Best Way to book? Disneyland Resort

[davidwalden05]

Hey Guys, I am trying to plan a trip down to disneyland with my parents and my 3 year old son. We already have our flights booked as we got a very good deal earlier in the year.

I have never been down to disneyland before so this will be my first time and Im not sure what the best way to book it is.

So Basically we are planning on going April 30th - May 3rd (sunday through monday) and we'd really love to stay in the disneyland resort because we've heard how magical it is. My question is what would be the best way to book this?

When I check out the disneyland website they have "special offers" but most of them seem to expire at the end of March. Im wondering what I should do to get the best price? If I wait will there be new speical offers after this that apply to the dates Im going? Do i risk the Disneyland hotel selling all there rooms for that period of time?

How about freebies is it easier & cheaper to get the 2-5 meal passes?

I'd love to get your guy's recommendations as well as any opinions and suggestions on the best way to do things when I get down there.

Thanks in advance

 

[C&B Young]

From what I've read DLR hotel discounts aren't released very far in advance, usually 1-2 months in advance at the most. Disneyland "on site" hotels generally don't have trouble filling up as the ones at WDW do. We'd love to stay at the Disneyland Hotel with the recent renovations, but the added expense just didn't justify the benefits for us.

Mouse Savers has the best listing of the various DLR discounts available, you might be able to at least book with a CAA/AAA discount (if you're a member) for now and hope something better comes up before your travel.

 

[drag n' fly]

The late spring/early summer rates will come out around the end of February usually

 

[lizabu]

I would check out the Disneyland forum. DLR is different than WDW in that many "off-site" hotels are closer or just as close to the parks than the on-site ones. There are so many bargains to be found. We're going in Dec and I booked our hotel free on Starpoints. I would weight the benefits to staying onsite with offsite and determine if it's worth it to you.