Disneyland Trip: Best DEALS?

[heater13]

My husband and I are looking to take our 3 kiddos (ages: 8, 5, and 2) to DL next month. However, we are on a tight budget and would like to get the most bang for our buck. Could anyone please point me in the correct directions for hotel + park deals? We would be driving so airfare is not something we need.

Please help. We've never taken our kiddos and would really like to make this a fantastic trip for them.

Thanks,
Heather

 

[skiingfast]

My husband and I are looking to take our 3 kiddos (ages: 8, 5, and 2) to DL next month. However, we are on a tight budget and would like to get the most bang for our buck. Could anyone please point me in the correct directions for hotel + park deals? We would be driving so airfare is not something we need.

Please help. We've never taken our kiddos and would really like to make this a fantastic trip for them.

Thanks,
Heather

Heather
I'm going to ask that this be moved to the main DL board. You will get more replies there.

You might look at getawaytoday or ares travel to find deals. Disneyland.com has specials on ticket right now as well if you can visit the parks for at least 3 days. Which I recommend for the length of a visit.

Parking at the resort costs $15 per day so staying close and being able to walk to the parks is a good idea. Also keep in mind that some hotels will tack on a parking fee so think of your total hotel costs. Some have a resort fee. Also room tax around the disneyland resort area is 17%.

You can reduce costs by finding a hotel that includes breakfast and one that has fridges in the room to store your own food in.

 

[Huff]

The cheapest trip will usually be found by booking everything yourself rather than a package deal.

Disney.com or Costco.com both offer packages. Costco.com is the better deal because it includes a premium character meal for everyone in party at same price as Disney.com. Currently both packages offer a 4th night for the price of 3.

The problem with the packages is they are at rack rate. Even with 1 night free I found I could easily beat the price by booking the room myself.

For our upcoming trip I was able to get a 3 star hotel with breakfast for $70 using Hotwire. Disney currently sells 3 day passes for $169. Costco.com sells 4 days for $199 with a $50 Disney gift card. Those passes are intended for southern california residents but when I called Disneyland guest services they said they do not check ID's.

 

[c&m]

I also recommend using getawaytoday.com. We booked our hotel through them for our March trip (and have used them for other trips in the past). We also bought 2 out of 4 parkhoppers through them. The other 2 parkhoppers we got free through Airmiles.

To give you an idea of the good deal with getawaytoday.com, we booked the Sheraton Garden Grove for 4 nights for $360 total, taxes included. The hotel-only package also included free dining for kiddies under 9yo, free daily parking, and free shuttle (Sheraton's own shuttle). We chose the Sheraton GG because being across the street from the parks is not a big deal for us; we like to drive to the parks, and our teen/tweenie kids don't need to return to the room to take naps.

With your young kids, you may want to choose a hotel that's walking distance to the parks. If you do, the HOJO has good entertainment book rates ($59-$89 depending on building/room location). However, those rates are limited to certain dates, which you can find out if you google "HOJO Entertainment rates"; the HOJO has a message board that posts the dates.

You mention you'll have a car, so good to pick a hotel with FREE parking, something that's becoming quite rare on S. Harbor hotels.

With park hopper tickets, check to see if AAA sells tickets that include free parking at the Disney lots as parking is about $15/day at the Disney lots.