Disneyland question

[erinbharris]

We're from Winnipeg...going to Disneyland in July...

I am wondering where most people buy their park passes from?

Thanks!

 

[strawberrygirl]

We got ours from Airmiles for our trip to Calif but CAA will also do it for you too.
We stayed in a very close hotel about 1/2 block from the enterence. If you are going to Disney Land opposed to Disney World, I can give you some tips if you are interested. We are off to Disney World next yr and I can't wait.

 

[Kat&Dom]

I bought my Disneyland tickets from AMA. They gave me a voucher that I redeemed at the Customer Service booth at Disneyland.

I am debating about going again in September for my son's birthday and hoping to have enough AirMiles.

 

[erinbharris]

Thanks for the tips!

Yes...I know this board is mostly Disney World, but we're doing Disneyland...our kids are 4 and 6 (7 tomorrow) and we think DL is a good place to start! Not to mention that I'm a teacher and we're stuck with summer...and I'm not sure Florida in July is a good idea.

Where did you stay?

 

[c&m]

We get 2 or 3 hopper passes from Airmiles (totally depends on how many points we have). Then we buy the remaining hopper from BCAA. The BCAA hopper has a nice little perk - you can park in the DL parking lot for free (a $14/day savings).

You asked where to stay (don't know your budget), considering the ages of your kids...

If you don't have a car and need to walk it: Hojo Anaheim, Candy Cane Inn, Fairfield Inn

If you have a car or can take the ART: Hampton Inn, Embassy Suites South, Hilton Garden Inn Garden Grove, Residence Inn Garden Grove, Hyatt Orange County (they have their own shuttle), Sheraton Garden Grove

If you want to stay at a Disney resort: Grand California Hotel or the Villas

So many choices. We always have a car, and we love staying at the Garden Grove hotels. Also close by in Garden Grove is a nice big Target where we can buy a flat of bottled water and some snacks for the kids. Next door to Target is a Dollar Store where my DDs like to buy Disney-themed souvenirs for their friends for $1.

 

[erinbharris]

Great tips, thanks!

We have the Hojo booked...but we don't have a suite (not available) so just a regular room. Not sure that would work...and not sure I want to pay $130US for a regular room there. So...we'll see. I think my kids would love the pool there, but I'm not sure how much time they'll actually spend at the pool anyhow.

 

[Kat&Dom]

We stayed at the Super 8 near Disneyland on Katella - it is about 2 1/2 blocks away - it was a nice walk to the park with Palm Trees shading you. It is right next to the Anaheim Gardenwalk which had a variety of restaurants in it. There is a 7-11 on the way to the Park so we would pick up a bottle of water there.

I think it was about $40 per night - it was nothing fancy - you could see the fireworks if you went up on the patio above the office and the swimming pool is not shaded at all. It has a Contential Breakfast which consisted of cereal, toast and donuts with coffee, juice and milk.

I am planning a trip in September and booked at the Ramada across the street from Disneyland - the pool made it seem worth the extra money - I got it for $79 per night - it has a fridge and microwave in the room (which the Super 8 did not have - I think you could pay $10 per night to get a fridge though so it will be nice to have it included at the Ramada).

If you log on through Wyndham Rewards - you can sign up for free and get points for your stay at either Ramada or Super 8 that you can redeem for G.C. for Olive Garden or free nights stay at one of the Wyndham hotels.

Anyway, I am sure that you will have an awesome vacation.

 

[squirrel]

I stayed at the Best Western Park Place Inn. It's right across the street from the main entrance to DL and DCA. Our room had a king sized bed, sofa bed, fridge, and microwave. You could either have a hot meal downstairs at the restaurant or go upstairs and eat at the buffet (cereal, toast, danish, donuts, hard boiled eggs, juice, tea, coffee, milk).

I booked with a TA and got one-night free, and either adults play for kids price or 5 days for the price of 3?, I think I also got Kid's fly free, it was a while ago. I didn't think the TA would get me everything I asked her to-and that's why I still use her!

IHOP (next door to BWPPI) had a deal after 4pm if you bought an adult entree your child got a kid's meal free.

There is a Disneyland section on the DisBoards if you need more information.

 

[strawberrygirl]

You are all bringing up such good memories!!!!!!! That was the first major trip with our kids. It was my first airplane ride in over 15 yrs too.

The one advice that I have is either leave the LAX with the big Disney Bus or rent a car. There is a service where it is like a taxi that you can go with. We made that mistake. They have different levels of transporation requirements and some of them don't require seat belts to be used. In LA, you need seat belts!! My daughter was the only one that had one that we used for her car seat. The rest of us, sat there with about 6 others, praying we would make it to our hotel! By the time we arrived, the rides did not scare me Honestly, I am a chicken of some rides and I went on and loved Indiana Jones ride and my hubby couldn't understand it.
Also, my hubby was doing 90 miles per hr (not kms a hr) to keep up to the traffic on some of those freeways. Wow, made flying pretty safe after all that
We stayed in the Dessert Inn and Suites. Not a fancy hotel..just bare bones and they had a "continental" breakfast ie: toast, apples, juice. But it was just across from the maingate and we had a very small suite. Good enough for us.

Hope that helps.

 

[drag n' fly]

We have bought tickets through AMA, Flight Centre, Directly from Disney....basically wherever was cheapest at the time. If you go over to the Disneyland forum their is loads of information there and the folks are really nice too

 

[Canadamom]

We bought park passes through Getawaytoday. No problems at all and saved a few dollars. Good customer service.
We stayed at the Candy Cane Inn (bit of a discount through CAA) and loved it!

 

[erinbharris]

Can I ask what you thought of Candy Cane Inn? Specifically the pool?

 

[Canadamom]

Hi erinbharris - I have nothing to compare the pool at the Candy Cane Inn to as it is one of the only places we've stayed when visiting Disneyland. It was clean, though not overly large. There was a separate hot tub. It was in the centre court. We liked the Candy Cane Inn as a whole due to the cleanliness and the very pretty grounds, the friendly staff, and the fact that breakfast was included each morning. Sorry I can't help more with the pool. We did swim in it , it was a great temperature, and it was just fine for our family. Enjoy the planning!

 

[ariel68]

Are you planning on visitIng any additional parks (Universal) while you are there? We purchased the Southern California City Passes. They are valid for 14 days and include DL, Universal, San Diego Zoo or San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park. We paid 285.00 CAD a couple of yrs ago (they are currently selling for 269 US for adults and 229 for kids 3 to 9) They are a fantastic value even if you dont plan on visiting all the parks, sometimes it is actually cheaper than purchasing separately. If you want to view details just got to universalstudioshollywood.com/tickets.html and look under Multi-Park Tickets.

Enjoy your trip!!

 

[erinbharris]

Thanks everyone!

We're super excited...despite my in-laws insisting that we're going a year too early and our son (4) is too young

I am going to stick with my Hojo reservation...if I can't get it switched to a suite then I think I'll bid on Priceline the week before. I can't justify paying $120 for a regular room at Hojo when I can likely get something at a nicer hotel (with just a regular pool granted) for around $60 a night.

 

[Kat&Dom]

Thanks everyone!

We're super excited...despite my in-laws insisting that we're going a year too early and our son (4) is too young

I am going to stick with my Hojo reservation...if I can't get it switched to a suite then I think I'll bid on Priceline the week before. I can't justify paying $120 for a regular room at Hojo when I can likely get something at a nicer hotel (with just a regular pool granted) for around $60 a night.

Have an awesome trip. I took my son at 2 1/2 and 3 1/2 to Disneyland (he is now 4 1/2). He remembers so much of what we did and asks about the Matterhorn all the time. It was his favorite ride.

 

[drag n' fly]

Thanks everyone!

We're super excited...despite my in-laws insisting that we're going a year too early and our son (4) is too young

I am going to stick with my Hojo reservation...if I can't get it switched to a suite then I think I'll bid on Priceline the week before. I can't justify paying $120 for a regular room at Hojo when I can likely get something at a nicer hotel (with just a regular pool granted) for around $60 a night.

I agree

The Hojo is a great place to stay if you can get the Entertainment rate. It is nice but not 120 bucks a night nice.

 

[drag n' fly]

Can I ask what you thought of Candy Cane Inn? Specifically the pool?

The pool is very SMALL. Fifteen to twenty people max and it is in the shade. When we stayed there the one time they decided not to heat it because their was not enough occupancy to warrant heating the pool. This was November Our room was also looted and the shuttle driver was surly. We never went back. Lots of people have had really great experiences though. We just happened to be not one of them.

 

[CdnCarrie]

We get our passes from Airmiles.

We stayed at the Carousel and the pool was same as the Candy Cane Inn. Small!!

 

[erinbharris]

I managed to get a suite at Hojo July 30-August 5...so I think we'll go to San Diego July 26-30, then go to Anaheim and do Disney. It's all about the suite when you're traveling with kids--plus the pool at Hojo looks perfect for my kids.