List of Questions...

[Disney Dreams]

OK! I have a question. Dbf and I would like to volunteer to save $72 each on our trip in January. So we would have to get right on the ball and volunteer asap. But I see online that you save $40 a person when you buy tickets online, and would like to know if we could upgrade our free tickets to a 6 day PH online so we save the $142 AND the $80 for buying online. We are trying to make this trip as cheap as possible so we can afford a few more (WE MIGHT BE BUYING AP'S!) Is this possible?

Any other tips for us to save some $$?

Yes, you can upgrade your "Give a day, get a day" ticket.
No, you cannot upgrade it online.

You will take your free ticket to the Park. Enter the Park, which validates your free ticket. Then you will go to the Annual Pass processing center and upgrade your 1 day ticket to your 6 day parkhopper prior to the end of the day. They will subtract the cost of a one-day ticket (adult or child, accordingly) from the cost of the AP.

- Dreams

 

[LifeIsTinkIsLife]

ok! that's fine with me. =) so we will just buy the 6 day ph's and volunteer after for a different trip! thanks so much for the help everyone! for now i don't have any questions but if anyone wants to give me some tips that would be great!

 

[LifeIsTinkIsLife]

EDIT: Not staying at DLH for sure, and might not be upgrading to AP's, but it's ok!

 

[pixiewings71]

The DLR hotels do not have free breakfasts, on top of that they have a daily resort fee that they add on top of your nightly rate, it's another $14 or so. Depending on the difference in price I would stay off site.

 

[LifeIsTinkIsLife]

Yeah we won't be staying at DLH. I saw some pictures of it and was not too impressed, so we will try to figure out how to use priceline and maybe get a nice hotel for $40 a night that is closer than the HOJO we are staying at. But we'll see!

 

[clb79]

I don't think any of the places that people get on Priceline for 40.00 are going to be closer than the Hojo unless you are taking about the other Hojo that isn't on Harbor Blvd...

If you want cheap and close you can get pretty cheap rates at the Anaheim Plaza Hotel which is across from the tower of terror on Harbor. and less than 10 minutes to walk to the gates. There regular rate starts around 59.00 directly on their website (based on room availability). Its nothing fancy, but it was clean and the rooms were really big compared to the other hotels near by. The other hotels on Harbor will be priced higher than that most of the time. I know its not 40 bucks, but at least you know exactly where you are staying before you book and you know you are right across the street...

Since you don't have kids, it might be worth the Priceline game though since you can be more flexible with your options etc... My wife and I were avid Priceline and Hotwire fans when we first got married, it was even part of the fun or thrill to not know what hotel we would get. Now that we have kids we like being a little more in control of how far away we are, etc... Now days being withing walking distance for the kids and knowing that for sure is well worth the extra 19.00 bucks. I am pretty sure when the kids are a little older we will start our old Priceline and Hotwire ways again

Make sure if you do decide to try Priceline to tell us what you got!!!

 

[LifeIsTinkIsLife]

I don't think any of the places that people get on Priceline for 40.00 are going to be closer than the Hojo unless you are taking about the other Hojo that isn't on Harbor Blvd...

If you want cheap and close you can get pretty cheap rates at the Anaheim Plaza Hotel which is across from the tower of terror on Harbor. and less than 10 minutes to walk to the gates. There regular rate starts around 59.00 directly on their website (based on room availability). Its nothing fancy, but it was clean and the rooms were really big compared to the other hotels near by. The other hotels on Harbor will be priced higher than that most of the time.

Nope! I am talking about a HOJO that is in a city called Stanton and it is about 7 miles away.

I just looked at APH, do they take AAA rates? $407 might be out of our price range, but I guess if we add up all the days of having to pay for parking...

Hmm... pondering.

 

[clb79]

Nope! I am talking about a HOJO that is in a city called Stanton and it is about 7 miles away.

I just looked at APH, do they take AAA rates? $407 might be out of our price range, but I guess if we add up all the days of having to pay for parking...

Hmm... pondering.

Wow they must be pretty booked? How many days are you staying? We were there last month for Halloween Time and single rooms were 59.00 our room a family sweet (basically two connecting rooms was only 109.00. They must have higher rates for the holidays.

They do have the AAA logo on their website so it might be worth calling and asking if they have a lower AAA rate or a code you can plugin to the reservation page.

I guess they aren't always as good of a deal, but its always a good place to check when planning a trip. I would expect to see their rates drop again during non peak season time.

Sorry they don't have as cheap of a rate for your days, but keep them on your list for future trips!

I saw in one of your posts somewhere something to the effect that every dollar you can save this trip is extra money towards another trip.

Our cheap rate last month at APH was enough to help us be able to make a Christmas Time trip, so that is the right kind of attitude to have!

I definitely would rather stay in a cheaper place and go more often than a fancy hotel and then not be able to afford other trips. (Although I did book the GCH as a surprise for my wife to celebrate our 7th Anniversary. It will be our first trip without the kids too so I kind of justified the extra cost by rationalizing how much money we will save by not having to feed them or buy them stuff on that trip, LOL)

 

[clb79]

I just looked at APH, do they take AAA rates? $407 might be out of our price range, but I guess if we add up all the days of having to pay for parking...

Hmm... pondering.

Oh yeah forgot to mention. APH charges 4 dollars a night for parking, but that is definitely cheaper than most of the other Harbor Hotels and definitely cheaper than parking in the structure at DLR.

 

[LifeIsTinkIsLife]

Woops, sorry for the misunderstanding, it is $59 a night, but when I looked it up for 6 nights that is what the total came out to! I am going on an off peak season as well! I will call them though and see if it is any less for AAA members, and maybe talk DBF into staying there. Well congrats! I look forward to seeing everyone's trip reports for the Holidays! When I have kids I am going to take them to DLR for Christmas. $4 isn't too bad for parking... that's just a dumb thing to have to pay for, lol.

 

[clb79]

Woops, sorry for the misunderstanding, it is $59 a night, but when I looked it up for 6 nights that is what the total came out to! I am going on an off peak season as well! I will call them though and see if it is any less for AAA members, and maybe talk DBF into staying there.

OK, I am glad they had the 59.00 rate at least! I guess I was thinking a 3 or 4 day trip like we took and that made me sad that the rates may have jumped that quick...

Well congrats! I look forward to seeing everyone's trip reports for the Holidays! When I have kids I am going to take them to DLR for Christmas.

We are taking the kids Thanksgiving week so it won't technically be right at Christmas, but most of the Christmas stuff will be running (except the Electrical Parade I am looking forward to the day we will be able to see it with our boys, it was my favorite as a kid!

$4 isn't too bad for parking... that's just a dumb thing to have to pay for, lol.

If only we could figure out who the first one was to start charging for parking and boycott them, LOL (Actually those of us that bargain hunt probably already don't stay there... I would guess its one of the places that already gouges people with their rates to begin with).

Parking is also something to remember with Hotwire and Priceline. If you book some of the higher star properties they can charge upwards of 15.00 a night parking once you get there and that wont be factored into your price when booking. We got a steal for a room at the Sheraton in San Fransisco once and then when we got there parking was 15.00 extra a night. It was still a great rate for what we got, but we weren't expecting it.

 

[bumbershoot]

Parking is also something to remember with Hotwire and Priceline. If you book some of the higher star properties they can charge upwards of 15.00 a night parking once you get there and that wont be factored into your price when booking. We got a steal for a room at the Sheraton in San Fransisco once and then when we got there parking was 15.00 extra a night. It was still a great rate for what we got, but we weren't expecting it.

So it's really important to check out sites like betterbidding dot com, to try to figure out what hotel you're about to get, so you can visit their website and find out any resort or parking charges before bidding.

We got the Hilton for a really lovely price (same price that Motel 6 through hotels dot com was going to be), and thanks to betterbidding we knew it was either the Hilton or another specific hotel before we clicked, and knew that there would be a $15/day parking fee (and it was worth it that time).

 

[pixiewings71]

Definitely weigh the costs of daily parking ($14 a day) against the cost of the hotel. If you're getting your hotel for $40 a night and paying for gas and $14 for parking it's almost the same if you stay at the APH and pay their $4 fee for parking. They are a decent hotel! We stayed there in October and liked it just fine. And like Molly said, if you're Price Lining it make sure you know the various fees the resorts charge so you don't end up overpaying......I usually make $59 my max bid on Price Line, but I rarely use PL because we need 2 beds and they will only guarantee 1.

 

[LifeIsTinkIsLife]

Yeah you're right Pixie I didn't think of that! We are still searching around, looking at Hotwire a little bit too. One thing I have noticed was that a few of the rooms have "1 room left." on them. What is going on that week? Is this going to make the park crowded? I've never seen that, even when we went and it was crowded in May.

Also, thanks for the help everyone!

ANOTHER also, I just found a very good priced hotel and the room didn't look to shabby. It almost seems too good to be true, just making sure that I am not misreading anything and this hotel ends up being in New Hampshire or something. I found a hotel for $45 a night, and it's America's Best Value Inn and Suites.

 

[clb79]

Yeah you're right Pixie I didn't think of that! We are still searching around, looking at Hotwire a little bit too. One thing I have noticed was that a few of the rooms have "1 room left." on them. What is going on that week? Is this going to make the park crowded? I've never seen that, even when we went and it was crowded in May.

When you see 1 room left on any of these 3rd party sites that you can book through that means that whatever allotment of rooms that the hotel made available to them at that rate are almost gone.

The hotels aren't going to release all of their rooms all of their rooms all at once to these sites and they wont release them at any single price. The number of rooms they release for booking through these sites and the price that they are able to get them for is going to be based on how busy or booked the hotel is for those dates. If they aren't able to book people directly or through other sites fast enough or its getting close to the dates they can and will release more rooms. The opposite applies too, if they are getting close to capacity then they will limit the number of rooms they release at discount rates or to discount sites.

Basically, if you saw "1 room left at this rate" it could mean anything! It might be a busy time and they won't have anymore rooms at that rate. It could just mean that all of the rooms originally released at that rate are gone and the hotel hasn't released additional inventory for whatever reason yet. It is still possible if you check again tomorrow, in a few days, or next week that you could get the same rate for the same place.

If you know what hotel it is try to get a quote directly from them to see what availability is like. If they have certain rates or room types that are unavailable then you have a better idea how full they are.

If everything is still available and at their standard rates, then there is that chance that they will release more rooms to the discount sites later...

It really is all a game, how long are you willing to wait, is it worth the risk or not if it does end up being a busy time, etc...

Since you already have a room booked far away its less of a gamble and you can afford to wait a little longer since you are aren't going to be stuck with absolutely nothing. At least you have all the way up to your cancellation date there to make a decision.

Even though you have time and the security of your other reservation, if you see something that is good enough do it! Remember though that Priceline, Hotwire, etc aren't going to let you cancel as easily or at all. So once you book with them you are stuck with what you have!

 

[FlyingBelle]

Does anyone know if you can see Lightning McQueen & Mater anywhere at Disneyland?

My 3-year old nephew just moved to So Cal, and he's been looking for McQueen since he got there. We're taking him to Disneyland next week and I'd like to be prepared! (My first time to DL!)

 

[LifeIsTinkIsLife]

Ok! That makes sense. So hopefully it's not too crowded. We are going to book our hotel tonight with America's Best Value Inn and Suites. It is less than a mile away and only $47 a night! I called and they don't have any charges and I don't have to buy it right away. I will keep looking but it will feel more real to me if my hotel is booked! I just caaaaan't wait! I am so hungry for a chicken skewer from Bengal BBQ. And maybe sneak it on and eat it while I sail through POTC, hehe.

 

[clb79]

Does anyone know if you can see Lightning McQueen & Mater anywhere at Disneyland?

My 3-year old nephew just moved to So Cal, and he's been looking for McQueen since he got there. We're taking him to Disneyland next week and I'd like to be prepared! (My first time to DL!)

Right across from the Soarin queue at DCA they have a photo op with them.

 

[pixiewings71]

Ok! That makes sense. So hopefully it's not too crowded. We are going to book our hotel tonight with America's Best Value Inn and Suites. It is less than a mile away and only $47 a night! I called and they don't have any charges and I don't have to buy it right away. I will keep looking but it will feel more real to me if my hotel is booked! I just caaaaan't wait! I am so hungry for a chicken skewer from Bengal BBQ. And maybe sneak it on and eat it while I sail through POTC, hehe.

Let us know how that place is, I'm curious about it too, unfortunately I don't know if they have any super cheap rates available for the last trip I want to take with these APs.......

 

[LifeIsTinkIsLife]

Let us know how that place is, I'm curious about it too, unfortunately I don't know if they have any super cheap rates available for the last trip I want to take with these APs.......

Oh yeah I will let you know and I'll be writing a TR too! The pictures don't look too bad. But I guess they would probably make sure there are no cockroaches and ants before they snapped the pictures! The last hotels we've stayed at for about $40-$50 a night have been that way.

It's weird though, cause the hotels we usually stay at (Econolodge and Days Inn Anaheim West) are raising their prices. I am sure they are equally crappy, but I saw the worst hotel I have ever been at was now $80. It was so bad that when I put my knee down on the bed to test it out, I got a huge bruise and it put a damper on the whole trip, haha. Oh well, sometimes you just have to give up luxury for quantity.