He's hooked!!

[maxie]

My DH was very insistent on the way home from our WDW honeymoon (Sept 23) that we would not be doing another Disney vacation for a minimum 3 years as there were other places he wanted to see and higher priorities for our income. BTW this was his first Disney trip ever. Well yesterday I asked him if hypothetically that if I could plan a trip to DL for under $2000 if he would consider it for next fall...he hesitated for a second....and than he said yes!!!!
We're thinking of late November or first week of December....another trip to plan!!!
I have so many questions. Can't believe how different DL is from WDW in terms of planning!!

Questions so far:

1.) Can't seem to find price for passes (3 or 4 day) for both parks on the DL site.
2.) Is it as important to stay on-site at DL as it is at WDW?
3.) As there are no codes for DL whats the best way of getting hotel deals?

ANy advice would be great! I'm going to study the DL info on mousesavers.

Hey....I can change my counter now!

Oh by the way it's just me and my husband....so far

 

[LuvTigger]

Congratulations on your DL vacation! I think you will love it!

Okay, I don't have all the answers, but here's my best shot:
1. This is the question I don't have the exact answer for. My best guesstimate would be $120-$150 per 3-4 day hopper. However, sometimes they have special prices where you can get say, a 4 day pass for the price of a 3 day. I'm not sure if the time frame you're looking at would qualify for the Fall Getaway Package, which I'll explain shortly.

2. It is NOT as important to stay "onsite" at DL as in WDW. The atmosphere there is very different, basically a park plopped right in the middle of "the real world." (Though I must say that they've really improved the surrounding area to beautify it.) I've stayed both on and off. I usually stay off because of the cost, but I do stay onsite occasionally to splurge. Last October we stayed at the Grand Californian and LOVED it (reminded me of WL at WDW). If I could afford to, I'd stay there every time! There are lots of reasonably priced hotels/motels right across the street, walking distance. Many also have shuttles which just take a few minutes.

3. Best ways to get discounts. DC and AAA are probably the most common and I think offer similar discounts (I normally use DC). DL's packages are usually a much better value than WDW, and I've used those often. The last trip I booked thru DU, and they were awesome! For about $1200, we stayed 4 nights at GC (Fall Getaway Package) for the price of 3, had two 4-day hoppers for the price of a 3-day, two $10 ESPN game cards, two character breakfasts that included tax and tip (we paid $11 per person extra for this, it usually includes a park breakfast), and some other goodies like luggage tags, etc. Also, all taxes and the resort fees are included in the package. There are also packages for the "good neighbor hotels" which are very reasonably priced (I would say it would probably cost about half the price I paid for the GC package). Sometimes Travelocity and Expedia offer very good rates on the DL hotels. However, from what I've seen, they only offer these a short time ahead of time, and they're not available for all dates.

Happy planning!

 

[kilarney]

1) Pass prices are on the official Disney website. They have a special for online orders right now. You get a 5 day hopper for the price of a 3 day hopper. ($113) The days DO expire.

2) It is not worth staying on-site. Disneyland has a much different feel than WDW. Frankly, the on-site hotels are not that impressive. The only one that has a "resort" feel is the Grand Californian. The Disneyland Hotel is a high-rise that is less than appealing to the eye. We got a rate at the Fairfield by Marriott for $53/night. It is a 5-10 minute walk to the park. I can't justify spending $200/night to stay in an on-site hotel.

3) expedia.com has a promotion for the Disney hotels. If you stay three nights, you get the fourth night free. I believe that this is good through at least the end of the year.

 

[daannzzz]

Living in California and going to Disneyland all the time I was so excited when i finally got to plan a trip to WDW a few years ago. It is very different to plan the two different trips.
Disneyland Resort is in the middle of the suburbs and located on two - three large blocks of property and then surrounded by motels, fast food chains, chain restaurants and othe r businesses as well as tracts of homes. When you are riding the train around Disneyland on the Tomorrowland side you are really only 30 feet or so from the 6 lane Harbor Blvd. Staying at the Disney Hotels here is not as important as far as location as there are quite a few motels that are as close or closer than the Disneyland Hotel and Didney's Paradise Pier Hotel. The Grand Californian however is as close as you can get. It is connected to Disney'a California Adventure with many of the balconies overlooking the park. With the private entrance here we could leave our room and be in the park in one to one and a half minutes!!!!! The Grand Californian is on par with The Wl and AKL. The Disneyland Hotel is older and more on par with the Contemporary with alot of it being older. The rooms were just redone though and are slightly formal with tons of Disneyland reladed decore and pixie dust border paper that glows in the dark. The rooms are big here too. The Paradise Pier hotel is the most bland though it is nice and on one side has awesome views of the new theme park.
The motels on Harbor Blvd the are near the walkway over to the parks are great values and most are decent to good with my Favorites being Howard Johnson Plaza and the Candy Cane Inn. The closest accomodations to the walkway are....

Fairfield Inn
Park Inn
Carousel Inn and Suites
Tropicana Inn
Best Western Park Place Inn (The closest you can get other than the Grand Californian)
Park Vue ( very close but old and small and non descript)
The Desert Inn and Suites
The Best Inn
The Best Western Anaheim Inn
The Ramada Saga ( not loads of great reviews)
The Candy Cane Inn

 

[mousecrazy]

Don't forget the possibility of using an AP discount. APs can be had for as low as $99 (with lots of black out dates) and the hotel discount can be excellent...you might call reservations and ask if anything is available this far out.