Help with Park tickets

[luckyman_apd]

What kind of discounts are there on food, merchandise, and anything else if I were to purchase the Premier Passport?

We are headed to DLR in June for a 3 days in the parks, with a fourth day highly probable. We are also traveling to WDW in November for a 6 day trip. The prices for a 4 day park hopper in DL is $229 through Ares, and UT for WDW I can get a 6 day PH for $305. Combined that is $534. I would need to pay for parking the first day at DL as it would be to early to check in to the Hotel, so add $15 to the expenses. For $750 for the premier passport, the difference in prices comes to $201. I would consider buying 1 Premier Passport for either my wife or myself, if there were enough discounts to come close to making up the $201 difference. It would also give us free parking at DL so that I might look for a cheaper hotel instead of directly across the street from the park gate.

I'm looking to find out the discounts in WDW as well as DLR.

 

[KCmike]

The premier passport allows you to take advantage of discounts similar to the premium passport at disneyland. Most restaurants get you a 15% discount at DL. 20% on souvenirs at most places.

 

[3Minnies1Mickey]

You should be able to park at your hotel on check in day even if it's too early to get your room.

Food discounts are 15% and merchandise is 20%.

 

[donnishobson]

The premier pass at WDW has similar merchandise discounts but almost no dining discounts. It does allow you to buy a Tables in Wonderland card for $75 that gives you 20% off on nearly all table service restaurants including alcohol. It adds a gratuity of 18%. A good deal only if you eat table service usually and are not on the dining plan. Lots of info on WDW disboards.

 

[skiingfast]

The premier pass at WDW has similar merchandise discounts but almost no dining discounts. It does allow you to buy a Tables in Wonderland card for $75 that gives you 20% off on nearly all table service restaurants including alcohol. It adds a gratuity of 18%. A good deal only if you eat table service usually and are not on the dining plan. Lots of info on WDW disboards.

Yes but that is only at WDW, not DLR.

AT DLR having the certain AP gives you discounts, no need to buy anything extra.

 

[luckyman_apd]

I was thinking about the hotel parking at checkin. We have a reservation at the HOJO near the front gate, but if we buy the premium passport, we are thinking of getting a cheaper hotel and just driving to the park each day. Any suggestions on which is better? HoJo for $125 a night plus taxes (about $150 total a night) or Super 8, travelodge, or Days in? I would save about $250 with the last 3 over the HoJo. That could save me the money for the Premier passport right there. The HoJo was highly recommended by Mousesavers.com

 

[skiingfast]

I was thinking about the hotel parking at checkin. We have a reservation at the HOJO near the front gate, but if we buy the premium passport, we are thinking of getting a cheaper hotel and just driving to the park each day. Any suggestions on which is better? HoJo for $125 a night plus taxes (about $150 total a night) or Super 8, travelodge, or Days in? I would save about $250 with the last 3 over the HoJo. That could save me the money for the Premier passport right there. The HoJo was highly recommended by Mousesavers.com

Hojo is great at it's ENT rate, not so at anyother rate. While it's still nicer than those other places you are thiking about for the price I would consider them over Hojo.

One thing I would consider is are you going back during midday? Walking to Hojo versus back to the parking lot is many times nicer.

The other thing, with an AP that covers parking my suggestion is seeing if you can priceline a nice hotel for $40 to $60, 4 star in the Anaheim South area. Just know if you get one you may also have to pay for parking so consider that you bid is going to be upto under $15 lesss than what you will end up paying.

 

[cmwade77]

Ok, so here is the list of discounts available:

• Disneyland
  
  • 15% at most food locations with a cash register - NOTE: There used to be a $10 minimum to get the discount, but that has been eliminated. That being said, some CMs still try to enforce this, you just need to remind them that it no longer applies.
  • 20% on merchandise - This is usually only 10%, but several years ago, it was increased for a "holiday special", that has been continued indefinitely. This also usually has a $10 minimum, but the minimum purchase was suspended when the sale began. So it may revert back to 10% at any time and the $10 minimum for merchandise discounts may be reinstated if it does.
  • There are various discounts at Downtown Disney, it depends on the merchant.
  • There are AP rates at the hotels.
  • Parking is included. (Note: If you are staying at one of the Disney Resort hotels, you can pre-check in and park there, even if you are too early for check-in. Some other hotels in the area have similar policies, so this could save you that initial $15).
  • There are also discounts at Gardenwalk, these aso vary by merchant.
• Disney World
  
  • Allows you to buy the TIW card
  • Offers free parking
  • Offers limited discounts at restaurants (without the TIW card)
  • Like DL, they implemented a "Holiday Special" for merchandise discounts that seems to have been continued indefinitely, I do not know for sure if it is still taking place or not though.
  • The hotels also offer AP rates

Now, if you are planning on completing just one more trip to either Disneyland or Disney World prior to one year after your initial visit on the pass, it would be worth it to buy it for both.

Also, the cheaper way to get the premier pass is to go to Disney World first and buy discounted tickets online, then enter one of the parks, then upgrade the ticket to the premier pass, as you will get the full gate value of the pass towards the upgrade. At Disneyland, you only get the price you paid (sometimes less, if bought from a third party) no matter what you do.

If you use priceline to bid on hotels in the area, you should now try to bid $25 under what you would want to spend, as many hotels in the area are now charging $25 per night for parking. Another option is to use Hotwire, they will usually list free parking as an amenity.

 

[skiingfast]

If you use priceline to bid on hotels in the area, you should now try to bid $25 under what you would want to spend, as many hotels in the area are now charging $25 per night for parking. Another option is to use Hotwire, they will usually list free parking as an amenity.

What hotel is charging $25?

 

[Malcon10t]

If you use priceline to bid on hotels in the area, you should now try to bid $25 under what you would want to spend, as many hotels in the area are now charging $25 per night for parking. Another option is to use Hotwire, they will usually list free parking as an amenity.

The only hotel I know of charging this much is the Marriott on Convention. Are there others? The majority of others usually charge closer to $15.

 

[luckyman_apd]

Hojo is great at it's ENT rate, not so at anyother rate. While it's still nicer than those other places you are thiking about for the price I would consider them over Hojo.

One thing I would consider is are you going back during midday? Walking to Hojo versus back to the parking lot is many times nicer.

The other thing, with an AP that covers parking my suggestion is seeing if you can priceline a nice hotel for $40 to $60, 4 star in the Anaheim South area. Just know if you get one you may also have to pay for parking so consider that you bid is going to be upto under $15 lesss than what you will end up paying.

We do plan to walk back during midday. With two small kids and the DL park open till Midnight, with a 3-4 trip, we will spend opening to closing in the parks, with a nap for the kids with some pool time during the afternoon. This is our typical WDW schedule so we figured we would stick to the same thing in DL. We are DVC owners at Bay Lake Towers at the Contemporary, but we don't own a lot of points. Enough for about 2 trips every 3 years. So DL is going to be new experience for us. We have thought about saving money on the Hotel, but walking distance is nice. It will be like taking the walk back from the Magic Kingdom to the Bay Lake Towers (although we do take the monorail when it's extremely hot.

It's likely that we won't ever have a chance to get back to DL so I'm thinking I might just spend the extra money to be within walking distance. We have a sit n stand stroller for the kiddies so the walk for them is no big deal

 

[skiingfast]

A couple suggestions.

Did you book the Hojo with the DIS discount or and AP discount? 15% off. 714-776-6120 call this number so you book directly with the Hojo Anahiem during daytime(PST) hours.

Since you do plan the midday break I would try to stay within walking distance. This is a true DLR advantage over WDW.

The Hojo is about 7 minutes from the gates. Cross Harbor immediately and then cut through the bushes into the resort. Super 8 Katella is walking distance but pretty far about 15 minutes. So while a good alternative you will probably want to bus it a few times to save on walking especially on the long walk home at night.

The other hotels are simply too far to walk to and from. You may read their block away claim, it's similar to how DHS is just down the road from the CR.


PS, glad you know you can save time walking to the MK from CR/BLT. It's so simple and often a time saver I'm surprised at how many people don't know to do it.

 

[Cinderpamela]

I was thinking about the hotel parking at checkin. We have a reservation at the HOJO near the front gate, but if we buy the premium passport, we are thinking of getting a cheaper hotel and just driving to the park each day. Any suggestions on which is better? HoJo for $125 a night plus taxes (about $150 total a night) or Super 8, travelodge, or Days in? I would save about $250 with the last 3 over the HoJo. That could save me the money for the Premier passport right there. The HoJo was highly recommended by Mousesavers.com

At DLR "just driving to the park each day" is way more of an ordeal than at WDW, so please keep that in mind. The parking garages are far from the park and the tram can take a long time, totally different than WDW.

It is much more ideal to book a hotel within walking distance to the Pedestrian entrance.
Here is a great map with a visual of the Good neighbor hotels that are closest to the Pedestrian entrance:
http://www.accommodationsneardisney.com/Disneyland/default.asp

You can see on this map that the hotels in the green zone are walkable... the yellow zone a shuttle is recommended.

HoJo is great but there are actually some closer ones, such as the ParkVue, and Farfield that get good reviews too.

 

[luckyman_apd]

At DLR "just driving to the park each day" is way more of an ordeal than at WDW, so please keep that in mind. The parking garages are far from the park and the tram can take a long time, totally different than WDW.

It is much more ideal to book a hotel within walking distance to the Pedestrian entrance.
Here is a great map with a visual of the Good neighbor hotels that are closest to the Pedestrian entrance:
http://www.accommodationsneardisney.com/Disneyland/default.asp

You can see on this map that the hotels in the green zone are walkable... the yellow zone a shuttle is recommended.

HoJo is great but there are actually some closer ones, such as the ParkVue, and Farfield that get good reviews too.

Glad to hear it. I used the link from the Mousesavers.com webpage to book the HoJo. It dropped the 150 price before tax to 125. So with the taxes and fees, it's about $150 per night.

Money is money and I'd rather save it than spend it, but if $200 more on the hotel over those nights will make the trip that much more enjoyable, then I'm all for that. It's not just about saving money, but making sure the extra expense (or savings) is worth it. When I was a kid, my parents ALWAYS stayed offsite at WDW. As an adult with my own kids, we thought the savings was not worth it. We stayed on property, and thought the added expense made the trips that much better. After renting DVC points we realized DVC was for us, and bought BLT points resale. I'm hoping to keep our DL trip a similar (in terms of enjoyment) and appreciate the differences as well. It sounds like the HoJo is the way to go for us.

How's the pool/ water park stuff at the HoJo?

 

[Cinderpamela]

Totally get it, sometimes its worth it to pay more for the experience, but you just want to know that you are getting the best value for your bucks!

Glad you were able to save some money... it all adds up. Hojo has a great pool area... much better than the other off sites.

 

[skiingfast]

How's the pool/ water park stuff at the HoJo?

Pirate Cove is a great pool for the under 10 set. The other pool is nice but a bit shady. If you don't have little kids, the pool doesn't really make a difference.