Recommendations For My Trip???

[carebee21]

We're going to Disneyland Oct 7-11. We're taking my friends 6 year old daughter with us because she wants to go to Disneyland so bad, but her mom just can't afford it. Since we were just at Disneyland a month ago for 2 weeks and we're going to Disneyworld in Jan for 2 weeks we're really trying to make this a budget trip.

We're looking for a clean hotel, close to the gate, or at least on the ART route. We don't need anything fancy but we need two queen beds. We'd really like a hotel that doesn't charge parking fees and outrageous resort fees, and would like to stay around $70/night with all taxes and fees. (Our dates aren't on HOJO, so unless that pops up, it's out for now.)

Secondly, I need to purchase one childs three day parkhopper. We have AP's but I need one for her. Where can I find one for the best rate. I've looked and it looks like Disney is cheaper than Getaway today. Are there other sites I should check?

Additionally, she's a girly-girl and I'm certain she'll see the princess dresses and want one (and it will be fun to dress her up!). Where is the best place to purchase them prior to coming to the park? I see they're $39 online at the Disneystore. Is this a fair price? Can I find them cheaper, while still being decent quality?

And lastly, what do most people do as far as souviniers/spending money for kids. My son is a pin collector, so we set a limit on pins and that's that. But this is likely the little girls only trip as a child, and we want to make it special for her, but not go overboard. I'm paying for her entire trip and ticket, buying her new shoes, and some disney shirts and sweatshirt at disney store ahead of time. I was thinking if I do the dress, buy a disney doll or stuffed animal ahead of time and give it to her in the hotel or park, and then let her choose Mickey Ears and one souvinier in the park, that would be more than sufficient, or should I set a spending limit and maybe give it on a disney card and once it's spent it's spent, or just say one small souvinier per day? (And obviously whatever I give to her for souviniers/spending, I would equally do for my own child, he's not getting more or less)

 

[Raindown]

That is really nice of you. I'm not sure how much I can help out on this thread, but I'll give you a bump.

 

[Shellyf62]

My family & I have stayed at the Peacock Suites. It has 2 queen beds in the room, and a seperate sitting area if needed. The only downfall is that it is $8.00 per day for valet parking. It also has the ART bus stop right out the front.
The cheapest rate is through the hotel itself. We got it for about $70 a night last year. I just hope it hasnt risen too much. Here is the link

http://www.shellhospitality.com/hotels/peacock_suites/index.html

I just wanted to add what an amazing thing you & your family are doing- it is so nice to see that there are still good people in the world!

 

[JH87]

It's so nice of you to do this for the little girl, she will remember it for her entire life!
As far as a decent hotel, in the begining of aug my family stayed at a cheap little place. nothing fancy, it was on Katella, about a 10 min walk but also on the ART route. We walked most of the time though.
It was called America's best value inn - fantasy suites.
There is a similar one on Ball rd called America's best value inn - astoria
i have booked this place for a quick weekend trip for me and a friend in october. it has good reviews.
the place i actually did already stay at was clean, cheap, had a mini fridge and microwave in each room. i think it was $60-70 a night; the one i have booked for october was cheaper at $50-something for a room with 2 queen beds for 3 nights. Pretty sure it was free parking, but you might wanna double check.
Have fun!!

 

[bnbheartdisney]

Regarding the dress, I've found that Disney's dresses, truly are the best when it comes to quality. I've found $39 to be the average as well - not too bad.

And I, personally, like to get my DD a little something each day.

P.S.
It is SO nice what you are doing! There is no doubt that she is going to have a wonderful time!!!

 

[PineapplePrincessCA]

What a kind thing to do.

 

[oc_tony]

Additionally, she's a girly-girl and I'm certain she'll see the princess dresses and want one (and it will be fun to dress her up!). Where is the best place to purchase them prior to coming to the park? I see they're $39 online at the Disneystore. Is this a fair price? Can I find them cheaper, while still being decent quality?

And lastly, what do most people do as far as souviniers/spending money for kids. My son is a pin collector, so we set a limit on pins and that's that. But this is likely the little girls only trip as a child, and we want to make it special for her, but not go overboard. I'm paying for her entire trip and ticket, buying her new shoes, and some disney shirts and sweatshirt at disney store ahead of time. I was thinking if I do the dress, buy a disney doll or stuffed animal ahead of time and give it to her in the hotel or park, and then let her choose Mickey Ears and one souvinier in the park, that would be more than sufficient, or should I set a spending limit and maybe give it on a disney card and once it's spent it's spent, or just say one small souvinier per day? (And obviously whatever I give to her for souviniers/spending, I would equally do for my own child, he's not getting more or less)

Have you checked the Disney Character Warehouse in Las Vegas? It's a good one, and you can often find princess dresses, pins, kids' clothes, stuffed animals, and more at greatly reduced prices. They sell overstock park merchandise, so it can be hit-or-miss, but we stop in almost every time we go to Vegas. The DCW is located on Las Vegas Blvd in the Outlet Center. Just google it and you'll find it. There are also two other DCWs in SoCal (Fullerton, which is very near to DLR, and Pomona).

 

[carebee21]

Have you checked the Disney Character Warehouse in Las Vegas? It's a good one, and you can often find princess dresses, pins, kids' clothes, stuffed animals, and more at greatly reduced prices. They sell overstock park merchandise, so it can be hit-or-miss, but we stop in almost every time we go to Vegas. The DCW is located on Las Vegas Blvd in the Outlet Center. Just google it and you'll find it. There are also two other DCWs in SoCal (Fullerton, which is very near to DLR, and Pomona).

Thanks for the tip! I go there randomly to check out the pins, but didn't even think to look for dresses in there.

And thanks everyone else for the suggestions! She's unbelievably excited and I'm really happy that I'm finally going to be able to dress up a little girl in the cute dresses!!!! On the other hand, my husband keeps whining about how awful the drive is going to be with the both of them excited and wound up in the back seat.

 

[Karenann*]

Costco usually has disney princess costumes for Halloween. I'm not sure of the price, but you could check it out when they get them in.

And i love the special trip you are planning including this little princess!

For budget, Park Vue Inn right across the street has breakfast and now a light evening meal 5-7pm. This would save the cost of 2 meals/day times 4. If you include that n the budget, even tho these rooms may be more4 per night, the added value could save you money in the long run. Theu have rooms with 1 Q and a bunk bed or 2 Q. AAA rates are the best one. No need for ART, it is located right across the street from main entrance right at the walkway. Other threads here have good reviews.

 

[Momrow]

What a great treat you will be giving this little girl!

Make sure she meets the fairies and the princesses, my 4 year old did not mind the waits at all. I would get her a souvenir each day, if you can, and let her choose. My dd's got

- small stuffed animals (around $12)
- pins
- small snow globe (around $12)
- earrings, but you could do a necklace (earrings were $6 or $8)
- mickey lollipops

For their big souvenir, one dd got a watch and the other some sparkly princess shoes, these were about $30. $39 for a dress sounds good to me, they are more in the parks.

 

[Ariel224]

Costco usually has disney princess costumes for Halloween. I'm not sure of the price, but you could check it out when they get them in.

My Costco has all things Halloween in the warehouse NOW, so don't wait to check out this option. They usually run under $20 or so.

 

[Amommy21]

We do one mickey or stuffed animal, one sweatshirt and one something else. That and ears and a dress up otufit is PLENTY... take lots of photos to share with her mom. that will e the biggest gift to make her a photo back when you come back!

 

[carebee21]

I had a productive day. I found the Quality Inn and Suites Anaheim for all 4 of us for $42/night. Plus they have a free breakfast in the morning with juice, pastries, cereal and waffles. It's located behind Hojo's, so within walking distance and all the reviews look good for it, so I booked it. Has anyone stayed there?

We swung by the Disney Character Warehouse and just picked up a few pins. Then we went to the Disney Outlet store. They had their t-shirts on sale for $2.99 so I picked her up a couple. They also had $15 zip up, hooded sweatshirts, so I picked up one for her and one for my son. And they had lots of $1.99 pins, so I picked up a bunch of pins for them to trade, as well as a 4 pin set you can color yourself for $7.50 (I'm babysitting her tomorrow, so maybe I'll let them color them then) I also picked up a snow white costume dress, but I just read about the costco dresses, so maybe I'll swing by there and see if they have the dresses and if they do, return the one I bought.

Now I just need find her a park ticket and I think I'm all set.

Actually, one more question... What do you do to occupy children in the car? We have about a 5 hour car ride. We're leaving around 6ish in the evening, so I'm hoping they'll fall asleep but maybe not. My son is usually pretty mellow and falls asleep on car rides but she's an active child, so I'm not sure if she will. We have a DVD player and a Nintendo DS, should that be enough? Maybe a coloring book and colored pencils?

 

[bnbheartdisney]

Looks like you're off to a good start! That's a really good price you got too! You'll need to post once you get back and let us know how it was.

And by the way, I have a very active 5 year old niece and she usually does good with a movie playing. If she does start getting antsy, then my sister will distract her with something - coloring book/game or snacks. I think you should be okay.

 

[jazzatola]

I just wanted to say that I think you are doing a wonderful thing for that little girl!

My girls & I went without my husband last year and one of them got "homesick" for Daddy. We had a picture of him and she carried it around in her pocket so "Daddy" could be with her. Just a thought since you will be 5 hours away from home.. Have a MAGICAL Trip!

 

[where's_my_prince]

awww thats so sweet of you


yeah 39 is pretty good price, the ones at the park are 65 bucks! but since you are going during Halloween season im sure you can find a good dress at simple stores like target cuz they are getting all the Halloween stuff out!

if you have the chance while your out hear you should also go the character warehouse hear they have really cheap prices, i went last weekend and they had Halloween mickey ears for TWO DOLLARS