Cost Conscious Canadian from BC Nov 2014 Pre Trip Report

[JCricketismyfav]

I'm planning our 4th family trip to DL November 11 - 15. It'll be just 3 of us:
DH 55, myself 54, DD 16. The older married kids aren't coming. The Christmas stuff will be up!!!

FLIGHTS:
I've been watching Alaska Airlines (AA) for flight sales even checking their website everyday! I know someone who goes to DL 3-4 times a year and always get great deals and this is what she does. However, I ended up getting an email from AA and they had some great deals. So we booked Nov 11 SEA - SNA for $89 each way. It works out to $528 USD for 3 return flights from Seattle. SNA is closer time wise than LAX especially during high traffic hours and we love getting in DL ASAP. SEA - LAX was $79 one way so it could have been cheaper. Apparently, you can even take the ART from SNA to DL but we'll probably take a shuttle van.

DL TICKETS
I so glad I read Ruby Goose's PTR as it saved us $600. By using my Air Miles (AM), I can get 2 5-day Park Hopper Passes for free! It'll cost me 4700 AM but I'm saving $600. I thought you couldn't get DL passes anymore but they are under the Parks/Attraction section not the Travel section.

HOTEL
We like to stay within walking distance and don't really feel a free breakfast is needed. I like to use the website accommodations near disney which hotels and there is an overlay for restaurants. I checked online with their prices and then phoned each one as recommended by my friend Dorothy who absolutely loves DL. I reserved 5 hotels. I made up a spreadsheet of the hotels different prices with a Notes section. This is important because BWPPI has a 72 hour cancellation policy whereas everyone else has a 48 hour and other important things you don't want to forget can be noted there.

Right now it looks like we are staying at BWPPI. It's right across from the entrance to DL and it has a good breakfast which starts at 6:30. We want to be in line by 7:10ish. But we're are keeping an eye on HoJos if they have a Super Family Rate.

ADVICE NEEDED
1) Any ideas on how to save money on hotels? I'm thinking of signing up for Best Western rewards but I don't know if it's worth it.

2) Gluten/Dairy Free suggestions in DL and the surrounding area?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[GatorChris]

You can sign up for Orbitz rewards on their website. They'll often offer 10-20% discounts on the Harbor Blvd hotels. You might try the Desert Palms Suites so that you can have your own are vs your teenage daughter.

 

[SweetAlex]

Hello Fellow BCer! Looks like you've done a great job in hunting for the best prices so far. I didn't know about using AM for tickets... bummer! We've already purchased ours for our December trip so no turning back now. Kudos for flying out of SEA. We did that too back when we lived in Langley. We saved a TON and didn't mind the extra driving. Are you doing a sleep-park-fly with one of the nearby airport hotels? Often they are cheaper than paying for parking alone.

For your hotel, do you regularly watch the travel sites, such as Expedia? I found great deals on here for our last trips. For this trip, I ended up using a travel agent because she magically found everything cheaper than I could. We got great rates flying out of Spokane to SNA and a fantastic rate at the Fairmont across the street. Have you looked into using your Save-On points (if you collect them)? You can often get gift cards for BW and a few other hotels. We used one we got through SOM points last time around, saving us $100.

I think Disney has so many different food options that you'll be able to find gluten free foods most places. Others may be better suited to help with this one.

ETA: A huge cost saver for us (we learned the hard way after spending way too much on drinks in the parks the first time) was to bring a bunch of those drink crystals on the go packets, such as Crystal Light or Nestea. The water in DLR is really really awful (especially compared to the delicious water on the BC west coast) and we could barely drink it plain, hence all the money spent on bottled water/drinks. So the second time around, we brought 2 reusable water bottles in with us each day and filled them up at the water fountains available and used a packet of drink crystals each time. This made for MUCH more drinkable water and no more spending a small fortune on drinks all day.

Have a great time!

 

[gottalovepluto]

2) GF/Dairy free: At Disneyland/DCA ask the waitstaff. Specifically for sit down locations notify your server at the beginning and the chef will come out and talk you through what items are available to you on the menu and anything special off the menu items they have/can make. It makes you feel really special! (Blue Bayou has gluten free rolls, and the chef once whipped up a special sauce when nothing on the menu fit the bill for our dietary needs!) We have less experience at the counter service locations, but be aware that there are gluten free buns, waffles and pancakes upon request. Fyi these items take a bit longer to prepare.

Honestly, our DL vacation was the most allergy-friendly trip we'd ever taken.

A cost-saving tip when eating in park: split meals. A lot of the meals at counter service can be big and if you have light appetites at any time look around at what other people have ordered to see if there is anything people in your party might like to split.

 

[Butterfly123]

We signed up for BW Rewards. It's free, so I didn't see any downsides. We have AAA and earn points slightly faster. Last trip we had $87 dollars off our trip when we cashed out our points from a previous trip. Didn't have enough for a free night, and I'm not even sure how that would work with BWPPI. So you would earn points this trip, but they wouldn't help you until your next stay at a BW.

This summer we earned a free nights stay at a BW hotel that we need to use by January. You just have to remember if you want to cash out your points for a BW giftcard do it a few weeks before your vacation so it comes in the mail before you leave. In this day and age don't know why you can't do it electronically, but that's the way they do it.

 

[Phoenixrising]

If you have BCAA or the equivalent, BWPPI does have a discount for members. I can recommend BWPPI, as I stayed there in Nov/13. The rooms were large, the breakfast basic, but good and really loved the closeness to the parks.

 

[lizabu]

I'm not sure how you feel about credit cards but there are a few hotel chains that give you rewards points just for getting their credit card. It can often be enough points for a free night or two.

Another option is using something like priceline name your own price. I remember seeing a web forum where people were discussing which hotels were in the disneyland area and they had the hotels broken down by stars. So for example if you bid on a 4 star hotel they listed the possible 4 stars you would end up with.

 

[MICKEYFIL]

BC residents here as well and we will be down in November on the 8th till the 12th.

I would agree wiith the earlier point about Save on more rewards points. For 25,000 points you can get $100 towards an alaska air vacation. The downside is you need to book the flight and hotel through them.

Saving moey on hotels:
This is our third trip down and each time we have stayed on points at the sheraton park hotel using our American Express Starwood. If you just collect points through their members card when you stay at their hotels, they don't add up at all. However, they add up fast on the card and you can contact their support staff to get club level rooms, which includes free breakfest.