Surprise Disneyland Trip! HELP!

[LilyLiqueur]

Hello, everyone. I hope you are all doing well. I'm new to this forum, and I joined because I needed some suggestions/advice on a surprise trip I'm attempting to plan for my significant other.

We have been together for four years this June, and I wanted to show her how much I appreciate her and love her by taking her to Disneyland. I'm thinking about doing so around December as a Four and a half years/Christmas gift. That or around Halloween since that is her favourite holiday. We live in Northern California, and I need some advice on how to surprise her with this trip.

I was thinking of Driving down there which only takes about six or seven hours (not too shabby in my opinion). We're still quite low on funds as of now, (We're poor college students >w<). But I just really want to take her down there because she's been dying to go. (I'm starting to ramble). I was hoping you, experts would help me in this field to find good deals for hotels as well as tickets and HOW exactly to surprise her.

One idea was to tell her that I have family emergencies down there and I need to get there right away and I want her to accompany me. But I'm not particularly sure.

If you guys could give me good ideas, that would be great! Thank you!

 

[GrandBob]

One of the best deals out there is HoJo's (Howard Johnson's) at the Entertainment card rate. And they have that special rate available a lot during Oct/Nov/Dec. Take a look here.

Pick a date, call in-house reservations, and book it. Make sure you call the 714 number, during working hours (M-F 9-5), and confirm you're talking to in-house reservations. The corporate offices know nothing about this rate, and will steer you wrong. If you get the corporate reservation office (happens if in-house is busy or on a break), hang up and try again.

The rate is valid with an Entertainment card. But you don't need the card to book the rate -- you just need it by the time you check in.

Have fun! I hope you find a fun way to surprise her!

-Bob

 

[bnbheartdisney]

Try some of the Good Neighbor hotels across the street, you can find some pretty good deals if you look around!

 

[HydroGuy]

A family emergency sounds too scary IMO. How about a "cousin" or childhood friend who is getting married?

 

[JeannieNM]

I second Hydroguy as I have had too many family emergencies and they really impact you especially on a long drive. Try something simpler maybe visiting a friend, she does not have to know it your friend is Mickey Mouse. Good Luck

 

[goldies 5]

Hydroguy is funny. Anyway, poor is a loose term. Poor as in you want to stay onsite and are looking for a deal, or poor as in gotta go as cheap as possible? Might I add, very romantic idea.
I personally think DL is most beautiful and fun for the Christmastime. But I am biased. The Halloween season has just gotten to busy for me. Also, if you have never seen IASMH you would find that very pretty for the Holiday. More rides stay open closer to this season as well. The parade and snow are really nice too.

 

[Queen Elisabeth]

I think that if Halloween is her favorite holiday, then it would be more personal and special to bring her then, plus you'll be able to find better hotel deals during that time than during Christmas. Howard Johnson (mentioned above) already has Entertainment card rates posted for dates very close to Halloween ($59 a night, I think). Maybe you can tell her that there's a big Halloween party in LA that you want to bring her to?

 

[HydroGuy]

Maybe you can really surprise her by giving her a ring at DLR...

 

[HydroGuy]

Maybe you can really surprise her by giving her a ring at DLR...

Oh boy, I meant wing not ring. What was I thinking?

 

[skiingfast]

A family emergency sounds too scary IMO. How about a "cousin" or childhood friend who is getting married?

You might also say a get reunion with old friends. Somthing special like they are flying in to meet. Say they are bringing wives and GF's maybe even kids that way she is expected to go. This way she won't want to pack a formal dress and shoes and it will sound more casual.

Also don't say in LA if she associates it with DL, say San Diego or palm springs. Then you can just get off the wrond exit. My parents did this to me when I was 7 or 8, we were going to a McDonald's for a special breakfast. I got suspcious because there is a McD's every other mile.

 

[skiingfast]

Try some of the Good Neighbor hotels across the street, you can find some pretty good deals if you look around!

Here a rather unknown tip I know from an old GF who was a hotel manager. Rack Rate is not the base rate for a hotel. If the desk clerk has descretion or simple knows they can, they may negotiate lower rates.

You might call some hotels on Harbor, and ask for a student deal or say you are planning to propose they might give you a great rate,

 

[DSNY4ever]

Haha, I love how quickly we have all turned this into a proposal thread...but you know my husband proposed to me on a surprise trip to the DLR for our 5 year anniversary, so it's not a bad idea (and that was thanksgiving weekend- the xmas decorations were up, it was perfect!)

Anyway, check around at the good neighbor hotels. We are going in October and have been checking. I have seen good rates at the Anabella. As of now the Howard Johnson doesn't have any ent. rates for October. There are plenty of budget hotels nearby.

Pack some food/snacks for the car ride down and for breakfast to save yourself some money. There are a ton of great budget tips on this boards if you do a search for "Disneyland on a budget" or something you will get a ton of threads with tips.

My husband simply told me that we were going on a surprise trip and then the night before he let me open a card with the tickets inside (I totally knew we were going to Disney )

Maybe when you go to pick her up to leave, you can have the car decorated with window paint saying "Disneyland or bust!" Or "we're going to Disneyland!" That would be a cute way to tell her where you are going and then people will be smiling and honking at you on your drive. We did that once and everyone honked and waved (someone even yelled out the window to ride Tower of Terror for them!).

Have fun!

 

[Queen Elisabeth]

Howard Johnson Entertainment rates are shown as being available for Oct. 17-28, just to clarify. It's only $59 for a standard room at that rate.

 

[DSNY4ever]

Howard Johnson Entertainment rates are shown as being available for Oct. 17-28, just to clarify. It's only $59 for a standard room at that rate.

D'oh, thank you. That still doesn't match our dates yet, but I'll have to keep checking back now that I know they are adding more dates. Last time I searched they didn't have any yet.

 

[spacemermaid]

Hojo's has already been mentioned; if you don't end up going with that then there are some other inexpensive options

Several of the Best Western hotels in the area have a "huge discount if you reserve your room 30 days or more in advance, and pay when booking" deal. I usually stay at Stovalls': http://book.bestwestern.com/bestwestern/priceAvail.do?propertyCode=05185 , but you can do a search on that website for other area hotels. Recently I got a $160 a night room for around $70 a night that way

There's also the Anaheim Plaza Hotel; their rooms usually run about $60 a night if it's not during a holiday and if you book through their website. Here it is: http://anaheimplazahotel.com/ . The hotel is older & is nothing fancy, but they do have a HUGE, nice pool area, and BIG, clean rooms.

Have fun on your trip!

 

[CrazyDuck]

Hey good idea... you should try and get the HOJO Entertainment Card rate!