Disneyland: Prep and Plan

Ever since our Walt Disney World trip in November of 2011 we'd been thinking about a trip to Disneyland. The last time we were there (in May 2010) they were building Cars Land and an Ariel ride. Two things our boys were/are totally into. Cars Land opened last June (2012) and Dalton is a huge Cars fan. We were loving the idea of taking him for his birthday. Like, just waking up that day and being all, "Surprise! Happy birthday! We're going to Disneyland!" except that then he'd spend his birthday traveling and not actually AT Disneyland. And we thought the other two might be a little jealous that we didn't jet off to some fancy vacation on either of their birthdays. And the weather in February (when Dalton's birthday is) isn't the best for standing outside or hitting the beach. Sooo....

We decided to keep with the "surprise" plan but changed it to traveling at the end of April/beginning of May. We put the same amount of thought into the timing of this trip and I put the same amount of energy into finding ways to avoid paying full price. And now with our different diet, I also had to come up with plans to keep eating relatively healthy. Sure it's vacation and that's the time to splurge and all, however, our bodies just aren't used to "crap" anymore and it hurts our tummies when we eat some of the same things we used to.

First things first: getting there. We didn't have to pay for a single one of our five flights!!! We have a Southwest credit card and had earned enough miles to pay for 2 round trip tickets. We also have a Capital One credit card that we had earned 3 free round trip tickets on. Capital One's card is great because you can use it on any airline and any travel expense. We are responsible credit card users, however, so don't you worry 'bout us. We pay off every card every month and have never carried a balance. So nice to get the free miles! We definitely use them....in the past, we used credit card miles to pay for 3 of our WDW flights and I used more to pay for my flight to accompany Jason to Seattle last June. Big fans of the credit cards earning miles!! For a family of 5, airfare is always a huge expense. This time, it didn't touch our budget at all!

For the hotel, well, that wasn't going to be as big of a money saver as our first two trips to "The Land". In both February of 2009 and May of 2010 we stayed at the Howard Johnson right across the street from Disneyland with their amazing 50% off Entertainment Card rate. Well, last Septemeber they changed their policy and no longer offered that deal the same way. Boo. So, we had to search for a new hotel and we like it to be within reasonable walking distance of the Disney gates. Surprisingly, many of the hotels across the street are actually closer than the actual Disney properties! Not to mention the savings.... So, I made myself a little spreadsheet on Excel to compare all the hotels. It was impossible to compare without my spreadsheet because some would offer free WiFi, some wouldn't. Some had a ridiculous resort fee per day, some didn't. Some charged for parking, some didn't. Some would offer a free night or a percentage off based on staying a certain amount of nights. Some charged more for a rollaway (which we need for our family of 5) and one didn't charge at all. Some offered breakfasts which we didn't care too much about because we don't eat so much of that stuff anymore and nearly all the hotels had a mini fridge and microwave. I got to work figuring out just exactly how much each hotel within walking distance was going to cost us with tax and fees and all of that. We ended up with Ramada Maingate and their "Pre-Pay and Save" deal where we saved 20%. It's a little scary to plunk down 6 nights worth of money with no option to get it back but.... That's what we did. :) Free WiFi, free parking, no resort fee, no fee for a rollaway bed, free breakfast and it's a slightly shorter walk to the Disney gates than the HoJo was. When picking a hotel, you gotta keep all that in mind, you know? You can't just look at Orbitz or Expedia's "per night" rate...there's all these hidden fees. So annoying.

Now for the car. Jason is able to get a discounted rate code through his employer. Yes, even for personal travel. It's been such a blessing to have that little perk.

Aside from flights, the most expensive part of most Disney vacations is actually going to be the park tickets. Not even the hotel. (Well, not the kinds of places we stay. Ha!) This time, Autumn needed a ticket as she is 3. Bummer. So...how was I going to save on those? There's not a ton of options. Again, Jason's employer offers some slightly discounted tickets to all sorts of things, Disney included. We used those on our previous trips. Then I discovered the Sam's Club trick and we used that to pay for our entire Walt Disney World vacation. This time we opted for Target. You've heard that the Target Red Card saves you 5% on all your purchases? It works for gift cards too (just not Target gift cards)! Furthermore, you can "stack" that discount with a 5% off coupon you might get from their Pharmacy Rewards program or what have you and save a total of 10% on Disney (or other--like restaurants) gift cards!!! Well, I didn't have any current additional 5% off coupons but still...$1000 of gift cards for $950. Even going through Jason's employer, we couldn't beat that! We used that to pay for our park tickets and pretty much anything else you want to buy in the parks: souvenirs, snacks, character meals....

Speaking of meals...we saved 5% by paying for our meals with Disney gift cards purchased at a discount from Target. I also earned a free $20 Disney gift card through Disney Movie Rewards. That option is no longer available but they do have Starbucks gift cards....and there is a Starbucks inside California Adventure that takes Starbucks gift cards! I had also earned a $25 Landry's (Rainforest Cafe, Bubba Gumps) gift card and a $10 California Pizza Kitchen gift card through My Points. (Tell me if you want to join My Points under me--it'll give me bonus points! :) ) There is a Rainforest Cafe in Downtown Disney and there is a Bubba Gump's and a California Pizza Kitchen in the Anaheim Garden Walk which was directly behind our hotel (among other restaurants which you could probably get 5% off gift cards for from Target). I was also able to score a 20% off coupon for California Pizza kitchen as well to use with my $10 gift card. I rock! ;) Search Anaheim coupons and such. Sign up for Mimi's and PF Changs online clubs for more discounts. Our Target also sells PF Changs cards, Cheesecake Factory cards, IHOP cards, Jamba Juice cards...all of which are right near Disney.



For other meals, I brought most of our breakfast foods from home....more on that later. We also stopped by Sprouts to fill up our mini fridge with dairy products and fresh fruits. There is also a Safeway-chain grocery store not too far from the parks as well. You can totally bring food into the Disney parks. Totally. Never been an issue. We eat our breakfast in our room/hotel and bring other meals and snacks into the parks. I also scouted out acceptable (for our diet) restaurant foods in and near the parks to supplement what we already had.

We also did LEGOLAND on this trip. Again, Jason could get discounted tickets through work... however, Legoland puts out quite a few coupons. The boys both get the free Lego Club magazine and I think pretty much every issue has had a "buy one adult, get one child free" coupon in it. Sign up here. But also, you know those little cellophane bags of Legos you can get at Target and Walmart in the holiday section during Christmas and Easter? Those usually have a coupon on the back as well. It's especially nice if you can get them on the 75% off after-holiday clearance. Well, wouldn't you know it, Easton and Dalton each got one of those cello bags of Legos in their Easter baskets. We got 2 of the kids for free!

Stay tuned for more of our actual adventures. Disneyland Day 1 is here.