Help me plan my budget DL stay? Pretty please? ;)

[countrykitty]

Hi guys, We are planning on going to Disneyland this October for my son's 8th birthday! We have not been in about 6 years. I have about a million questions, and we have to do this on a slim budget (for DL Anyone who has any suggestions, please chime in! We are so so excited, and really want this to be as great as we can afford, as we can't come too often due to finances.
1) We originally planned to get DS in free on his B day, (and possibly upgrade to park hopper) however, after seeing several hotels are already booked out of October as of July, (HOJO's , etc) I researched and found that the weekend of Oct 3 is "Gay Days" Does this mean the park is going to be very crowded? I have no idea how big this event is. Part of the perk of going in Oct was somewhat smaller crowds. Maybe it would be better to just go another weekend in Oct. and just do DL instead of the hopper tickets.

2) We are going with a 10 year old, the birthday boy (8), and a four year old. Checking in late Fri and checking out Monday. Would like to save money on parking by having one within walking distance or one with a great shuttle. Unless staying further is significantly cheaper and offsets the DL parking fee. Free hotel parking good, and microwave/fridge a must. Free continental breakfast good, but we could do cereal too if that is cheaper. Foldout sofa or chair would be great too (hard to fit 5 in 2 beds!). Any recommendations for my needs?
3)We will mostly bring in our own drinks/snacks, but is there a refillable popcorn or something that is a good value for a family?

Thanks in advance!

 

[IBLarsen]

Hi, I can't help with all your questions, however last year we were in the parks during Gay Days (I didn't realize this until our trip was booked). That weekend was BUSY! People started flooding the parks for gay days on Friday afternoon/evening. We are going again this year, and making sure we are there the weekend before, to avoid this.

As far as hotels, there are several good neighbor hotels within easy walking distance. You mentioned Hojos. They sometimes offer the entertainment rate that can't be beat. I know there is a link somewhere with available dates for that special rate. If you are flexible it may be worth it. If it's not available, there are others that may be cheaper. We stayed at the Fairfield Inn, I think it runs for about $109/nt. It has free parking and I believe it had a pull out chair(into a bed) and a fridge. You will have to check around for pricing on others. I'm sure others will have cheaper alternatives.

Bringing in your own snacks/drinks saves a lot. If you are within walking distance for your hotel, you can easily take a break and go back to your room for lunch, have sandwhiches or soups in your room.

Hope this helps a little!

 

[JustAKid]

I think part of the reason you are having some trouble finding a room is indeed because of Gay Days. If saving money is something that is top priority, I would suggest going the weekend after (9-12?). The money that you save by staying at Hojos could more then pay for the birthday ticket that would have been free for your son.

Also available on the weekend after is The Residence Inn Anaheim Maingate. Now, there are nicer places to stay, but I mention this one because: it has a free HOT breakfast buffet, many people say it's not that great and way busy, but notice FREE and HOT in the same sentence! The 2 queen plus sofa bed suite comes with a fully equiped kitchen! The Residence Inn also provides a grocery delivery service. The hotel is close enough to the park to walk (although it IS further then some other hotels taking reportedly 15 minutes or so to walk to the gates) to Disneyland, so there won't be a problem with coming back to make lunches and dinner (ART does stop). The pool is also open 24hrs a day.

However, if you are intenting on going the weekend of Gay Days and the Desert Inn & Suites fits your budget, and is available, I'd say go with it. All negatives aside, you can't beat it's location and they can accomedate up to 10 people!

Good luck!

 

[carebee21]

Can you tell us a bit more about your budget? And how long you're looking to go for? And are you only looking for weekends? And lastly, are you going to have a car?

I ask because if we know how much you're looking to spend a night there might be more suggestions.

But with the limited info you've given and assuming you have a car I would look at the Embassy Suites Anaheim North. The rates are showing $89.25/night with 2 beds and a pull out sofa. Plus, you get free hot breakfast every morning and free cocktails during a certain time in the evening. Now, it's a little ways away and you will have to drive and pay to park, but in my opinion if you add up the cost of the hotel and parking, it's a better deal than staying close, walking to the park and still having to pay for breakfast for 5 people every morning.

But if you give us a budget of what you're trying to stay within per night, it would help to pinpoint the best hotel for you!!!

 

[Eeyore's Wife]

Embassy Suites North has a FREE shuttle which will take you back and forth from Disneyland.

We really liked using the shuttle when we stayed there. We would book our times to come and go, but a couple of times we wanted to come back in the afternoon, so we just called up and they sent the shuttle to pick us up!

The breakfast is extensive, made to order options abound, and it is very nice. The indoor pool is great.

The only downsides are...

A recycling center is nearby and rooms on that side are loud. We just asked for a QUIET room, and they accomodated us.

The "sit down" restaurant wasn't very good.

We decided the cost and perks outweighed the negatives. If you are trying to keep costs down, then this place is a great option. The evening manager's reception had snacks and free drinks. When combined with the huge free breakfast, we really only had to buy one meal and snack per day.

I hope that helps....keep us up to date on how things go.

 

[countrykitty]

Thanks everyone! I am thinking the next weekend after Gay Days might be better then, to avoid the crowds. We will just have to budget for the extra ticket.
Carabee, we will be staying Friday through Monday morning. Those days of the week are pretty much unchangeable, due to hubbys schedule. The particular weekend doesn't matter. Honestly, I am looking for 75.00 or less. I know that might be slumming it for some here, but at this point, I want my kids to experience Disneyland, and a clean safe sleep and shower are my priorities.
I am flexible though, because I know that sometimes the cheaper places end up charging 10.00 for parking, no fridge, have to drive and then pay to park @Disneyland, no breakfast, can't come back for lunch/nap etc. so cheaper isn't always "cheaper" IYKWIM
I was looking at Hotels.com a bit and see stuff like the Days Inn on Ball Rd for 54.00 per night. Eden Roc and America's Best are in the 60's. Basically I am looking for a sleep and shower kind of place. If we upgraded on Hotel, one night would be all we could afford.

 

[Crazy4Disney06]

We are also celebrating my son's 8th birthday at Disney in October!
Prior to the fall promo (save $400 off 4 nights) we had a two bedroom suite booked at America's Best on Ketella for $64 dollars a night through arestravel.com for October 5th to 9th (We got a great deal with the fall promo so staying on site was such a good deal we decided not to pass it up.). It was close enough to walk, or saved us enough on a room to pay for parking. It was also next to the Garden Walk so easy access to restaurants for less expensive off site dining.
Ares travel also offers discount park hopper tickets as well, if I remember right we would have saved about $70 dollars by getting hoppers through them rather then at the gate.

 

[countrykitty]

crazy4Disney06,
That is so cool that you will be taaking your son too. Fun! What is the Fall promo?

 

[countrykitty]

Eeyores Wife and carabee,
Thanks for the tip on the Embassy Suites, I will check it out, it sounds nice The shuttle and hearty breakfast would save money for sure.

 

[Crazy4Disney06]

crazy4Disney06,
That is so cool that you will be taaking your son too. Fun! What is the Fall promo?

If you book a 4 night stay you get $400 off your stay. We were able to stay on site with 3 day hoppers for only a bit more then we had originally paid for America's Best. We booked through Costco Travel and also get a $20 dollar Disney gift card and a free character breakfast for everyone in our party as well as lanyards and pins for each of us as well. With the promo and the free gift card and breakfast (that would cost just under $100 for our family) we can stay at Paradise Pier in a standard view room for less than $130 more then off property.

 

[countrykitty]

Ooh, found this on my hubby's teacher union website. Is this a good ticket discount? 2.50 convience fee per ticket...
Disneyland® Resort & Disney’s California Adventure® Parks 1 Day Hopper® (exp. 12/17/09)
Adult (10+) $73.00


Child (3-9) $65.00

Disneyland® Resort & Disney’s California Adventure® Parks 2 Day Hopper® (exp. 1/17/10)
Adult** $137.95
Child (Ages 3-9) $118.95
Tickets are valid at Disneyland® Resort AND Disney’s California Adventure® on the same day. First visit must occur by 1/4/10, expires 13 days after first visit.

 

[Crazy4Disney06]

Ooh, found this on my hubby's teacher union website. Is this a good ticket discount? 2.50 convience fee per ticket...
Disneyland® Resort & Disney’s California Adventure® Parks 1 Day Hopper® (exp. 12/17/09)
Adult (10+) $73.00


Child (3-9) $65.00

Disneyland® Resort & Disney’s California Adventure® Parks 2 Day Hopper® (exp. 1/17/10)
Adult** $137.95
Child (Ages 3-9) $118.95
Tickets are valid at Disneyland® Resort AND Disney’s California Adventure® on the same day. First visit must occur by 1/4/10, expires 13 days after first visit.

Looks like a good price on the hoppers, Ares travel has the two day hopper for $149 adult and $129 child which is still less then the gate price of $151 and $131.

 

[GrandBob]

You mentioned Hojos. They sometimes offer the entertainment rate that can't be beat. I know there is a link somewhere with available dates for that special rate.

http://www.hojoanaheim.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=14

Not available at all in October. Sorry.

 

[DisneyMomma81]

Have you consider that the 2nd weekend in Oct. would be Columbus Day weekend? Don't know how much that'll affect crowds ~ my kids don't have the day off but I do (I work for the government). We're headed to WDW early Oct. but we had considered going to DLR ~ if we would've it would've been 10/19-10/22

For our 2 trips earlier this year we've stayed @ the Crowne Plaza in Garden Grove http://www.crowneplaza.com/h/d/cp/1..._-3824164970&gclid=CNKyz6y_2ZwCFR4HagodZ17QwA ~ got it through priceline.com ~ paid no more than $60 per night (incl. the $12 daily resort fee) it's nice ~ but we had 2 Q's which might not work for you ~ could one of the boys sleep in a sleeping bag? For priceline tips check out betterbidding.com or biddingfortravel.com

Best of luck planning your trip ~ we always make budget trips. I love the ent. rate at HoJo's ~ for our trip this past July, I got it for 2 nights the day before we checked in, I'm hoping we can do that this month but for now I have the Anaheim Plaza http://www.anaheimplazahotel.com/ for $59 a night ~ you'll have a hard time getting low rates on weekends though ~ we tend to go on weekdays.

 

[spacemermaid]

1. Gay Days will be crowded.

2. Stovall's Inn meets all your requirements (walking distance and access to ART bus, fridge and microwave, free breakfast, free parking, 2 beds in a room but rollaway beds are available ). The rooms are all newly remodeled and VERY comfortable; there are 2 swimming pools & numerous topiary trees shaped like animals (kind of like the area around it's a small world!). If you have AAA, you can get really good rates.

 

[QueenDoOver]

The one benefit of going in Oct. before the 11th, is that you can buy the hoppers through the gay days website. The prices are pretty darn good. We just got a 3 day adult hopper for $154 and a kids hopper for $124. I would think if you are going Friday to Monday that you want 3 days, right?

Honestly, the Embassy Suites North with the free shuttle, breakfast and evening snacks sounds at $89 sounds like a fantastic option!

Hope you have a wonderful trip.