Thanks everyone for your help

[Brumeiser]

We just got back this morning from a trip of a lifetime for a wonderful 10 days in
California. We had a tough choice to make because my wife got laid off 4 days before our trip. But we would have lost so much in deposits that we decided to go and I am glad. We all loved Disneyland, my wife was never a fan of the disney parks in Florida but she actually loved these parks. We spend 4 days at the parks and stayed at the Paradise Pier Hotel. What was surprising the weekend 27, 28 after Christmas was very tolerable and we accomplished many things. 29 disneyland was at park capacity and it was very hard to get around. 30th was the same way. I agree if your on site you can accomplish allot in the early entry morning. We saw the Rose Bowl parade and float viewing, Reagan and Nixon libraries, Knotts Berry Farm, San Diego Zoo, and a day touring San Diego, and a visit to the beach to step into the Pacific Ocean. It was very cold not even close to the 10 day outlook when we left. With everyone suggestion on the Hilton and Marriott credit cards we got 5 nights lodging for free. For 10 days our food budget was 22 dollars a day for 2 adults and a teenager. Due to gift cards from survey sites and reward tv that my son and I worked on. Driving the freeway was manageable and we managed to get around and not get lost. I appreciated everyone help and tips that we have received in our planning. I hope and pray my wife gets another job so we can maybe go back this August. We know once we are financially able we would love to go back and see more of California.

 

[lk2500]

Sounds like you guys had fun, thanks for sharing!

 

[Sherry E]

I'm so glad you had a wonderful, successful holiday trip, Brumeiser! You got a lot done during your trip and kept very busy, too (Knott's, Rose Parade, beach, etc.).

I wish your wife much luck with the quest for a new job -- what terrible timing to lose a job right around Christmas. It is bad enough to be laid off at any time, but that's just awful timing.

Did you like the PPH? I like it and it really works for me -- plus, I love the color of the Christmas tree in the lobby! -- but I also like being able to walk across the street from the PPH and through the GCH lobby.

 

[Brumeiser]

We loved the hotel and how handy it was to get to downtown disney and to the parks either by the hotel or through downtown Disney. The tree was nice that was in the lobby. We also liked the Holiday tour, I forgot all about the marshmallow and we were lucky and got on all 3 rides that had the holiday theme.

 

[DizMe]

I loved your report, Brumeiser!! So glad you were still able to go on your trip. It sounds like you had some fantastic experiences and wow, I'm impressed with your budgeting!! Where did you find the info about Hilton and Marriott cards? I'm curious how you got 5 nights' lodging at PPH with those. It's always so nice to hear about a family's trip being magical . I hope your wife has success in her job hunt so you can go back!

I discovered a few years ago that the Anaheim Marriott offers a free $100 Disney gc for every night of your stay if you book the Disney package. Caveat: it is a more expensive room by quite a bit--$245/night last time I looked--but it also includes free parking and ART tickets. If you figure all of that plus getting $100 a day to spend at Disney, the price isn't bad! It isn't always available, though, so you have to check. I had enough Marriott points to cover 2 nights so it was like a free room plus $200 in Disney gc plus ART tickets, which they bought back from me since we didn't use them! The ART bus stops right in front of the hotel, but we didn't mind the walk.

 

[Brumeiser]

For the Hilton I have the card by citibank and it is 95 dollars a year. But every year you get a certificate for 1 free night each year. The 1st year we stayed in New York City and the room was 500 a night and it was free except the 32 parking. This trip we used it for 1 night in San Diego which was about 200. I ended up with 3 credit cards got like 100, 000 points and kept 1 and cancelled the other 2. As long as you charge on 1 card every month the points never expire. Plus you earn points on your purchases. My wife did the Marriott rewards from Chase I am not sure of the fee but she got 75000 points for 3000 dollars in purchases the first 3 months and she gets 1 free night a year but there are limits (i think it was category 4 or less) but we got the other night free for San Diego so we saved on that. We also used the American Airlines credit card and got 1 flight for free. The only one we were not happy was the American Airlines it was very hard to book her free flight and for me and my son to book a reservation. There were many flights where we both couldn't book on the same flight. Not sure why it was like that but it worked out. First we told only my wife reservation 1st bag was free but they ended up both ways giving my son and I free 1st bags. Any more questions be free and ask. We are not what you called rich but we skipped our vacation in 2013 to try and get this trip going in 2014. Overall I am very pleased with the outcome of this trip. I hope this helps. I learned all of this on the board so I don't take any credit for it but I love to share what I learned on these boards. That is why I had to come on and thank everyone on here. If it wasn't for these boards I would never been able to go on this trip.