise Pier Hotel. You get to use the Disney Hotel resort quality pool, it has good restaurants nearby. Also, its nice to break up the day at Disneyland by taking a break by the pool in the afternoon and then heading back into the park in the evening.

SSM, we've stayed at the Disneyland Hotel many times, I love it. Do you know if the Grand Californian has a pool? We're considering staying there for one night. I love the location and they have a really nice restaurant there, Napa Rose that I want to try. ***kim*** (~~)

Kim, The Grand Californian has a very nice pool. Also "resort quality". Unlike the Disney Hotel Pool, only guests at the Grand Californian can use that pool. At the Disney Hotel pool, guests from Paradise Pier and Grand Calif. can use it. The Disney pool is considerably larger, however.

The Napa Rose is interesting. I live in Orange Co. and about 20 minutes away from the Disney resort. There was a lot of hype here about Napa Rose. I have been to the restaurant twice. While it is good, I did not understand what the hype was about. But to each is own. I felt that the service we had on both occaisions was not up to par for a restaurant of this quality. Personally, I felt that was due to the fact that the restaurant was so crowded.

In Downtown Disney there is a restaurant called Catal. It is very good. I highly recommend if you cannot get into Napa Rose (depending on when you go, you are better served to make reservations at Napa Rose well ahead of time...when I went, they were taking reservations several weeks in advance!)

Catal also has a smaller, patio style casual restaurant in front of it called Uva Bar. It is basically a tapas restaurant with very good wines sold by the glass. I LOVE that place. You can try a few different dishes with different wines. It is especially nice during the summer or early fall evenings. Highly recommended if you want a casual environment without skimping on quality.

Thanks for the info, ssm. Is the chef from Auberge du Soleil still manning the kitchen at Napa Rose? I'll definitely give Catal a look. We also really like the Blue Bayou for at least lunch! The Pirates of the Caribbean is my favorite ride in the park, next to Dumbo! LOL ***kim*** (~~)

We enjoyed the Residence Inn in Anaheim, especially the breakfast. It is a long walk to the park however.

The Disney hotels often have special rates for season passholders. The season pass only costs $25 more than a 2 day ticket, so if you are saving $50 a night on the hotel it's worth it for one member of your party to get the season pass. Might not offer the discount during spring break however.

Kim, I cannot tell you for certain who is the lead chef now. I do believe it is the same person (Andrew Sutton) as I have not heard of any major changes. Hey if it works, why mess with it, right? Do try Uva or Catal if you get a chance. You cannot go wrong. Since I enjoy Uva so much, I have not been to Blue Bayou. But I will give it a try.

One other note, in case you did not know, both the Paradise Pier Hotel & Grand Calif. have private entrances to the California Adventure park that guests may use. Never stayed at Disney Hotel so I do not know if you had the same privledge.

Andrew is the chef I was referring to. I have not been to California Adventure yet. Love DL too much. My kids weren't thrilled with it. I'm trying to put together a DL trip for eight of us and the Grand Californian sounds perfect! I wonder if you could get better rates mid-week?

We'll all just have to play "hooky" for a couple of days, now won't we? LOL ***kim*** (~~)

Kim, Like any other resort, it depends on the time of year you go to see if mid week rates are available. But, even if the rates are the same, DL is soooooo much better mid week, especially while school is in session. The crowds are considerably lighter.

Calif. Adventure is one of those places that you either love or hate. If you love DL, you probably will be disappointed in Calif Adventure. I personally like it better because the crowds are lighter (plus Soaring Over Califoria & Twilight Zone Tower of Terror rides are awesome!) Then again, I have a 2 park season pass. As a result, I can tell you that if I had to pay for a full days admission for Calif. Adventure I would likely feel ripped off. The best value for visitors is the 2 park 2 day pass.

While at Grand California, you may want to take your kids to Storytellers Breakfast. My daughter loved it.

The replies have been great and the suggestions terrific. I'm sure I'll follow up on most of them and they'll make the holiday so much better. Does anyone have any further first-hand info on the Sheraton Anahemin? Thanks again all.

We stayed there about 2 1/2 years ago and liked it. It was comfortable and had a shuttle to Disney that was very efficient. The breakfast buffet was nice. Sorry, we did not even look at the pool, spent all our time at Disney.