Pre-planning our Spring Break trip - when to book?

[rszdtrvl]

We are in the pre-planning stages for our upcoming Spring Break family vacation.

We did the whole Universal Studios, Knotts Berry Farm, Disney/DCA earlier this year, 5 nights.

Next year (2009) we just plan on doing Disneyland/DCA and for 4 nights.

I did a pre-price through Alaska Airlines vacations, and got a total of around $2000, for airfare, hotel (Camelot), and 4 day park hoppers. This does not include the transfers via Super Shuttle, which we will need.

To me, this price is decent.

I can't book through the Disney site yet, or even get a quote, as they are not showing any 2009 information.

Do you think that the price will go down at all? Or hold steady? Or go up?

We paid around $2800 last year for 5 day park hoppers, all transfers/shuttles, tickets, 5 nights at the hotel, etc.

Also : I remember something about a Disneyland area hotel having a water park put into it. The Howard Johnson? I can't remember which one. Anyway, will the waterpark hotel be ready by the end of March? And which one is it. My son would love to stay at that hotel if it will be ready. Otherwise we will be back to the Camelot.

Thanks so much, in advance, for any information!!

 

[trodrigue]

Well, my experience is that it is always a better value to book seperately. It is hard to give an opinion without knowing how many in your party, where you are coming from, etc.

I have a trip planned Feb 14 to Feb 21, with 5 day hoppers, 7 nights hotel, airfare from Seattle for 4 of us. Here is our expenses so far.

Hotel: Howard Johnson $75 per night $525.
Airfare $712.
Hoppers $590.
Airport Transfer $150.
subtotal: $1977


So, I think with 4 days, you should be able to do better booking seperately.

PS Howard Johnson new water play area is in and reported to be great fun.

 

[rszdtrvl]

Being in Aberdeen, it is easier for us to fly out of Portland. The airport is much easier to get in and out of. Plus the traffic headed south is not as bad.

There are 3 of us.

Cool about the Howard Johnson!! How far is that hotel from Disneyland? Is it within walking distance?

 

[vegas_mickey]

It's odd that you can not see anything on the Disney website because I have been compairing prices on thier site vs. others for over a month now. We have already booked our spring break package for next year. We usually end up going through the Costco website though. More perks. Also we don't have to fly, it's only a 4 1/2 hour drive from Vegas. So I would try the Disney site again, I don't see why one part of the country would be able to book and not another. That wouldn't be fair all the rooms could be gone before others are even able to look. Hope it works for you.

 

[avalon451]

You can do better booking separately. Check Alaska Air, Virgin, and Jet Blue from SeaTac to Long Beach. You should be able to find $79 or even $69 each way, although over spring break it might be higher.

Get your parkhoppers separately, I think Ares is cheapest. I believe the "Adults play for kids' price" promotion is going on next spring, at least I know I saw those prices posted at GetAwayToday. It used to be worth it to get them through GAT because they offered two magic mornings instead of just one, but next year they're not doing that promotion any more.

HoJo has the Entertainment book rate; the dates aren't listed yet, but you can still book your dates and then call for the lower prices if they get listed. http://www.hojoanaheim.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=14 Again, if it's during spring break, the rate might not be available, but you will still get 15% off the best available rate if you call up the hotel directly, ask for IN HOUSE reservations, and ask for the internet rate.

Just so you know... spring break is NUTS. One of the absolute busiest times of the year. So be prepared to get there early and collect FastPasses to beat the crowds! Hydroguy's tips rock! http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1520483

 

[rszdtrvl]

Thanks!!

Last year we did a package through Southwest Airlines. And to be honest, the crowds were not too terribly bad during spring break, with the exception of Tuesday. And if the HOJO has an indoor water park, we will be happy spending time there if the crowds get too awful.

However, this year we are determined to get a NONSTOP flight. No connections. It was just too much with the stops.

We prefer to fly into SNA, definitely not into LAX, but any other close airport, provided there is transfers through SuperShuttle, is fine.

I did an airfare pricing from PDX to SNA on the days we want - Leave March 28th (Saturday) and return on April 1st (for a 4 night hotel stay) and got a price around $1000 for the 3 of us.

Now tell me : Is SeaTac airport easy to get in and out of? It is actually closer to us, but we like the calmness of PDX. I think it may be cheaper to fly out of there, but how is parking? Do they have the easy parking and shuttle busses like PDX? From what I have seen on the news, there is problems with the parking area, especially during a busy time like Spring Break.

And the entertainment rate : I would need to get an entertainment book, right? Since I am going during Spring Break would it still be worth it?

Last year, booking a package deal made things so much easier on us that I am still tempted to do it again, even if the price is a bit more than doing it all separately. But if we save a lot of $$, I may be tempted to do things a bit differently.

Thanks so much!! We are already getting Disney-fever in the house, and we still have 6 months to go!

 

[rszdtrvl]

I was finally able to access the Disney vacation packages through the Disney website. But am unable to get a quote for the Hojo.

We have decided to be non-negotiable with our flight plans. We like familiarity, and it seems like the PDX-SNA flights are best for us. The times are good, and we are very familiar with the airports. And considering that airfare is going to be the most expensive part of the entire vacation, I think that the price we got seems fair.

I have done a tentative package through Alaska Airlines and this is what I have :

Leave March 28 - Saturday - PDX-SNA
11:03am - 1:35pm
Return April 1 - Wednesday - SNA-PDX
1:17pm - 3:44pm

4 Nights at the Howard Johnson Anaheim

= Airfare + hotel quote is : $1447.70 (there are 2 adults - 1 child)

4 Day Park-Hoppers (adults pay kid prices)
= $489.00 ($163.00 x 3)

Quote is $1936.70 (per person price is $645.57)

I would need to do supershuttle airport/hotel transportation separately, but the quote I got is $30 each way, for a total of $60. I believe there is an entertainment rate or something out there, but I am not too terribly worried about the prices going up too much. I am more worried about airfare.

Just the airfare quote I got for the above fights and times was $389 round trip per person, for a total of $1167.00.

So it looks like the package deal would be the cheapest way, considering airports are non-negotiable. I did the whole "cheapest fare" thing at Alaska Airlines, and it looks like I did get the cheapest days - they are all expensive around that time.