Disneyland on the cheap

[Lenae]

Hi, I'm new here. My husband and I are planning on taking our kids to Disneyland in two years, and I'm starting to save money now. I have a couple of questions.

Is going in the off season a good idea? Why or why not?
Staying on site... is it all that it's cracked up to be?
Family of four, what could we expect our costs to look like, off site vs. on site, off season vs. on season.

I've been to Disneyland a few times. I was 5 years old the first time I went, and it was pure magic for me. We stayed off site and did everything as inexpensive as we could, and I never knew any differently. That's why I'm sort of leaning towards doing it cheaply. However, I know a lot of things have changed in the last 20 years, and if it is really worth it to spend the extra money and get all the extras, then my husband and I will definitely consider it. We live on a remote island in Alaska, and our flights are going to cost an arm and a leg as it is, so if we could keep it relatively inexpensive, that would be ideal. However, I don't want to feel like I cheated my kids out of the whole experience, you know?

Okay, enough rambling from me. What do all of you knowledgable Disneyland people think?

 

[croppincolburn]

Since DL is in the middle of the city they have "Good Neighbor" hotel that are cheaper yet included in Disney's packages. You can play around on DL's site to see what their prices are.

You can also get hotel deals through an Entertainment book. They sell one for British Columbia. Some people on this forum can get you more info on that.

Off season is usually preferable but some times shows or entertainment will be not be running. Also more rides will be closed for refurbishment. You will have much shorter lines.

 

[awdsmama]

Check out Howard Johnson's entertainment card rate. It is so worth buying the Ent. book/card to get this discount.
http://www.boards.hojoanaheim.com/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=14

That right there can save you hundreds of dollars and they have an amazing water/pool area for kids: http://www.hojoanaheim.com/what-you-get/castaway-cove

I would rather save $$$ by staying off site and stay more days or buy more treats and souveniers!

 

[raftislander]

With flights from Alaska for four mixed in, I am not sure that it is possible for you to ever do a "cheap" trip to DL, but you can have a great time -trying to be frugal- and your kids will not know the difference. You do not say how old your kids are but I will assume that they are both under 9. First look at the cost of multi day passes. You will see that the cost per day drops with each additional day on the pass. So figure out how many days you want in the parks. I would suggest four days. Sometimes Alaska Air has kids fly free promotions with their Disneyland packages. You will have to do the math to see if this is a deal for you or not but I would think that it might be a substantial savings. Their packages have both on-site and off-site options for lodging. No on-site option will be cheap and you can stay off- site and be very close to parks and sometimes get a free breakfast thrown into the mix. Whether you do an Alaska package or not, I would plan to stay offsite to keep costs down. You want a hotel where you can walk to the parks. Many advertise that they are “one block” to the parks, but they are several blocks away from the pedestrian entrance. Here is a great link marking the pedestrian entrance http://www.accommodationsneardisney.com/Disneyland/default.asp You want to be close to that, so stay inside the green area if you can. If you end up booking your deal outside of a package, the Howard Johnson's has great "reto rates" if you have an entertainment card here is the link http://www.boards.hojoanaheim.com/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=14 These rates are fabulous if you can get them but come and go very quickly and may not work for you with more long range planning.
Food portions are large at parks. Think about sharing meals. Don’t order soda- ask for free ice water and use Crystal Light/Lipton flavor packs. If your hotel does not have a free breakfast, try to get a room with a refrigerator so you can keep a few supplies in room for breakfasts/snacks. Eat out side the parks for some meals- there are Subways and inexpensive places to grab food and take it back to parks or to hotel. Share treats inside the parks. If you buy a treat every day, be it a churro, a dole whip, or popcorn for everyone to share, your kids will feel like they are getting treats all the time but you are not breaking the bank. A bag of beignets from Ralph Brennans is also a great treat to share.
There is so much to do in the parks that your kids will not feel deprived if you do nothing else but get them there. But if you want ways to add extra magic without breaking the bank, here are a couple of ideas. Bring light up/glow necklaces or headpieces, bought at dollar store, for kids to wear while waiting for nighttime parade/fireworks. If you have a little princess- pack a princess dress ( check out thrift stores in early October for Halloween costumes) and some glitter. Do up her hair, add glitter, some lip gloss and let her be a princess in the parks. Can do same for a boy with pirate attire. No need to spend fortune at Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique. You’ll find tons of other ideas on these boards. Check out the design boards for ideas on making shirts, autograph books and other things at home.
Off season can be tons of fun with short wait times. You might have some closures for refurbishments. I would try to pick a time of year where your kids might be able to get some pool time in which in So Cal doesn’t eliminate much of the year.

You should be able to find a close hotel room between $80 -$120 a night for your family depending on the time of year you travel and the amenities at the hotel. I realy Like the Candy Cane Inn which has discounts for AAA. Have Fun !

 

[kirstie101]

Everyone here gave you good tips so far. Hydroguy has a sticky I believe about high and low season. Hopefully someone will post a link to it. If I find it I'll come back and post it.

I just wanted to add that you asked if you'd be cheating your kids out of the experience if you didnt stay onsite. While many people will tell you how much they love staying onsite, I will say that as a child I always stayed off site and it didn't even occur to me that I was missing out on anything. Just being on a trip away from home, and using a hotel pool was part of the fun for us! Now that I have kids of my own, we always stay off site. For us it doesn't take anything away from our trip.
I did stay onsite when I was in college and it was lots of fun and I'd love to do it again if money was no object. But for us, offsite is just as much fun and so much more affordable.

 

[Lenae]

Thanks for the responses everyone! I've been checking out some of the hotels off site, and I think that's how we're going to do it. And thanks for the tip about Alaska Airlines having Disney packages, I didn't even know they did that. My kids will be 4-5 and 6-7 depending on what time of the year we plan to go. The child ticket is age 3-9, right?

We hope to be able to go back more than once, so I'm hoping with the kids still being this young, they won't know the difference between off site and on. I love the idea of bringing a costume for the kids to wear, I think that would definitely be fun for them. You guys are just so full of good ideas! I'll try scanning the site for more answers to my questions, as I'm sure you all get tired of answering the same questions over and over again. Thanks!

Oh, one quick question; these hotels near the park, do they have the free shuttle to and from the airport?

 

[starshine514]

I love going in the off-season, but (as Hydroguy points out in his thread http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2458306&highlight=low+season) there are tradeoffs. The biggest one is refurbishments, there will be some in the off-season. Nighttime entertainment usually isn't too big of a deal, since every weekend is considered high season for entertainment purposes (so just be sure to include a weekend day in your visit). Hotels are cheaper in the off-season and crowds are lower (allowing you to get a lot done without wearing yourself ragged). Character meals (if that's something you decide to do) are also cheaper in the off-season.

I'm definitely an off-site person. I must admit, I haven't stayed onsite at DLR, but I have at WDW and was unimpressed. . Book a refundable hotel early, or book the Hojo retro rate if it's available. Keeping checking back, as some hotel rates dip at times.

I don't know of any hotels that offer a free airport shuttle, but someone else here might.

 

[heatherleigh]

I have a friend who lives on the Pribilof Islands, so I know how pricey airfare can be- just traveling to ANC.

We love to stay on-site, but we are probably doing it mainly for ourselves, rather than our kids. My kids wouldn't care if we stayed off campus. I suggest you stay a week, since you are traveling so far. I also recommend going during the off-season for two reasons: low crowds and prices. Even with a couple refurbishments, it will not diminish from your experience since there is so much to do.

I'd look into PFD specials a little closer to fall time when they come out. That will probably be the best deal for airfare.

 

[3Minnies1Mickey]

I don't know of any close hotels that have free airport shuttles, but there are several options for a fee. I drive so I can't give specifics, but others can.

 

[raftislander]

Oh, one quick question; these hotels near the park, do they have the free shuttle to and from the airport?

I do not know of any hotels that have free airport shuttles. If you fly into Orange County/Santa Ana/John Wayne airport the cost of a cab is about the same as the cost of a SuperShuttle for four. If you fly into LAX you should rent a car or take a shuttle. Be sure to read Hydroguy's tips about hotel location. With little ones it is nice to be able to get back to you hotel quickly for naps, change of clothes, swim etc.

 

[lizabu]

If you collect Starwood points there are 2 Sheratons that are really close too. I booked our hotel room free on points.

 

[RedRosie]

We stay offsite at Desert Inn and Suites and love it. It is right at the pedestrian entrance so super close. When we book about 4 months in advance, we get a room with 4 queens for $100. From the balcony, the kids can easily see Tower of Terror and can watch fireworks from the roof patio. They think they are onsite.

I HATE to buy snacks in the park. So expensive! But to make it fun, I use a lot of stuff from the DISign boards. There are beautiful things readily available and lots of people will personalize. They are amazing folks! I print the images on shipping labels and put them on baggies. Or print on white strips of paper and use for labels on water bottles. My kids love to get their snacks out throughout the day and see what they get next. I even themed each day depending on where we were going (star wars baggies for the morning at Star Tours, etc.). And they loved their personalized water bottles. It made them drink much more water then they normally would have.

Dollar store and Target dollar bins have lots of fun things too to use as gifts/toys each day.

Good luck! Half the fun is planning!

 

[Geemo]

I was once told the word "cheap" should never be in the same sentence as the name "Disney"....

This web site will give you plenty of help planning. You are doing the right thing by planning now. You and your family will have a fine trip.

 

[californiamomof4grls]

I think DL on a budget is very doable! There is a grocery store Vons that will deliver to your hotel. You should be able to do it from Alaska I remember people from Canada saying that they did. I don't buy breakfast at all our whole trip. We eat in the hotel while we are getting ready. Granted I have 5 little girls so getting ready for me may take a little longer then most! But it's cost effective. We do instant Oatmeal, muffins yogurt. We bring all of our drinks in to the park and store under our stroller. Most hotels come with a refrigerator and microwave. We bring snacks in for the kids too. So that we aren't stopping every few minutes. That being said we still buy in the parks. If you are staying off season. I would do lunch in the park and dinner out side the park on Harbor.
Hotels can be tricky yes you want the magic of Disney by staying at one of the onsite hotels. But you also have to figure out how long will you be in your room. With the money you save from hotel costs what things can you add to your trip to increase the magic, A character dinning? Shopping in the park? Pictures at the Character dinning pictures? Snacks in the park? It's all trade offs when you are doing DL on a budget. :good vibes:
Since you are planning ahead look out for the flight deals I haven't seen it in awhile but some times Alaska does kids fly free. Someone else might now if there are different times of the year that airfare may go on sale. There is also a bus called the Disney Express that will get you from the hotel and bring you back to the airport for a fee. I think it's about 13 dollars one way.
Have fun Disney planning! Oh and I second the idea about DISign boards! AWESOME!

 

[mabdallah]

We are going to DL this July and we are trying to save money too.
One way that I chose was to pack a box an mail it down ahead of time.
In this box I am starting to pu:
garbage bags
plastic bowl, cups, plates, & utinsils
purex sheets
granola bars
glow sticks
plastic baggies
popcorn
crystal light
etc.. anything that I can buy ahead of time with coupons or at places like the dollar store.
We are also packing a princess dress, crown and I will be doing her hair... someone mentioned above that its cheeper than paying the prices at the BBB.
Also you an register on certain restaraunt websites for free coupons to save money on food.. ie: mimi's cafe which is right in near the HOJO.
Anything to save money while we are at DL.
Have fun planning its my favorite part.

 

[LucasandMickey]

Hi, I'm new here. My husband and I are planning on taking our kids to Disneyland in two years, and I'm starting to save money now. I have a couple of questions.

Is going in the off season a good idea? Why or why not?
Staying on site... is it all that it's cracked up to be?
Family of four, what could we expect our costs to look like, off site vs. on site, off season vs. on season.

I've been to Disneyland a few times. I was 5 years old the first time I went, and it was pure magic for me. We stayed off site and did everything as inexpensive as we could, and I never knew any differently. That's why I'm sort of leaning towards doing it cheaply. However, I know a lot of things have changed in the last 20 years, and if it is really worth it to spend the extra money and get all the extras, then my husband and I will definitely consider it. We live on a remote island in Alaska, and our flights are going to cost an arm and a leg as it is, so if we could keep it relatively inexpensive, that would be ideal. However, I don't want to feel like I cheated my kids out of the whole experience, you know?

Okay, enough rambling from me. What do all of you knowledgable Disneyland people think?

I definitely recommend staying off site. As much as I would LOVE to stay onsite at some point, I just can't justify the money when the budget is already tight!!! We LOVE Hojo. And it's a very easy walk to/from the park. They don't offer breakfast but we always get a fridge/microwave and get breakfast stuff to keep in the room and eat in the am before we head to the park. (And as someone else already mention and I just discovered for this trip, Von's delivers right to your hotel!!)

I prefer the off season. I can't stand the massive amounts of crowds and an attraction or two being down is well worth the trade off of better prices and lower crowds. IMO, especially for your kids' first trip. I think it would be a bummer to stuck in thick crowds.

We always eat in the park for lunch and usually dinner too. But we don't generally go to the nicer sit down restaurants. Just grap something "to go" at the counter service places and it's cheaper. I also discovered allears.net yesterday in my DIS searching. It has all the restaurants w/ their menus and prices which is really helping me budget AND some of the restaurants have either kids meals ($7.99ish) or even toddler meals ($3.99ish) which are perfect for my two year old. Mac & cheese, applesauce and a drink! Anyways, that website pointed out all the restaurants that have those meals so I'll keep that on hand when we go.

If you have a rental car while you are there (we drove down to DL last time we went so we had a car and I don't know of another way to get there!) there is a "Disney" warehouse with discount merchandise. I got my kids' "flashy wands" for super cheap and they had no clue we didn't get them IN the park! I've never checked out the DISign board, but I will now. Also, you can look ahead of time on the disneystore.com site and find discounted shirts and paraphonalia for cheap.

You won't lose the magic by going cheap. The magic is in the park itself and you'll be there. We do a character breakfast which is expensive but so worth it IMO. And we generally do a nice dinner or two somewhere. Last time we had dinner one night at the Rainforest Cafe in Downtown Disney and my DS was in absolute awe!

Happy planning!!

 

[DharmaLou]

this is a blog post I did recently about how we are saving money/getting discounts for our trip: http://katietalksabout.com/how-to-plan-a-disneyland-vacation-without-breaking-the-bank/

 

[LucasandMickey]

Oh, I wanted to add too...
If you have an entertainment book (which you will definitely want to grab if you go the Hojo route) I just booked super shuttle from/to the airport and there is a couple in the book for $2 off each ride for each person. So for us, because my kids are under 3, I don't have to pay for them, but DH and I each go $2 off our ride from the airport to the hotel and the trip from the hotel to the airport.

 

[loveysbydesign]

We were thinnkig of doing DL next year but I priced out flights and it's only $1300 total for the 5 of us to fly from Philly to LA. this year instead. I assume that's a good price as it would cost me $1000 to take the autotrain back and forth to FL from VA to go to WDW(plus we have to drive to the station from PA.)
I can't decide if we should go to DL...wondering how my kids will do with such a long flight. Anyway my question is when is a cheap time to go hotel cost wise(need room for 5). This would be our 1st trip and we don't like large crowds but don't want to miss anything like the Matterhown due to refurbishments. we are open to going anytime from Jun-Aug or Oct., but would really prefer Nov.(would love to see some Christmas decor)

 

[Hollywog]

Unless I want to stay at a specific place, I always use Priceline for hotel rooms, and I always get something good for incredibly cheap. For example, for this trip, we are going President's Day week- I got 3 nights at a 3 star hotel within a mile of the park for $50 a night doing the "name your own price option". Basically, you choose the minimum star rating in a specific area of town that you will accept, and then you make an offer- the site will accept or reject the offer, and you can try again after a 48 hour waiting period if your offer is rejected. There have been a couple times when I have put in a really low ball offer, and it was still accepted. It's definitely worth trying- I use Priceline all of the time, and have never been disappointed. The only drawback is that if you have to cancel, you cannot get a refund unless you purchased the trip cancellation insurance.