A few questions

[maxie]

!.) Better time to go - November 16-21 or November 30- December 5th. Is there a difference?

2.) Carousel Inn- any comments - I notice it is in the Entertainment book for 50% off rack rate. I woud need to wait and order the 2003-2004 book. Would it be cheaper to buy the book and book thru hotel room seperately and use the entertainment book OR buy a package deal thru the Disney Travel CLub.

3.) When you look at the packages at disneyland.com it asks you to choose some extras like Knott's. Is this a good place to get these tickets? Also when I played with the reservations website I booked 6 nights and said yes to some of the extra stuff like Knott's and it kept giving me 7 day passes when we would only want 3 day passes.

4.) My DC membership expires in May. I quess I won't be able to use it for making a reservation if I booked prior to May will I? Can you get a discount on package deals with a CAA membership?

 

[year2late]

I would pick the latter for Christmas theming.

On a side note, I get great rooms on Priceline.com.
I choose three star in Anaheim/Disneyland area. My bids all get accepted within the $35 -50 dollar range. The only add on would be parking at this class of hotel.

Bidding for travel Anaheim hotels (partial list)

We go frequently and if we do not do Candy Cane or Onsite - this is the route we use - we have NEVER been disappointed with a Disney area priceline 3 star.

 

[year2late]

For that length of trip you might want to consider that at least one member of your party gets an Annual Pass - the discounts are great!

 

[Uncle Buck]

Buy your Knott's tickets later. They always have several discounts available. Check the "What's Hot" section of Knott's Website for info. They are usually available via coupons at a fast food place, grocery store, or by purchasing Coke products.

Your Disney Club membership is an Entertainment card for hotels and gets you the same discounts at hotels as the Entertainment Book. If you would only be using the Entertainment Book for the hotel, it's not worth buying a new one.

 

[Charlieanna]

Some quick answers for ya;

(later note from Charlieanna: duh, I just noticed you are in Canada rather than CA, so I don't know if my comments about CAA are logical now. I assumed it was California Automobile Association. yikes.)

1. I would do after Thanksgiving. Since there is a holiday soon (and thus, school vacations) I think more people are apt to take their kids out of school for a trip the week before rather than the week after the vacation. We have been there around Thanksgiving a couple of times and the Monday after, it is amazing how cleared out the park gets.

2. Carousel Inn. It's a decent place, short walk, has a continental breakfast and a pool (I'd stay there again). Try calling directly to the hotel and asking about reservations if you're going to make your own plans separately. Keep trying too as things change daily (if not hourly). They also have CAA/AAA discounts, so ask. I wouldn't bother with the Entertainment book unless you're going to get some other use out of it; you can find deals other ways. Other options are to price them out through Expedia or Cheapfares (both just for hotel rates or for entire packages) or depending on where you live (I don't know how you plan to get there - fly or drive), try an airlines that has vacation packages. Alaska Airlines is the best in my opinion, even cheaper than the Disney travel Co. from my experience. Southwest also does package deals. I think United might too. If you are a member of CAA, don't they have a travel agency? Might be worth looking into.

3. Sometimes it's handy to have all the vouchers for other parks like Knott's already on hand just to save some time and effort, but if you're not really sure you'll make it there, I would just wait and buy any additional attraction stuff at the time you decide to go. It's only a difference of a few dollars if you don't add it to the package, and most hotels have all the information you need, some even have the tickets for sale. You can also buy your DL park tickets from the hotels or at the front gates. Again, you can save a few dollars when you do it as a package, but you can also buy the tickets separately from Disney before hand (on-line or at the Disney stores) at a little discount, and I believe you should be able to also get them from your local CAA office.

4. I don't have a DC membership so can't comment on that.

To my knowledge the Disney Travel Co. is the only one who will accept CAA (AAA) discounts. Here's where you would work with a travel agent from CAA I think though. (Individual hotels usually have discounts for auto club members.)