When to book?

[goofy78]

Hi all! I am planning a trip for August 14-20 2016. I am running some numbers now. When would you recommend booking the hotel? We are staying on property at the DLH. Also I've priced out a room only plus tickets separately and a package and the room only plus ticket separately comes out cheaper. Is this correct? Also if I book the room now and a discount comes out later can it be applied? Thanks!

 

[Bud Ice]

It can be correct. Pricing on rooms and tickets can run a wide range depending on travel sites and services used. Discounted rooms may come with extra fees like parking. Discounted tickets may be subject to blackouts or other restrictions.

It's worthwhile to shop around and take your time. Plenty of Howtos/Guides exist on the site and Internet in general. Getting a great deal on your Disneyland trip. If you want some help, feel free to share some details and folks are generally pretty good at finding deals.

 

[goofy78]

It can be correct. Pricing on rooms and tickets can run a wide range depending on travel sites and services used. Discounted rooms may come with extra fees like parking. Discounted tickets may be subject to blackouts or other restrictions.

It's worthwhile to shop around and take your time. Plenty of Howtos/Guides exist on the site and Internet in general. Getting a great deal on your Disneyland trip.

I should have mentioned that I was pricing things out directly on the Disney website. I don't have much experience booking through third party websites like Orbitz or Travelocity.

 

[tzeitel]

I like to book through Orbitz using Ebates. Orbitz (and I am sure Travelocity does as well) has the same prices as the Disney site but they usually have a discount code (15-20% off). Then Ebates has cash back (they also have some specials like double cash back). If you time it right you can get both the discount and cash back - just keep checking!

I do the same for Disney tickets. I got our tickets for our upcoming trip in Oct back in February since CheapTickets (same company as Orbitz) had double cash back on Ebates and they were running a buy 3 days get 4th day free. Also this was around the time rumors started going around about a price hike (which they do every year). I would get these early in 2016, this way you get them before any price increase. DLR tickets (unlike WDW tickets) expire at the end of the year.

If you decide to book off property go directly to the hotel site and book as early as possible (I booked in January and got a room right across DLR at Desert Inn and Suites for $89 a night). Prices only go up and most just need a CC to hold the room and do not charge anything until 48 hours before arrival.

 

[goofy78]

I like to book through Orbitz using Ebates. Orbitz (and I am sure Travelocity does as well) has the same prices as the Disney site but they usually have a discount code (15-20% off). Then Ebates has cash back (they also have some specials like double cash back). If you time it right you can get both the discount and cash back - just keep checking!

I do the same for Disney tickets. I got our tickets for our upcoming trip in Oct back in February since CheapTickets (same company as Orbitz) had double cash back on Ebates and they were running a buy 3 days get 4th day free. Also this was around the time rumors started going around about a price hike (which they do every year). I would get these early in 2016, this way you get them before any price increase. DLR tickets (unlike WDW tickets) expire at the end of the year.

If you decide to book off property go directly to the hotel site and book as early as possible (I booked in January and got a room right across DLR at Desert Inn and Suites for $89 a night). Prices only go up and most just need a CC to hold the room and do not charge anything until 48 hours before arrival.

Thanks for the info! Question regarding the buy 3 days get 4th day free. Would you be able to add on a day when you arrived? Definitely going to be looking for a five day park hopper ticket.

 

[tzeitel]

Thanks for the info! Question regarding the buy 3 days get 4th day free. Would you be able to add on a day when you arrived? Definitely going to be looking for a five day park hopper ticket.

They also had buy 4 get 5th day free. You can add a day at the parks (on the 4 day pass not the 5 day) which was our plan but now we will do the Halloween party.