**THIS IS A TRANSCRIPT OF THE VIDEO INTERVIEW (found on YouTube)**
STACEY: Hello, and welcome. I am Stacey, your Disney Hotel lady, and today on this episode I have Kellie from We Don’t Wear Ears. How are you doing today, Kellie?
KELLIE: I’m doing well today. Ready to talk about Disney Hotels.
STACEY: Yay. I’m so glad. Uh, but first, uh, tell us a little bit about your background in the creator space and how your love of Disneyland developed and history.
KELLIE: I can absolutely do that. So I have been a Disneyland pass holder for over 20 years, which is a great stat to throw out in terms of like, I know what I’m talking about. Not so great in terms of like, oh, how old are you? I have had a pass, uh, since I was in college near Disneyland, and that was just what every, uh, college kid did.
So I’ve had a pass since they cost $122. Oh, um, that I looked it up at one point, the first pass I ever got, 122 bucks. And that was just what every broke college student around did; you ask for that for Christmas. Mom and Dad are very happy to oblige on that. And then you just go with all your friends to Disneyland all the time for “free.”
At that point, you could just add parking onto your pass for a hundred bucks. So that was a pretty good Christmas present, you know? Uh, and so me and all my friends hung out. When my husband and I got married, we actually, uh, our first apartment was in Buena Park, just down the street. Uh, and so same thing, we kept our passes, still asked my parents for Christmas presents for passes.
Uh, and that became like the easy, free, cheap date night. Uh, when I had my son Uriah, and I spent a few years not working and just being home with him, that was the easy, cheap, you know, go in the morning, pack a lunch, take my toddler, preschooler, whatever it is, to Disneyland. Uh, and so we’ve just always been at Disneyland really pretty frequently. Typically about once a week. Um, and so I had just found myself constantly posting things on social media. As social media happened, I would find myself posting things just ’cause I had a lot of friends locally. We live very close to the parks clearly, and so I have a lot of friends locally that are pass holders.
So I would find myself posting things on my personal social media just like, Hey, did you know this thing is free? Or We tried this new food, or here’s this cute photo of my kid doing homework at Disneyland or whatever. Uh, and at certain point I just felt like it kind of got obnoxious, like everything on my social media, not everything, but a lot of it was all Disneyland stuff and just felt like, okay, there’s a lot of people who don’t even care about that and or like, somebody from like high school or something looks me up. It just doesn’t seem like fully indicative of everything I would want them to see. And so that was kind of boiling in my mind. And at the same time when all the Covid park shutdowns happened, um, well I should back up on that.
Uh, we had saved and saved and saved for a Disney cruise for like ever and planned the heck out of it and all the things. And it was booked for March of 2020. So that was cool. Um, but we ended up getting all of that money back and the second that Disney World opened back up and I had never thought we would be somebody who could go to Disney World. That just wasn’t like in my radar of things we could do. Uh, we got all that money back. The second Disney World opened, we were like, let’s go to Disney World. And we took our first trip to Disney World. Of course I planned the heck out of that ’cause that’s who I am as a person. Uh, and we got home and two days later a girlfriend called me and she said, Hey. Uh, love your trip to Disneyland. So my husband and I decided to book a trip for our family to go, uh, we’re going next week. Can you help me plan it? And I went, oh. I was like, actually, this was really, really fun. Taking everything I just did and the knowledge I had and helping her plan a trip. I like, love that. And with those two things kind of bubbling in my mind, uh, a few weeks later, we launched We_don’t_wear_ears. Uh, people always ask about the name.
Like, it’s true. We don’t. Um, it was picked kind of arbitrarily. I think at the time I had seen a lot of, um, accounts and content creators that had something about ears in their thing. And we were like, what do we name this thing? I don’t know. We don’t wear ears. We’re like, all right. Um, I get questions about all the time. It’s true. We don’t. It’s not, it’s just a preference thing. Like, I also don’t wear the color purple very often ’cause I like, like it’s not one of my favorite colors. I don’t like it on myself. Like, it’s just a preference.
STACEY: And here it is all around you.
KELLIE: But like, and it’s perfectly fine for you. I don’t care the same, I — I say that all the time.
I think your ears are cute. I think they’re fine. Like it’s not, it’s just I don’t like them on me. Like, I don’t like wearing things. I don’t generally even like wear hats, headband stuff like occasionally, but not that often. I don’t wear a lot of jewelry. Like I’m definitely not like a girly girl.
Anybody who follows our account knows that like, you’re not gonna find polka dots and bows and princesses on our account. That just isn’t it for us. You know what I mean? That doesn’t mean it’s wrong for anyone else. Uh, so that’s kind of how it was. And then it just kind of took off from there and really realized that the value that I have for most people is the information that we have having been a pass holder for 20 years.
That I can tell you all the super practical things about how to get here the quickest and where the shortest line is. And here’s the shortcut and here’s the hack. And here’s the thing. Uh, ’cause I’ve done it for so long, I love that Disney parks are kind of like a living, breathing organism. Like they’re always changing. They’re always changing, they’re always growing. There’s always something different. There’s always something new. So people always ask, doesn’t it ever get old? And it’s like, really? No. Because there’s always something new that you haven’t experienced yet, or you haven’t done, or you haven’t tried, and I love that part of it.
STACEY: Yeah, for sure. Yeah, and I love your little, um, like catchphrase. “Learn to do Disneyland like a local,” I’m like, yeah, that really feels like you’re getting us in on the secret or the —
KELLIE: Well, and I think oftentimes, I mean, I don’t think these days with the internet and all the things, like nothing’s a secret.
There’s no like big fat secret. But I do consider that mark of success that I’ll often get fairly unkind comments on certain videos. Like, don’t tell them the secrets. Don’t tell people this one. That’s so, that needs, they need to figure that out themselves. As locals, we had to like learn all these. I’m like, well, I’m sharing the right stuff, I guess.
STACEY: I guess. Yeah. Wow. All right. Okay. Well, as a local then, how often are you staying at Disneyland hotels? Have you stayed at many or is that kind of not a thing, since you’re a local?
KELLIE: Right. That’s a great question because I think there’s a whole conversation that can be had like a different rabbit trail of the difference between how like a local pass holder experiences the parks and how somebody who’s visiting from out of town experiences the parks.
There’s a huge disconnect there in a lot of ways because my experience is so, so different. Not only on like financial budget, but like even just time budget. I have the time to do these little things or try these little things or wait for these little things that someone may not have. Um, that was something I had to learn early on is that my priorities and experience are very different than somebody who’s visiting for once in a lifetime trip or once a year trip or whatever it may be.
Um, we stay at hotels locally, I would say probably somewhere between, um, three to four times a year, maybe five on a good year. Um, okay. Some of that is intentional, right? Like, how can I be helpful to you if I haven’t experienced it? So like, okay, we’re just gonna book one night and try this hotel out. Um, I usually plan it around something that it’s awfully convenient.
I mean, it’s hard to get more convenient. We live 20 minutes from the — the parks. Um, so it’s like hard to get more. Like I, I have to kind of invent reasons. Like there’s no reason why I need to stay here tonight, but like, I’d like to. Yeah. Um, so sometimes we invent things. Um, I try to work with hotels a bit for the same reason.
Like, Hey, we’d love to come stay and try you guys out. Uh, honestly, ’cause I would love for them to host us. I don’t have any good reason to spend money on this hotel tonight and explain to my husband why we need to do that when we live 20 minutes away. Uh, so it’s, it’s a mix of half and half.
Um, in terms of on property resorts, uh, that maybe happens about once a year. Generally, I would say average, um, four, kind of in this vein of the similar reason, if I’m gonna try out a hotel that people wanna know about, like there’s not a lack of information on the Disneyland Hotel in a sense. Like, um, there’s not a lack of opinions on it.
STACEY: Yeah.
KELLIE: Versus like, there may be a lack of information on a, a different local off property hotel that may be more worth my time, if that makes sense.
STACEY: That does — to me anyway. That makes sense for sure. Obviously. But I think that’s part of the beauty of, uh, social media too — if you can find beauty in it that, um — you can find someone whose opinions, uh, you seem to share, and then when you get their opinion about something you don’t know about, you think, okay, I. I usually agree with them on this other stuff, so I’ll probably feel this way about, you know, so that’s where —
KELLIE: And I think that’s so important. I think what you just said is so significant when it comes to a lot of stuff. So many things are super subjective, like food reviews, like you can have a food and a million people have different opinions on it just based on their, like taste buds, like their preferences. Uh, and so I think it’s really important to find creators and accounts in any space, right?
But it’s, if you’re planning a, a Disney trip in particular that you kind of line up with and that’s the opinion you need to go with. I, I have a handful of creators that I really enjoy, but I definitely do not have the same taste buds as them. Like if they say something’s good, I like them, I know them. I think they’re a nice person. I think they are honest. But I also know that we have very different taste buds and if they say something tastes good, there’s good odds I’m not gonna like it. And vice versa. Like they don’t like things I try. So you have to find somebody. And I think the same is probably is true in hotels and lodging and all of it.
Different people have different preferences, different people have different like barometers for things and standards for things and things that they care about. You gotta find somebody that matches up with you and just because somebody doesn’t match up with you, that doesn’t mean they’re bad at it or that they’re dishonest.
STACEY: Right? Yeah, totally. 100% agree. Yeah. Uh, as a great example, there are people who are like diehard fans of the Harbor hotels right across the street there because of the location and the convenience and all of that. But uh, there are other people that are like, oh, they’re too old. And even like the renovations don’t feel like renovations and like they just rather stay somewhere else, which, neither side is wrong.
KELLIE: It’s just their preference. Yeah. It’s just, it’s all preference and there’s so many variables. It’s impossible to like simplify that, you know?
STACEY: Yeah, exactly.
KELLIE: Your family is different, your priorities are different. Your trip is different.
STACEY: Yes. Yes, absolutely. So this is why I love having different people such as yourself talk about your preferences so that everyone can get an idea of what hotels appeal to which types of peoples.
KELLIE: Well, so happy to be here.
STACEY: I’m happy you’re here too. So, of the hotels you’ve stayed at around Disneyland, then, do you have a favorite or like a top three?
KELLIE: uh, on or off property?
STACEY: Off, off. Off property.
KELLIE: I would say, and this is where you get into people’s preferences are different. Uh, I actually absolutely love the Park Vue Inn that’s right across the street from the Harbor entrance.
Um, I am a no frills girl. I, I don’t know if I should say I don’t have very high standards, like I think, uh, things, okay, let me say it this way so that I can actually say it accurately and not be misunderstood. The Park Vue Inn, uh, have you ever stayed there?
STACEY: I haven’t stayed there yet.
KELLIE: Okay. Okay. The Park Vue Inn is one small step up from the Motel 6 you remember from when you were a kid. Like it is minimal.
STACEY: Mm-hmm.
KELLIE: It is very clean. It feels very safe. Nothing feels old or gross. That’s why I say it, like I hesitate to say it like that. But in terms of like what you’re seeing, experiencing the furniture, all of it. It is just a place to sleep. And that place is very clean.
Like it’s great, but there are no bells and whistles. There are no big perks. There are no anything. There’s no breakfast there, there’s no any of it. Uh, they don’t do a ton of advertising or marketing like at all. They don’t do any sort of like really deals. They’re not on a lot of the deal sites. They don’t work with influencers. They don’t need to. They are across the street from Disneyland, right? You don’t need to. Um, but I actually have stayed there and really loved it for the convenience factor. When you walk out that Harbor exit to Disneyland, you literally walk across the crosswalk and you’re in the parking lot of the Park Vue Inn. Like you’re there like that. It’s right there. Convenience wise, that’s one of my highest priorities in a hotel at Disneyland. Um, it’s the best. You can’t argue anything’s more convenient than that, honestly.
STACEY: Yep. Yep.
KELLIE: My personal feeling is depending on the kind of trip you’re planning, if you’re just gonna sleep there, don’t waste your money on a hotel that may be nicer by some standards, but like, you’re not gonna be there. So it’s either like your ego and pride that thinks you need to stay somewhere nicer to tell people you stay somewhere nicer or you’re just delusional. Like the, you’re just gonna sleep there. It’s fine. It’s quiet. As quiet as it can, as quiet of any of those hotels can be with kids running around and families and whatever.
It’s quiet, it’s clean, it’s safe. That’s for sure. My like all time favorite that I would recommend. I also do love the Element Hotel. Um, it’s got a free breakfast. It’s still walkable, it’s a little further. Um, but it is a great option. Uh, and the price is great. Park Vue’s price is pretty great too. It’s very competitive with all those hotels right there in Harbor. In fact, a little less generally. Um. Those are the two real standouts off property that I enjoy the most.
STACEY: Okay, great. Yeah, I am actually going to Element for my first time next month, so I’ve heard nothing but rave reviews about their breakfast.
KELLIE: Really, really great. The breakfast feels like, I feel like a lot of times you go to a hotel breakfast, they say free breakfast, and you’re like, oh. This is like, you look at it and you go, oh! The breakfast is great. And like I said, the price is right. It’s walkable. It’s pretty dang convenient. It’s a good one.
STACEY: All right, awesome. Okay, so going back then to on property, do you have a favorite of the three Disney operated hotels?
KELLIE: Oh, yes I do.
STACEY: Okay. Tell us.
KELLIE: Grand Californian is my absolute favorite. Um, there’s a handful of reasons for that.
Uh, it’s definitely the nicest hotel on property. It’s definitely the most expensive hotel on property. Um, the Grand Californian hotel was actually modeled after the Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite. I don’t know if you knew that, um, or if you’ve covered that before. Uh, it’s modeled after the Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite, which is a pretty fantastic, like, iconic thing in that park.
Um, it feels like home to me for a couple of reasons. Number one, I actually grew up in that area, so that whole Grizzly Peak area of the, of California Adventure feels like home to me ’cause it literally the signage and the colors and the things. Yeah, but that hotel as well, it just, it feels like my childhood in a lot of ways.
Um, I also spent some time as an adult working in another building that was modeled after the Ahwahnee Hotel. Uh, so for that purpose, it also feels a little bit like home. This feels like a building that I have spent a lot of time in. Um, fun fact. Uh, so the Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite, which part of the big iconic part of that hotel is this big great room when you walk in, just like that lobby in Grand Californian, that’s got that big great room that’s just impressive and beautiful and just peaceful and all of it. Um, the movie, the Shining?
STACEY: mm-hmm.
KELLIE: A lot of their sets for that hotel were modeled after the Ahwahnee Hotel, the same hotel that the Grand Californian is modeled after.
STACEY: Wow.
KELLIE: So I’m not a big, like, horror fan or any of that. Like, uh, no thank you. But it is kind of fun to watch that movie and see like, oh yeah, this, this does actually kind of look like that. That’s very interesting. So yeah, if you are a horror fan, which I’m, you know, eh, on that, but there’s — I am a wimp, I am a no. I am the person that even when the trailers come on, I’m like, no. Like not doing it, but, you know, figure it.
STACEY: If you’re into that, stay at the Grand Californian. Who knew?
KELLIE: I mean, it’s just, it’s just a great hotel. I, it’s like staying in a day spa, honestly.
STACEY: Yes. We just, uh, went to have a massage there, uh, recently, last month I think, again. We’ve had it before, but back when it was under different management. So, uh, just so relaxing, so relaxing over there.
KELLIE: And I would say like for the purposes, and I don’t know when you’re airing this, but there’s a lot of construction there right now. If somebody were to ask, should I stay there next week, I’d probably be like, eh, I don’t know.
Like there’s a lot of construction going on. That peaceful element is still there, but it’s just not the same. When I was there a couple of weekends ago, there’s a lot of construction walls, noise, even like, I smelled a lot of fertilizer. Like it, it wasn’t it. But in general, uh, yes. That hotel is by and large, like the best on property experience.
I would say the service is phenomenal these days. It didn’t always used to be this last time we stayed, I was absolutely flabbergasted with the level of service that was phenomenal. Like even the low paid young adult lifeguard who stereotypically generally they really don’t care about anything, was like not only incredibly attentive, but walked me like a long ways to something I was asking about. Like just the level of service was high.
STACEY: Okay. Yeah, that’s what I love about Disney is that level of service.
KELLIE: Mm-hmm.
STACEY: Just, generally speaking, they just do a really great job with that.
KELLIE: Right, right.
STACEY: So what about other Disney properties and your experience with, um, like Disney World or have you visited any overseas?
KELLIE: I will say this. The Grand Californian Hotel I have always said is my favorite of all the Disney properties. Mostly ’cause it feels like home. There’s a few resorts at Disney World that if I were very objectively comparing, I would say like, I love Animal Kingdom Lodge. It’s my favorite Disney World Hotel.
Uh, it’s, there’s just nothing like it. It’s so incredibly unique and with all the literal live animals outside your room, uh, the decor in there is incredible. All of the dining in there is phenomenal. Like it is top notch. If I were like really objectively comparing, I would say I probably like that better.
Uh, but Grand Californian will always be home to me. However, last week when my family walked into the Aulani Resort in Hawaii, I went, oh Grand Californian might lose its spot no matter what.
STACEY: Oh!
KELLIE: So there’s that. We just did, uh, a trip to Aulani. Now I have been one time before where we visited and dined there, but didn’t stay.
STACEY: Okay.
KELLIE: Uh, and then this last time we actually stayed there as a guest. That service we were talking about was next level at all. Like from the second we, like, we got out of the Uber from the airport and there was a woman immediately there with an iPad saying like, hi, are you checking in? Let me help you. Here’s some spa water with fruit in it. Why don’t I walk you over here and show you where to go and handle everything for you? And let me do this and let’s carry that. And, oh, look, they’ve already got your back. Like, you just walk in like, oh my gosh, these people just want us to just feel served and valued and cared for.
Um, and it feels genuine. It doesn’t feel fake. It doesn’t feel there’s like that Hawaiian aloha spirit that just, it felt very personable. Not like, oh, I better act cool, and I hope they don’t figure out that I can only barely afford this. Um, the, the resort grounds are unbelievable. Um, beautiful. The level of Disney detail is so there, and just the little touches and, and a lot of it, and that’s a complaint a lot of people have about Alani.
If you’re going for like Disney, you’re not getting as much Disney. You’re getting a lot of Hawaiian. Um, but I would say in the same level of Disney detail, just in the little things and the little pieces, and there are Disney touches. Absolutely. And it’s that same level of detail that I and many of us are familiar with.
I loved that it was unbelievably cared for and cleaned all of the staff. Was that level of service of absolutely phenomenal. Even down to like the Bell services guy when we left, that was so honest with me on the phone that was like, well if you, you know, put in this request now we can probably do it in 15 minutes.
If you wait an hour or two, we anticipate being busy and I’m just gonna be honest, you’re probably gonna wait in a 30 minute line. Like, or you can do it later. Like, he like gave me the full, like, here are your options. Sometimes people don’t pull back the curtain on that stuff a little bit that it was like, here’s all the info, make your decision.
Um, it was phenomenal through and through. So that might be my new favorite for sure.
STACEY: Okay. That’s good to hear. That’s good to — I think, um, we were considering a trip to Hawaii for our 10 year anniversary, which unfortunately, uh. Like your cruise —
KELLIE: uh oh, no.
STACEY: — during covid, so we didn’t get our trip to Hawaii, but uh, during Covid we also found several creators, uh, Ordinary Adventures in particular. I don’t know if you’re familiar with them, but they went to Aulani and we were just like, okay, now we have to go. Let’s, I don’t know if we have to make it a 15 year anniversary or just a random anniversary. Just a random Oh yeah, we’re, it’s our anniversary. That’s why we came, like, right, right. Like you were saying. But yeah, that place just looks absolutely gorgeous and so relaxing to me. I can’t, I can’t wait till we get to go there.
KELLIE: And I would say this, uh, kind of back to your question about how a local experiences the parks or the hotels even, or any of it. I would say one thing that is different for us, um, specifically at Disneyland hotels, and that’ll make sense when I say what I’m gonna say.
Uh, we tend to experience the hotels and the resorts more. Because if I’m going to that resort or hotel, it’s to experience that, not to be there, but I’m there to experience Disneyland. So I’m actually gonna take the time and like sit around in the lobby for a little bit and see what it’s like, and I’m gonna sit in the restaurant there and see how the food is. I’m going to go actually spend time at the pool relaxing where I may not do that, like at Disney World as much, right? I try to plan those resort days in, um, but it’s not go, go, go. I’m there to do that. Uh, the reason I say that is because when we were at Aulani, it was similar. So we had just spent a week on Maui staying with family and had our whole Hawaiian vacation and all of it. Uh, and then just added on one night at Aulani, which a great perk of Disney resorts if people don’t know that, is that you have full access to all of their amenities on the day you check in and the day you check out. As if you’re a, even though you’re outta your room, you are still a guest there and you should take advantage of that, especially at like an expensive resort.
Uh, so we came in early on day one on check-in day, spent the whole day there playing at the pool, hanging out all the things, even though we didn’t get into our room till like four, uh, spent the night and then spent our whole check out day, didn’t we? Flew out on a red eye that night. So we stayed all the way through dinner and then left for the airport.
Um, the reason I, I mentioned that about Aulani in particular is yeah, it, it’s very pricey. Like it’s not cheap. Like I’m not gonna lie about that. Uh, that’s a great way to get a lot out of your money, you know, to squeeze the most outta your budget. And I also think, my husband and I both said this to each other multiple times when we were there.
If you’re paying this much for a resort like this, you wanna stay here and experience it, which is super true and it is unreal. Amazing. We never left the resort. Um. But if you’re coming all the way to Hawaii and you only stay here at this resort, like you didn’t really go to Hawaii. Mm-hmm. Like, and it doesn’t necessarily, there’s so many Hawaiian touches, don’t get me wrong.
It’s phenomenal, but it’s not. Hawaii just has so much natural beauty and incredible things to go see and adventures to go on. And like, there’s this tension of like, well, if you wanna go do all that stuff, why did you pay so much for a resort you’re not gonna stay at, versus like, if you money for the resort, you stay here and enjoy it.
I would personally recommend with Aulani, I mean, you do, you — people have different budgets, right?
Uh, personally for me, if I were going to do this again, hopefully I will do this again. My husband said, when we do this again, and I was like, I’m holding you to that. But I would say, Hey, I personally would stay somewhere else at a lower price point, do all my Hawaiian adventures, actually see the island, experience the people, see the culture, like all the things.
Uh, and then just do one or two nights at Aulani and be there and do that. That to me is better than trying to like balance both, you know, or we were talking to families that were like, well, we go out in the morning and do stuff and then we come back for the afternoon of the pool. But like that’s when the pool’s really busy and not as pleasant, you know?
Um, or people that are doing vice versa. But like, it just, I don’t want that tension. That would be my recommendation if I had limitless budget. ’cause I would just made it rich with this content creation thing and enrolling in the dough. Like Sure. Stay at Aulani all week. You know, like that would be my number one choice.
That just isn’t reality.
STACEY: Sure. Yeah. And it can save you money since that is a DVC property to rent DVC points. Absolutely. But it’s still can get pretty pricey.
KELLIE: It’s still pretty steep. And our, our choice on that too was to say, Hey, let’s do one night and then feel better about putting some of our budget into more “financially irresponsible food choices.” That was the phrase we actually used all day long. We made a financially irresponsible food choice. Uh, but enjoy that. ’cause we put our budget into just doing one night and then being able to really like, Nope. Order that too. We wanted to try that. Let’s get it. You want another like dessert kid? Sure. Go ahead. Oh, you also wanted that Mickey ice cream sandwich? No problem. Take the magic band order whatever you want, kid. But like, because we only did that one night, that made sense for us and was such a fun way to experience the resort.
There are some great moves in terms of like packing your own food and those DVC rooms that have like a little fridge and a microwave and whatever in groceries. And that is great and I normally do recommend that, but there’s also a time and a place for just like, no, we’re just buying everything.
STACEY: Yeah, for sure. Yes. Uh, and so many unique, uh, experiences too to splurge on in Hawaii, like surfing and swimming with sharks. Absolutely sharks and absolutely.
Okay. So overall, um, and maybe your advice if you need to separate it into like which property — but overall, what would your advice be to those looking to, um, keep it within a certain budget?What are some like key factors they should be looking at in terms of, uh, hotels and amenities and so forth?
KELLIE: Uh, like I said earlier, I think you need to be realistic about how much you’re actually gonna be at the hotel. Uh, because if you really are only sleeping there, there’s a lot of bells and whistles you don’t need.
I do think there’s value and most of the hotels near Disneyland fall in line with this, not all, but many of them have a mini fridge and a little microwave in the room, or a coffee maker in the room. Uh, that can save you a lot of money bringing in some of your own food. That’s certainly an amenity worth looking for.
I’m a big, uh, proponent of at least. Do your own breakfast in the hotel room. If your hotel doesn’t include breakfast, doing breakfast in your hotel room can save you a lot of money and time. Uh, we tend to bring little things that we can put in the mini fridge and throw in the microwave. We do a lot of oatmeal using the hot water from the coffee maker, apples, granola bars, that kind of a thing.
Um, that’s, and same I know plenty of people and have done it myself, both at Disney World and Disneyland and the different things just as simple as having some like lunch meat and things to pack a little lunch if we’re really trying to save money. That piece of the hotel amenity becomes very important in saving money overall on your trip.
Um, like I said, most resorts near Disneyland, most hotels near Disneyland have that ’cause it’s just like a standard thing that, well, if all the other hotels have it, they have to have it too. Not all. So check. Um,
yeah, I think that’s the, like, be honest about how much you’re gonna be there. Do you really need all of that? Those amenities that help you save money on food are huge. To me, the biggest thing is proximity to the park, especially at Disneyland, being easy to get in and out of whether your hotel offers a free shuttle or there’s an option there, uh, or if you can just walk right across the street or whatever.
That to me, are the things that are the most important when choosing a hotel. I do not wanna get to the, well, I would say this, I don’t wanna start my day with having to spend all this time getting to the park and navigating all. I just wanna get there. And certainly at the end of the night, that is the worst when you have to like.
Wait in this long line for this whatever bus, and then you have to this, and then you’re sitting next to this weird, sweaty man you’ve never met. And then like it’s, you gotta walk there. And then it, like all the, it just, it’s too much. Like I would ra — that’s what I would rather pay a little extra money and not do that.
And you may not think that when you’re booking it, but you’re gonna think it in the moment. You’re gonna think, man, I should have just paid an extra $25 a night to make this easy. At that point I would’ve paid 50, you know?
STACEY: Oh man, I don’t know how I’m gonna get over that sweaty old man comment.
KELLIE: No, it’s true though. You get on these, some of these buses at the end of the night and they’re slam packed with people ’cause everyone’s trying to get home. And I get it, like, let’s get as many people get on this bus. But like, I just, that’s not my wait. Like, I probably smell too, like it’s not pleasant for anybody and everybody’s grumpy and the baby’s like half awake, but like crying and like, it’s just, it is just not it.
Like I get, I understand why some people I understand like, you gotta do what you gotta do. I’m the first one to be like, whatever. I, very few things actually bother me. I have very, I don’t wanna say low standards ’cause that’s probably not a good way to say it, but like, I just, I don’t need a lot, I don’t need a lot of frills.
I can do, its fine. Picky on before, I don’t care. I’m not picky. Yeah. Not picky. It’s, it’s gonna save me money. I don’t care. I’m fine. Uh, but there are certain things that like, ugh, that’s just not pleasant.
Yes, yes, it’s true. But yes. And that’s the way you, like that’s the way you injured. Right.
STACEY: Okay. I have uh, two follow ups there. Um, okay. First one, I think easiest one, uh, you said “free shuttle.” Uh, to my knowledge, correct me if I’m wrong, ’cause maybe I don’t know everything — I’m sure I don’t know everything. Uh, there’s only two hotels with free shuttles to Disneyland: the Candy Cane and the Anaheim Majestic Garden.
KELLIE: Mm-hmm. I think you’re correct.
STACEY: Okay. I know Hyatt Regency has a dedicated shuttle, but they charge for their shuttle.
KELLIE: Correct.
And then even then it might be good if it’s, if it’s good, if it’s quick, if it’s, you know, paying a couple bucks, it’s not a big deal.
STACEY: Yeah. And if it’s dedicated, I mean, I know I love the ART buses, but like you said, sweaty old man next to you or yourself sweaty, I don’t know, uh, you know, they can get busy.
Um, yeah. But then I think some of the other, um, hotels down in that Garden Grove area, near Target can, I don’t know if it’s all the time or only some of the time, but they have like the big motor coaches that’ll like share between like three or four of the hotels and you can pay and you get to ride the big motor coach instead of the city bus-style ART.
KELLIE: Yeah. I, I don’t know a lot of the details on those, but I think you’re right. My personal feeling, and I have not experienced it, so I could be super wrong on those, but like at that point I’m just gonna like get an Uber.
Like, I’d rather just have my own autonomy and not be working around a bunch of other families getting their stuff on and off the bus and things.
And what, like, there’s certain things that are worth paying for and budgeting for, and that may not always be in your budget, you know, but if you can, it definitely makes it a more pleasant experience.
STACEY: Okay. So that actually brings me to the second follow up. Um, you, as others have said, prioritize location and convenience. But that does usually come with a little bit of a higher price tag. And if a family’s saying like, we just can’t save that much, so does that mean we never get to go to Disneyland? What would you say, what tips would you, or advice would you give to somebody who has to stay a little bit farther away just so that they can afford the trip to come?
KELLIE: You can still absolutely do that. You’re not gonna have a bad trip. You just have to plan it. You, it’s gonna take a little more research sometimes if you want it to go smoothly, you’re gonna need to know exactly how far you are. You’re gonna need to do a little bit of research into like, what’s the cost of this bus versus the art bus, versus getting an Uber versus renting a car even.
Like what are the options? Or if you, I mean, if you drive your own car to Disneyland, like clearly, I think you should just be driving it and parking it there if you can afford that. Parking’s not cheap at Disneyland. Uh, but if you drove your own car, you are saving a little money there, um, in one way or another.
Um, it’s still super doable. A lot of, I think when, when people walk away like frustrated or like disgruntled with a Disneyland trip, I would say at least 85% of the time, and that’s probably shooting low. It’s because they didn’t do their research. They’re upset about things that are like, well, yeah, that’s exactly how it works.
And that’s like clearly written down somewhere and everyone knows that, and everyone else planned for that. It’s kind of your fault that you’re surprised by it and upset by it. ’cause nobody was telling you anything differently. You just imagined something different and didn’t know. Um, the research is important and the research is actually more important if you’re trying to do it on a budget.
Because if you don’t do the research, you’re gonna run into things that you didn’t know and then be like, oh my gosh, I didn’t know this was gonna cost us money and I didn’t plan for this. Yeah. As long as you do your research, you’re, you’re kind of fine. I would say, you know, you figure out what’s gonna work for you.
I would say there’s certainly, um, some value for a family trying to save money. Uh, you may definitely be able to find like an Airbnb or a vacation rental a little further away from the parks, uh, but may end up costing you less money, especially if you’re like a larger family or a larger group. Uh, and then driving in every day may actually be a better option for you.
And it certainly gives you a lot more autonomy and flexibility as like a large group that’s got a lot of moving parts and different things and whatever, you know, so that’s also an option.
STACEY: Yeah, totally. Totally. If I ever, get far enough along, I hope I can branch out into reviewing some of those options ’cause I know those are great. Especially for saving money, like you said, great options.
KELLIE: And there’s some really great ones popping up that’s really popular in Orlando, that there are Airbnbs and rentals that are very Disney themed or even Universal coded or like whatever. They’re super cool. Um, that’s starting to happen more and more near Disneyland where it wasn’t before, where these places are decorated so fun and have so many fun, cute little touches and things and whatever, because they’re meant for families coming to Disneyland. That it, it doesn’t feel like a step down to just be staying in a house and not some cool Disney hotel. Like, it kind of feels like a step up in some ways.
STACEY: Yes. I love that. I’ve noticed too, a few things that are more prominent in Orlando that are kind of trickling slowly over the, the Disneyland way and I’m so for it, I’m all in favor.
Um. Oh no, I had a question. I just lost it. Ah. Um, let’s try to move on there. I’m going to try and think of it.
KELLIE: We’ll come back to it. We’ll come back to it.
STACEY: I’ll — it’ll come to me.
What other advice, uh, do you have or do you have any, um, like teachable experiences, uh, as far as your hotel stays that you wanna share with us?
KELLIE: Um, I think one thing I would say that definitely like sits with that same, like do your research is if you are wanting to walk from your hotel or, anyway, I guess it just goes back to do your research.
I already said it. Forget it. No, uh, do actually practically figure out the steps of how you’re gonna get there. So if this hotel says walkable, you need to go to Google Maps and put in the directions and like see what it says. Or like if you’re thinking, oh, we’re gonna actually take an Uber, you can go on Uber and look at, if you were putting in a ride at that time on a Wednesday, like when you’re gonna be there, like where are the cars? Are they around? How much is that gonna cost? Do that research. The reason I say that is there’s lots of reasons, but specifically what I was say, thinking, one of the common mistakes that I talk to people, um, that they have made, and it’s not entirely a mistake in totality. Uh, and at least usually the people I’m talking to, they’re doing their research. So now they’re planning around it. Uh, is if you stay on a hotel over on the Katella side of Disneyland Yes. It looks like you’re across the street from the park. Is there anywhere for you to walk into the park on that side? No. And the way to get to the park from there is really complicated and you kind of gotta know where you’re going and there are some shortcuts, but you really gotta know and be confident and like, yep, that’s why I walk. Just keep walking and it’ll be fine. Like staying on the Katella side. There are a few hotels there that people really, some people are really loyal to and like ,you’ve got to have a plan for how you’re getting to the parks in the mornings. ’cause it isn’t as convenient as it appears. Like when the hotel says, oh, we’re just 1.2 miles from Disneyland, and you’re like, okay. Or even less. But like the walk is actually like two miles ’cause you gotta go all the way around and also you’re not gonna find it on your own.
Um, that’s certainly something that is a, like I said, it’s not necessarily a mistake people make, but maybe a little bit in the sense that if you just get there and think you were walking right across the street and there’s a magic gate right there, there is not,
STACEY: It’s not gonna be the convenience or time saver you think.
KELLIE: No. It’s not gonna be the convenience that you think it will be. Uh, if you do your research well and have a plan for that and know that. But I’ve even had a few hotels that I’ve stayed at on that side. Wanted to try the walk and like we did it and then was like, when we come back, like, I’m just calling a car. Like I don’t, this was like too much and I don’t, I’ll just pay it a couple of bucks to get a ride home at the end of the night. I don’t wanna do this at the end of the night. There’s too many twists and turns.
STACEY: Yeah. Yes. There’s one hotel in particular. It’s on the, uh, more like the Ball slash Disneyland Drive side. And that’s too, in their name, it’s in their name. One block to Disneyland. And I’m like, okay, well technically yes, technically, but it’s not gonna take you the walk of one block to get to Disneyland.
KELLIE: So I actually just did that walk recently. Um, when I did the last Disneyland, um, I did the 10K. I went like the day before the race, I went earlier in the day, met up some friends with some friends for lunch, whatever. And I had some girlfriends that were coming that we were doing the run with, uh, and they were coming later. So I was like, well, why don’t I meet you out there and then that way I can get in your car, I’ll walk out and then we can go into the parking instruction together. You can like use my parking to not pay or whatever, right?
And then we’ll do the rest of our day, whatever, go to the hotel later. Uh, and genuinely I should know better was like, oh yeah, I’ll just walk right out to like right there at like Ball and Disneyland Drive and they can pick me up. I’ll go, you know? Right. Uh, that is a walk like, and I kind of knew that, like I wasn’t as naive as some people, but like I, when I got all the way out there, I was like, oh man. Like I don’t, I wish I had not volunteered to do this. Like, it’s not a short walk, like I’m just — That’s the honest truth.
Yeah. And —
STACEY: You kind of have to know where you’re going.
KELLIE: At a certain point, there’s not a lot of signage. So if you think you’re gonna, like in the morning you can follow the crowd or whatever, like you, you do kind of have to know where you’re going.
STACEY: Yeah. Yeah. That’s I think too, um, especially coming from Disney World. Disneyland is so much smaller, but a lot of it is walking and you don’t realize how much it just adds up for you.
KELLIE: Right, right.
STACEY: So, which, speaking of that, I have another interview coming up shortly or maybe it will come first before this one. I don’t know, but, uh, I am talking with a physical therapist about how to actually plan so that you can prepare your body for all the walking. Yes. I’m looking forward to it a lot.
KELLIE: I’ll say it, it’s funny with how often we’re in the parks. It was funny, a couple years ago, uh, we were somewhere else and we went on this long hike. Uriah was probably a few years younger than he is now, so he is probably like 10 or 11. And somebody was so impressed with like, how much stamina my kid had for hiking as like, we’re outdoorsy people, but we don’t hike a lot. I grew up hiking a lot. I grew up backpacking, camping a lot, whatever, based on, you know, where I grew up. But we don’t do that a ton now. And they were so impressed. I was like, well, yeah, because he goes to Disneyland once or twice a week and walks like 10 miles. This is not, this like six mile hike is nothing to this kid. He is like, bring it on.
STACEY: Yeah. Disneyland can be good training for, I don’t know, marathon something. It’s good training.
KELLIE: We’re gonna call it that. I’m training. I’m here to train.
STACEY: That’s right. That’s, that’s why we go to Disneyland. We’re training.
KELLIE: Right. Perfect. That’s what it is here for my fitness. I will say though, um, like I think this whole conversation is so different if you’re talking about Disney World. Mm-hmm. Uh, in the sense that very few things that Disney World are walkable. There’s tiny little like pockets of walkable. But, so it, there is a sense to where like, well, it doesn’t really matter where you stay ’cause we’re gonna have to get on a bus no matter what.
It doesn’t — Totally the convenience of being on property. There are way different perks to being on property at Disney World that I think do make it worth it most of the time. Yeah. But in terms of convenience, being off property isn’t that big of a deal ’cause either way you were dealing with some sort of transportation thing.
Um, there are little pockets of walkability. So if there’s something that is particularly important to you, it’s worth like staying at a certain resort to be able to walk to that park or walk to that location for sure. That’s, again, just doing your research kind of thing. But I feel like it’s a totally different ball game and that this conversation we’re having isn’t even really that much of a conversation because you just, you’re just gonna get on a bus, like, you know what I mean?
You’re just gonna get in your car and drive there like it does. There’s, yeah, there’s no big difference.
STACEY: Yeah. So speaking of, uh, uh, Disney World’s bubble is much bigger than Disneyland’s bubble. So being on property at Disney World can mean a lot of things, Um, but have you stayed and do you recommend staying off property at Disney World?
KELLIE: Okay. I have stayed off property. It was not on a day I was trying to get to the parks, like in full transparency. Okay. Uh, I stayed at a, a resort called the Caribe Royale that I really enjoyed. Uh, it was the night, like it was after a Disney World trip and we needed an extra night somewhere. Uh, the resort was phenomenal, the rooms were incredible.
Uh, just so much space to spread out like so well done. Uh, really nice touches the dining there, I would say. It’s like I’d ate dinner in their steakhouse and it’s always like, was that really one of the best dinners I’ve ever had or was I just on this high, coming off a Disney World trip? But like, I think it was one of the best dinners I’ve ever had, like steakhouse dinners. Like it was. I love the Caribe Royale. It’s very close to the parks. Um, they do have shuttles that take you to the parks and to Disney Springs. Um, they’re pretty limited. Like they only happen once or twice a day and you have to sign up. There’s only so many spots. But if you’re planning for that, like you can do that, you know what I mean?
In those scenarios, I generally recommend renting a car for Disney Worlds. It just that con, you can’t beat the convenience of that, especially if you’re staying off property there. The car will come in handy. Um, so that’s probably what I’d recommend there. I say that all saying like, I cannot give you any information in context of like Yeah. And then I tried to get to the parks that day ’cause I didn’t,
I had been at the parks, I was just like recuperating before I caught a plane in the morning.
STACEY: Right. No, yeah, that makes total sense. And it makes a difference too. Yeah. Staying there just to stay there versus trying to actually get to a park.
KELLIE: So, but I do know a lot of people do stay there for that and enjoy it. It’s a great one. And there, there are a handful of great resorts like that right around that have a lot of the same amenities that the Disney World resorts have in terms of like really fun pool, water slides, playgrounds, stuff.
Like they’ve got everything to be competitive. Like if you’re gonna stay and do a resort day and relax in the middle of your Disney World trip, like they’ve got that there for you too, which is a great way to save money. I think there are a lot of perks to staying on property at Disney World way more than Disneyland. That I would generally be more inclined to stay at a less nice resort on property because of the perks you get than at a nicer one off for the same price or sometimes even more ’cause it’s a nicer resort. You can, Disney World resorts are actually much more affordable than Disneyland ones.
There’s a lot more options and they’re much more affordable. And depending on when you go, you can get something for prices coming from California. I look at some of these prices and go, oh my gosh, that’s so cheap. Uh, yeah. But it’s great when we, when we do Disney World, maybe, maybe there’s a theme here — Uh, we tend to like to do a split stay where we will do a handful of our first stays at one of the value resorts for about as cheap as we can get. We love Pop Century, that’s probably my favorite of the values. Um, we’ll stay at one of the cheaper resorts and then we’ll usually do a day or two on the end where we’ll go to a deluxe, even like a club level, and blow all that budget on like one night or two nights there, um, usually to kind of recuperate before we leave to go home. And same thing, just like we did at Aulani. Just like I was talking about, like, we’re gonna be at this resort, like we’re gonna stay at the Polynesian club level and we are literally just gonna stay, spend the day there, enjoying it, relaxing, recuperating before we leave.
So when we get home from our Disney vacation, we’re not like, oh my gosh, now I need a vacation. I’m so tired.
STACEY: A vacation from your vacation.
KELLIE: Right? Uh, so maybe there’s like a running theme here of like how we structure our time, but I do think it allows you to kind of get the best of both worlds in a little bit.
Uh, because again, who am I kidding? Especially when I’m at Disney World, right? When I visit Disney World, it’s like many people visit Disneyland. And so I like some of that ’cause I get a different perspective on visiting the parks that I think is helpful to me for helping people Disneyland trips from a perspective I don’t have. Uh, but I wanna be in the parks. I’m only here for a little bit. I am not just, I need to be there from like open to close. Like we ain’t going anywhere else. We’re doing all these things. Uh, so I don’t, I just need a place to sleep. Like I don’t, okay. I don’t want all the bells and whistles. I’m not even gonna be there. Just point me in the direction of a bed.
STACEY: So you’re not a big midday break person?
KELLIE: Okay. I do really believe in midday breaks. Okay. A lot. I think that, uh, if you are, what would I say? If you’re skeptical of the midday break, try it once and you’ll be like, oh, now I see. It does make your day go a lot better uh, at Disney World, I’m half and half. Uh, at this point, our kid’s like 13. We can go all day and it’s not as difficult, you know, as when you have a younger one. Um, depending on weather, especially heat, like when I went last July, I. You’re not gonna survive without a midday break. It was so hot and humid. I’m walking outta my hotel room at seven in the morning and I’m already sweating just a couple steps outside of my door. Uh, you’re not gonna survive without going back to the hotel, sitting in the air conditioning, taking a shower, like all of, I think planning some of that into your trip, even when I say go, go go, is like quite important.
If you’re not gonna go back to the hotel, I do think it’s still valuable to plan some breaks into your day. My, like general, this is like park advice than hotel advice, but, uh, my general thing is if you’re gonna rope drop, my preference if we’re rope dropping is to have a reservation for a sit down lunch around 11 o’clock or 11:30.
Because in my experience, that’s when everybody is like done, like the rope drop, just caught up with them. We’re getting tired, we’re getting a little hangry. We are like ready for a break. A sit down lunch at that point is ideal. Like, I can just sit here for a minute in somewhere that’s kind of cool and nice and whatever. Someone’s gonna bring me water. Like that is the perfect time to take a break. My general is like, hey, eat in the hotel or in the car on the way, or whatever. Get like a little snack or two, sit down lunch around 11, 11:30. That’s my general, when you talk like midday break, if you’re not gonna go back to the hotel, for sure.
I think a sit down lunch helps mediate that a little bit. Mm-hmm. And then I even think in the afternoon, planning mindfully some things of like, this is when we’re gonna go watch that show that we’re gonna sit in for 20, 30 minutes. Moot point at Disneyland, apparently we don’t have any more shows, but, um, if you’re a midday break person, even then I’d be like, all I need is a bed. Like that’s what I’m going for. Okay. I’m either taking a nap or I’m telling my kid like, all right, we’re gonna lie here and watch a movie. And like the secret hopes that they fall asleep. Um. But even then I don’t like, we’re not playing at the pool because we’re taking a nap and getting right back out there.
Yeah. Like we’re doing this so that we can have a good night tonight. Because there is like when you talk about like Disneyland disasters, mistakes, our first trip to Disney World, that first trip I talked about the first night still gets referenced by my family on a regular basis. Um, we call it the China problem because what happened was, what had happened was we get there, we’re so excited, we ended up getting this last minute upgrade to the Contemporary that was like unreal.
They were doing construction in the hotel we had booked and we’re like, can we put you in the Contemporary? And I was like, is this a scam? But like, okay. Um, so of course Uriah and I wake up super early ’cause we’re like super excited. Uh, we were the first, so I was like, let’s just go walk around for a little bit. Like everyone else in this room is still asleep. Like let’s take, at that point, I think he was probably what, like 9, 8, 8 maybe. Um. So we go down, we are literal, the literal first people on the monorail because nobody is up that early. And that’s the hotel that the monorail goes through, like the iconic Disney World, like one you see.
So we get on the monorail, we’re having this like, magical morning. The, the monorail driver pilot, whatever they call them, is literally talking just to us because we are the only people on this thing. Um, so magical, so fun. We do, uh, Magic Kingdom most of that day we are like everywhere. We end up — we’d gotten park hoppers.
So we were like, okay, we’re done at Magic Kingdom. Uh, which is true, a lot of Disneyland people, Magic Kingdom is not a full day park. That is my hot take. Um, I’ve seen that. I’ve done it. I don’t need to do it again. I don’t need to do the bootleg version. Sorry I said it, but, so we’re like, let’s go to Epcot. We’ve never been to Epcot. So we get, we go straight from like this crazy long day. We are up early time change, lack of sleep, all the things. We get to Epcot and my kid just wilts, like wilts. I am trying to find something he will eat for dinner. We finally end up in China in Epcot, he’ll eat orange chicken.
He is literally simultaneously crying and trying not to fall asleep while I’m just trying to feed him food ’cause I know he just needs to eat. This will all be fine if he just eats. So I’m like, try, you’re all right. Just eat this. Just eat this. He’s like trying to eat. He’s trying so hard. But he’s falling, literally falling asleep like in his plate of food. My husband is like hangry off the charts. It has started to rain. He’s so mad that our kid won’t just eat this food like in full Dad fashion. Like, what is wrong with you? Why won’t we, why won’t you eat? And then he’s like, fine, I’m going to the bathroom. And he whirls around and goes the wrong direction because clearly I planned the heck out of it. I even know where the bathrooms are. And so I am yelling after him in the rain. “Fine. But the bathrooms are another way.” And that is how day our first Disney World trip ended.
Uh, I say that though because if we take a midday break, that probably wouldn’t have happened. To this day when someone in my family gets like hangry or it’s been too long, it’s like, I think we’re about to have a China problem. Like, but that is a huge mistake people make thinking they can just go all day. Yeah. And like you can’t know. You just can’t like, it, it, you need a break. Even if you’re planning in a, let’s just sit at a show. Let’s do a sit down meal. You may go back to the hotel and take a nap.
Your night will go so much better. Whatever it may be. Like, plan those breaks in and your hotel may be part of that strategy. Like I would say then the convenience of the hotel becomes much more important.
Because if it’s gonna be a project for you to get to and from your hotel in the middle of the day, that’s not worth it to me. I wanna be at the park. I don’t wanna waste 30 minutes on the front end and 30 minutes on the back just getting to and front of my hotel. Like I just don’t.
STACEY: Yeah. Well, it’s good you guys can laugh about that now.
KELLIE: We do. I have a great video of all like, oh, immediately afterward. I like, ’cause I was starting to get like, okay, tough love kids, you have to eat. So I have this video of like, him sitting in timeout in China in Epcot eating his thing. Okay mom, that’s, that’s real life man.
STACEY: Yeah, I think we need to see that on Instagram.
KELLIE: I posted it a couple of times. Pretty funny.
STACEY: Have you? I’ll have to go look for it.
KELLIE: I’ll have to, I — maybe I’ll need to repost it after this.
It’s pretty funny ’cause you’ve got, um, my husband and a friend of ours who are with us, who are like trying to tell me about Epcot, but so discombobulated and in the background, you just see my son, he’s got a poncho on ’cause it’s half raining. He’s like sitting under this thing, just eating his sad food in time out.
It’s real.
STACEY: Wow. See? Yep. We all make the mistakes and we’re here to try to help you not make the mistakes. So take the midday brain, do your research, do your research.
KELLIE: Do your research. Take the midday break.
STACEY: Or you’ll have a China problem.
KELLIE: Nobody wants that. Nobody does. I, every time I’m in Epcot, I send my husband a photo of the bathrooms in Norway. This is where the bathroom is, sweetie. Running joke.
STACEY: Priceless. Priceless. Oh my goodness. Well, I think that is quite a high note. We should probably just like cap it right there, but no, let’s, let’s summarize. Uh, Kellie recommends, uh, Grand Californian, uh, Park Vue Inn and Element at Disneyland. And Animal Kingdom. And what else at Disney World?
KELLIE: Pop Century.
STACEY: Pop Century.
KELLIE: I’d also say if you’re looking for a mid in that it’s more clear at Disney World, the whole like deluxe. Um, yeah, the tears must.
What is it? Mid, why can’t I think of the middle one?
STACEY: Moderate.
KELLIE: Moderate, moderate.
Thank you. I was like, mid is not the right word. Our value, uh, moderates. I actually really love Port Orleans. Okay. If you’re looking at the tiers, um, that one has been my favorite of the moderates that I’ve stayed at. Just for what it is. So Animal Kingdom. Port Orleans. Pop Century.
STACEY: Pop Century. Okay. And we’ve covered, um, location, convenience of your hotel, um, do your research. Midday breaks. And I think that’s good summary. Yeah.
KELLIE: Yeah. I think it’s a great summary. And I, like I said, I think there’s ways to do a lower budget trip. You just gotta do your research.
STACEY: Yes, yes. And that is what we are here for. So reach out to Kellie, reach out to me. We are more than happy to help you anytime doing your research.
KELLIE: Anytime.
STACEY: Did we need to put links to anything in the show notes? I can’t remember that we talked about anything that we really need a link.
KELLIE: No. So I don’t think there’s anything we need link for.
STACEY: Okay. All right. Follow Kellie on Instagram at we_don’t_wear_ears.
Of course I am Disney Hotel Lady on everything. You’re probably watching this here on YouTube. So Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, all the things. Plus DisneyHotelLady.com.
Um, thank you so much for taking the time to speak with me today, Kellie. I really appreciate it.
KELLIE: Of course. Happy to be here. Thanks for having me.
STACEY: Thank you all for watching. Uh, once again, I’m Stacey, your Disney Hotel lady.
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