Birthday trip

[pixiewings71]

So, I'm considering surprising my sweetie with a birthday trip in January, just the 2 of us. I got a voucher for a free hotel stay (3 nights) good thru January from our time share. His b-day is the 7th which is a Wed, if we drove down Tuesday after work we could be there on the 7th and stay until Sunday the 11th!!! We've never gone just the 2 of us, I'm thinking this could be really fun for us. Our free hotel would be the 6th (actually checking in around midnight that night) thru the 8th checking out on the 9th and I'll try to get our timeshare for the other 2 nights (9th and 10th) so we won't have to pay for hotel at all. I'm hoping that we can then get AP's........and go back for my birthday in May, DD12's 13th b-day in July and DD8's 10th b-day in Dec. I'm just trying to work it all out in my head here.......with our free stay we can get 2 1 day park hoppers but those won't be upgradeable (at least I don't think they will be) and DBF will get FREE admission on his birthday, he'll LOVE that!! LOL Can we use that free admission towards an AP? Or should I just buy park hoppers from GAT, get 2 free MM's and then upgrade? If we do that then we will get the free Fun Card for him to spend in the parks. Any thoughts/input on that? I'd love to get the So Cal Costco AP's with the $50 gift card but can't afford a trip down there to get them......nor do I have that amount of $$ free right now.

I'm thinking that if we stagger getting the AP's then they aren't all expiring at the same time, maybe that will help us when it comes time to renew them. If we have 2 that we need to renew in Jan. and 2 later in the year that will be easier to budget........

 

[bumbershoot]

After the start of the new year GAT isn't offering two MMs anymore, or so a few people posted a few weeks ago. If you're upgrading anyway, there's no sense in buying discount tickets, and no sense to buy GAT's since they don't have the two MMs for your trip.

with our free stay we can get 2 1 day park hoppers but those won't be upgradeable (at least I don't think they will be)

Probably not, free tix usually are coded as complimentary, so they have no value to upgrade from.

There's a "$30 off deluxe AP" promo going on right now, by the way. Just to add another idea.


If you get the 2 one day tix with the hotel, there's no $ value in that, but it means one more day on your AP, since it wouldn't "start" on that first day.

If you start on the 7th and he gets his admission pass for his b'day, yes those can be upgraded. So he'd be 69 ahead of the game on his AP, only paying 200 for his AP, right?

If you just buy the AP outright or upgrade from a hopper, you're spending 269 for each one. Then you get the funcard for him, and that is good towards merchandise (not food) so he could get some fun presents on that day! Looks like the one day one park is 69, and that is, from what I understand, the value of the fun card. 269-69 = 200 for his AP, sort of.

If you can swing by a Costco that is selling the APs then you're paying 269 but can then save $50 from your out of pocket cash on just about anything in the parks, and it can be spent on more than just the one day. So you buy that AP with the giftcard AND get the birthday fun card, and that's just fun...69 in merchandise, 50 in whatever! 269-69-50 = 150 for his AP, basically. AND the $50 gc for you, too.

And then there's the link above, giving you $30 more cash per person, and then the fun pass money. 269-30-50=189? for his AP and another 30 in spending money for you as well.

 

[bumbershoot]

Oh! More thoughts.

It's possible the Costco thing will be over by then, but if it IS still going on, since you're driving, if you get in early enough on Tuesday you could swing by the Fullerton or other close-by Costco and buy them.

I have the same problem with my upcoming day trip, b/c I will need to get to a San Diego Costco during that part of my trip to get the AP, and I hope they will still have them!

 

[pixiewings71]

I didn't know that about GAT Molly, Thank You! The only reason I would get the tickets from GAT is for the extra MM so I'll scratch that off my list.

Good point about the "free" day on our AP's with the comp tickets, I probably would have figured that out...eventually....lol So upgrade AFTER we use the free tickets.

I like your numbers on the last two deals, wowie!! Those would be GREAT deals on an AP!! I don't think we can make it to a Costco in time to get that deal though and I'm not wanting to drive hours to get to one that might have them. I think what looks best so far is the last option you posted, getting the AP for the $30 off and then getting the fun card for his birthday. We can still use the free passes for our first day in the parks and then activate our AP's on the second day so we can get one more day on them. OR, I will see what other freebies I may be able to get instead of the DL tickets (last time we had AP's so we got Best Buy gift cards worth $100), maybe we can take a side trip to Universal Studios. hmmmmmmmmm This is definitely helping....anyone else have any thoughts?

 

[mousefit]

I know if you have an AP and go on your birthday you can get other options like a gift card in the amount of a 1 day park ticket, or a birthday fastpass. You might want to look into that since you are going to get AP's. Don't forget to register online.

 

[pixiewings71]

We are all registered, I did that as soon as I heard about the promo. lol I love the new promo, I just wish all our birthday weren't on holidays or in the middle of the week. Not really easy to do a day trip when you're 6 hrs away. LOL

 

[azdisneylover]

If you stay onsite between January thru April for a minimum of 4 nights, you get a gift card for $150.00. You might want to see if you can work out your stay to get that. Have fun!

 

[pixiewings71]

If you stay onsite between January thru April for a minimum of 4 nights, you get a gift card for $150.00. You might want to see if you can work out your stay to get that. Have fun!

We will have a free hotel stay so no need to stay onsite. But thanks for that....perhaps a quick trip with the kids before April if over to get that perk!