DL Budget Tips - Western Canada

[JCricketismyfav]

I thought I'd start a Canadian thread for those in BC/Western Canada where we share different tips on how to go to Disneyland more economically. I've learned a lot from my 2 Disney loving friends and from the Discommunity. I've saved hundreds of $$ because of them. This would include tips from which credit card to get to buying DL passes online. Basically whatever.

Flights
For awhile I checked Alaska Airlines online every day for any deals. THEN I received an email about a sale (this was way easier than checking everyday). I booked flights to SNA (LAX is too far away for me) for 3 people out of Seattle ($79 pp one way). It was $528 US for 3 people return.

I know a Cdn family who go 3 times a year (they have AP) and I always wondered why. Then when I saw the flight sale I realized you could book the sales now AND 4 months down the road for the same great price. That way you get the most out of your AP.

DISNEYLAND PASS I have a BMO Mastercard and get my monthly prescription there and use my Air Miles card. I have extended medical so the company pays for most of the prescription. I watch Safeway and they have good deals occasionally. If I have a small grocery shop to do, I use their buy $75 get 75 Air Miles. I never thought it would amount to much so I never watched them. But they add up and after a few years. I now have 5900 AM. I can get a 5-day pass for 2350 pts. Saves me $600.

Any other tips out there?

 

[kuhltiffany]

Thanks for the tips! We just moved to BC from Ontario and I'm totally lost when it comes to the deals/tricks for this coast!

Currently saving up Air Miles (lots of opportunities here), will start to war ch Alaska Airlines…any ideas for accommodation?

 

[JCricketismyfav]

Glad I could be of some help. One person you might want to follow is RubyGoose. She was an incredible help to me, is very creative (she made her own photo book), frugal and has lots of tips.

As for accommodations, use this website http://www.accommodationsneardisney.com/Disneyland/Default.asp. I find the map and the tabs (nearby airports, etc) across the top very helpful. We normally stay within walking distance. The cheapest usually is Quality Inn on Merchantile. Great breakfast but farthest away. I have stayed at HoJos(great just don't stay on the side facing the freeway), Desert Inn & Suits (basic but good), and Anaheim Plaza (which was just okay). But watch TripAdvisor as it depends what you want. We watch for deals - we're staying at the Best Western Park Place & Inn for $101/night. That's not a great deal by my standards but it was the best I could find.

As for saving money, I'm looking for tips for this. But my friend used her Save On More (SOM) points to pay for her hotel room (Flamingo) in Vegas so I'm thinking there must be some way to do this for DL. You can buy hotel gift cards for Best Western but I haven't tried this myself.

I have cashed in 59,000 SOM/More Rewards for $250 voucher for a trip to Mexico. I booked through Travelex in White Rock on 16th. They may have started to work out of their home but I'm not 100% sure but that's Mexico not DL!

Hope this helps somewhat.

 

[Sweetpea2011]

We're driving down with friends next August. We found a condo about 20 min walk from the gates that works out to less than $500 per family for 7 nights stay. We've already paid the entire fee for the rental, so we won't get dinged too badly if the dollar continues to drop.

I've got 5900 air miles saved up so far, and am hoping to get enough for four passes by the time we go. We will be hitting up Costco when we get there for snacks and sandwich fixings, granola bars, fruit, water bottles etc when we get there.

On the way home we are planning to camp our way up the California coast, so will be booking campsites along the way, and will take along our 4 man tent and sleeping bags.

We figure the kids need to endure at least one road trip with their parents before they leave home! (they are 14 years old!)

 

[fattymatty]

If you dont mind LAX you and fly out of BLI every now and again for 132 RT and its closer to the boarder so save on gas as well. but can only fly on like 3 different days per week Monday,Wednesday and Friday I think.

Also Airmiles is great to use for a city pass if not using to fly with(those not close to boarder)

 

[JCricketismyfav]

If you dont mind LAX you and fly out of BLI every now and again for 132 RT and its closer to the boarder so save on gas as well. but can only fly on like 3 different days per week Monday,Wednesday and Friday I think.

Also Airmiles is great to use for a city pass if not using to fly with(those not close to boarder)

132RT BLI to LAX! Where did you find that price? What airline? When was the last time you got that price? I would love that.

Good point about the Airmiles City Pass.

You can get City Pass from Save On More points as well.

 

[JCricketismyfav]

We're driving down with friends next August. We found a condo about 20 min walk from the gates that works out to less than $500 per family for 7 nights stay. We've already paid the entire fee for the rental, so we won't get dinged too badly if the dollar continues to drop.

I've got 5900 air miles saved up so far, and am hoping to get enough for four passes by the time we go. We will be hitting up Costco when we get there for snacks and sandwich fixings, granola bars, fruit, water bottles etc when we get there.

On the way home we are planning to camp our way up the California coast, so will be booking campsites along the way, and will take along our 4 man tent and sleeping bags.

We figure the kids need to endure at least one road trip with their parents before they leave home! (they are 14 years old!)

What campsites will you be staying at?

 

[kuhltiffany]

Flying out of Seattle in March (and parking for 2 weeks), any hotel and/or parking recommendations?

 

[saraschoening]

We do this trip often including this past July. We drive.. total gas (for this past trip) was $500 in a Ford Escape and then $100 each way for the ferry. We take the Coho it is a little cheaper. I do believe that it could be cheaper to fly if you timed it right with ferries and such (if you are on Vancouver island) but we love our road trips.. gives us a little more freedom. We bought our park tickets on Mousesavers and paid for 3 days with a 4th free. We ended up purchasing a 5th because we were having so much fun. Disney refunded us for the 4 day ticket price and then just charged us for 5.. cost us no more than $60 for the three of us for an extra day. Also we always try and stay at one of the Best Westerns just across the road (7 min walk to main st) there is the BW Park Place Inn and Anaheim Inn. Both are wonderful hotels with breakfast included. We have never paid more than $150 a night.

 

[Aladora]

Flying out of Seattle in March (and parking for 2 weeks), any hotel and/or parking recommendations?

We drove over from Victoria in August and stayed overnight at the Sleep Inn Seatac Airport and left our car there for the week we were gone. It is secured, underground parking that is patrolled at night. I'm not sure if they have a 2 week option but it might be worth it to ask.

 

[saraschoening]

Flying out of Seattle in March (and parking for 2 weeks), any hotel and/or parking recommendations?

We ususally drive to DL but we are flying out of Seattle to Orlando in May. We are staying at the Comfort Inn and Suites SeaTac Airport. I don't think that the rooms are super nice (based on reviews I have read) but we are on a 6 AM flight so we won't be there for long. There are not a lot of options for 14+ night parking. The Comfort Inn rate includes 14 nights and then we are having to pay $9 a night extra. You can take a look at http://seattle.parksleepfly.com/ for some more options.

I have stayed at the Ramada for one night which is super close to SeaTac, its on International Blvd, and the room was clean and the staff very nice. Very loud though. Lots of people partying though out the night and our room was above the secured parking door, but YMMV based on the night. I am not sure how long you can park your car for there before you will have to pay additional night fees. Good luck to you though and please let me know what hotel you opt for and how it rates.

 

[JCricketismyfav]

Flying out of Seattle in March (and parking for 2 weeks), any hotel and/or parking recommendations?

We stayed at the Best Western Airport Executel. Hotel room was not bad but the price was $169 or so for a Park N Fly special. BUT we had the best service ever. When we came back the battery was dead. One of the guys behind the counter went out of his way to jump start our battery at midnight. They were just awesome.

We were staying at the Best Western Park Place & Inn right across from Disneyland so that was why we stayed at the Best Western chains. We signed up for Best Western points.

Some people we know fly out of Seattle often -2 to 3 times a year. They stay at the Comfort Inn and Suites in Seattle. I just checked their website and they were cheaper than Best Western.

We did drive by a Park N Fly place called Wally Park which is on that same strip (Int'l Blvd). They had a sign that said $69/week special. There is no hotel involved.

Hope this helps.

Have a great time.

 

[MarcJ55]

My tips:

It is almost always cheaper to fly out of Seattle than Victoria / Vancouver, so it doesn't hurt to look around. Even BLI might offer some cheap flights.

SEA parking at a hotel is cheap, especially if you're staying there before / after your trip. I can usually get 1 free week per night, so a hotel on either end of my trip includes 2 weeks of free parking.

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Alaska MBNA credit card. We get a companion fare for $99, plus we rack up lots and lots of miles throughout the year.

Finally, I recommend checking nearby airports. Even if it means a bit of a journey to your destination, you can often find super cheap flights to one airport over another.

 

[bcwife76]

Loving all the tips! We are in Surrey BC and usually drive down to DL (last trip was August 2013). However we are tentatively planning a trip to DL for August 2015 and will fly down this time. Have priced it out (through Alaska) from SEA vs YVR and the prices are comparable at this time, so possibly a bit too far out from our trip date. Will keep looking (and getting emails from the airlines!)
Also trying to amass my airmiles as last trip we had enough for one parent and one child to get in free (we are a family of 4).
I forgot my original login info so I've made a new account today, happy to be back on the Disboards

 

[stickerstyler]

The best thing about the Alaska Credit card is when you first get it you get 25000 points. I was able to book flights from Victoria to Orlando (9 months out) for 25000 points. So other then the $45 bucks in taxes and $100 bucks for the card that is a pretty good deal.

 

[Rubygoose]

Glad I could be of some help. One person you might want to follow is RubyGoose. She was an incredible help to me, is very creative (she made her own photo book), frugal and has lots of tips.

Thanks for the kind words! I just stumbled upon this thread after spending a few months away from the disboards since I've been busy with school work. Here's a link to the Canadian budget thread that I started a while ago.
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3246671

 

[Larissa]

Hi,
My friend and I are trying to figure out a trip in February (flying out on the 5th at night and arriving home in the evening/night on the 9th). That's pretty much the only time we can go because we are scheduling around school.
We're both working part time and going to university, so money is tight. If anyone has any money-saving tips, we'd really appreciate them! Our hotel, flight, and ticket budget is close to $2000/each.

EDIT:
We ended up booking a Priceline package for less than $600 each for airfare and hotel (Tropicana Inn). We also ended up using our Entertainment book and buying a 4 day (non-hopper) pass for a dollar less than the 3-day non-hopper directly through the Disneyland website.

Thanks!

 

[JCricketismyfav]

Hi,
My friend and I are trying to figure out a trip in February (flying out on the 5th at night and arriving home in the evening/night on the 9th). That's pretty much the only time we can go because we are scheduling around school.
We're both working part time and going to university, so money is tight. If anyone has any money-saving tips, we'd really appreciate them! Our hotel, flight, and ticket budget is close to $2000/each. We are getting 3-day non-hopper passes and have both been before (she has been once (50th anniversary) I've been quite a few times). We're looking at staying at the Best Western Courtesy Inn.

Thanks!

Hi,
Okay, there are a few things you can do to bring down the costs. I note BWCI has a free breakfast so remember to grab an fruit, yogurt and juice if it's in a container. Bring along a back pack to carry these items in. Also bring along food: granola bars, licorce, mixed nuts and fruit in snack ziploc bags, dried fruit (bulk or in bar form), cheese sticks or mini cheese in wrappers, individual Kool-Aid or Country Time Lemonade aid drink mix to add to the water. Remember that the best water in DL is at the taps outside DL restaurants.

There is a thin cookie that came in packages that was really good. I'll add the name when I remember.

You are .2 miles from Subway. Check to see if they have specials before you go. Sometimes they offer specials like $5 for a footlong which you can split with your friend. Right now they have a $2 holiday special.

How are you getting into DL? Are you walking? Will you be walking past the McDonald's? They have a $1 - only a few items though.

Our most favourite place was Pizza Press which is sort of across from the DL entrance. The prices are good - $10 but the pizzas are out of this world. You could split that between 2 people easily.

Wretzel Pretzel is pretty good (not healthy though). You can reuse the $1 coupon. Bring your BCAA card to get an additional discount.

Earl of Sandwich is at the end of DTD and their prices are good. If you like Mexican try the Taqueria which is outside of Tortilla Joes - their prices are cheaper than inside.

Check out http://www.accommodationsneardisney.com/Disneyland/default.asp. You might find it interesting. There is a restaurant overlay button which is helpful.

Bring food, BE PREPARED FOOD WISE and prepare to be embarrassing cheap and you can do it. My frugal friend was just there, stayed at Candy Cane Inn and her goal was $15 a day. She usually does it.

Hope this helps.

 

[JCricketismyfav]

Oh I forgot White Water Snack. It's a restaurant in the Grand California Hotel but not well advertised. The prices have gone up in the last few years $10/entree but it's a great place to get away from the hustle and bustle. I've never had so much fun at a pop machine. Check it out before you go.

 

[JCricketismyfav]

Oh and check out Ruby Goose who posted about 3 posts before this one. She has a link there and she'll probably have a few tips as well.