Can I get help figuring out our trip?

[Lavender_and_Roses]

I'm sure that my questions have been asked a million times, but this site is so large and all my searches keep returning many more threads than I can possibly read through. I apologize in advance if it is annoying to anyone.

I live in SoCal but have never been to Disney. My family has actually never had a vacation at all. We have a huge number of Hilton reward points, however, and are wanting to use them for a nice long trip prior to my husband's upcoming 4th deployment. While we do have the money to pay for a more extravagant trip, we are very frugal and want to keep our trip expenses to the minimum. I'm sure it will still be at least $1000, however, to include tickets and probably more.

We are a family of 5. My youngest is 3 1/2 and my oldest will have just turned 8.

So my first question is where to stay. I know that there is a Hilton across the street from the park, but we were instead thinking of staying at the one in Orange. The one in Orange is suites (including a microwave and many fridge) plus we'd get 5 free nights out of our points and only 4 at the Hilton across the street. There is a shuttle to the park but we would need to pay a total of $11 each day for it's unlimited use. The hotel parking charge is lower, however. Having a suite will enable us to each some meals in our room rather than pay at the park or at a restaurant. Has anyone stayed at this hotel? Any opinions on if this is the right route to go?

I was thinking we should get the SoCal resident select pass since it would cost the same really and we could go back again within the year. We do live close enough we could drive for a day trip, maybe an hour away. We have lived here for 5 years and own a home, but we are still residents of another state and hold driver's licenses for that state. I have read things about the SoCal pass requiring a state ID to be able to use it. Does anyone know?

I know there are a lot of extras that a very fun to experience. I do have a daughter who loves princesses. I have also heard a lot about the character breakfasts. Which extras do you feel are the best, and how much do they cost?

We aren't really souvenir people but I've been told that my kids might like to do pin trading or an autograph book. Can anyone tell me about these and anything else like this I should consider?

Anything else I should know or look into?

Thank you so much. This is a big deal for us to spend money on this trip and I want to make it magical for my kids. My husband is gone so much we've never gotten to do anything really fun with him.

 

[AmericanItGirl]

Advocating for getting the passes:
Having grown up in Orange County with a dad who worked a lot, the one thing my family did have was annual passes, which was a godsend as far as my mom was concerned because she would take us kids to DL as a relatively inexpensive treat when all of our friends were off on "real" vacations (my mom had no desire to do full-blown vacations alone with 3 kids). We always packed our lunch and never did any extras (all souvenirs were bought by us kids with our allowance/gift money), so I personally don't feel that those are necessary, but those day trips were some of the best memories I had of growing up.

I would look to see if a lease/mortgage payment or a utility bill would suffice for the residency requirement.

 

[mommy2allyandaveri]

I don't live in SoCal and I've never stayed at the Hilton so I can't help you there.

I think you might be referring to the Bibity Bobity Boutique, it's great for girls that enjoy playing princess dress up. We chose the $50 package which includes hair, makeup, nails and sash. We brought our own princess dresses. Here's a pick:

Character meals are really fun but can be pricey.

For breakfast your choices are:

Minnie and Friends - In the Park
Goofy's Kitchen - At DLH
Surf's Up Breakfast - At PPH
Storytellers Cafe (Woodsy Characters) - at the GCH

Minnie and Friends is our favorite!

 

[AmericanItGirl]

Advocating for getting the passes:
Having grown up in Orange County with a dad who worked a lot, the one thing my family did have was annual passes, which was a godsend as far as my mom was concerned because she would take us kids to DL as a relatively inexpensive treat when all of our friends were off on "real" vacations (my mom had no desire to do full-blown vacations alone with 3 kids). We always packed our lunch and never did any extras (all souvenirs were bought by us kids with our allowance/gift money), so I personally don't feel that those are necessary, but those day trips were some of the best memories I had of growing up.

I would look to see if a lease/mortgage payment or a utility bill would suffice for the residency requirement.

 

[amamax2]

Hi,

I don't know about the Hilton in Orange, but there is a Hampton Inn much closer, next to the Embassy Suites on Harbor, that also has suites with kitchens, plus free breakfast in the morning. Hampton Inns are part of the Hilton family and this one is the same number of points per night as the Hilton Orange. I'm not sure, but parking might be free at the hotel for Hilton Honors members.

They are on the ART line for a shuttle - the cost of 5 day passes is $4 per child and $16 per adult - or you could drive your car - I believe it is $12 for parking at Mickey and Friends. We have gotten the passes at the hotel front desk, or you can order on-line and have them delivered to the hotel.

Definitely get the So Cal Select passes if you can - just watch the block out days - and use the discounts. They aren't much, but every bit adds up.

We did autograph books one year - my kids weren't into them - but on our recent trip to WDW surprisingly my DS wanted autographs from the character breakfasts! I printed off cards from the Creative DISigns board here - also made T-shirts from DISigns that we all loved and was super cheap - much better than buying souvenirs.

Get first visit buttons at City Hall.

And then just relax, take your time, and enjoy every minute.

 

[Lavender_and_Roses]

Thanks for all the comments, it is all very helpful.

amamax2 thanks for the Hampton suggestion. For some reason it did not come up for me as an option when I had done my search through the honors site, but I see it is available. Well, firework view ones are but we are diamond members so I'd hope they'd give us that.

I am very excited!

 

[HydroGuy]

You can but regular park passes and then upgrade. The advantage is if they are 3+ day passes you get one Magic Morning plus you have no blockouts on those passes. Right now Disney is doing 5 days for the price of 3 days passes. Think about it!

 

[GrandBob]

amamax2 thanks for the Hampton suggestion. For some reason it did not come up for me as an option when I had done my search through the honors site, but I see it is available. Well, firework view ones are but we are diamond members so I'd hope they'd give us that.

Your HHonors points will also get you into Embassy Suites. I've heard very good things about Embassy Suites South; plus you get the free hot breakfast.

If your little princess is so into princesses, you may want to consider doing a lunch or dinner at Ariel's Grotto.

I don't know the answer to your SoCal ID problem. But if I were you, I'd call Disney and ask. They may allow you to get them with a copy of a utility bill or something.

-Bob

 

[GrandBob]

BTW, since you have Hilton Diamond status, you do know about the HHonors VIP awards, right? They're available to silver and above, and they make better use of your points for stays of 4 nights or longer. But you can't book VIP online -- you have to call in to get that award.

They changed the program this January, requiring more points for long stays. At the same time, they took most of the information about VIP awards off their web site. They used to publish the award level points, but those are not there any more. But a longtime member of the Hilton board of Timeshare Users Group archived it and posted a link. Take a look at

http://members.aceweb.com/larryu/files/2010RewardChart_V1_9-25-2009.pdf

HTH,
Bob

 

[Lavender_and_Roses]

You can but regular park passes and then upgrade. The advantage is if they are 3+ day passes you get one Magic Morning plus you have no blockouts on those passes. Right now Disney is doing 5 days for the price of 3 days passes. Think about it!

What do you have to do to upgrade?

 

[Lavender_and_Roses]

Your HHonors points will also get you into Embassy Suites. I've heard very good things about Embassy Suites South; plus you get the free hot breakfast.

If your little princess is so into princesses, you may want to consider doing a lunch or dinner at Ariel's Grotto.

I don't know the answer to your SoCal ID problem. But if I were you, I'd call Disney and ask. They may allow you to get them with a copy of a utility bill or something.

-Bob

The problem with Embassy Suites is that it is a level 6 and we fall just short of enough points for 5 nights. We have just over 188,000 points.

I was thinking about Ariel's Grotto, I wasn't sure if that or a different breakfast would be the best.

BTW, since you have Hilton Diamond status, you do know about the HHonors VIP awards, right? They're available to silver and above, and they make better use of your points for stays of 4 nights or longer. But you can't book VIP online -- you have to call in to get that award.

They changed the program this January, requiring more points for long stays. At the same time, they took most of the information about VIP awards off their web site. They used to publish the award level points, but those are not there any more. But a longtime member of the Hilton board of Timeshare Users Group archived it and posted a link. Take a look at


HTH,
Bob

The point levels on this chart is different than what I've seen. I've seen 35,000 per night at a class 5 and 40,000 at a class 6. Are these numbers accurate or are they out of date?

 

[GrandBob]

The point levels on this chart is different than what I've seen. I've seen 35,000 per night at a class 5 and 40,000 at a class 6. Are these numbers accurate or are they out of date?

The numbers you're quoting are the normal HHonors rates, where you can stay as few as one night, book online, and any HHonors member can book it.

The VIP awards are available only to Silver and above, and only on the phone. You'll need to ask the Hilton agent for a VIP award. The codes used to start with "GLON". Right now, I have two booked -- a GLON2 for six nights in DC, and a GLONP07 for seven nights in New York. I don't recall the code for 5 nights. But those were last year's codes, before they changed it. Just ask for the VIP awards. The agent should know what you're talking about.

You should be able to book 5 nights in a category 6 (e.g. Embassy Suites) for a total of 160,000 points.

HTH,
Bob

ETA - This is where they talk about VIP awards. This page used to have the chart that I linked above, but now they just give point ranges.

 

[3Minnies1Mickey]

What do you have to do to upgrade?

To upgrade you take your valid pass to the AP center and pay the difference. You have to do it on or before the last day of your pass. You will need your PHs, IDs, and proof of residency for SoCal passes (I'm pretty sure they will accept a mortgage or utility statement for this). But here is what you want to look at before upgrading:

1. Block out days: you can upgrade on a block out day, but don't upgrade before one on your trip. Ex: if you have block out days Sat & Sun of your trip, you can upgrade Sunday but don't upgrade saturday because your pass will be blocked sunday.

2. Use your MM on your pass first. They are available Tues, Thurs, Sat, Sun.

3. After utilizing the above 2, UPGRADE. That way you can utilize the discounts on food in the parks, including character dining.

 

[Lavender_and_Roses]

Wow, you guys are an amazing wealth of information. PLEASE keep it coming. I know nothing about Disney, lol.

 

[GrandBob]

Also, if you're short of points, they have an exchange program with several airlines where you can exchange airline miles for points (1 mile = 2 HHonors points). See

http://hhonors1.hilton.com/en_US/hh/points/milesforpoints.do

 

[DisneyJewel]

you mentioned deployment. If so, check w/ your base store, because they often have amazing ticket deals for military families. (SOrry if I'm repeating info!)

I'm sure that my questions have been asked a million times, but this site is so large and all my searches keep returning many more threads than I can possibly read through. I apologize in advance if it is annoying to anyone.

I live in SoCal but have never been to Disney. My family has actually never had a vacation at all. We have a huge number of Hilton reward points, however, and are wanting to use them for a nice long trip prior to my husband's upcoming 4th deployment. While we do have the money to pay for a more extravagant trip, we are very frugal and want to keep our trip expenses to the minimum. I'm sure it will still be at least $1000, however, to include tickets and probably more.

We are a family of 5. My youngest is 3 1/2 and my oldest will have just turned 8.

So my first question is where to stay. I know that there is a Hilton across the street from the park, but we were instead thinking of staying at the one in Orange. The one in Orange is suites (including a microwave and many fridge) plus we'd get 5 free nights out of our points and only 4 at the Hilton across the street. There is a shuttle to the park but we would need to pay a total of $11 each day for it's unlimited use. The hotel parking charge is lower, however. Having a suite will enable us to each some meals in our room rather than pay at the park or at a restaurant. Has anyone stayed at this hotel? Any opinions on if this is the right route to go?

I was thinking we should get the SoCal resident select pass since it would cost the same really and we could go back again within the year. We do live close enough we could drive for a day trip, maybe an hour away. We have lived here for 5 years and own a home, but we are still residents of another state and hold driver's licenses for that state. I have read things about the SoCal pass requiring a state ID to be able to use it. Does anyone know?

I know there are a lot of extras that a very fun to experience. I do have a daughter who loves princesses. I have also heard a lot about the character breakfasts. Which extras do you feel are the best, and how much do they cost?

We aren't really souvenir people but I've been told that my kids might like to do pin trading or an autograph book. Can anyone tell me about these and anything else like this I should consider?

Anything else I should know or look into?

Thank you so much. This is a big deal for us to spend money on this trip and I want to make it magical for my kids. My husband is gone so much we've never gotten to do anything really fun with him.

 

[Lavender_and_Roses]

you mentioned deployment. If so, check w/ your base store, because they often have amazing ticket deals for military families. (SOrry if I'm repeating info!)

Disneyworld yes, with DL it only saves a few dollars, like $4 or so. If I can get the buy 3 get 5 deal there I will and then upgrade to the SoCal pass later at the park.

 

[lorasmom]

I would look to see if a lease/mortgage payment or a utility bill would suffice for the residency requirement.

We just relocated here from FL, and have not gotten new DL's yet - I used a utility bill, and had no trouble

 

[GrandBob]

Another thought. As I said, by using HHonors VIP awards, you could get 5 nights at the category 6 Embassy Suites. But if you like the Hampton Suites, which is category 5, your points could get you 7 nights there (using VIP, it would cost 183,750 points).

While that would be longer than you might want to spend at Disney (though I'm sure longtime DISboard members would tell me to bite my tongue), you could spend the extra days doing other activities. A day at the beach at Newport Beach would be nice. Legoland is about an hour away. San Diego and its zoo is about an hour and a half. Wild Animal Park just a little closer.

-Bob

ETA: Actually, you can get 6 nights at Embassy Suites for 180,000 points. I think that's the option I would take, in your shoes. I just noticed that Hampton includes regular rooms, which is probably what you'd get for an HHonors stay. Embassy is all suites. I think your family would be more comfortable there. And by an anomaly of the way the VIP points chart is structured, that 6th night only costs you 20,000 more points.

 

[Lavender_and_Roses]

We just relocated here from FL, and have not gotten new DL's yet - I used a utility bill, and had no trouble

Wonderful thanks!

Another thought. As I said, by using HHonors VIP awards, you could get 5 nights at the category 6 Embassy Suites. But if you like the Hampton Suites, which is category 5, your points could get you 7 nights there (using VIP, it would cost 183,750 points).

While that would be longer than you might want to spend at Disney (though I'm sure longtime DISboard members would tell me to bite my tongue), you could spend the extra days doing other activities. A day at the beach at Newport Beach would be nice. Legoland is about an hour away. San Diego and its zoo is about an hour and a half. Wild Animal Park just a little closer.

-Bob

I think we might stay 6 nights at the Homewood Suites. The reviews are excellent and it includes both breakfast and dinner. As for visiting other places, we do live in SoCal so we can just drive to those place any other day. I want to make our trip to Disney very special and memorable for all.