Best way to book a trip?

[droptop68]

Ok I am a newbe. I want to take my 13 year old daughter to DL in like Oct. I have read some of the post and will continue to read them. been on here 2 days now.
My question is what is the best way to book a vacation to DL so I can get the best price. It seems like Camelot is very close and cheaper than staying in the park, I know i won't get as many perks though. So I am debating this. It will be my daughters 1st time but I am also money mindful.
Should I book through Disney, Dream, Orbitz, Travelosity?
Waht are the opinions on here? Also what extra perks should I buy?

 

[MrsJackSparrow4Life]

I can't afford to stay onsite unless there is a huge deal going on so we pretty much always stay offsite.

As for which way to book is cheaper?, I usually try all the different travel sites and then price everything out ala cart. Whichever one is cheaper in the long run is the way I go. More often than not, ala cart is cheaper.

For our trip in November (3 adults, 3 children, 1 two year old) I was able to get airfare (Southwest), Hotel (Anaheim Desert Inn), 5 day Park Hoppers and RT airport Limo transportation from/to LAX for a little less than $2600

 

[nbliss]

We too are going in October. Would love to stay on property, but just can't justify the cost. I looked at Costco Travel, AAA Travel, and at individual hotels. Costco travel offers some perks when you book a package through them (One Character dining meal, $20 Disney gift card, travel pin, lanyard, and luggage tag). They didn't offer who I chose to stay with (Howard Johnson). We booked everything separately because it was cheaper that way. We were able to get the Entertainment book rate at the HOJO,. which saved us $30 a night. So, we are staying for $69 a night (4 nights). We will take a cab from SNA (from what I've read it's about $45 each way). We got airfare from Seattle to SNA for $600 for 4. The biggest expense is the park hopper tix. As of last week, AAA still had the old park hopper prices on their site. If you are a AAA member, you can get them mailed to you for free.

 

[blackjackdelta]

You have some good advice. When we stayed offsite we have done the Costco package and the Disney package but most of the time booking ala cart has saved us $$. The package to have extras but are they really important to you? What are you interested in besides price?

Best of luck,

Jack

 

[skiingfast]

When we stayed offsite we have done the Costco package and the Disney package but most of the time booking ala cart has saved us $$.
Jack

I agree, do a comparison and look at Disney, Costco and AAA. Compare those to buying each component seperate. Don't bother with orbitz or an airline travel company.

If you like the goodies remember you can buy a pin and lanyard and luggage tag for $15 usually in a hotel gift shop. The real extras will be more Magic Mornings or Mickey's Toontown Morning Madness.

 

[droptop68]

I haven't been since I was a teen so like 25 years ago. My daughter hasn't ever gone at 13. So I don't know what we want to do yet. She has never been a big ride person at the fairs. I think I can talk her into some of the easier rides though.

So when you guys say alacart you are saying to call the hotel get a room, call the airlines and get my tickets, buy my DL 4 day pass from DL before hand, and I just read a thing about buying a DL gift card before hand to use for food and souveners so I don't go in with cash also.
It sounds like the people that wrote me back think thats cheaper than buying a vacation package through the hotel. I will do some price searching and look at it that way.
Thanks for the info so far

 

[Daisybelle]

I agree with the above advice. I like to price it all out indvidually and then check thru the Disney Travel and AAA. I've also heard great things about Costco travel from coworkers. This time around I booked the hotel and parkhoppers thru Disney and bought my airfare seperately as it was cheaper that way. I chose Disney instead of AAA just because I like to do it myself.

And awesome idea to go to Disneyalnd with your daughter! My daughter was 13 when we went last time with just the two of us and it was an awesome trip. We had the option to go with friends for this upcoming trip and she asked if we could just go on our own again so we could hit the parks 'our way'. Happy Mama.

 

[specialks]

Another vote for comparison pricing thru Costco, AAA, and I would like to add Alaska Air to you list since you are in Oregon. We can't stay onsite because of the expense, but there are many options very close to the parks. Some of the board favorites are HoJos, Candy Cane Inn, and Park Vue Inn.

 

[Sjwillia]

If you are flying out of Portland you also might want to look at Jet Blue to Long Beach. I would go directly to their site rather than Orbitz, Expedia, etc. Long Beach is a nice, small airport and only a few minutes farther from Disneyland. Transportation to Anaheim hotels is readily available.

 

[droptop68]

I am flying out of Eugene and found some $99 tickets from Alaska. It turns out to be about 500 all together. United and Southwest were between $700 to $900.
I also priced Camelot as just a hotel for 5 nights and then priced a 4 day park hopper and I think the package deal is a better price through Disney.com or very compariable anyways.
So now it is just figuring out how to pay for it all. haha

 

[Daisybelle]

I didn't realize you could fly out of Eugene. Is it a straight shot or do you have to connect thru Portland?

 

[jory29]

You might also want to check out getawaytoday.com They sometimes offer very enticing prices, and parkhoppers and hotel room tax is covered.

But yes, whatever ends up costing less in the long run will be your best bet.

 

[Caseystigger]

We booked through AAA this year and saved a good amount and still got the perks we wanted. I wish there were cheaper flights though.

 

[geethanjalli]

We too are going in October. Would love to stay on property, but just can't justify the cost. I looked at Costco Travel, AAA Travel, and at individual hotels. Costco travel offers some perks when you book a package through them (One Character dining meal, $20 Disney gift card, travel pin, lanyard, and luggage tag). They didn't offer who I chose to stay with (Howard Johnson). We booked everything separately because it was cheaper that way. We were able to get the Entertainment book rate at the HOJO,. which saved us $30 a night. So, we are staying for $69 a night (4 nights). We will take a cab from SNA (from what I've read it's about $45 each way). We got airfare from Seattle to SNA for $600 for 4. The biggest expense is the park hopper tix. As of last week, AAA still had the old park hopper prices on their site. If you are a AAA member, you can get them mailed to you for free.

Hi,

Do you have a link to AAA, where it quotes the old ticket prices and do they come with free park parking? I logged on to AAA Texas and could not find a link to Disney tickets.

Thanks.

 

[droptop68]

Daisybelle I would have to connect to another flight in Portland, Seattle, or San Fran. Eugene is 20 mins from my town so I can have a friend drive me to the airport. portland is like 2 hour drive and then I'd have to park up there. One of the flights I saw was eugene to Denver then to orange County. Thought it might be cool so my daughter can say she was in Denver but it is a long flight. haha

 

[nbliss]

okay, I just looked up AAA park tix, and it looks like they've raised the price. Bummer! As of last week, they were still selling at the old price: (
However, if you want the free parking, it's still part of the ticket price. Not sure if this link will work for you in Texas, but it's worth a try.

http://www.aaawa.com/travel/disney/

Once you've clicked the link, scroll down to Purchase Tickets, then click Purchase Online. That will bring you to a log in page, not sure if that will work for Texas AAA, but check. If it works, it will bring you to a page where you will click the first two words in the sentence Click Here to purchase...
then you go from there. If it works for you, and you aren't leaving too soon, you can get the tix mailed to you w/in 10 days for free.