To go with a Package or not?

This is one question that many people ask. Should I go with a package, will it save me money, can I get a better deal by buying the components separately? When it comes to making this decision it usually depends on two things, what time of year is it and what hotel you want to stay at.

With regards to the time of year, you can usually find savings during the off peak times (see the topic "When to Go").

We have done both and the only time we do a package is when we are staying at one of the Disneyland Resort Hotels. You can never save enough money on a package to compete with using my guide to getting the best price for a hotel on Priceline (see the hotel section). So if your not picky about the hotel room I would suggest always doing the trip by booking everything yourself in separate components.

Now if you are staying at the Resort (these hotels can't be bought using Priceline) I suggest a package. I prefer going through Costco. In 2007 and so far in 2008 booking through Costco gets you a free Character Breakfast for every member of your party. That is a saving of over $100 for a family of four, and you pay no more for this then any other package you can get. Trust me I looked at all the package possibilities. Plus they usually give you some other extras (that many other packages do as well) which may include the following: a $20 Disney gift card, priority seating to Aladdin at Disney California, Costco lanyard and pin, Downtown Disney Fun Book, and most any other trinkets that comes with booking the trip through Disney themselves. Keep in mind that you must have a Costco membership to buy a Costco package. You also are not limited to just the Disneyland hotels when buying thorough Costco but again you will be paying full price for that hotel.

Keep in mind that the less you pay for the fixed costs that you have to prepay before you go, the more you get to spend at the resort on good food and the must souvenirs.

How to get Deals on Hotels

When looking at going to Disneyland cost always is a factor. If not, you must be really rich. There really is no great way to get a deal at the Disneyland Resort Hotels unless you get an annual pass (check out my section on annual passes to find out more about this).

I have found the best way to get a deal at the non resort hotels is using Priceline. We have used Priceline the last two times we went to Disneyland and thought it was great. We stayed at very nice hotels for under $50 a night. One time we stayed at the Crown Plaza and the other time we stayed at the Hyatt Regency.

The Hyatt Regency and the Crowne Plaza

For those of you who do not know how Priceline works here it is: You pick the area, you pick the star rating, and then you bid a price. I usually do not start bidding until about two weeks before a trip. I know that might be hard for those who like everything planned months in advance, but when doing Priceline the more last minute the better. Now the con with this is that you do not get to pick the hotel you get to stay at, but one way you can see the choices they may give you is to look at the non bidding size of Priceline and just feel out the same info. It will show you what hotels they have available at their regular price.

an example of the Pricelien map, you chose one of those areas and the hotel they pick must be in that area.

When bidding I usually start out rather low. For a three star around $35, for a two 1/2 star maybe 30, and then maybe 20 for a two star. If they do not accept your bid you will have another chance in 24 hours to bid again. I suggest increasing it only $5 each time. If you get down to within 3 days of your trip you may want to go increase it a little more then that.

Like I said this is a great deal and you can not beat it, well unless you win a contest and get free hotel stays or are using frequent staying points. Another thing to keep in mind that by doing this you may get a hotel that is farther away then you like. If you pick the Disneyland area they are withing 2 miles of the park but you may not be able to walk. Both hotels we stayed at offered a free shuttle that we were able to use. Though sometimes we splurge and take a Taxi because of how crowded the shuttles can get.

What type of Hotel to stay in?

As part of any vacation usually includes staying in a hotel. Disneyland has no shortage of hotels. It reminds me a little of Vegas because you have one whole street full of hotels. You basically have two options when it comes to what type of hotel you want to stay at either a Disneyland Resort Hotel, or a regular hotel near Disneyland.

Unlike Disney World, were if you do not stay with Disney you are going to be far from the parks, some regular hotels are closer to the main gates then the Resort Hotels. But keep in mind most of the hotels that are right outside the front gate have been there a while and may be a little old.

There are three Disney Resort Hotels: Paradise Pier (cheapest), The Disneyland Hotel (most Disney), and the Disney Grand California Hotel (most elegant). I have only stayed in the Paradise Pier but will be staying at the Grand California in September 2008. Each of these hotels offer different restaurants and amenities (for details try one of the links on the right or my favorite Disney book "The Unofficial Guide to Disneyland"). What great thing about staying at one of the Resort Hotels is that you get "Early Entry" (you can enter the park one hour early) ever day it is offered in during your trip. If you do not stay at one of these hotels you will probably only get the "Early Entry" once. One other benefit to staying at a Resort Hotel is the use of the private entrance in Disneyland California Adventure. I have used this and it really nice especially when travelling from the park into Downtown Disney.

If you do not stay at one of the Resort hotels do not worry, you have tons of hotels of every type to pick from. Some are with in a short 5 minute walk to the Main Gate while others will require a taxi, shuttle, or a marathon walk of at least 20 minutes to get there. The benefit of staying outside the park is price. Where the cheapest night stay in a Resort Hotel is around $250-$450 you can stay outside the park for less then $50 a night. When doing a 5 day trip that adds to a lot of savings, especially if you will spend so little time in the hotel (see my "How to get the cheapest deal on a hotel" section for these $50 a night deals).

Please read my hotel reviews for the hotels I stayed to get some ideas of what to expect