Disneyland Trip Planning
Topic: A vs. B

#	Author	Message
1	SafariRob Sat 5/2/2009 10:17a	My family is planning a Disneyland vacation for mid/late June. We've been a bunch of times but we have never done a family package deal and stayed at an actual Disney hotel. Can I get some advice? We are a family of six plus one service dog. Kids are 8, 4, 2 and 8 months. The eight year old has Down Syndrom, thus the service dog. Package deal vs. self-planned trip? Grand Californian vs. Paradise Pier vs. Disneyland Hotel? Meal plans: Worth it or not? Character breakfast: Which is best for boys? (Our one daughter is an infant.) Disney Kennel: Has anyone used it? We expect to use it part of the time. Are we going to pay a small fortune? ;-) We requested a quote from Mouse Ear Vacations....but it is Saturday. I don't expect to hear back until Monday. Have you used AAA, Costco, etc?
2	Jenasweetemotion Sat 5/2/2009 11:13p	I done both package deals and self package, I found benefits with doing both. With doing a self package you can find prices that may be cheaper then the package but you don't get some of the benefits of a package like through Disneyland.com or Costco.com/travel through Disneyland.com with a package you can make payments to them each month up until you go which in the economy is great and allows you to stay at a Disney Resort Hotel and not feel like you are, if that makes sense. Through Costco.com you get the benefit of still booking with Walt Disney travel except costco is a tad cheaper and gives you a little more recently they've added the perk of everyone in your party gets a free character breakfast which of course is great and they also were giving cash cards to go along with that. Some of the benefits are EXCLUSIVE! Walt Disney Travel Company Collectible Pin & Lanyard (one per person), EXCLUSIVE! Walt Disney Travel Company Downtown Disney District Fun Card (one per package), Preferred seating to select shows in Disney's California Adventure Park, and more. I've Love Paradise Pier, which I have always found to be convenient, and they are always so willing to do anything you want, it is in my opinion closer then the Disneyland Hotel. Grand Californian is Closer and more convenient but you definitely pay for it. With the Disneyland Hotel you may be able to take the Monorail which will get you to Disneyland faster but every time I've been it has been down for half of the time. I think with all of the Hotels there are different perks to each of them. Usually Paradise Pier is cheaper, then Disneyland Hotel and lastly Grand Californian you just have to weigh your wants. Meal Plans- I have always just planned my own places where I want to eat, I feel that it is cheaper then getting a meal plan through Disney itself, with having a package through Disneyland they can help you with preferred seating and more. There is a web-site that I use that has all the prices and menu's of the Disneyland Resort, that way I can see what is the best deal. The great thing with Disneyland from my own experience is that the food portions are big so I always share, when there are refills available we get one drink per 2 people and share and use the refills, also bring snack's can save you some money as well. I just think that being tied down to a meal plan, for me would be more costly. http://allears.net/dlr/din/men...enus.htm Character Breakfast- I feel that the best Character meal is Goofy's Kitchen at the Disneyland Hotel. There are always great characters there for starters before you get seated you get to have a picture with Pluto, then of course you will see Goofy, I've seen at least 4-5 characters each time I've gone, this is also my brothers fave because what little boy doesn't like Goofy plus every 20-25 minutes Goofy goes in the center of the restaurant and starts playing around and getting all the kids into it which I am sure would be a blast. the food is also so great. The Kennels are great just remember that they will not hold your animal over night which I am sure you already know, and they will need the dog's certificates of vaccinations from your vet. Besides that there is not a better place for you dog to be, they will take the best care. You are going to pay for staying more for staying at a Disneyland Resort but I always find it so wonderful and something special, plus there are some perks for just staying on property, like you get magic morning each day that the offer it, plus the private entrance through Grand Californian, Mickey's morning madness which is so much fun, and more. If you are looking for a quote I would go to http://www.costcotravel.com/#1...0090306s and type in your info, you can also go to Disneyland.com and get a quote for them and if you are interested in a payment plan it will tell you what you deposit is. Hope this helped!
3	Jenasweetemotion Sat 5/2/2009 11:19p	Just wanted to add that your 2 year old and 8 month old you don't have to get tickets for them.
4	SafariRob Sat 5/2/2009 11:30p	Thanks for all the great advice! That helps a lot, actually. I wouldn't have thought of bringing vaccination records to the kennel. I feel divided because staying on the Disney property cost soooo much more. In your opinion, is it worth the extra money?
5	trekkeruss Sat 5/2/2009 11:31p	As I recall, DLR's meal plan is nothing like what is offered at WDW. It's nothing more than a prepaid voucher system; if you buy $100.00 in vouchers, you can get $100.00 worth of food.
6	SafariRob Sat 5/2/2009 11:41p	Really? Is it good anywhere in the park? Do you get to bypass the regular line? If not, why bother.
7	charming husband Sun 5/3/2009 1:58p	No, sadly, you do not get to bypass the line. Too bad the great WDW's meal plan is not offered at the DLR.
8	Jenasweetemotion Sun 5/3/2009 9:02p	In my opinion I think that it is worth the money, if it is something you have not done I feel that there are allot of perks to staying on property although I am sure some might say different, I stayed on property last year for the first time and since then have stayed 3 more times all of which were at Paradise Pier. It is something I feel that if it is something special then do it, but I don't want to tell someone that if it is more money then you want to spend especially in this economy. If it is something you can do then yes, but if the money is tight then I would say stay at Howard Johnson's which is across the street from Disneyland and save up for another time. I hope you get what I am saying! *Jena
9	Jenasweetemotion Sun 5/3/2009 9:10p	Forgot to add that through Costco.com and Disneyland.com you can still get a package through there Good Neighbor hotels, which Howard Johnson is apart of.
10	SafariRob Sun 5/3/2009 11:42p	I totally get what you are saying. At this point, I'm on the fence. Can you get early entry with a good neighbor hotel...or is that just Disney properties?

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