¤*~*¤May/June 2013 ¤*~*¤Trip Planning Thread

[BlueFairy]

I am not a seasoned flyer. When will be the best time to book flights? We will fly out of Denver to SNA. I have been looking at prices on southwest, but I am not sure what a good price is. They are about $131 one way right now.

Sorry it was not farecompare but Farecast.com. An example, it says I should wait to buy my airfare. There is an 80% chance that my tickets will drop more than $50. You can sign up and it will remember your flights and send you updates.


Here is a great article on the DIS.

http://www.wdwinfo.com/discounts/beat-high-cost-airfare.htm

 

[PoohsFan1]

Sorry it was not farecompare but Farecast.com. An example, it says I should wait to buy my airfare. There is an 80% chance that my tickets will drop more than $50. You can sign up and it will remember your flights and send you updates.


Here is a great article on the DIS.

http://www.wdwinfo.com/discounts/beat-high-cost-airfare.htm

Thanks for the tip, we are starting to look into airfare now. Everything seems to be staying consistent right now, no up or down prices as of yet for our dates. I am going to look into farecast.com and possibly sign up for it, I like that it will let you know if your flight will either drop in price or not and give you updates .

As for airport transfers, I have no idea. There is so many companies out there to choose from, I just don't know which one is the right one. I guess I will wait until after I get my airfare squared away before I have to start checking into that. I am kind of liking Karmel a lot, but then again the Disneyland Express isn't that bad either....I don't know, I am so confused .

 

[ColoradoLime]

I know, the transportation thing is exhausting me. I have a free car rental to use so cost wise that's the best choice for us.

I like that Karmel is reservation only so you don't have to stand around and wait for your ride on someone else's schedule.

I think no matter what we choose, we're going to have to bring the car seat, no getting around that. It doesn't make sense to go with DLE and pay $100 to not bring it, when I could rent the car for free and have flexibility to drive around town if needed.

 

[Kansas Mom]

Sorry it was not farecompare but Farecast.com. An example, it says I should wait to buy my airfare. There is an 80% chance that my tickets will drop more than $50. You can sign up and it will remember your flights and send you updates.


Here is a great article on the DIS.

http://www.wdwinfo.com/discounts/beat-high-cost-airfare.htm

Thanks. I'm just going to keep an eye on airfare for a bit. This is a great board for planning information. We are getting so excited to go.

 

[wishwash01]

Just booked at Grand Californian from 5/25-5/28. First time staying there and can't wait. I have a feeling I won't be able to stay anywhere else now.

 

[ColoradoGirl85]

How do you all get from the airport to your hotel?

We used the Magical Express bus last time, and it was okay. Took forever since we were staying at a non Disney hotel. But getting a towncar is significantly more so I guess we will just suck it up

 

[ColoradoLime]

Just booked at Grand Californian from 5/25-5/28. First time staying there and can't wait. I have a feeling I won't be able to stay anywhere else now.

Yay!!! You will be spoiling yourself, but you'll enjoy it so much!

How do you all get from the airport to your hotel?

We used the Magical Express bus last time, and it was okay. Took forever since we were staying at a non Disney hotel. But getting a towncar is significantly more so I guess we will just suck it up

I think we are going to suck it up and take the car seat with us so we can get a rental car. I've got enough points for a free one so it really doesn't make sense to pay for any other type of transportation. Plus we're planning on eating at some places outside the park so it will be nice not to have to walk everywhere after we're exhausted from being at the park.

 

[PoohsFan1]

How do you all get from the airport to your hotel?

We used the Magical Express bus last time, and it was okay. Took forever since we were staying at a non Disney hotel. But getting a towncar is significantly more so I guess we will just suck it up

I'm not sure exactly which company we are going to use. There are so many out there that seems reputable. Just as long as they get us to our hotel within a decent amount of time, I will be happy....I don't want to be driving around for what seems like forever just to find more people for them to pick up (this is what I heard some companies do).

Just curious if any DLR Vets have any ground transfer companies that they would recommend . Our trip is starting to sneak up on me so I want to start getting some of these things squared away (airfare, ground transfers, etc....)

 

[BlueFairy]

http://travel.southwest.com/specialoffers/offerDetails.html?id=118005694&textlink&RMID=L_130122_CNS_A&RRID=YnJhbmRpY2pvbmVzQGhvdG1haWwuY29t&src=MAILCNSTUES000000130122A

A link for Southwest's sale that starts today. Travel through 5/15/13.

ETA: On closer inspection, looks like this is pretty restricted. They post a sale every Tues. I'll try to remember to pass along the link every week since we are inside the time frame.

 

[nicleigh84]

Hello! I need some advice. I'm trying to talk this all out with my husband but he keeps saying "it's 5 months away, why worry?" Ha! I just can't get it figured out.

We will be in the parks Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. I want to start in DCA on Monday to give us the best shot of riding RSR a couple time. Tuesday will be our MM in DLR. I was going to leave Wednesday open to see which park my kids want to hit first. ( We have a Cars lover and a Star Wars lover so it's a toss up. ) But we also want to do Minnie and Friends breakfast.
So here is my main question...

Should we plan Minnie breakfast for Tuesday morning since I know we will be at DLR? If so, how would you plan breakfast around a MM?

Or should we plan Minnie breakfast for Wednesday morning? This would cancel out our chance for doing RSR early in the morning though. (I have a fear we will miss it on Monday for some reason and this is an absolute MUST DO for us!)

TO make it more confusing I have one more option. We could do Goofy's Kitchen on Thursday morning before leaving Disneyland. This is a good option because it doesn't take away any park time but my daughter REALLY wants to have breakfast with Minnie so I'm not sure if Goofy's is the way to go.

Please, any advice you have will be greatly appreciated. It's bothering me how much anxiety I feel about this trip!

 

[thenewlyweds10]

GREAT! So glad I found this, we are planning our (FIRST) trip May 21-26! Our DD is truning 3, so we are going for her Birthday! I can't wait! She loves Disney, has almost every Princess movie memorized, and talks NON STOP about anything Disney. I want to plan the perfect trip to maximize our stay! I already reserved a room at the Desert inn and suites. I have some reservations on this, because I've read some mixed reviews on the cleanliness of the place I really hope it's up to standards, because it will save us over a $1,000. by staying there, as apposed to PPH and even more so if we picked DLH. Now to go back through this thread to see what I've missed!

 

[BlueFairy]

Another sale at SW for travel through 5/31.

http://travel.southwest.com/specialoffers/offerDetails.html?id=118309246&hero&RMID=L_130125_CNS_A&RRID=YnJhbmRpY2pvbmVzQGhvdG1haWwuY29t&src=MAILCNSWKND000000130125A

 

[TheChapman6]

We will be getting to DL hotel on Monday the 6th. I'm thinking of taking the boys Ridemakerz? Then swimming since to pool is heated and we live in colorado so it's going to be warm there for us anyway LOL
Then Dinner??? thinking Jazz Kitchen!

I only want to make reservations for one meal each day but I'm waffling between where I want to eat.

I want to do Blue Bayou but thinking Cafe orleans is a better choice since I want the beniets (sp??) but also want the try the pomme frites and the Monte Cristo.

I want to eat at the Pacific Warf and get a soup bread bowl.

Carnation Cafe sounded yummy until recently when they changed up the menu?

I'm thinking We will do the big thunder mountain ranch BBQ too.

 

[mrobin023]

We will be visiting DLR on June14-19, after a week at Aulani, and will be staying at the Grand Californian. This will essentially be our first trip there. We are WDW pros, but have only been to DLR once on a 2 day quicky side trip from Vegas. I'm searching the boards for tips and tricks so we can be better prepared. Right now the only place we know we want to eat is Cathay Circle in DCA for dinner Sunday (Father's Day). We are planning on purchasing 5 day park hoppers when we get there. Besides dining decisions, we are still trying to decide how to get back and forth to LAX. We arrive at 3pm Friday, but leave at 7:30a on Wed, so it looks like the Magical Express is out of the question, at least as a round trip option. We are so looking forward to getting to know the parks on that side of the country!

 

[ACDSNY]

We're finally down to double digits to our DL trip at the Grand Californian, May 5th - 9th. We'll have 5 or 6 adults and 3 kids. I haven't started planning yet since my sister that's going with us never wants to plan anything.

 

[PoohsFan1]

We're finally down to double digits to our DL trip at the Grand Californian, May 5th - 9th. We'll have 5 or 6 adults and 3 kids. I haven't started planning yet since my sister that's going with us never wants to plan anything.

That is awesome, I can't wait to be doing the double digit dance myself . All you May people, your trips will be coming up before you know it.

 

[PoohsFan1]

I am so excited, I just got off the phone with DH and we decided that we want to head down to DLR a day earlier then planned, but not tell the girls about it . We will be staying at the HoJo on our arrival night and then head straight over to VGC to check in and hand them our bags before heading to a park. Our new arrival day is actually the girl's last day of school (barring any snow days that may have to be made up) so why not surprise them and head to the airport a day earlier. I already have it planned that when they come home from school, I will start a conversation with DH (of course they will be in the same room) and say something like..."you know, I am so excited about leaving tomorrow, I wish we could just leave today" then DH will reply to something like "o.k., let's go then". The girls will not know what just happened .

So our new date will be 6/5-6/6 at the Howard Johnson then move over to VGC from 6/6-6/14.

 

[acpalmer]

We will be at DLR from June 9 through the 14th. It is a group of 16 of us--yikes. All family, but ages range from 13 months to 75 years, so it is a diverse group! Some of us are staying at Candy Cane Inn (that's where I'll be with DH and our two boys) and others will be at Desert Palms.

Right now, I'm just trying to get people to decide if they want to do a character meal and if so, which one. (My personal preference is Minnie and Friends, but no one else in the group besides the four of us in my immediate family have ever been to DLR before, so I am bowing to what they want to do, since I've done all of it at least once before.)

 

[mhconley]

We're visiting California from Friday, May 24 - Monday, June 3 thanks to United Mileage Plus.

Spending the first night at SNA; our flight arrives at 10:30 PM. Then driving to Carlsbad to spend Memorial weekend on the beach and visiting friends in San Diego. Then it's four nights and three full days at Disneyland staying in the Grand Californian. We have a friend flying down from the San Francisco bay area to join us and my sister, who lives in LA, will spend at least a day at Disneyland, too. Last, we're spending two nights in downtown LA a couple of blocks from my sister's loft.

It's our first trip back to CA since moving to SWFL 2-1/2 years ago. Our last trip to Disneyland was for Halloween-season in 2009. DS was about 1/4" from being able to ride California Screamin'. We're really looking forward to seeing Cars Land and visiting Disneyland.

Martin

 

[bjscheel]

Okay, we are getting more definite about going because we will have enough miles rewards for free flights- that helps with the decision.

I might not pick dates until March because I don't know when school will get out. Can't remember if I posted this before, but I won't know until then how many snow days to add on (and days missed for state basketball) to the end of the year.

Currently we are getting out just before Memorial Day weekend. If I want to play it safe, I may plan for leaving for SD on 6/5, and being at DL on 6/8-6/11. This has the advantage of missing grad nights on all of our DL days. Or if I know that school will get out before the end of May, I might try to leave earlier.

A lot will depend on the dates the airfare is best- and they went up in the last couple days- but if certain dates are cheaper that will play a part. Is missing grad nights something I should really consider?

I have also been thinking of Park Vue Inn ($149) all along, I know that is not a popular choice here lately but I may take my chances anyway. However, looking at hotels we could use SW points on, I saw Best Western Anaheim Inn. It is cheaper ($107)and still close. One of the important features to us is a hotel breakfast. BW Anaheim is currently offering a brown bag breakfast until their new breakfast room is completed. Info on SW Rewards says that is June 30. Would be great if the breakfast room is done early! Anyway, PVI would have hot breakfast for sure, but for $40 less per night I guess we could use the brown bag breakfast, or buy breakfast and save the bags for snacks. What close hotels are you staying at that have free breakfast? We definitely want to be really close.

As for our arrival day plans, I think we will get there mid-day on the Amtrak from San Diego. I'm thinking maybe we will get some shows done like Aladdin and World of Color- will we be able to get WOC FP mid-afternoon or not? Do you have to have a FP or can you stake a spot early?