Cheap Disneyland

I know, there's no such thing as Cheap Disneyland. If you're interested in getting to the Magic Kingdom this summer, the "peak" season, there are few if any price breaks. The best deal to get the Disney experience is to buy the one-day Park Hopper ticket ($105/adults, $99 kids), get up early, slog it out all day and stay for the fireworks to get your money's worth. There are slight price breaks on the multi-day tickets, but if Disney isn't your main destination or time is short, don't hesitate to go for the "cheaper" one-day pass.

Cheap Anaheim

If you're planning a trip to Disneyland soon, don't forget to check out this page by the Orange County Visitor's Bureau. It's got some great Anaheim/Disneyland coupons to use, including 20% off at CPK, free appetizers at Rain Forest Cafe and even 10% off at the McDonald's across from Disneyland.

Cheap Disneyland

If you're planning a late summer trip to Disneyland and you're tempted by the park's deal on the Five-Days-for-the-Price-of-Three-Park-Hopper ticket, don't click "Buy" just yet. If you go to Ares Travel, they're offering the same ticket for $5 less: $179 for adults/over 10, and $149 for kids 3-9. If you use all five days going to both parks, that breaks down to $17.90 and $14.90 per visit per person. They also must be used by September 30.

Cheap Hotels - Disneyland

Some great fall deals are going on now as hotels and motels try to stay occupied during the school year. Here are some deals we found on hotels.com, checking out a family of four staying for a weekend (November 13-15) and desiring a place that's within a mile or two of Disneyland:

Anabella Hotel--On Katella Ave., $87/night and kids eat free at the restaurant.
Cortona Inn & Suites--$79/night, easy walk to Disneyland and free Internet.
Super 8 Motel--$53/night, two blocks from Disneyland, gets great reviews.
Best Western Raffles Inn--$72/night, about a 25% discount over summer, free Internet.
Portofino Inn--$58/night, near the Convention Center, free Internet.
Eden Rock Inn--$41/night, near Convention Center, free morning pastries.

"Cheap" Disneyland

The Disneyland Resort has periodical "specials" on their Website promoting their vacation packages. We've reported on their value before but I was alerted to what appeared to be a pretty good deal. Book a 3-night package through them and you get an extra two nights and five-day passes.

Using a typical family: two adults and two kids, 7 and 10, we checked out the rate for the Ramada Maingate, a cheap but convenient motel to Dizzyland from August 26 to checkout on August 30. The rate for our family was $1,340, not bad and it included the Ramada's deluxe room, which is a little bigger. But looking into it further, we could book the same hotel through Hotels.com for $550 and get the four passes for $666, a $124 difference. Now, the Disney package does include a "Magic Morning" admission on one day to get into the parks a couple hours early, but is it really worth the $124?

A Different Disney Experience

If you want to get to the "real" Disney in Southern California, you may have to do a little searching. One of the nuggets of Disneyana is located in Griffith Park, where Walt's Barn was moved about 10 years ago. The barn had been located on Disney's Holmby Hills estate. It was the headquarters for the miniature railway he ran on his property and it was also a place where he could get away from business and think about plans for the future. Who knows what rides, movies and characters were thought of in this structure? The barn is free and features Disney items and pictures. It's open the third Sunday of every month.

Staying at Knott's Berry Farm

Although it's older than Disneyland, poor Knott's Berry Farm has always been second banana in the OC when it comes to theme parks. However, if you haven't been in a while, it has a great small kids area with a Snoopy theme, some fast roller coasters for the older ones and the Knott's Chicken Dinner--can't go wrong with that. They also have their own hotel just across the street that has some pretty good deals. Looking at a family of four checking in Friday May 29 and checking out on Sunday the 31st, you can get their "ultimate" package of two nights lodging, four tickets for the park, four tickets to the adjacent Soak City, four tickets to a buffet breakfast at the hotel and free parking, all for $349. Bought separately the package would be at least $600. Plus, if you don't feel like Knott's on one of the days, they have a free shuttle to take you to another theme park, of course, Disneyland.

Staying in Downtown L.A.

It may not be as chic as staying on the Westside, but you can certainly save money and have a great time in Southern California by staying downtown. L.A.'s downtown hotels have traditionally catered to the business traveler during the week, but on weekends these four-star high-rises often have great deals. Here's an example:

Let's say the Visitor family, two adults and two kids, is interested in coming to L.A. Friday, May 1 and checking out on Monday, May 3. They have two objectives: Take their kids to Disneyland on Saturday and Universal Studios on Sunday. Hotels.com shows that they can get the Days Inn on Santa Monica Blvd. in West L.A. for $98 or the Homestead Inn near LAX for $78. Both are clean, but two-star properties.

If they look downtown, they can stay at the historic Mayfair hotel for $84 plus free parking or the well-regarded Kyoto Grand in Little Tokyo for $99. And with an itinerary like theirs, they're just a quick 25 minutes from Disneyland down the 5 (in light Saturday traffic), just 15-20 to Universal Studios on Sunday and getting to LAX or Burbank isn't going to make you insane leaving downtown on Monday.

A Cheap Disney Vacation

Can a family of four enjoy a Disneyland vacation over a holiday for under $1,000? Let's say two adults and two kids are looking over Memorial Day weekend, May 22-25, for their vacation. They arrive late in the afternoon on Friday, roam through Downtown Disney and walk through the Grand California Hotel to the Whitewater Snacks counter for dinner. There the adults get sandwiches and the kids share chicken tenders ($37 with tax).

They head to the Alamo Inn & Suites on Katella Avenue across from the resort that they booked on Hotels.com for $50/night, which includes two double beds, refrigerator, microwave and free wireless connections in the lobby. Three nights: $150

On Saturday morning, the family walks a half-block to Denny's for breakfast ($22) then over to the Disneyland gate for tickets. Now a good majority of Disneyland visitors buy their tickets online and they buy the "park-hopper" passes for multiple days, which allows them to go from Disneyland to California Adventure on the same day. However, our family decides that because they're on a budget and because their young kids can only deal with so much stimulation in a day, they buy the single park day tickets for Disneyland, the main attraction in the visit ($256 for two adults and two kids). They brought some snacks for the kids to munch on, and they have an early dinner at the Rancho del Zocalo restaurant in Frontierland, sharing a couple of their large entrees, as well as four drinks and churros for dessert. $40.

On Sunday, they head to the Whitewater Snacks counter again for rolls, muffins, coffee and milk ($20) then buy single-day tickets for California Adventure ($256). For a late lunch, they head to the PCH Grill at the Paradise Pier Hotel for burgers and drinks, making sure they show their AAA card to get 10% off. ($37) then ice cream in the evening ($20).

Monday morning they splurge on the brunch at the Disneyland Hotel's Goofy's Kitchen, remembering again to show their AAA card for 10% off. ($78). They do another walk through of Downtown Disney then head for home. Of course, their kids need something to something to remember the trip, so they spend a total of $50 on souveniers. Grand total: $966.

Of course, this doesn't include transportation to Anaheim. If they're within 100 miles, the $34 left over should pay for gasoline. If they're farther away, let's just say they used one of our favorite sites for airline deals Airfare Watchdog. Then they used Hotwire to pick up a cheap rental car or took a shuttle down to the resort area. So, in all likelihood, they spent more than $1,000, but compare that to some of the vacation packages that are advertised and you'll see you can do Disneyland much cheaper.

Disneyland Package Deal?

You've got to give it to Disney for creating probably the most user-friendly interface in the world to find package deals that include park admission, hotels, etc. We checked out one of their current deals, Everyone Gets in for the Kid's Price package. It's very simple to find what you want and they clearly point out what you're getting in the package.

We looked at a family of four, two adults and kids 5 and 9, arriving just at the start of most Spring Breaks, Friday March 27, and checking out on Sunday the 29th. They would be staying at an economy hotel near the park, the Anaheim Quality Inn, and they'd be getting four 3-day Park Hopper tickets for Disneyland and California Adventure. To save money we declined the character breakfasts, meal options, transportation, etc. The total came out to $961.

Switching over to hotels.com, we found the same hotel for $96/night and the park tickets at the Disney site for $447. A total of $639 or a difference of $322. Quite a difference doing it yourself!

Booking with Disney though, you do get special add-ons like a one-hour scavenger hunt at Disneyland's Toontown before it opens up to the public, access to Fantasyland before the park opens, preferred seating at some California Adventure attractions, as well as commemoritive pins and baubles. You'll have to weigh whether the extras are worth the cost for your brood.

Theme Park Time

If you're planning a long trip to Southern California (or at least a short one with crammed with theme park time) you may have already heard of the CityPass. This gives you a three-day Park Hopper ticket that's good for both Disneyland and California Adventure, as well as a one-day Universal Studios admission, and to get you going south, a one-day Sea World San Diego ticket and a one-day San Diego Zoo admission. The regular price for all these tickets would be $365 for adults and $305 for kids 3-9, and the regular discount through the CityPass site is $259 and $219. Not a bad deal, but looking for something better? Check out Costco, which is offering CityPasses for $227 and $192.

Military Discounts at Disneyland

Disneyland is offering a great discount to active and retired members of the military, as well as active reservists and those in the National Guard. Through June 12, you can receive a free three-day park-hopper ticket good for both Disneyland and California Adventure. You can also buy up to five companion tickets for the price of a one-day park-hopper ticket. ($84 to $94, a savings of about $50 to $60 per ticket). There are also deals on rooms at the Disneyland properties. See this page and call 714-956-6424 for more info. h/t to the Bargain Babe for this one.

Disney Drop

If you can show that you live in Southern California or Northern Baja California, Disneyland will sell you a two-day ticket good for both Disneyland and Cal Adventure for $69 for adults, $59 for kids. Good through June 3. Here are the details.