Need to cut Budget for Dec 28 to Jan 4,trip to DL

[tink2dw]

Please help I thought going to Dl would be cheaper than WDW??

1.We want to stay off site
2.need to fly but thats $650 for 3[where are the cheap flights?]3.what do you budget for food?
4.we need a rental car but apparently there isn't one for rent for our dates,what should I do??

[Uncle Buck]

Oh how we struggle with the cost between WDW and DL. But I have family in SoCal, so they win out.

There are no cheap flights from the Northwest. Too little competition and heavy flight loads keep ticket prices high. You are going to struggle with rental cars and flights in SoCal because of the Rose Bowl. You might be well-served flying into Vegas and getting a car there (especially if a car is important to you). You should be able steal rooms after the 1st.

There are some very low Internet-only rates ($67/night) for the Hyatt Regency Orange County. That may mean you can nab it via Priceline in the $30-40 range. We paid $35 through Priceline at a time when the Internet-only rate posted was $89/night. Tip: whether you book conventionally or through Priceline, sign-up for the Hyatt Gold Passport and ask for "Gold Passport" upgrades upon check-in. This will get you a suite in the very desirable North Tower (King Suite @ $35/night, Kid Suite @ $25/night).

Can't help you on the food budget part. We find ourselves very undisciplined when we travel. There are many lower-priced alternatives off-site, especially in the Hyatt neighborhood.

Good Luck!

[Judy from Boise]

I can usually fly to Orlando cheaper than LAX !:rolleyes:
Can I ask why you need a car ?
Are you planning to eat a free breakfast every day ? We usually only eat 1 meal and a substancial snack on our busy days besides the hotel breakfast.

[LuvTigger]

I think part of the difficulty is in addition to the Rose Bowl, that's just a peak time-period for travel.

1. For off-site, I really like the Howard Johnson Hotel. It's walking distance, and they also have a shuttle. I've only stayed there during the summer, and it's been very reasonable then, between $65-$75 per night.

2. Not sure about flights. In Hawaii, they frequently offer holiday fares, but they're still not that great as far as pricing.

3. Food: well, at least that's one thing they can't hike up the price for! (Or at least I hope not!) Look at www.mouseplanet.com for menus, just to get a rough idea of the cost. Keep in mind though that they do not list the date of their menus like Deb Will's site does. There are lots of food options at DL, both on and off site. At DL, most of the places are counter or buffeteria service. I would budget about $10/per person for lunch, $15/pp for dinner, unless you're going to eat at Blue Bayou. For a full counter service breakfast I would budget about $8/pp. I didn't eat at DCA, I went during a time when there wern't a lot of options and things were closed.

We at at DD quite a bit though. We had breakfast at La Brea Bakery which we enjoyed, I had lox and bagels (generous servings) for about $7-$8. They have lots of pastries if you just want a quick bite. We had lunch at Naples which was great too...I think the entrees were under $15, and the portions were very generous. Unless you're very hungry or hearty eaters, you could probably share a pizza or entree with someone.

[tink2dw]

Part of the trip is to See the Grandparents in San Diego so a car will be needed to get either to San Diego or from San Diego to Anaheim. I haven't decided which way yet.

[LuvTigger]

It's me again, I had to leave in the middle of my post.

Okay, back to #3 about food. If you stay on Harbor, one thing you could do is pick up breakfast at McD's since there's one there. There's also a Tony Roma's on Harbor. There used to be a Godfather's pizza near the DL Hotel, but I'm not sure if it's still there.

At DD, there's a Rainforest Cafe. Some people don't care for it, but personally, I think the food is pretty good and the portions extremely generous. Two people could share an entree. I think most entrees are between $10-$15. Another thing I like to do is get a salad and appetizer instead of entree.

I would say on the low end, budget $75 a day for the 3 of you for food, if you eat only counter and buffeteria. I think $100 per day would be more comfortable though.

4. Car rental: after you make your air reservations, maybe you could try priceline to get a better deal? Also, search for discount codes on the internet, maybe at www.mousesavers.com if you haven't already. At least you have options if you can fly into San Diego. Also, are you looking at John Wayne airport too? The CA residents could probably answer better, but it looks like you have at least 3 airport options: LAX, John Wayne, and San Diego. Check Southwest Airlines and Alaska Airlines online, they seem to be the ones with the best internet deals.

Good luck, keep us posted with your progress!

[year2late]

Have you tried priceline? They have a "within 1 mile of DL "catagory. I have stayed at most of their DL area three star hotels and have been very happy.

You can try priceline for your airfare as well.

Surely the time period will give you grief, but I think deals are to be had.

Skip the rental car, too. Shuttle or even taxi from the airport.

I detest large crowds, they make me cranky, I personally would go some other time...but that is me.

[year2late]

Does Jet Blue do oregon?

[Sonya in Boise]

Priceline is a great option for rent a cars and hotel rooms, I would stay away from the airline tickets because you never know what times you might get. I used priceline for Rent a cars and for Las Vegas Hotels and was very happy. if you want more info on Priceline try biddingfortravel.com

But remember, because you are traveling over a VERY busy holiday season, priceline might not have the inventory they usually do. If you are going to try priceline, make sure you have a cancelable back up reservation somewhere. Priceline can get you better class hotels for cheap, but only if the rooms are there to be sold. If the Hilton is already sold out, priceline will not be able to sell rooms there.

HoJo's has great reviews and the price has been around 59.00 a night for the spirit of america rate. Also, Candy Cane has just started dropping their rates. Someone I know has reservations there and was given a very high rate, Candy Cane called her and offered her a better room for a cheaper rate. I'm assuming no one is paying there high rates, so they are dropping the rate to get people to stay there. You may be able to negociate a better price w/ the reservationist.

You will pay higher prices if you rent a car from one location and drop it off at a different location, same w/ flying. Southwest has some of the lowest air fairs. I'm not sure what their prices are for that week, but again, it's high volume so I'm betting the rates will be higher than normal. I recently got a rate from Boise to LAX for 100.00 round trip per person. That is the cheapest I have EVER seen it, but I also bought my tickets for my March trip in November.

Go to Costco.com and click on travel, then on rental cars. You will get a discount on car rentals and I have NEVER been asked for my costco card. I have one, but have never been asked to show it for my discount.

As far as eating, if possible get a hotel that has Microwave in the room, most walking distance to DL do, and bring micro mac and cheese, top ramon, canned soup, if you have a car, there is a Target not to far where you can pick up milk, eggs, cheese, bread. Make some sandwiches and only eat Dinner out. That will save tons of money.