Cheap Cheap Cheap! Disney on a dime PTR *Concluded

[Rubygoose]

I also love using our rewards cards. My favorite is a cash card it has no annual fee so no need to cancel and I can cash it in at any amount and use it to pay for any part of our trip without having to accumulate a certain amount of points like our airline card. We are thinking about a trip to California and doing Disney for about 2 or 3 of those days. Our trip would be more expensive then our trips to Disney World since we are on the east coast and our stay would be a little longer so we could see more of California this would be our first trip there! Looking forward to reading more about your plans. Linda

That's great that you can "cash out" whenever you want. I have a cash back card, but it's only 1% so the air miles are a better deal. And you don't have to just use them for flights, they have a lot of "dream" rewards to choose from. I got an email saying that I've achieved gold status, so now if I book a hotel, flight or car rental through them, I can get a discounted rate.

 

[Rubygoose]

I've been playing around with an itenerary and starting to develop a realistic budget. DH is adamant about not driving, so that's kind of throwing my planning for a loop. I shouldn't be surprised, since we never rent a car when we've been to DL, and whenever we travel by car we get lost. One time we accidently ended up at a border crossing because I took a nap and DH missed a turn. It doesn't help that our GPS tells us to turn the wrong way onto one way streets! We always joke that if we were on Amazing Race we'd not only lose, but we'd end up in the wrong country!

Anyways, here's the plan I've draftet. I'm not sure about exact dates, since that will depend on the flights which won't be posted for a few monhs. But I do know it will be shortly after christmas.

Day 0: drive or fly to Seattle
Day 1: fly from Seattle to SNA at 7 or 8am if possible, getting in before 11am. Sunny's Towncar to Legoland. (We love Sunny's, since he provides car seats and has similar rates to dingy old shared vans.) check in to hotel (maybe Legoland Hotel if in the budget!) and spend rest of day in park. Hopefully they run a 2 days for price of 1 deal. I think airmiles offers a % off deal at Legoland.
Day 2: spend most of day in Legoland, then head to DLR in the evening (using Sunny's again, or maybe GreyLine if the time is reasonable.) Check in to hotel - not sure which one yet!
Day 3: DL/DCA
Day 4: DL/DCA
Day 5: DL/DCA
Day 6: maybe morning at DL/DCA depending on time of flight back to Seattle and then drive or fly home to Victoria.

 

[Rubygoose]

Over the weekend I drafted a 'budget' for our trip. I estimated the cost of flying straight from Victoria instead of taking the ferry and spending the night in Seattle. I estimated airfare at about $1600, even with our companion fares. DH really wants to stay onsite, so I priced out PPH for 4 nights and Legoland hotel for 1 night. DH really doesn't want to drive, so I factored in Sunny's transportation to and from Legoland and back to the airport. I figured we'd have enough air miles for 2 adult 3day park hoppers and we'd pay cash for the kids and for legoland. The grand total estimate was $5000! Yikes! Way more than the $3000 I wanted to stick to. So, back to the ol drawing board.

The first thing I did was switch out Legoland hotel and Paradise Pier Hotel with BWPPI or Desert Inn and Suites. Free breakfast and WAY cheaper. I'd estimate about $1000 for 5 nights in December. I convinced DH that renting a car for 2 days, to get from the airport to Anaheim and then to Legoland the next day would be way cheaper and easier than any alternative option. Turns out the car will be about 580 air miles (FREE!) and then we'd just have to pay for gas and parking. The next way I figured to cut costs was to look closely at how I was utilizing my air miles. I discovered that park tickets are about the same amount of miles as a round trip flight from Victoria. That surprised me because a round trip flight is more than twice as much as 3 day hoppers when paying by cash. So, I figured DS and I can use the companion fare and DD and DH can travel on points (he has enough Alaska miles to fly one way.) It's just a matter of getting us all on the same flights! Cut down our airfare cost to about $700 total! Overall, I'm now looking at a total cost of $3000

 

[Rubygoose]

I put this pre-trip report on the back burner for a while. Guess I shouldn't have started it so early! Well, our companion codes have now expired and the dates we wanted hadn't posted in time to the Alaska Airlines webpage, so we haven't booked airfare yet. We canceled our Alaska Airlines master cards, since we didn't want to pay the annual fee , and we've been using our Air Miles credit cards for everything. The good news, though, is I've applied for the Alaska Airlines M/Cs again, and if we're approved we'll each get 25,000 bonus miles! So, it's looking like we could get airfare for all of us roundtrip from Victoria for just under $1000US by using one companion code, bonus miles, and the miles we have already.

Just before Christmas, DH and I decided that in 2014 we'd like to spend Christmas elsewhere. This really surprised me, because he loves Christmas, and I was worried that he wouldn't like the idea of being away for Christmas. So, now this makes it much less expensive when looking at airfare. So far, it looks like the best days to fly are Christmas eve and New year's eve (a day I didn't want to spend in the parks!) So, the plan will be to fly in on Christmas Eve, wake up in Disneyland on Christmas morning (how magical is that!) spend the next 5 days in Disneyland. Then we'll rent a car and drive down to Legoland on the 30th and stay at possibly splurge on the Legoland hotel, then drive back up to SNA or LGB the next day to fly home.

As far as hotels, we're now considering the Hilton next to the convention center. I don't think it's really walking distance, but the rate just can't be beat. For 6 nights it would be around $900 because they have a "stay 4 or more nights, get one free". DH still really wants to stay onsite, but I think we'll book this one and then if our bank accounts allow, we'll cancel the reservation and book DLH closer to our trip.

And my airmiles balance is currently at 5,634 miles! That's enough for 2 5-day park hoppers! Fingers crossed that we'll have enough miles by December to get all 4 of our hoppers with airmiles. Unfortunately, though, all of the Safeway grocery stores in our area are going to be sold, so I won't be able to get my bonus 100 miles for spending $100 on groceries

 

[ishbit92]

Step 1: Get a bunch of credit cards

DH and I are pretty both pretty good with money. Credit cards scare us a little bit, so we always pay them off right away. Neither of us are comfortable living beyond our means, so we are too terrified to go into debt. But after discovering all of the perks that different cards offer, we jumped on them.

In January of this year, I was chatting with a friend who is a retired teacher and she was telling me all about her upcoming trip to Hawaii and how her husband was flying round trip for $100. I begged her to tell me more! It is so expensive to fly out of Victoria, and we often end up taking the ferry to Vancouver to fly from there, which isn't cheap either. She explained that she has an Alaska Airlines Master Card which gives her one $100companion fare each year when she pays full price. So as soon as I got home, I looked into the card and applied for it. Not only did they offer the companion fare, but they also offered 25,000 bonus miles and no annual fee. So, Bryan and I both applied and in about 2 weeks we received our cards. We then used our combined 50,000 miles to book 4 one way trips from SNA to Victoria on July 23rd 2013 (you can read all about our July trip in my TR. The link's in my signature.) Our return trip cost us 12,500 miles + $5 for each of us. I'm not sure why it was only +$5 to come home, since it was +$45 in the other direction. So, now we were excited! DH starts saying "We're actually going to Disneyland again!" and then I reminded him, "Um... we're coming home from Disneyland. We haven't actually booked our flight TO Disneyland yet!" A week later, we found a reasonable flight with Air Canada, which was nowhere near as exciting as flying 2 adults and 2 children home for $20.

About 2 weeks after receiving our cards and redeeming all of our bonus points, we each got a letter in the mail from Alaska Airlines Master Card. The letter stated that there was a "technical error" on the website when we applied for our cards. The error was that there is a $75 annual fee for this card, not "no annual fee" as was listed on the website. The letter apologized for this error and said the fee would be waved for this year. DH and I jumped for joy at getting our 50,000 bonus points for free, and I was so glad that I had clicked onto that website on the right day!

Since we used our points for our July trip, we couldn't also use our companion fares. We still have those in our Alaska Airlines mileage plan accounts, and I'm pretty sure they are independent from the credit card (which I'm going to cancel soon. Too many cards in wallet are making me nervous!) So, the plan is, we'll use companion fares for the kids and DH and I will pay full fare. We've flown to Disneyland on several different airlines now, and I enjoy flying with Alaska Airlines. I like West Jet a tiny bit more because of the TV's in the seat backs, but until they offer a 'kids fly free" program (like the one we took advantage of in 2012) we'll stick with Alaska Air. A couple months ago, Alaska Airlines Master Card offered DH a "gold card" with 10,000 bonus miles and no fees this year, so he said "yes please!" So, I think we'll be sticking with Alaska Air for a little while now!


After reading on the Canadian side of the DIS about people using air miles to purchase park hoppers, I was more than a little intrigued! I kept getting junk mail from Air Miles addressed to the lady who used to live in my house, so I finally applied for an air miles points card. After a couple months, I accumulated a grand total of 7 air miles. Man, it was going to take me a long time to get to Disneyland at this rate! So, I looked into getting a BMO Airmiles card. No annual fee (an so far that's not a "technical error") and 500 bonus air miles for charging $200 before Oct 31st. So, DH and I each signed up and started using that as our dominant credit card. I'm going to cancel the Alaska Airlines card now, as long as they'll let me keep the companion code. Recently, Air Miles had a banner on their website offering their American Express card with 1,200 bonus miles, so DH and I are in the process of applying for that one too! We'll spend enough to get the bonus and then cancel the card next year when we have to pay the annual fee. With a 3day disneyland park hopper costing 2,160 miles for adults, we already have enough miles for 1 of us to get a free park hopper! By next winter, we'll have enough miles at least 2 adults 3-day hoppers, and maybe enough to get one of the kids passes for free (and then they other kid can stay home with Grandma and feed the cat! I joked that I'd go to Disneyland by myself without them and they both freaked out!)

I'd love to get the Chase Disney Visa, but so far, Canadians can't apply for it. Probably all for the best, as my wallet will burst at the seams with all of the plastic in it!

Thanks for this info! I have been considering getting an Alaska Airlines card, due to the companion fair you get every year & the miles that accumulate every time you use the card.

 

[Rubygoose]

Thanks for this info! I have been considering getting an Alaska Airlines card, due to the companion fair you get every year & the miles that accumulate every time you use the card.

If you fly with Alaska air then it's worth it to pay the $75 fee for the card and use it all of the time to rack up miles. However, just be aware that if you're using the companion code you earn miles but you can't redeem them. What you can do, though, is if you're a family of 3 or more, you can pay full fare for the card holder, companion fare for one other person and then points for a 3rd person. In our case, DH and I each get the card, one of us will pay full price and one of the kids will get the companion fare. Then using points we can potentially get one adult and one child return trips (because DH still has some miles he hasn't used yet.) The biggest downside of this rewards master card, though, is that you can only redeem Alaska Airlines miles for flights on Alaska Air and their partners, unlike AirMiles that can be redeemed for a lot of things (including parkhoppers, which I'm saving for.)

 

[Rubygoose]

I just purchased something pretty exciting that I thought my fellow Canadians might be interested in. It's a SiM card from Roam Mobility. So, now when I'm in the U.S. I just switch out the SIM from my smartphone (got Telus to unlock it for free. The guy kept trying to charge me $35 but I knew my rights in my prepaid agreement and told him what's what!) I'm so excited! I'll get a U.S. Phone number to keep and then each time I'm in the U.S. I just add the airtime for the number of days that I need. We're heading to Washington next month to go to Great Wolf Lodge, so it will come in handy. I'll probably get another SIM card when we go to DLR so DH can use it in my old phone. If you read my TR from July, you know that we've somehow managed 3 trips to DLR without cell service, and DH even found me at the top of the Omnibus without being able to text him my location. But, even though the Universe allways brings us together, it will be nice to be able to keep in touch. Oh, and I got the SIM from Staples, so I got Airmiles

 

[luulu1999]

I am following along...I don't know if you would be interested or not but we have decided on Park Vue Inn for our July Trip they have rooms with bunk beds which my kids will LOVE free parking a pretty good free breakfast (from what I have read) and its RIGHT across the street from Disneyland and for our July trip the rates were $149-$159 per night depending on the day...and so far when I use like hotels.com or any place like that park vue never comes up so I just had to go to parkvueinn.com

 

[awdsmama]

I'm planning to include all of the savings strategies that I'll be using, and hopefully that won't seem too tacky.

I see nothing tacky about sharing your savings and strategies on here!

We all know "Disney ain't cheap" (I hate the A word but it fit so well haha).

 

[wiigirl]

I see nothing tacky about sharing your savings and strategies on here!

We all know "Disney ain't cheap" (I hate the A word but it fit so well haha).

 

[Rubygoose]

It's been a while since I've posted anything on this PTR. We've had a lot of changes in our family in the last couple of months. First, in the beginning of February, our beloved Cat, Pat-The-Cat, died just a couple months shy of his 13th birthday. This really affected Gavin, who still mentions almost every day that he misses Pat . We had a little ceremony for him last weekend where we put his clay paw print (that the vet made for us) under a tree in the backyard where he liked to relax. I think it helped the kids get a bit of closure.

Also, in February, I got myself all signed up in a program to earn my Special education diploma. I was looking at doing the program through the University where I did my batchelors in education and it would start in September 2014. But then I found a better program about 2hrs away that is done in half the time and I can start in the summer term, which begins this April. Most of the classes are offered online, so I don't have to worry about the drive, but I'm also going to do a summer course and stay up at the university for 5 days in July. Pretty good to get an entire 3 credit class done in 5 straight days! My first class starts at the end of April and goes for 5 weeks online.

And this week DH got a new job as a director in a different ministry in the provincial government, with a significant pay increase! So we've decided that when we go to DLR in December we're going to upgrade our park hoppers to Deluxe APs! I figured out that by getting our passes with air miles and then upgrading, we will save money on a second trip! I'm not sure about what our dates will be, but if we go during blackout days in Dec, we can upgrade on our last day to APs to use for next time. I checked the proposed calendar for the kids school for 2014/2015 and it looks like they will have a proD day (kids get day off, teachers go to workshops) on Tuesday May 19th, which follows a holiday Monday here in Canada. So, if we take the Friday off and the Wednesday off, we'll be able to get a good little trip out of our APs! I'm hoping the onsite hotels will have a discount offered in May, and if not, I'll still get an AP discount of some sort.

At the beginning of March our Alaska Airlines Master cards arrived. Yes, the ones we calceled in January! Ha! They're different numbers, though, but they came with a companion code and 25,000 bonus miles each! It really seems silly to bother staying with them for next year, when I can easily cancel, start up again and receive 25,000 bonus miles again!

Tomorrow we're off to Great Wolf Lodge in Washington State for 2 days. We're all excited to get away for a couple days for spring break.

This afternoon the kids have their first skating recital! I'll post pics when we get home. Annie is a blue bird and Gavin is Spiderman. Should be cute!

 

[dedesmith32]

I'm loving your PTR! My family is planning a trip for December 2014 too but we are taking my kids out of school and going the second week of Dec! So excited!

 

[Rubygoose]

Ok, so a few things have changed since I last posted. DH is pretty sure that he won't be able to take time off at Christmas, so we started floating around the idea of going in August! I seem to recall that our July 2013 trip changed from a Dec 2013 trip too. It's just so much easier for me and the kids to travel in the summer. So, now we're looking at going from Thurs Aug 21- Thurs Aug 28th. I guess schools must start up in California in August, because the onsite hotel rates drop dramatically on Sunday August 24th. Since we've changed gears and are now thinking summer, we're looking at staying at Hojo's to make use of the water park.

I still haven't booked anything yet, since DH doesn't start his new job until next week, so he hasn't put in for the holiday time yet. Also, DS may need surgery (nothing complicated) but we'll find out that this Thursday afternoon. Fingers crossed that if he does need the surgery, it doesn't fall right in the middle of summer!

I've been studying Alaska Airlines and have found a way to get us all from Victoria to SNA and back for $950! Can't book it yet, because it's non refundable, but I'm hoping to book it on Thursday if the doc says no surgery for DS.

But even though we don't have anything booked yet, I went ahead and started working on t-shirts! I had a woman on etsy turn one of our ride photos into a cartoon drawing and she sent me the digital image. We're all going to have t-shirts with this image on the front, and then each of us will have a different lyric from Splash Mountain/Song of the South on the back of the shirt.

 

[Cheshirecatty]

What a fun idea---love the pic!

 

[wisegal]

Hi
Have you looked at jet blue to fly there? I'm from Vancouver am looking at flying my family of 4 to Disneyland in Oct. Jet blue from Seattle to long beach is coming in at just over $550 us. Including 1 bag free per person. That's the cheapest I've found.

 

[Rubygoose]

Hi
Have you looked at jet blue to fly there? I'm from Vancouver am looking at flying my family of 4 to Disneyland in Oct. Jet blue from Seattle to long beach is coming in at just over $550 us. Including 1 bag free per person. That's the cheapest I've found.

I've looked into flying from Seattle, but it doesn't end up saving us very much. If we were on the mainland then we would, but since we're on the island, it costs us $200 to take the ferry, whether it be the Coho, Clipper or BC Ferry. Plus, it takes us a good portion of the day to get there, so we'd have to travel the night before and stay in a hotel, which adds another $150, plus parking or taxi from the Clipper.

 

[Rubygoose]

Quick update: DS saw the specialist on Thursday and it turns out he won't be needing surgery! DH starts his new job tomorrowand will ask his new boss for time off in August some time this week. I told him not to ask on the first day. As soon as he gets approval, I'll book our flights! It's looking like we'll get all of us round trip from Victoria to SNA for about $900 by using our companion code for 2 and miles for 2.

 

[kaoden39]

Quick update: DS saw the specialist on Thursday and it turns out he won't be needing surgery! DH starts his new job tomorrowand will ask his new boss for time off in August some time this week. I told him not to ask on the first day. As soon as he gets approval, I'll book our flights! It's looking like we'll get all of us round trip from Victoria to SNA for about $900 by using our companion code for 2 and miles for 2.

That's fantastic! I am sure that his boss will be cool with it!

 

[wakica]

subbing in to your pretrippy!

I followed you from the August thread by clicking on the link in your signature.

Looks like things changed a LOT for you! HAHA Hope your able to stick with us in the August group for good now

 

[Rubygoose]

subbing in to your pretrippy!

I followed you from the August thread by clicking on the link in your signature.

Looks like things changed a LOT for you! HAHA Hope your able to stick with us in the August group for good now

I hope so too. Would have been nice to visit at Christmas time, but it sounds like that is the busiest time of the year to go. Plus, I can't remember a Christmas when there wasn't someone in our family who got sick. Last year we all gave eachother strep throat for Christmas .