Disney Pre-Planning - Spring Break 2009

[rszdtrvl]

Nothing is set in stone yet, as DH cannot request vacation time off until January.

Our current plan is very simple, and I doubt anything will change, except possibly hotel.

Plan :

March 28 - Saturday - PDX to SNA
Super Shuttle transfers to the hotel
Hotel will hopefully be Hojo - my son is anxious to hit the water park!
DL/DCA 4-day park hoppers ($184/pp)
4 Nights at the hotel
Return on April 1 - Wednesday

Lowest airfare I am getting right now is $1167 with Alaska Airlines. I am nervous about any "new" airline, as I don't want them to go belly up in 6 months. Plus we MUST have a non-stop flight as earlier this year I suffered from horrid motion sickness the entire vacation (although for next years trip I will be going to the doctor to get some heavy duty motion sickness meds!).

Do I need to have things set in stone to get the hotel on hold, or is there a charge for changing/canceling dates? And how do I go about the entertainment rate? Do I need to order the entertainment book?

As it is, I am 95% sure things won't change. My husband should be able to get the time off with no problem - especially if we have tickets and set vacation plans.

I have been able to get tentative quotes online, but not with the Hojo, as it is showing up unavailable - I can only price quote with other hotels - a tentative quote for what we want but at the Tropicana booked as a package deal through Disneyland travel is $2124.00 (there are 3 of us - 2 adults and a 12-year old child).

Any tips or hints for me? Earlier this year during Spring Break we had a package deal through Southwest. It worked out okay, but we really want a non-stop flight this time, and the "cattle call" seating was not very cool.

Thanks!

 

[avalon451]

PDX to SNA is going to be expensive, especially that time of year. Can you fly out of Seattle, and could you possibly go Thursday-Tuesday, instead? Or alternatively, go Mon (30th) to Thursday, also 104 each way.

Alaska will fly you Seattle-LGB for 104 each way on those dates. If you fly 2 days later, same flight will cost you $100 more.

That just seems way too steep for airfare, to me.

 

[rszdtrvl]

That may be something to look into. There is shuttle from LGB to the hotels, with supershuttle, right?

The flights I would be looking at are AS 542 and return on AS 543. Our total for 3 people is $687 after all taxes.

Is parking at SeaTac as awful as everyone makes it sound?? (The dates I am looking at are Mar 26-31). I am so afraid of parking in that area - the news always talks about how awful the parking is and how hard it is to find a spot.

At PDX you drive to the long term parking, park your car, take your luggage to a bus stop, and a bus takes you to the airport. No problems.

We could save a lot of $$ if we go from SeaTac.

 

[Brady's Mom]

You do not need the Ent. card to book Hojo. You can book with them and check to see if the ent. rate gets posted for your dates. There is no money needed up front, just a credit card to hold your reservation (this guarantees you get what you want) and you can cancel up to 48 hours in advance with no penalty.

By the time you go you could possibly get the Ent. card/book for a lot cheaper than you can right now. They will usually go on sale after a few months.

 

[avalon451]

That may be something to look into. There is shuttle from LGB to the hotels, with supershuttle, right?

The flights I would be looking at are AS 542 and return on AS 543. Our total for 3 people is $687 after all taxes.

Is parking at SeaTac as awful as everyone makes it sound?? (The dates I am looking at are Mar 26-31). I am so afraid of parking in that area - the news always talks about how awful the parking is and how hard it is to find a spot.

At PDX you drive to the long term parking, park your car, take your luggage to a bus stop, and a bus takes you to the airport. No problems.

We could save a lot of $$ if we go from SeaTac.

Naw, just use a long-term parking lot. We like Shuttle Park 2,http://www.shuttlepark2.com/index.htm they are very safe and reliable. It sounds like the same kind of thing as your long term parking, except that their lot is out on Hwy 99, about 5 minutes' bus ride away.

Be sure and google 'shuttelpark2 coupon' before you go. They're not offering any right now, but frequently they've got pretty good coupons.

Hope that helps!