After a long journey, we arrived in Orange County, CA at 9:30 in the morning. A great advantage to flying early in the morning, is that we arrive early in the morning. This is a very cool thing to me, that Disneyland has over Disney World. When you fly to Florida, unless you’re on Eastern Time already, you pretty much lose a whole day for travel. Not so flying into California, I always feel like I’ve gained a day, if I fly in early enough.
The kids were immediately appreciative of the cooler temperatures in the OC. Back home, even at 9:30 in the morning, it was at least 90 degrees. At John Wayne that morning, we were grazing 75 degrees.
We stood in line for our rental car at Hertz, because I don’t rate #1 Plus Gold Membership. I had rented an economy car to save on our expenses. The nice lady at the counter asked if we’d like to upgrade to a Solara for $10/day extra. It amounted to about $60 dollars, and I figured I had saved that much on the rental car by booking through Travelocity, so I said “why not!”.
The kids were enchanted with the concept of a convertible. They claimed to have never ridden in one before. (this I don’t quite believe… but they were excited about it) The extra $60 was worth it because one of the kids claimed this to be our best vacation ever. After a quick stop at IHOP, across the street (almost literally) from John Wayne Airport, we sallied forth.
I grew up in Southern California, but I still get lost on the freeways. I highly recommend getting a map, and directions from the person at the rental counter. I consulted my Hertz map, and set off in search of a Target.
On this day, we had PLENTY of time, so I figured we’d find a local Target before heading to our hotel. My daughter needed a swimsuit, and due to recent changes in security restrictions, I didn’t pack a lot of toiletries. Target stocks a large number of sample sizes of shampoo, soap, toothpaste, and any other toiletry item a person might require on a short visit to California. I also make it a habit to purchase a 24 pack of bottled water at Target before checking in to any hotel. You never want to drink tap water in a hotel, and while most hotels offer bottled water in vending machines or even in the rooms, the prices are outrageous. For example, at a recent hotel stay, Aquafina water was stocked in our room for the bargain price of $3 per bottle. Across the street at Target, I purchase 24 bottles of water for approximately $4.
If you stay near Disneyland on Harbor Blvd, Target is located on Harbor, just past Chapman on the left hand side. You can find toiletries, clothing, and beverages and snacks for your hotel room, at a very economical price. The nearest Walmart, is on Euclid, in the Anaheim Plaza. Head North on 5, and exit at Euclid.
Comfort Inn Maingate
We purchased our supplies and found our hotel, right off the Harbor Blvd exit on the 5 Freeway. Well, not right directly off the freeway. It’s a short drive down Harbor Blvd, on the right hand side before Chapman. My first impression of the hotel, was that its smaller than any other place I have stayed before, but I knew it would be, this being a 2 Star hotel.
I have no trouble with a 2 Star hotel, as long as it is clean and well kept. The lobby was very small, but clean and well kept up. The staff at the front desk was courteous, and we were in and out in just a few minutes.
There was just a parking lot, no security, and the pool was a very small one, located in a corner of the parking lot. Our room was on the back side of the hotel, away from the parking lot. It seemed very quiet and a nice location, but this was just after noon, and most hotels are pretty quiet at that time of day. It was away from the street and there was no noise from the street as far as I could tell.
The room itself, was not as small as my first impression. We had booked a 2 double, kids suite, and it was actually quite large for a 2 star room. It appeared very clean, and once we figured out the air conditioning, very pleasant. 2 Double beds in the main room, with a bathroom,refrigerator, microwave, coffee maker, television and desk.
Just off the main room, where there would ordinarily be a connecting door to the room next door, was a door with glass windows, through which was a bunk bed, television, child’s table and chair set, and best of all.. a full bathroom. The kids loved the bunk bed, with the thoughtful touch of reading lights with their own light switches above each bed.
Everything seemed clean and well kept, so I unpacked our bags, and set about trying to find a place to plug in the trusty laptop, video camera, and cell phone. Since I wanted to sit on the bed and watch TV, rather than sit at the desk and work, I tried to plug in near the bed. The light was plugged in, and the alarm clock, and as I reached to unplug one, I noticed the lamp cord was extremely frayed, and the plastic end of the plug was actually melted. I unplugged both the lamp and the alarm clock and moved the edge of the bed away from the outlet. That melted plug frightened me a little bit, and I worried that the bedding could catch fire.
There was another plug in the wall nearby the other bed, so I just moved over and tried to plug in there. My computer’s plug actually fell out of the outlet. This was not good, I was getting a bit frustrated. I moved over to the desk, plugged the computer in, and turned the overhead light on, which flickered constantly. Three strikes on electricity. Now I was left with the light from our window, and the light in the bathroom to read by.
Before we went out the next morning, I called the front desk and told them about the electrical problems. They offered to send someone out right away to fix them. We spent the day out at California Adventure, and by the time we returned, the major issues were fixed. The reading light over the desk no longer flickered, and the plug for the lamp over the bed was repaired.
My only other complaint about the hotel, was that the water in the shower fluxuated in temperature while you’re in there. It can be quite annoying to have to dodge out of the way when the water suddenly shoots up 10 degrees. It happened every time I was in the shower, not just during the busy “morning rush” times either. We skipped the parks on Saturday, and slept in late, but the water temp was jumping up and down even when the main rush of people had already left the hotel.
Our stay at Comfort Inn Maingate was mostly pleasant and quiet. There was no street noise from Harbor Blvd, as our room was located on the back side of the hotel. The swimming pool was very small and located across the parking lot, we did not use it. We were visiting my parents while we were in Southern California, and used their pool instead. If we had not had the other pool to go to, we possibly would have used the hotel pool, but it did seem inconvenient to have to walk across the parking lot, to use a very small pool.
Our room was on the ground floor, and while it was quiet 99% of the time, when the upstairs neighbors came in, every movement they made was loud and jarring downstairs in our room. The first night we were there, the neighbors came in at midnight, and proceeded to spend the next hour getting ready for bed, with much stomping and banging. The children and I were both awakened by the noise. The neighbors didn’t seem to be making a lot of noise on purpose, it was just the normal activities of using the bathroom, and settling down for the night, which made a lot of noise downstairs. This continued for each night of our stay. 
The hotel offers a “continental” style breakfast in the morning, and honestly, we did not partake of their breakfast. I had read that it was a very small buffet, seating is limited by space, and we had many other offerings to choose from. I did manage to snap a quick photo of the outdoor seating for the continental breakfast on our way out of the parking lot one morning.
It seems best that we avoided it. Harbor Blvd has many different restaurants to chose from. Dennys, IHop, and Carrows to name a few. There are also many fast food places for the budget conscious. Another option that I have used from time to time is to buy breakfast food at a grocery store, such as cold cereal
and milk, with paper bowls and spoons, for the kids to eat in the room before we leave. Most rooms have small refrigerators and microwaves available. Making your own breakfast and eating it before you leave, is by far the least expensive option if you want to avoid the free breakfast buffet.
All in all, the Comfort Inn, Maingate was a very pleasant, clean place to stay. There were a few, minor problems, but I have no major complaints about the place, and it was very clean and comfortable for me and the kids. The staff was helpful and nice, and it suited our purposes very nicely. I’m glad to know there is an affordable place that offers a kids suite. Its so nice to have a private bedroom and bathroom for the children so I’m not forced to go to bed when they do, and so I have a private bathroom to myself.
