First time to DL since finding the DIS

[lolatuck]

I have a lot of questions!

My hubby is thinking of taking me to Disneyland for my birthday and our 12th anniversary in two weeks! Since he knows that I can find the best deals on the DIS he asked me to check and see how inexpensively we could do this.

My questions are as follows:

!. We have only ever driven to DL before, which airport is the closest to DL and what shuttle services are available from the airport to our hotel? How much do shuttle services cost?

2. Since we are trying to do this on the cheap, which budget motels would you recommend in the DL area?

3. What discount tix are available?

We would like to do 3 nights at a budget (but clean!) hotel and do both DL and DCA. We would like to leave April 3 or 4th, and return on the 6th or 7th.

Any help would be great! Thanks.

Lola

 

[year2late]

I am a Priceline gal for my last minute trips to DLR.

I usually bid around $35 for a 3 star hotel in DLR area. I bid only on three star hotels because the ones in DLR are all should hav extensive shuttle services.

I have lost track of exactly how many times I have used Priceline for this area, but it is alot. I usually get Hyatt Regency (my favorite cause a small extra fee upgrades me to a kidsuite or regular suite if available) I have also gotten the Marriott and Hlton and WestCoast Anaheim for the same bids.

If you decide to bid on Priceline, this site is very helpful

Bidding for Travel . They give you excellent easy info on how to use the free rebid system to get the best bids.

Good luck.

Sue

By the way, we usually use "supershuttle" when we fly down.

 

[daannzzz]

SNA is the closest though not always least expensive airport. This is the Orange County Airport in Santa Ana.
Budget is a sort of relative and subjective term. Good lower priced places are The Howard Johnson Plaza, The Desrt Inn and Suites. The Desert Palm Inn and Suites. The Tropicana and the Fairfield. A little more will be the Park Inn, The Best Western Park Place Inn, The Best Western Anaheim Inn and the Carousel Inn. The Anabella can be inexpensive sometimes too.
There are a couple places that are close and less but have gotten less than good reviews. The Patk Vue and The Del Sol have some service issues as well as ant problems but can be cheap.
Here is a map with accomodations locations and links.

http://www.geocities.com/ashpsyche/DisneylandLinkMap.html

 

[ADisneyPrincess]

I ususally fly into LAX as it's cheaper than Orange County. Orange County is a very nice, smaller airport and is quite close to DL. From LAX I like to take Super Shuttle (blue van with yellow lettering). They usually have a DL area express van and it costs $14/per person each way. You don't need a reservation from LAX, just walk outside the baggage claim area and catch it. From Orange County I think you do need advance reservations. There are many shuttles that go to DL, however, I've found Super Shuttle to be less expensive and I like them.

You can currently get Park Hopper tickets 5 days for the price of 3. These will get you into both DL and DCA with hopping privledges. You can get these at the Disney Store or on-line. You can't buy them at the gate. AAA probably has them as well. I've heard of passes that include unlimited Fast Pass, but I don't know much about them. There are probably some messages on here about them if you want to learn more.

I recently stayed at the Howard Johnson and liked it very much. It was a short walk to DL or you could take the shuttle (which costs a small fee). I have always found good last minute deals through Expedia. If you don't anticipate any changes, Expedia can be a nice way to go. Howard Johnson will beat any advertised price so if you find a good published rate you can call the hotel directly to have them beat it.