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Disney Rewards Visa and planning Disney trips (QUESTIONS)
A while ago we switched our primary CC to the disney rewards card. I'm starting to research the best possible way to take our family to disney and have bookmarked several of the threads from our own board.
I have a lot of questions:
Does anyone else have one of these cards? Is it worth it? Did you use the perks that came with the card?
Has anyone ever done the park tickets that you "rent"? My neighbor recently did this and saved a TON of money. (Basically you reserve a ticket for the day and pick it up before you go into the park....and then return it when you're done.) I know it's probably not the most ethical thing but that's not my question. HA!
I have all kinds of hotels saved Candycane, Embassy Suites, Best Westerns, etc.... Do you have any family friendly hotels that are super convenient with a good pool area? Since Natalie will be so small, I'd love some nice recs (two rooms would be even better but I'm cheap - remember?)
Any other advice? I haven't been since 1994. Were any of you born yet? j/k!
Thanks! (Can't believe that we might actually get to go on a vacation!)
Nobody said life would be easy, they just promised it would be worth it.
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Re: Disney Rewards Visa and planning Disney trips (QUESTIONS)
DOnt have a card...
Havent done the ticket thing you are talking about but a good friend has and it worked well for her.
Hotels...if you are driving...ask about fees for parking at hotel and calculate the cost of paying for parking at the park itself. Also if you wanted you could stay a freeway exit away and save money that way by not being at a walking distance hotel.
Tips...advice...Disneyland is always more fun with me
br
Don't have the card.
Am not familiar with that type of ticket. I find the best prices have been through the actual Disneyland website. You won't have to pay for Natalie, 3 and under are free.
LOVE the Best Western Park Place Inn and Suites. We have stayed there every time we have been to Disneyland, inexpensive, free breakfast, closest hotel to the entrance and clean. Call to get the best rate, don't book online. I do believe they have started charging for parking.
I was quite old by 1994 :-)
I have found that you can find the best deal by booking everything alone, as opposed to through AAA, Costco, etc.
Feel free to ask anymore questions!
We just got back (as you know!)
We don't have the rewards card, but I hear great things about it. Have you seen the mousesavers website? I think there is good info about the card on there, as well as ideas for saving money while doing Disney.
I haven't heard of the renting a ticket deal.
We booked this trip through Costco and it was a WAY better deal then if we had done all separately, but that's because we knew we wanted to do a character meal.
We stayed at Park Place last time, and this time at the Sheraton Park. I liked the Sheraton better - it was a much nicer room and nicer pool area. The downside is that it was a further walk - it took about 10-15 minutes to get to the entrance. We had L in a stroller, though, so it wasn't a big deal for us. When we reserved we made sure to tell them we were celebrating a birthday and asked for a park-view room - they did "upgrade" us to one and we could see fireworks and World of Color from our room. They were also having a deal where you got a giftcard for food at the hotel with amount based on how many nights - we got $100 card for 4 nights and it covered our breakfast. They usually charge parking but ours was included in the costco price. Park Place had free/included breakfast when we stayed there and was right across the street.
I am happy to answer any questions you have - I did a good amount of research before we went and it is all fresh in my mind
107 Read/listened to in 2011: 91 Books/16 Audiobooks
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I don't have the card either, but my friend does the "rent" tickets. She usually buys them or reserves them for the end of the time that they are good for, and I know she has used them towards a season pass once.
I'm not sure of the ethics either but it does save a ton of money!
I actually have a question for you since you have the card...I've been debating switching over to that one and I read all the terms & conditions over and over but wanted to make sure---there are no fees or minimums you have to keep on the card, correct? I know my sister is waiting to get hers but I know for every dollar or something you spend you get Disney dollars and you can redeem those in the park, as well as get some discounts at stores & restaurants.
As far as hotels, etc when we first went when the boys were 14 months old, we stayed at the Portofino Inn. Eh, it was ok. Apparently they remodeled it since but I'm still leery to go back...if we don't use my ILs timeshare we'd stay either at the resort (Paradise Pier or the BW that several rave about on here).
I will say that if you buy your tickets thru AAA they throw in free parking which I thought was huge since it's $15 a day. Otherwise for future, AAA has Disney month which is in January and usually have great packages.
I get so excited when I hear families planning DL trips---I get all nostalgic and can't wait to when we go again (which will most likely be next year since DH says he has overdosed on his 2 days at the park in Jan...party pooper!)
This idea/program makes me think of when they used to let you into the parks for 1 hr to do shopping without purchasing a full-price ticket. We looked into doing that when we were in the area earlier this month and were told they stopped it since some many people abused the system and took advantage of it. I hope this doesn't happen to this as it's a pretty darn good idea. Wish I knew of it earlier because I think we would've done it.
I'm speaking from third person out. My Co-Irker only goes there when she's on vacation, which has come to at least twice a year.
She has stayed at the Disney Hotels, and for the price and the fact that you pay for parking there (not cheap per day is my understanding) they aren't worth it. Maybe worth it if it's a milestone occassion because the rooms are cutely decorated, but can seem outdated.
She frequently stays at the Candy Cane and raves about it. Nice pool area. Close walk across the parking lot to main entrance. Decent rooms w/mini fridge/Micro and breakfast bar. For the price, it seems this is the best "go-to" for her. She has been with children and from what I can tell the kids enjoy it as well. There is one part of this property that's right on the street and she's advised to steer clear of this building - way too much road noise.
She's also stayed at the Fairfield Inn. Nothing she raved about. Seemed fine from her description, but she was travelling with some other friends and they were in charge of booking rooms - happened to get the best deal for the time they were going at this location. Had she made the choice it would have been Candy Cane.
Thanks for all the advice.
E - we switch up our daily card several times a year. Everything that we buy goes on the card which gets paid off every month. Once we max out on the benefits on a card, we switch to something new. As far as I know, there are no minimums and no hidden fees otherwise we wouldn't have done it. My husband is GOOD at managing the credit cards. In fact we'll be debt free this month (other than our cars and house) and we never pay interest on anything (which is why we had a credit card balance on another card - we keep the balance on a 0% interest card until it runs out and then transfer it (for no fee) to a new 0% card. Sort of a time consuming thing but we paid NO interest on our trailer, the quad, the motorcycle(s), any jewelry that we've purchased, etc. So anyway - long story is that my hubs woudn't have allowed for this card if he thought there were any fees. We would have stuck with our cash back card. I'll ask him later tonight....researching disney trips is my priority - hopefully we'll get to go in the next MONTH!
I just got back from Disneyland on Saturday. We only went for one day. I LOVE the disney card. I have a debit card but since the government is trying to put a stop on the whole rewards thing for debit cards I can't collect Disney Dollars past June. I paid $25 for the yearly and I haven't had it for a year but I accumilated $80 disney dollars on it. I went online to get my card to transfer the disney dollars to it and it told me in 2 weeks I should have it. Figures it would arrive on Friday the day we were AT Disneyland so I wasn't able to use my disney rewards on my DD ticket as I planned. There's all kinds of perks at the park for having it. At certain restraunts you get 10% off and if you spend more than $50 at a store you also get 10% off. There's a special spot to take photos with the characters and Disneyland has nothing but Chase ATM's which is awesome.
We usually stay at the Buena Park Inn & Suites. Not too bad of a place and breakfast is included. They were sold out by the time we were ready to get a room. So we ended up staying at the Marriott Courtyard I think it was for $150 for 2 nights. The place was nice and quiet. It was away from all the Disney hustle and bustle. It's in the city of Cypress and you literally make a left turn onto the street it's on and in 10-15 minutes your at Disneyland. You could jump on the freeway and have it be faster.
We go every year to Disneyland and I still find it fun. So now i'll just have to go online and spend my $80 on crap lol
Thanks for the clarification on the card, D.
So wait...I've been so out of the loop---you can't collect the rewards that the Disney card offers after June of this year? That sucks! When I have more time I'll look that up...
That's only if you have a Debit Card. If you have the Credit Card you're still good.