gelatoni fan
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 18, 2018
We were slightly spoiled after staying at PPH. I'd stayed at Ramada Maingate and didn't like the crowds coming and going on Harbor. Now we either stay onsite or we day trip.
That being said, I've never actually attempted sleeping in cheaper state and flying into SNA because we're in CA already.
If I lived outside CA I might do something like stay in Vegas ($0 with points), fly for an hour into SNA ($0 with Southwest miles) and go to DL for the day. Then I'd come back, see the shows in Vegas and fly home.
If we're going to spend money, we're going to stay onsite, otherwise we're gonna do something crazy and do it for free with points and miles.
It wouldn't be right to think of a flight booked using Southwest points as costing $0 and it's not just because of the $5.6 of fees you have to pay. Southwest points don't expire so you can always use them to pay for another Southwest flight. If you're traveling with more than one person, you're going to wipe out any potential cost savings by commuting from Vegas. Even if you get 100% free comped stay, once you have two people worth of flights and ground transportation, it's cheaper to stay near Disneyland. For anyone other than a solo traveler, you'll need comped airfare for it to even make mathematical financial sense and anyone who gambles enough to earn that will have the finances to afford a hotel near Disneyland.
A more likely scenario is to add in a layover at LAX on an international itinerary to stop by Disneyland without paying for a hotel. On my recent trip to Japan, it was cheaper to arrive in LAX and book a separate Southwest Airlines ticket back home than to fly back directly. Theoretically, I could have spent a day at Disneyland if I wanted to.