Frugal trip for one during spring break?

[darnheather]

I've never been to Disneyland and want to go so much. I'm currently in law school so I don't have a lot of breaks but was thinking to fly out over my spring break next March. I know it will be very crowded.

Some questions.
Are there single rider lines?
Frugal ideas for motels within walking distance or that have free shuttles?
Motels that have shuttles from airport?
Frugal airfare ideas from Pittsburg or Dulles?
Must eats/skips?

I've been to the parks in Orlando, Paris, and Tokyo.
Must dos that aren't in those parks or that are radically different?
Number of days to visit?
Is a park to park pass a necessity or a splurge?

 

[pennym]

Yes, there are single rider lines, but not for everything only for select attractions. I believe there is a Motel 6 not that far away, but I don't think any budget motels would have shuttles. Check out the ART bus route, you may find motels further out close to that route that would be cheaper.

I think if you want to do things that aren't in the other parks you will need a park hopper. For instance Indiana Jones is in Disneyland Park but Radiator Springs Racers is in DCA. Also, you may need to spring for Lightning Lane for some rides, which doesn't fit in to your on a budget plan, but it won't be possible to fit everything in a day otherwise.

 

[helenk]

I don't believe any hotel near the parks has free shuttles from the airport. LAX is over an hour from Disneyland and SNA is maybe 20 minutes. Since SNA is closer a lot of people fly in there and Uber to their hotel. One person's budget stay may not be the same as another person's. There are plenty of hotels that are within walking distance to the parks. Since the Disney hotels are about $500 a night so to me staying at the Tropicana for $278 a night is a good deal. I would look on Expedia or hotels.com to get an idea of prices and then book on the hotels own website. To save money I don't buy a park hopper ticket unless it's a short stay and I need to fit in everything in a few days. For meals I stick with counter service restaurants and 9 times out of 10 I order a kids meal. It's plenty of food for me and cheaper than a regular meal that usually too much food.

 

[helenk]

The Majestic hotel has free shuttles to the parks. My last trip I stayed at the Hotel Lulu and at the end of the day it was just too far for me to walk so I used the ART bus. I am a senior citizen so it was $8.50 for a 5 day pass and the bus stop was right in front of the hotel.

 

[BadPinkTink]

Are there single rider lines?

Yes,

• Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run
• Splash Mountain
• Matterhorn Bobsleds
• Radiator Springs Racers
• Web Slingers
• Grizzly River Run
• Incredicoaster
• Goofy's Sky School

Frugal ideas for motels within walking distance or that have free shuttles?

Book the Harbor Motels far in advance to get the lowest rates. I have stayed at Tropicana and Desert Inn and Suites in 2022.

Motel 6 Maingate is another low cost motel but its about 20 minutes walk.

ART shuttle is useful but check the price, its now about $7 per ride which can add up

Motels that have shuttles from airport?

Unfortunately this will be your biggest expense. There is no cheap way to get from the airports any more. You will have to use a private car service or LYFT / Uber .

Number of days to visit?

The max days you can do is 5.
I just did 4 days but I have also done 1,2 and 3 days

Is a park to park pass a necessity or a splurge?

No, if you have more than 1 day, its cheaper to do 1 park per day.

 

[maleficent55]

You can do more than 5 days but would have to buy two separate tickets (5+ 1-5)

 

[sheilafri]

I can’t help you with the practicalities as it’s been many years since I’ve been to DL but having attended law school myself I encourage you to do this. Having a treat to look forward to will be great for your mental health. You are starting your planning fairly early so should be able to find something that will fit your budget. DL and CA are much more compact than WDW so won’t take as long to do. It will seem like a real vacation. We lived in SD for many years and made numerous day trips and were very satisfied with the time we had.

 

[gelatoni fan]

ART shuttle is useful but check the price, its now about $7 per ride which can add up

It's $4 for one ride, $6 for unlimited rides in a day and you can buy 3 and 5 day passes which can bring the price down to $5 per day. It increased in price (the one day ticket used to be $5) but not that much.

 

[gudenufmom]

My first trip to DLR was as a college student, and I did everything the frugal way that time and for the next 10 after that. My biggest money-savers were eating outside food as much as possible and bringing in a lot of water. (No, I can’t drink CA tap water, no matter how frugal.)

Sounds like you want to try some DL food, though. This last trip my 6 kids made a list of their top “must try” foods after watching videos and reading food reviews. We did our best to get those things and it helped us narrow our focus and spend on food in a purposeful way. Researching the food reviews and prices ahead of time made certain items stand out as a value.

Disney has gotten to be very good at letting us pay for convenience. Overall, the more you are willing to do without the convenience of certain items the more affordable the trip will be.

There are exceptions to this, where affordability and convenience meet, IMO:

-Mobile order for counter service food. Planning your food around your day and the ability to pre-plan spending rocks. Sit down meals aren’t nearly as accommodating and cost more money, as well as the stress of managing reservations.

-Hotels that offer complimentary breakfast to eat before park opening. Who wants to waste park time during the best ride hours of the day?

-1 park per day tickets (if you have multiple days in the resort). Focusing on one park can be less stressful, and is cheaper.

-Hotels in walking distance, but not on property. Anything 1 mile or less seems perfectly walkable to me, and I don’t need to wait for any shuttle or pay Disney property prices.

 

[darnheather]

I can’t help you with the practicalities as it’s been many years since I’ve been to DL but having attended law school myself I encourage you to do this. Having a treat to look forward to will be great for your mental health. You are starting your planning fairly early so should be able to find something that will fit your budget. DL and CA are much more compact than WDW so won’t take as long to do. It will seem like a real vacation. We lived in SD for many years and made numerous day trips and were very satisfied with the time we had.

You are so correct about this. Last semester I tried to have it both ways. I spent my spring break going to a couple of museums, doing a little work, and a lot of sleeping. I went back to class more exhausted and rung out than I had before the break. Additionally, this summer I'm not taking a proper vacation. I just got back from three days in DC with my daughter which was nice but nothing like the things we did pre-Covid and school.

 

[mouschievous]

I've never been to Disneyland and want to go so much. I'm currently in law school so I don't have a lot of breaks but was thinking to fly out over my spring break next March. I know it will be very crowded.

Some questions.
Are there single rider lines?
Frugal ideas for motels within walking distance or that have free shuttles?
Motels that have shuttles from airport?
Frugal airfare ideas from Pittsburg or Dulles?
Must eats/skips?

I've been to the parks in Orlando, Paris, and Tokyo.
Must dos that aren't in those parks or that are radically different?
Number of days to visit?
Is a park to park pass a necessity or a splurge?

The single rider lines are GREAT! The longest we ever waited for RSR (which generally has a 90-120 minute standby wait) was 25 minutes, and that was with a 10 minute break down.

I don't know of any motels that have airport shuttles, but we used Uber and it was relatively inexpensive. Our Ubers from DL property to John Wayne Airport were under $30 before tip.

The only must eat for me is a dole whip, and it must be eaten while waiting for the tiki room!

I would say the must dos in DL park that aren't available in WDW are:

• Pirates (way better than WDW)
• Indiana Jones
• Disneyland Railroad (different than WDW, and you can actually use it to get around the park)
• Great Moments with Mr Lincoln
• Matterhorn
• Storybook Land Canal Boats
• All the dark rides in Fantasyland (Pinocchio, Alice in Wonderland, Snow White, etc) with the exception of Peter Pan
• Tale of the Lion King is a show that we thoroughly enjoyed. It is not the same as the show at WDW, but we thought it was very well done.

In California Adventure, the must do's not available in WDW are

• Radiator Springs Racers
• Grizzly River Run
• Incredicoaster (not my must do, but my husband's)
• Mickey's Philharmagic (similar to Muppets at DHS in vibe, but totally different story)
• Webslingers
• World of Color

The number of days to visit - if you're hardcore and willing to open and close the park, I'd say 2 or 3. If you don't want to go that hard, then more days is better so you can fit everything in. And no, a park hopper is not necessary, though we found it very convenient, especially since DCA closed 2 hours before DL. And honestly, the fewer days you go, the more I think a park hopper is worth.