I wanted to thank everyone for helping me plan this trip to DL.
We were at the parks from May 8-9 and had a blast!
It was my son's birthday and he was thrilled!
I lost my job a few months ago and haven't been able to find another one, but we still went on the trip because we had promised my son a long time ago that we would celebrate his fourth birthday there. He probably wouldn't have been scarred for life if we broke our promise, but I think we needed to keep our promise and enjoy a break ourselves.
I saved for months to afford this trip. Because of everyone's help on this board and some Disney Magic (more on this later), we were able to stay in budget and even enjoy little things like snacks at the park and small souveneirs.
We stayed at HoJo and got the entertainment rate, which we learned about on his board. LOVED, LOVED, LOVED this hotel. Pirates Cove was a big hit. As were leaving we found out that my son didn't close the car door properly and the battery had died. The people at HoJo actually had a portable battery for just such an instance and jump started our car for us, with a smile and a flourish. It was GREAT. btw, We stayed in building 4, overlooking courtyard. Even though it was two double beds, the room was quiet and convenient to the pools, Mimi's, etc.
We learned from this board about Mimi's breakfast club and really enjoyed our free breakfasts. We got to the parks 30 minutes before opening on my son's birthday and went to guest services, birthday voucher in hand. Since we were there for two days and I didn't want a gift card or fast pass, I had calculations on the back of the birthday voucher for various scenarios on how I could use the birthday voucher to save the most money on tickets.
Scenario 1:
Buy 1 day pass for myself and my husband,and get my son's free.
Second day get 1 day parkhoppers for whole family.
Scenario 2:
Get two day park hoppers for whole family and use birthday card toward the price of my son's tickets.
I had a couple of other scenarios like this.
When I showed her the various scenarios and asked if she would help me to figure out the most economical way to use the birthday voucher, she told me to wait for her for one second. She then came back and explained the cheapest way to do this was to buy my son's tickets separately and get the Disney gift card. Then buy my husband and my tickets and use the gift card towards the price of those tickets. And then she told me she talked to her supervisor and they would give me the Southern California Resident rates even thought I lived in Northern California. I couldn't believe it. That was a huge, huge savings for us and meant we could splurge on little things like Mickey ice cream bars and such...MAGIC!
The guest services gave my son his birthday button and from then on, he basked in all the attention given to him by all the cast members. My son was in heaven!
Thanks to all the tips from the people on this board, we didn't wait in line more than 10 minutes on any ride and did every ride we had set out to do that first day, with a nap in between.
We had an equally great time at DCA the next day!
What I learned from this board:
1) HoJo's is good. Cutting across Manchester was a stroke of brilliance.
Staying in Bldg 4 is lovely.
2) Mimi's breakfast. Get one entree and share. That's what we did and using our three breakfast vouchers, were able to eat breakfast for all three of us for minimal costs every day.
3) Do FantastyLand and ToonTown first if you have kids.
4) Save Nemo for last
5) If it weren't for the people on this board, I would have missed Aladdin at DCA. It was wonderful and not to be missed.
6) Get FP for Soarin and Do TSMM at DCA first thing. So glad we did.
7) In May, pack a sweatshirt for little ones at night.
Anyway, thanks again for everyone making this trip so wonderful, so very memorable,so affordable, and enjoyable for us. You guys are the best!
We were at the parks from May 8-9 and had a blast!
It was my son's birthday and he was thrilled!
I lost my job a few months ago and haven't been able to find another one, but we still went on the trip because we had promised my son a long time ago that we would celebrate his fourth birthday there. He probably wouldn't have been scarred for life if we broke our promise, but I think we needed to keep our promise and enjoy a break ourselves.
I saved for months to afford this trip. Because of everyone's help on this board and some Disney Magic (more on this later), we were able to stay in budget and even enjoy little things like snacks at the park and small souveneirs.
We stayed at HoJo and got the entertainment rate, which we learned about on his board. LOVED, LOVED, LOVED this hotel. Pirates Cove was a big hit. As were leaving we found out that my son didn't close the car door properly and the battery had died. The people at HoJo actually had a portable battery for just such an instance and jump started our car for us, with a smile and a flourish. It was GREAT. btw, We stayed in building 4, overlooking courtyard. Even though it was two double beds, the room was quiet and convenient to the pools, Mimi's, etc.
We learned from this board about Mimi's breakfast club and really enjoyed our free breakfasts. We got to the parks 30 minutes before opening on my son's birthday and went to guest services, birthday voucher in hand. Since we were there for two days and I didn't want a gift card or fast pass, I had calculations on the back of the birthday voucher for various scenarios on how I could use the birthday voucher to save the most money on tickets.
Scenario 1:
Buy 1 day pass for myself and my husband,and get my son's free.
Second day get 1 day parkhoppers for whole family.
Scenario 2:
Get two day park hoppers for whole family and use birthday card toward the price of my son's tickets.
I had a couple of other scenarios like this.
When I showed her the various scenarios and asked if she would help me to figure out the most economical way to use the birthday voucher, she told me to wait for her for one second. She then came back and explained the cheapest way to do this was to buy my son's tickets separately and get the Disney gift card. Then buy my husband and my tickets and use the gift card towards the price of those tickets. And then she told me she talked to her supervisor and they would give me the Southern California Resident rates even thought I lived in Northern California. I couldn't believe it. That was a huge, huge savings for us and meant we could splurge on little things like Mickey ice cream bars and such...MAGIC!
The guest services gave my son his birthday button and from then on, he basked in all the attention given to him by all the cast members. My son was in heaven!
Thanks to all the tips from the people on this board, we didn't wait in line more than 10 minutes on any ride and did every ride we had set out to do that first day, with a nap in between.
We had an equally great time at DCA the next day!
What I learned from this board:
1) HoJo's is good. Cutting across Manchester was a stroke of brilliance.
Staying in Bldg 4 is lovely.
2) Mimi's breakfast. Get one entree and share. That's what we did and using our three breakfast vouchers, were able to eat breakfast for all three of us for minimal costs every day.
3) Do FantastyLand and ToonTown first if you have kids.
4) Save Nemo for last
5) If it weren't for the people on this board, I would have missed Aladdin at DCA. It was wonderful and not to be missed.
6) Get FP for Soarin and Do TSMM at DCA first thing. So glad we did.
7) In May, pack a sweatshirt for little ones at night.
Anyway, thanks again for everyone making this trip so wonderful, so very memorable,so affordable, and enjoyable for us. You guys are the best!
But I am a little confused. I thought that the gift cards are not allowed to be used towards the cost of park tickets?
