Disneyland realistic on our budget?

[SMD]

5-day Park Hopper tickets will run about $280-300 per person, based on age. I like to over budget, so lets say everyone is over the age of 9, and will need adult tickets. If you're staying 8 days, you'd need a 5-day and a 3-day per person. Those 3-days are $260 per adult (a little less for kids 9 and under, but like I said, I tend to over-budget ). Remember, these are for 4 adult park hopper tickets. Children 9 and under are less expensive, or 1-park-per-day tickets (which would be totally reasonable in your case, I think, since you will have plenty of time in each park; 1-day-per-park tickets would lower this by about $140).

There will be at least 2 ticket price increases between now and July 2015. I would budget $500 per person for 5 day hoppers to be on the safe side. Also, it's been a few years, but Disney used to raise the cost of concessions yearly. They just increased prices in the Blue Bayou menu. With no new major overhaul like DCA 2012, I would plan on $10 per person covering counter service meals in 2 years either.

OP asked about 3 days in DL, in which case they should consider switching hotels and only staying DL adjacent for 3 days. There is an Embassy Suites, it was offered as the official hotel for CHOC Walk, and we were quoted 40 min - 1 hr for the shuttle. Doable if you plan, but each family has to consider the value of the savings. I still think $6000 for 10 days in So Cal might be stretching it in 2015. The problem is there are no steep discounts to be had by planning so early.

 

[brighteyes084]

I don't know much about airfare and all that because we live in cali about 3 hours away but have you looked into the city pass??? It is a pass that gets you a 3 day park hopper and admission to universal studios,sea world and you can add on a day at the san diego zoo too. It always seemed like a good deal to me if you are going to be going multiple places anyway with the zoo add on it is only like $100 more for adults than the 3 day park hopper price and $60 more for kids than a 3 day park hopper.They don't have prices for 2015 yet but I'm sure they will be around that price. just search....southern california city pass plus san diego zoo
Sorry I can't post links

 

[luulu1999]

There will be at least 2 ticket price increases between now and July 2015. I would budget $500 per person for 5 day hoppers to be on the safe side. Also, it's been a few years, but Disney used to raise the cost of concessions yearly. They just increased prices in the Blue Bayou menu. With no new major overhaul like DCA 2012, I would plan on $10 per person covering counter service meals in 2 years either.

OP asked about 3 days in DL, in which case they should consider switching hotels and only staying DL adjacent for 3 days. There is an Embassy Suites, it was offered as the official hotel for CHOC Walk, and we were quoted 40 min - 1 hr for the shuttle. Doable if you plan, but each family has to consider the value of the savings. I still think $6000 for 10 days in So Cal might be stretching it in 2015. The problem is there are no steep discounts to be had by planning so early.

Just curious how do you know there will be TWO price hikes between now and then? The prices now are thru December 2014, they will raise them twice between December and July!!!???

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

Just curious how do you know there will be TWO price hikes between now and then? The prices now are thru December 2014, they will raise them twice between December and July!!!???

There has been at least one price hike per year now for many years running. This year was June, last year was May, 2011 was June, 2010 was August...
So there is a very good chance that there will be two price hikes between now and July 2015. My guess for the next one will be June 2014.

Disney usually gives a couple days warning before officially raising the prices. So next year say that there is a planned June 2014 price increase. As you point out, the tickets being sold right now are good through December 2014. So the way to beat the price increase is to buy those tickets before the price increase date arrives (as long as you're going to visit before the expiration date). Once the price increase kicks in, the tickets will be at the new price, and the expiration date will likely switch to December 2015.

OP with a Target date of July 2015 should plan on at least one price increase but may be able to beat the other by buying tickets before the 2015 increase.

 

[Thumper_Man]

DW and I are doing something similar for our trip which is only 2 days away. Like you, we are including San Diego in the mix. We are staying 7 nights in Anaheim and 2 nights in San Diego. We went to Anaheim and San Diego last year. There are few things we learned that we're trying differently this trip.

Since our last destination will be San Diego, we are flying in and out of San Diego. Last year we flew in and out of LAX. I kept pricing the flights and it was about the same price to fly into SD then LAX. At least for our flights.

We will also be renting a car. As it's been mentioned, keep checking the rates. When I first booked a midsize car, the cheapest I could get was $310 for the total time we are there. As of last week, I've re-booked it at $185 for the same amount of time. Strangely enough, it was also cheaper to rent the car from SD then LAX. As it's been mentioned, it's cheaper to pickup/return the car from the same location. Most companies wanted to charge us a $150 drop charge (in addition to the rental rate) if we rented from LAX and dropped off at SD.

The only down side to this possibly is the drive to Anaheim. It's about an hour and a half drive. Since we already planned on doing San Diego, for us its worth the savings we got on the flights and rental car. Plus we think its a nice drive up the coast.

As Geemo mentioned, check out the City Pass. We actually bought ours from Way .com. They were about $19 cheaper than buying directly through City Pass.

Just a little more food for thought.

 

[PrincessKTBugg85]

Know it's still a long time away, but DH and I are considering a Disneyland/Southern California trip for our July 2015 vacation with our 2 sons. We live in NYC and we go to WDW every other year but we have never been to California. I'm not crazy about flying but will do it if I have to (we always drive to WDW from NY!). The last couple of years our vacation budget has been around $6,000. Is it realistic to do a Southern California trip including Disneyland with that budget with everything included (airfare, hotel, tickets, food, etc.) when all is said and done? We'd stay a week (or up to 10 days if possible on that budget) and would like to spend 3 days going to the two Disneyland parks (park hopper), go to the San Diego Zoo, even possibly split the trip with 4 nights at a hotel within walking distance of DL and 3 nights in San Diego. In that case we would need a car rental for getting to San Diego and then return it to the airport when we leave. There are also so many things to do in Southern California I don't even know where to begin planning! I could definitely use some advice for that as well. Thanks in advance!

I think it's totally doable and you can have a great time. If your timing is flexible try priceline name your own price tool. I've saved anywhere from $30-100 dollars on airfare. I fly frequently from California to Ohio and it's costs anywhere from $250-370 a person (I've practically flown every month of the year for the past 4 years). I'd budget $1k-$1.5k for airfare. Also get a costco membership and book at a moderately price hotel through ten with Disneyland package. I booked one for my mom and sister with 3 day park hoppers, 3 nights at the hotel- $970. We stayed at the Red Lion and were very happy with it. So from that perspective I'd budget about $2k for lodging and 3 day park hopper and hotel (the tickets are the most expensive part of the package). Also with the costco package they both got a premium character meal and, $20 gift card and other coupons for free things. (It was all included in package- no add ons)
You'll need a rental car if you plan on going to San Diego- again, do Costco travel for rental car. I just booked a week long rental for $105 and last time I booked it was $170 through costco. This was a substantial savings bc everywhere else was quoting me over $200 even with coupons.
For San Diego- you can try priceline again for hotel deals. Sometimes I get 5% coupon for express deals- which are already heavily discounted. The only thing that stinks about this is that you don't know what hotel you are getting until you book but you know the area and the star level. For San Diego area I would budget $600-800 for hotel for 5-6 nights.
Other tickets are additional expenses that I don't know the prices of. I'd figure out what is a must do and add that in.
Food and souvenirs are dependent on how much your family eats and what you guys are ok with- quick service vs table service or eating outside food. And then of course how much your willing to spend on souvenirs. I would do at least one nice meal at Blue Bayou which will set you back at least $150-200 for 4 people- of course this is dependent on what you order.

All in all I'd budget:
$1.5k for airfare
$2-3k for lodging and tickets to Disney
$1-1.5k for food
$200 rental car
$500 incidentals

 

[DLfan4]

Yes you an do the trip for less than $6k. as a previous posters have said, it all depends on the airfare and any package deals you an find. keep checking for deals.

Back in 2012 we went to DL.
Airfare from where I live (middle of Canada) is expensive to DL. So we checked out other options, and flew from the USA on Allegiant Air. Airfare, 7 nights at Knotts Berry Farm resort, and a rental car for 4 of us was less than $2k.

Then we ordered the Southern California Citypass ( 3 day park hoppers, 1 day seaworld, 1 day universal) from Costco Canada for 4 of us was $1k.

we also saved money on food. we went grocery shopping and eat breakfast in our rooms.

 

[YukonMommy]

When we went in January 2012 it averaged out to about $2500 per person and that was for 2 weeks. That included air, hotel, meals (we ate all meals out...mius brekkie usually at the hotel), a few souveniers, shuttle to and from airport and since we were there so long we got annual passes.

There are 6 of us and we flew in from very Northern Canada! We plan to go in 2016 and will be budgeting $3000 a person since tickets went up and the kids will be older and eat more

Have a Magical Time!

 

[Californiacicle]

I think you could do it. You could certainly do a Disney trip but I don't know how much of an added cost it would be to add on a rental car and other activities.

We are flying Southwest and found they were the cheapest and they don't charge for luggage which is a plus.

We also bought our tickets and booked our hotel through LMT club. We booked Stovalls for $82.00 a night and free breakfast which saves money. It is also walkable. We got a room with 2 queens which is great as we have 4 people.

 

[Georgieut]

Know it's still a long time away, but DH and I are considering a Disneyland/Southern California trip for our July 2015 vacation with our 2 sons. We live in NYC and we go to WDW every other year but we have never been to California. I'm not crazy about flying but will do it if I have to (we always drive to WDW from NY!). The last couple of years our vacation budget has been around $6,000. Is it realistic to do a Southern California trip including Disneyland with that budget with everything included (airfare, hotel, tickets, food, etc.) when all is said and done? We'd stay a week (or up to 10 days if possible on that budget) and would like to spend 3 days going to the two Disneyland parks (park hopper), go to the San Diego Zoo, even possibly split the trip with 4 nights at a hotel within walking distance of DL and 3 nights in San Diego. In that case we would need a car rental for getting to San Diego and then return it to the airport when we leave. There are also so many things to do in Southern California I don't even know where to begin planning! I could definitely use some advice for that as well. Thanks in advance!

We are doing both San Diego and DLR in a week (yeah) and I found a San Diego go card. It has 46 attractions on it to be used in the amount of days you buy. I found Costco has it for a 4 day pass way cheaper than the smart destinations site does. Everything paid up front. Includes major attractions too. Just goggle it.

Good luck!

 

[Fantaluminishes]

I think it's possible. Since your family does WDW every other year, you owe it to yourselves to visit the original Disney park. And July 17, 2015 will be Disneyland's 60th birthday. Having been at the park on the 40th AND 50th, I highly recommend timing your trip to be there on the actual anniversary. If you're renting a car, look at the neighboring cities like Santa Ana, Irvine, Garden Grove and Buena Park. You will usually find much better room rates. The Raddison in Buena Park used to be an Embassy Suites as well.

 

[bangzoom6877]

I think it's possible. Since your family does WDW every other year, you owe it to yourselves to visit the original Disney park. And July 17, 2015 will be Disneyland's 60th birthday. Having been at the park on the 40th AND 50th, I highly recommend timing your trip to be there on the actual anniversary. If you're renting a car, look at the neighboring cities like Santa Ana, Irvine, Garden Grove and Buena Park. You will usually find much better room rates. The Raddison in Buena Park used to be an Embassy Suites as well.

Everything you said is how we feel...that we should be at DL on the actual anniversary, that we have to see the original park, and looking into neighboring cities!

I also realized recently that as DVC members, we save 10% at just about every single restaurant! both TS and CS, in both DL parks and DTD and the hotels as well!

It's funny...recently, my mom said that she was talking to my sister about next summer. She asked how we feel about going to California. I was ecstatic that they're thinking the same as we are! I told her it's disneyland's 60th anniversary on July 17, 2015 and she was so happy! Right now the plan is to get the city pass because we want three days at disneyland, one day at universal and it would be nice to go to sea world while in San Diego, even though we've been to the one in Orlando; also planning to see the beaches of Southern California. We talk about Malibu but I know it's way expensive for us...still it would be nice to see the beach there. We're talking about spending a couple of nights near a beach, 3 or 4 nights near disneyland (preferably at a hotel across the street so we could just walk to the parks), and a 2-3 night in San Diego. My niece is also asking about legoland California so we might end up going there. For knotts berry farm, we really just want to see the tourist-y stuff and maybe eat at the restaurant...we're not thrill ride people (just DH would go on huge roller coasters and he doesn't care if he doesn't go on those anyway).

So it looks like this will be happening next July! Right now though, I'm so psyched about our trip to WDW this July, less than two months away!! When we get back I will really be researching the California trip very thoroughly...I love vacation planning especially Disney vacations!

 

[JadeDarkstar]

Ok I'll admit I didn't read though all the posts but did read the OP. Here is my advice.

Yes I think it will be tight but you could do it here is my reasoning.
1. Pick dates. Call desert inn (it may not be a 4* hotel but, you can call this far out and get one of the suites for around 100 a night. maybe 120? I would also get a hold of getaway today and order the tickets. The one that has 3 day park hopper + sea world, and zoo would work for you and not be to much more. If you order though get away today you can pay off over time its 125 down and then pay it off over time. With your time frame you could have it paid off with 25 or 50 a month?
Get away today also has character meal vouchers if you guys want any of them I would buy them there and again get to pay them off over the year.

If you are going to sea world and the zoo id stay at the only hotel with a shuttle there is only one that I know of now it has breakfast and is close enough to sea world if you wanted to drive you could.

Honestly I don't know about airfare but was looking for wdw trip from Phx for next year or year after if I could swing it. It was gonna be about 1000 rt for the three of us.
Good luck. I think you could do it, might be tight but I think if you did the getaway today, and call desert inn early enough. It would be doable.

 

[GenGen22]

I think its totally doable. Me and dd went to WDW in Dec 2012 & it cost us about $3000 for 10 days. Planning in advance is key. Research & you will find the best deals. As far as air fare I would also go to the individual airline sites & see how much the flight would be. We paid $350 each to fly from northern CA to FL. We flew through Delta because they had the cheapest tickets. I would start checking flights 6 months out as thats when they are first available & the cheapest prices. As far as rental cars if returning to the same place you rent it from you can get good deals. We rented a mini van 2 times for about $300 for a week. Weekly rates are pretty good. Ive found the cheapest prices on kayak.com & carrentals.com. ive booked my hotel from getawaytoday.com & usually stay in garden grove or buena park which is not walking distance but about 5 to 10 minutes away. When booking the hotel I look for free full breakfast & free shuttle to save from the daily parking fee. Embassy Suites Anaheim South has had the best breakfast so far. Fresh fruit eggs omeletes waffles etc. Something for everyone. I usually book a suite as we have 5 in our family. I also check the actual hotel site for AAA deals & internet deals. I would check way.com for tickets or http://store.velocitytours.com/. & go to mousesavers.com to look at dining discounts. Check your credit card companies & see if they offer rewards etc. We got our tickets to Sea World FL & Universal FL 2 day pass for free this way.

 

[tstidm1]

$375 a person with one Free bag is a good deal especially once you consider that JetBlue let's you have one Free bag. I am paying $500 from Baltimore, MD (East Coast also) on Southwest. I am also paying a little more not to go to DC airports and for Baggage fees.

I think you will be close on that budget, but it's doable if your willing to put some energy into finding decently priced lodging and flights. I don't think you need to do Character Meals. If your willing to take a few minutes here and there (outside of Anna and Elsa), the Characters are out in the parks instead of doing formal Character Meals.

 

[GracieB]

Jet Blue sometimes has a kids fly free promotion to Disneyland. It probably is part of an air/hotel package.

Cut down the car rental to just the San Diego days. You don't need it during Disneyland at all. Of course, you'd need airport transportation otherwise.

 

[chrisaman]

Chase has a credit card where if u spend $3000 in the first 3 months u get 45000 points. I recommend doing the and buying ur tickets for the parks and book ur hotel room on it, then use the points u get to book a flight. That's what I just did for our WDW trip. It is no fees for the first the first year so just cancel it before then and ur good