Hyatt Regency or Fairfield Anaheim

[tesslor]

Has anyone had experience staying at both of these hotels that can give a recommendation? My family and I cannot agree. Love the idea of the kids suites at they Hyatt. Adults get King Beds, teenagers each get their own bed in a separate room. Hyatt amenities, a longer walk.
Husband loves the idea of the Fairfield across the street from the gates. Great location, tiny room. everyones shares beds (no king for us ) not as great amenities. Neither has free breakfast.

additional info that may make a difference.

We don't typically spend much time in the room other than sleep, but this is our first trip to Disneyland vs Disneyworld and first trip when it will be this hot outside.

We are all very capable of walking. Also the shuttle is available from the Hyatt for an additional $24 per day for all of us.

We will be in the hotel for 7 nights.I believe we will purchase a 5 day park hopper with plans to be there 3 days and maybe pop in and out an additional 2 since we will be doing some other things around the area. Unless we decide to move to a hotel closer to the beach for the last 2-3 days.

TIA

 

[tesslor]

bump

 

[elaine amj]

I chose the Fairfield Anaheim over the Residence Inn (had a free 1 week hotel cert that worked for either). I will likely never pay the big bucks to stay in the Contemporary and to my mind, one of the big perks of going to Disneyland is the ability to stay in an affordable hotel across the street. So being super super close was the most important variable for me. I gave up nicer hotel and free breakfast for this. It was soooo nice to be able to run back to the hotel whenever we wanted and to go back and forth for very little extra effort. We are walkers but it sure is nice after a long day at the parks or for a quick break or even when we forgot something in the room.

We did 7 nights with a 5 day hopper. We hit the beach as a daytrip for one of our off days. Was entirely happy with the hotel decision.

Good luck with the decision!

 

[Nevada Jen]

For that long and with teens? I can't imagine 4 adult sized people squeezed in a Fairfield room. No way, no how. The chair bed will not work for a teenager. The location is nice but the hotels are not even remotely comparable. You can fix the location problem by using uber for way less than the 24 hour a day shuttle cost. Maybe you can strike a compromise and stay the first couple of days at the Fairfield and then move to the Hyatt. (the added benefit being everyone will see that you were right in the first place!). Or try costing out the Courtyard Theme Park.

 

[tesslor]

I chose the Fairfield Anaheim over the Residence Inn (had a free 1 week hotel cert that worked for either). I will likely never pay the big bucks to stay in the Contemporary and to my mind, one of the big perks of going to Disneyland is the ability to stay in an affordable hotel across the street. So being super super close was the most important variable for me. I gave up nicer hotel and free breakfast for this. It was soooo nice to be able to run back to the hotel whenever we wanted and to go back and forth for very little extra effort. We are walkers but it sure is nice after a long day at the parks or for a quick break or even when we forgot something in the room.

We did 7 nights with a 5 day hopper. We hit the beach as a daytrip for one of our off days. Was entirely happy with the hotel decision.

Good luck with the decision!

How did you get to the beach?

 

[tesslor]

For that long and with teens? I can't imagine 4 adult sized people squeezed in a Fairfield room. No way, no how. The chair bed will not work for a teenager. The location is nice but the hotels are not even remotely comparable. You can fix the location problem by using uber for way less than the 24 hour a day shuttle cost. Maybe you can strike a compromise and stay the first couple of days at the Fairfield and then move to the Hyatt. (the added benefit being everyone will see that you were right in the first place!). Or try costing out the Courtyard Theme Park.

I found a great deal on the Hyatt thru orbitz and caved. I had to pay in advance, but its cancellable. When the Hyatt was more it was a hard decision. When it was less, easy.

 

[SteveMP]

Fairfield Anaheim was fine, never stayed in the other. The Portofino kid suites are kind of cool too. ANother option you may want to look at.

 

[elaine amj]

For that long and with teens? I can't imagine 4 adult sized people squeezed in a Fairfield room. No way, no how. The chair bed will not work for a teenager.

I don't really value fancy hotel rooms so my teens are used to small rooms. We have stayed comfortably in Pop for up to 12 nights. Fairfield is small, but sufficient for us. Ymmv.

How did you get to the beach?

I had a rental car for a day (my arrival day + day 1). Parking at the hotel was expensive, but I only paid it for 1 night. We did a daytrip and did whale watching (really cheap on Groupon - we hung out with a few whales for 30+ mins and saw a pod of nearly a hundred dolphins) and then a beach to watch people surfing.

 

[Nevada Jen]

I found a great deal on the Hyatt thru orbitz and caved. I had to pay in advance, but its cancellable. When the Hyatt was more it was a hard decision. When it was less, easy.

Be sure to come back and tell us how it is. My kids are old enough for Uber without carseats and it has changed the way we do Disney. Its just hard to tell the difference (and distance) with the offsite/non walkable hotels for me. I broke down and booked Fairfield for July 4th. Its just me and the two kids. Since my DD is in a wheelchair, I decided minimizing lifts was worth the room and motel aspect.

 

[tesslor]

I don't really value fancy hotel rooms so my teens are used to small rooms. We have stayed comfortably in Pop for up to 12 nights. Fairfield is small, but sufficient for us. Ymmv.



I had a rental car for a day (my arrival day + day 1). Parking at the hotel was expensive, but I only paid it for 1 night. We did a daytrip and did whale watching (really cheap on Groupon - we hung out with a few whales for 30+ mins and saw a pod of nearly a hundred dolphins) and then a beach to watch people surfing.[/Q

It might be cheaper to rent a car for a day then it would be to Uber there and back. I will have to look into that. Did you use Daveys Locker for the Whale watching? My family is thinking about using them for deep sea fishing.

 

[tesslor]

I will do that. I am sure that every night as we are walking back past the fairfield I will wish that I would have booked there.

 

[luulu1999]

I had a rental car for a day (my arrival day + day 1). Parking at the hotel was expensive, but I only paid it for 1 night. We did a daytrip and did whale watching (really cheap on Groupon - we hung out with a few whales for 30+ mins and saw a pod of nearly a hundred dolphins) and then a beach to watch people surfing.

Which beach did you go to and whale watching co did you use? Those are all things I want to do on our next trip and a surfing lesson lol

 

[elaine amj]

Which beach did you go to and whale watching co did you use? Those are all things I want to do on our next trip and a surfing lesson lol

I wanted to go on the Dolphin Safari with Captain Dave but he was quite a bit more expensive ($65pp). This was a last minute thing because we had already gone on a tour with a little boat at Pismo Beach in Central Cali. However, we didn't see any whales or dolphins It was still a great cruise on a fun boat though. Afterwards, I found out my family REALLY wanted to see dolphins (ugh - they had no interest BEFORE the trip!). I hopped on Groupon and found the tour for dirt cheap and booked it maybe an hour after our first tour LOL! Davey's Locker in Newport Beach was offering a Groupon. On top of that, Groupon was offering an extra 20% off coupon the day I booked! So for just $10pp (+$2.50pp "fuel surcharge"), I had a 3hr whale watching tour booked! It was a medium size boat which was OK.

Here's a video of the whales we saw - we lucked out and had 2 humpback whales circling us for a solid hour!! Also saw a huge pod of dolphins and a group of seals. It was long, but turned out to be a very good experience.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10153223214871977

As for the beach, we drove to a different section of Newport Beach (since we were right there). It was your classic California beach and it was cool to watch people surfing. We mostly just hung out and watched from a distance although I went for a stroll on the beach.

You can see more details in my (only half completed) trip report: https://www.disboards.com/threads/a-wdw-vets-cali-adventure-july-10-22-2015.3432038/#post-54212795 (pics are wonky right now - I'm working on fixing that).

 

[luulu1999]

I wanted to go on the Dolphin Safari with Captain Dave but he was quite a bit more expensive ($65pp). This was a last minute thing because we had already gone on a tour with a little boat at Pismo Beach in Central Cali. However, we didn't see any whales or dolphins It was still a great cruise on a fun boat though. Afterwards, I found out my family REALLY wanted to see dolphins (ugh - they had no interest BEFORE the trip!). I hopped on Groupon and found the tour for dirt cheap and booked it maybe an hour after our first tour LOL! Davey's Locker in Newport Beach was offering a Groupon. On top of that, Groupon was offering an extra 20% off coupon the day I booked! So for just $10pp (+$2.50pp "fuel surcharge"), I had a 3hr whale watching tour booked! It was a medium size boat which was OK.

Here's a video of the whales we saw - we lucked out and had 2 humpback whales circling us for a solid hour!! Also saw a huge pod of dolphins and a group of seals. It was long, but turned out to be a very good experience.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10153223214871977

As for the beach, we drove to a different section of Newport Beach (since we were right there). It was your classic California beach and it was cool to watch people surfing. We mostly just hung out and watched from a distance although I went for a stroll on the beach.

You can see more details in my (only half completed) trip report: https://www.disboards.com/threads/a-wdw-vets-cali-adventure-july-10-22-2015.3432038/#post-54212795 (pics are wonky right now - I'm working on fixing that).

Omg that would have been amazing!

 

[elaine amj]

I finally got all my photos fixed on my trip report:
July 17 - 21, 2015: A WDW vet's Cali adventures

Unfortunately, I never made it past Day 1 at DLR I was there for a week! Still, I covered all my pre-DLR adventures in California and discussed the whale watching bit in quite a lot of detail so hopefully, it's helpful

 

[elaine amj]

Omg that would have been amazing!

It was extremely cool! But our dolphin tour with Little Toot at Clearwater Beach was more amazing by far. Smaller boat so more exhilarating as you are closer to the dolphins. For the price, this checked off all our boxes and seriously....how amazing is it to have whales hanging out with us for an hour?

 

[Carrie in AZ]

Are you referring to the Hyatt Regency Orange County? We have stayed there previously and loved it and are contemplating staying there again. I am unsure if you are planning on walking to and from the Parks....That property is not within walking distance in my opinion. I could not imagine walking, I would plan on utilizing the shuttle or some other form of transportation.

Good luck and have fun!

 

[beachdreamr1229]

Hyatt House and Hyatt Place are not bad walks. I would choose either of those over the Fairfield for a trip as long as you'll be on. Hyatt Regency is too far to walk in my opinion. It would probably be about 30 minutes and on tired feet, a 30 minute walk can feel like 90 minutes. I've stayed there for conferences in the past and it's just too far. Fairfield is okay for 1 or 2 nights, but it's cramped. We have small kids and feel too crowded there.

 

[JC Butterfly]

In 2014, I had to come to Anaheim for a conference. I stayed 3 nights at the Fairfield and then 4 nights at the Hyatt. First three days were park heavy and I loved being within a reasonable walking distance. However, at the end of the night I did not love it. The walk felt long when I was ready to just be in. The beds were awful. I could hear everything outside my door. It was just me and I got a great rate so I dealt with it. But when I moved to the Hyatt it felt like a slice of heaven. Those beds were the most comfortable I have ever had, anywhere! The room was very spacious, shower was fantastic. Target almost right across the street and several good fast food options nearby. The shuttle was reliable (on time) but it took away any spontaneity. I always had to plan around the times and then traffic could make it take longer than expected . . . If I recall it was around 20 minutes. I would not consider it walkable. There is a Starbucks and several restaurants on site.

In 2016 I returned to Anaheim for a conference that was once again held at the Hyatt but I was bringing my 4 year old and best friend so decided they would do better to stay within walking distance. I chose the Park Vue Inn. I was very pleased with this choice. The beds were really comfortable, no noise from outside room, & nice free breakfast and free parking. The standard rooms were small, around 300 sq ft, but they have other configurations with more room. When I return this summer with my husband and both my boys, this is where we have chosen to stay again.

I'm not sure how you narrowed it down to the Fairfield and the Hyatt but they are totally different experiences. Fairfield is "budget". Hyatt is "comfy luxury". Really depends on what your priorities are. If you are literally coming back to the room at night only and never will take a mid-day break, then I suppose proximity is less important (but quality sleep is!)

 

[nutshell]

Go with Hyatt. Use uber.