tokyo to nagano

We are a group of 8 peoples incl kids who would like to stay 2 nites in log house or chalet and 1 nite in japanese ryokan with onsen where we can see the snow monkeys. Came across snowjapan website but it seems that i can only find in hakuba for log house or chalet and shiga kogen or nozawa for ryokan. If that's the case then where should i head to first? Should we get the JR East? And should we visit matsumoto before heading back to tokyo? Our trip will be in Dec and we would like to see snow. Pls advise. Many thanks!

The best ryokan for the snow monkeys is the Korakukan, just a few steps from the monkey park:
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e6025.html
http://japaneseguesthouses.com/db/nagano/korakukan.htm

Hakuba sounds like a good location for a chalet or log house with snow.

One possible itinerary could be: Tokyo - Matsumoto - Hakuba - (via Nagano) - Snow Monkeys - (via Nagano) - Tokyo

Regular tickets come cheaper than a JR East Pass for just these trips.

Thanks. If that's the case then i think we'll skip matsumoto and concentrate on hakuba and yudanaka if we are not going to get JR east. So from tokyo should i go to hakuba or yudanaka first? Actually we'll be in japan for 2 weeks and we have a place to stay in tokyo so is there any rail pass that we should get? won't be planning to go far other than nagano, rest of the time will be in tokyo area i think.