While not exactly the most difficult step, this is definitely the most tedious. Well, it doesn't have to be...I just am the type that constantly checks and checks for weeks at a time until a really good deal comes along. But this is all the stuff that's going to drive or drop the cost of your trip, so it is all very important.
Flights and Hotels
Everyone knows that flights need to be booked early for the best seat/room selection and best price. The best sites/apps that I prefer to use are Kayak and Expedia. Those Kayak commercials don't lie when they claim to be basically a combination of all the other travel sites...it's a great website/app. And the iOS app is really user-friendly! I've found that although Expedia has many of the same deals and locations as Kayak, every once in a while their fees are a little lower. Any other travel sites and apps I have used are less user-friendly, more expensive, or both. But hey, that's just my personal experience. Whatever you do, don't use just the first site or app you find. Check multiples and then pick a favorite.
On the note of flights/travel. If you are coming from out of the country, make sure everybody has their passports. If you haven't already, put in the applications for everybody's passport as soon as you possibly can. Back when I got mine, I was super lucky and it only took a week and a half to get to my house. But just in case, get those applications in as soon as you can.
On the note of flights/travel. If you are coming from out of the country, make sure everybody has their passports. If you haven't already, put in the applications for everybody's passport as soon as you possibly can. Back when I got mine, I was super lucky and it only took a week and a half to get to my house. But just in case, get those applications in as soon as you can.
There are a few things to consider when booking your hotel. The biggest for me, and the most obvious, is location, location, location. I've stayed places a few blocks away from the park, a few miles away, as well as right across the street. As I'm sure you can imagine, staying right across the street from the park is my favorite way to go. There's no waiting for a shuttle out in the cold late at night, no enormous amounts of walking after you were already on your feet for 12 hours. Just a quick 5-minute walk and you're in bed. But if staying so close to the park is not an option, make sure you look into how you'll get to the park each day. Some/most shuttles require an extra fee per person, or if you drove to California you can always look into parking at Disneyland.
A quick note on parking: The Disneyland Signature and Signature Plus Annual Passports have theme park parking included. You can park at any of the lots. My favorite is the Mickey and Friends parking structure. As long as one person in your car has one of the qualifying annual passes, I would recommend considering staying at a hotel that is a little farther away from the parks, which will likely cost less, and driving to the parks each day since you can park for free.
A quick note on parking: The Disneyland Signature and Signature Plus Annual Passports have theme park parking included. You can park at any of the lots. My favorite is the Mickey and Friends parking structure. As long as one person in your car has one of the qualifying annual passes, I would recommend considering staying at a hotel that is a little farther away from the parks, which will likely cost less, and driving to the parks each day since you can park for free.
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| The view from my Anaheim Plaza hotel room. Not bad! Love that Hollywood Tower! |
I have some hotel reviews:
Anaheim Plaza: It was about a block away from the park, definitely great location. The room itself wasn't the nicest, and there wasn't free breakfast, but the hotel's price was unbeatable (under $70/night!). Especially considering it's proximity to the park gates.
Super 8 on Katella Avenue: It was surprisingly nice, and again the price was insanely good. It had free wifi and free breakfast, and was about 2 1/2 blocks from the parks. The room was very spacious and clean, and the hotel staff was incredibly friendly. I think this hotel was overall my favorite I've stayed in. If you pay in full at the time of booking (which is only available on their website), they'll give you 15% off your total. This can make for huge savings, but they don't allow cancellation when you book like that. Something to consider!
Staybridge Suites: It was extremely nice! It was a couple miles away from the park, so walking was out of the question. We had to pay a little extra for a shuttle, which also required waiting for what seemed like forever at the end of every night just to get a lift home. The hotel was very nice, though.
I once went for a school trip, and we stayed at the Holiday Inn right next to the Staybridge. Since it was a school trip, we had the benefit of our buses taking us to and from the park. But the hotel was absolutely wonderful.
Best Western Raffles: I was fairly young when we went to that hotel, but I don't remember having any complaints. You can walk to the parks from there in about 20 minutes if you wanted to.
Anaheim Islander Inn: On Katella Ave, across the street from the Super 8 I mentioned above. I really liked it; the room was nice, they had free parking and WiFi, and it was close enough to the parks to walk. They had a pretty decent free breakfast too. However my dad used the same hotel for a trip the next June and he wasn't impressed. His room had a funky smell to it, he says. I would still go back there though, since my own experience was so pleasant. Just be cautious I guess.
Rodeway Inn: The price was awesome, one of the cheaper hotels I've stayed at. The location isn't the most amazing - similar to the Best Western Raffles, where you could walk if you wanted to, but it will take 20-25 minutes. The room itself was not the best. I could tell that they are trying to spruce it up, but it is also what you should expect for such a cheap room. They didn't have enough parking (although parking is free for hotel guests). By the time I got back to the hotel each night (I drove to the parks for that trip) I had to double park behind other cars, per the instruction of the hotel employees. Luckily for those other people, I'm an early riser so it didn't cause any actual problems. It was just a little irritating.
Anaheim Islander Inn: On Katella Ave, across the street from the Super 8 I mentioned above. I really liked it; the room was nice, they had free parking and WiFi, and it was close enough to the parks to walk. They had a pretty decent free breakfast too. However my dad used the same hotel for a trip the next June and he wasn't impressed. His room had a funky smell to it, he says. I would still go back there though, since my own experience was so pleasant. Just be cautious I guess.
Rodeway Inn: The price was awesome, one of the cheaper hotels I've stayed at. The location isn't the most amazing - similar to the Best Western Raffles, where you could walk if you wanted to, but it will take 20-25 minutes. The room itself was not the best. I could tell that they are trying to spruce it up, but it is also what you should expect for such a cheap room. They didn't have enough parking (although parking is free for hotel guests). By the time I got back to the hotel each night (I drove to the parks for that trip) I had to double park behind other cars, per the instruction of the hotel employees. Luckily for those other people, I'm an early riser so it didn't cause any actual problems. It was just a little irritating.
I have a couple of warnings when booking:
When searching online for flights, delete your cookies. Most flight websites will actually raise their prices the more you get on their website. Deleting your cookies will basically make them forget you were on their website, and you will get the lowest price every time. A simpler way to do this is to simply browse in incognito mode. I know this is a very easy feature to use on Google Chrome, although I do not know if any other browsers have the feature.
Before making any hotel reservations from a travel website, go to that hotel's own website. There you can see other deals they may not be boasting elsewhere. I've seen things like discounts of up to 20% just for paying upfront. This is something that will void any cancellation policy though, and you can't get your money back most of the time. Only do this if you know for absolute sure your travel dates and that you will be able to go on the trip.
Another note on hotels: sometimes, oddly enough, the best deals can be found by simply calling directly to the hotel. I have avoided various fees by doing this. Similarly, if you find a really good deal online but you call the hotel to make the reservation, they will match the price as long as they can find it online too. I prefer to make reservations with a human rather than a website, so I'm really glad that many hotels will do this. With a person I can ask questions and attempt to get fees waived. You might be surprised at how far some simple kind human interaction will go.
Disneyland Tickets
I'm gonna be real with you guys. It's not easy to get discounted Disneyland tickets. There are some companies that sell them for a little cheaper if you are lucky enough to work for them. For the rest of us, there are a couple of other options.
Get Away Today is definitely the most well-known Disneyland travel site, at least in Utah (although it serves just about everywhere as far as I know). Every once in a while they will have great specials, but those specials only last for a number of days. For example, last month I was able to get a 4-day ticket for the price of a 3-day. That is the best ticket deal I've ever seen, and it was only available for about 5 days and I haven't seen a better deal since.
Places like Costco Travel will sometimes have discounted tickets, although they receive them sporadically and they tend to go fast.
If the hotel you are looking to book happens to be a "good neighbor" hotel, you can often get your tickets through them. They won't be much of a discount though, if any, in my experience.
I am lucky enough to have a friend that is actually a cast member at Disneyland. Those people get surprisingly good perks, such as free admission for other people or at least discounted admission. They only get so many per year, so I guess it depends on your relationship with that person. Two trips ago I got free admission from that friend, and last time she got me in for only 50 bucks a day. Moral: it's all about who you know.
If you can't find any deals anywhere, you might just have to get them from the Disneyland website. You'll notice though that even though they are a little pricey, the more days you go the less it costs per day. There is some convenience to getting the tickets directly from Disneyland, though. They will email you an e-ticket that you can take right to the admission gates. This means no paying for shipping, no waiting in the ticket booth lines, and they can even scan the ticket directly from your smartphone. If you can't find any ticket discounts, I would recommend just going directly through Disneyland.
Update: If you download the free Disneyland app you can now purchase tickets through the app, and the ticket can be scanned from your phone at the park gates, similarly to having it emailed to you after buying through their website.
Update: If you download the free Disneyland app you can now purchase tickets through the app, and the ticket can be scanned from your phone at the park gates, similarly to having it emailed to you after buying through their website.
Warning: Do not buy tickets from another individual. People try to sell partially used tickets; i.e. they bought a 4-day ticket but only used 2 days, so they are trying to sell the remaining 2 days. This is not allowed, and if caught the tickets will be voided and you're out of luck. Disneyland now takes your photo when you first use your ticket, and they always look at the photo again every time you enter the parks. They'll definitely know if the ticket isn't yours. So although it will almost always cost more, ALWAYS buy your tickets through Disneyland or an approved ticket retailer.
For your consideration:
If you're a Disneyland fanatic like myself, you might want to look at how often you're going and consider an Annual Passport. There are 3 different ones to choose from.
The cheapest option (Disney Deluxe, currently $600) has the most blackout days. These days include most Saturdays and holidays. With this pass, you'll get a 10% discount on food and merchandise.
The middle-tier option (Disney Signature, currently $850) is only blacked out over Christmas break in December. Additionally, you get a 15% discount on food and 20% on merchandise. Recently added to the list of perks is PhotoPass downloads (my favorite thing ever) and free theme park parking.
The most expensive option (Disney Signature Plus, currently $1050) has the exact same perks as the Disney Signature, but for that extra $200 you get NO blackout dates.
For your consideration:
If you're a Disneyland fanatic like myself, you might want to look at how often you're going and consider an Annual Passport. There are 3 different ones to choose from.
The cheapest option (Disney Deluxe, currently $600) has the most blackout days. These days include most Saturdays and holidays. With this pass, you'll get a 10% discount on food and merchandise.
The middle-tier option (Disney Signature, currently $850) is only blacked out over Christmas break in December. Additionally, you get a 15% discount on food and 20% on merchandise. Recently added to the list of perks is PhotoPass downloads (my favorite thing ever) and free theme park parking.
The most expensive option (Disney Signature Plus, currently $1050) has the exact same perks as the Disney Signature, but for that extra $200 you get NO blackout dates.
Hopefully with these tips you can find all your lodging reservations and park tickets with ease, and for a good price! After all, you'll need all the extra cash you can get once you get to the park. :)
Happy planning!
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