Saving Money Archives - Gather Lemons

Discount Disney World Tickets & Packages

Christy — Wed, 24 May 2023 16:17:56 +0000

You know we are huge Disneyland fans and try to visit a couple times a year, but we are also fans of Disney World too. In fact, my husband and I took our honeymoon to Disney World in combination with a cruise. We love to visit Disney World every year around our anniversary in November. We love visiting at this time of year because we get to enjoy Food & Wine at Epcot and usually visit one of the first Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas party’s of the year. I’ve compiled several different ways you can get discounted tickets to Disney World. The discounts may not be huge, but every little bit helps when it comes to a Disney vacation.

Here are several ways you can save on Disney World park tickets and hotel packages:

Get Away Today – Get Away Today offers discount tickets to Disney World (and other Orlando theme parks). I have used Get Away Today nearly a dozen times for our Disneyland trips, so I am thrilled that they also offer discounts to Disney World. Their customer service is top notch, I highly recommend them.

Right now, there is a super deal where you can get a day at each Walt Disney World Resort Park with huge savings on a 4-Park Magic Ticket from Get Away Today! June 1 – September 29, you can spend a day at Magic Kingdom, Disney’s Animal Kingdom, EPCOT and Disney’s Hollywood Studios and save big! No theme park reservations required; blackout dates of July 1-4 and September 1-4, 2023 apply.

If you are looking for a longer stay Get Away Today is offering 7 days for the price of 5.

Undercover Tourist – Another place that sells discount tickets to Disney World is Undercover Tourist. I have personally purchased our Disney World tickets from this company on several occasions and have been very pleased with the service (and savings). Head over to Undercover Tourist to check out their prices, they have so many different options. They have great hotel discounts too.

Sam’s Club – Sam’s Club has recently added travel services to their lists of offerings and you can get a nice discount to Disney World as well as other great travel destinations. You can even save on Disney World’s special ticketed events like Disney After Hours, Mickey’s Halloween Party, Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas party and more (when they are available). I would check out their prices and see if signing up for a Sam’s Club membership is worth the discounts on travel alone.

Costco – You can’t buy individual park tickets from Costco, but they have nice discounts on package deals that include hotel and park tickets together. I love the discounts and extra’s Costco offers for Disneyland vacations, but their offerings for Disney World are a little different (not bad, just different). Each hotel package offers different items and perks. With your package you may get a Costco cash card, complimentary hotel parking or other benefits, you will have to read the details on each hotel package. They do not offer all the Disney World hotels, but you can book the Disney World Dolphin or Swan which will give you all the benefits of staying on property at Disney World.

Disney Visa – This is a different way to save a little on your vacation or possible earn some money for your Disney vacation. The Disney Rewards Visa will pay you cash back in the form of Disney Rewards that you can use at Disney locations. It may take you awhile to rack up some rewards, but it is a simple way to save some money for a Disney trip. You may not earn a ton, but you can earn enough to buy one Disney ticket or get yourself some Disney treats. Disney will often offer incentives if you sign up for a Disney Visa, right now they are offering a $300 or $150 statement credit. If you already carry a balance on credit cards that isn’t paid off on a monthly basis I don’t recommend this as an option. There is a standard card (no fee) and a Premier card ($49 annual fee).

Discounted Disney Gift Cards – Your savings with this method will be small, but like I said every little bit helps. If you have a Target REDcard you can purchase Disney gift cards and save an extra 5%. You can get a $100 Disney gift card and pay only $95, when you pay with your REDcard. I personally would purchase my Disney tickets via Get Away Today or Undercover Tourist and save the discount Disney gift cards for Disney food or souvenirs.

Military Discount – Military personnel can get promotional prices on Disney World Park Hoppers. You can get all the information via Disney’s website.

Make sure you always purchase your Disney World tickets from a reputable seller, like the ones I have mentioned above. I do not recommend buying Disney tickets off of Ebay. Let me know if you have any questions, I am always happy to chat Disney!

I’m sharing some tips and money saving advice for those that have a Disney World trip planned. When it comes to Disneyland, I am all about the off-site hotels, they are a great way to save money. However, when it comes to Disney World there are more benefits to staying on property. Staying at a Disney hotel also give you Extra Magic Hours, where you can enjoy the parks before regular opening or closing times. We love these perks! There are so many different price levels for the Disney World hotels you are sure to find one in your price range.

Before you purchase tickets you need to decide if you want one-park per day tickets or Park Hoppers. I would recommend skipping the Park Hopper option, going from each park at Disney World is not as easy and convenient as it is at Disneyland. Plus, skipping the Park Hopper will save you some money, which you can spend on Disney souvenirs or treats. I would just dedicate one day to each park you plan on visiting and if you decide you really want to hop to a different park you can add the option to your tickets while at Disney World. You won’t be able to add the Park Hopper option for just one day, it will be added to all the days on your ticket. Keep in mind there are four different theme parks at Disney World.

Check out other other Disney related posts:

One of our favorite events is EPCOT Flower & Garden
See our review of the Caribbean Beach Resort at Disney World
Find out how you can save big of official Disney Parks souvenirs
Check out the highlights from our trip to Disneyland Paris
Check out our Ultimate Guide to Disneyland Snacks
I share honest reviews of all the hotels we’ve used near Disneyland

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Save Big on Official Disney Parks Souvenirs

Christy — Sat, 08 May 2021 03:12:27 +0000

Confession time! I love to save money and I am a frugal person by nature, but I have no problem buying the official souvenirs on our Disney trips. You might think I would be one of those people that buys Disney merchandise on sale ahead of time, but I’m not. Nope! We go for the full-priced in park merchandise and love every minute of it! I think Disney souvenirs are part of the fun and it’s something we budget for on our trips. Ok, that the fact that I pay full price isn’t totally true, on occasion we’ve had a Disney Annual Pass which gets us a discount and I also have a Disney Visa which saves me 10% on purchases of $50 or more. However, I have found a way to get our official Disney merchandise AND save a ton of money.

Whenever we take a trip to Disney World we also make a stop at the Disney Character Warehouse. These stores are filled with official Disney Parks merchandise at super low prices. You can find Disney Character Warehouse stores at the following locations:

Orlando Vineland Premium Outlets, 8200 Vineland Ave #1252, Orlando, FL (closest to Disney World)
Orlando Premium Outlet 4951 International Drive, Orlando, FL

Because capacity is limited in the store, you will need to enter a virtual queue to enter the store. You start by telling them how many people are in your party and giving them your cell number. They will text you when it’s your turn to enter the store and you have 15 minutes to return (they are not flexible with this time, so be on time)! We had to wait an hour before we were allowed in the store. We killed time by checking out a couple of the outlet store and eating lunch at Panera.

I am sharing some of the deals we spotted on our most recent trip to Disney World. The inventory at these outlets will change quickly, but it’s always fun to see what new things you can find.

There were a couple of different sets of Minnie ears priced at only $3.99. This is a great way to add to your collection. A lot of our Minnie ears have come from the Character Warehouse or the Disney Outlet Stores.

They also had some different hats priced at only $3.99/. This is a super deal for this Star Wars had, especially since it’s a 9Fifty brand.

My husband and I took a kidless trip to Disney World so we picked up this shirt for our son. It was marked down to $12.99 + it was an additional 30% off. The final price was only $9.09. The regular price on the shirt was $36. Such a great deal!

There were a bunch of Otterbox phone cases on sale for $7.99. This is a screaming deal for these phone cases because they retail for $59.99.

Another great deal were these Disney face masks for only $1.75.

If you have a Disney World trip in the works, I recommend using Get Away Today to book your vacation, it’s a great service that will save you money. We have booked over 1/2 a dozen Disney vacations with them and I have been pleased with every single one. Here are some of my other Disney posts:

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Disneyland Vacation Booked Totally with Credit Card Rewards

Christy — Wed, 03 Feb 2021 16:10:05 +0000

Current Rewards Card offers:

Disney Rewards Visa – $150 credit when you get a card with no annual fee, $300 credit with the premier card with annual fee of $49.

IHG Rewards Card: up to 80,000 bonus points, $95 annual fee

How we planned our vacation:

I love family trips to Disneyland and I love saving money, but when I can combine the two and take a “free” trip to Disneyland, that’s completely magical! We recently took a quick 2 night/3 day trip to Disneyland and paid for the entire thing with credit card and reward miles. This “free” trip wasn’t an instant gratification thing, it took us several years of saving our rewards. I also didn’t set out to book this trip with our rewards, it just kind of happened that way.

I am sharing this information with you to let you know that a free or inexpensive trip to Disneyland is completely possible. You may not be able to book an entire Disney trip with rewards, but you certainly can use some of these techniques to make sure you pay less out of pocket for your trip. Here’s a peek at how we took advantage of our rewards to take a trip to Disneyland that didn’t cost us anything out of pocket.

Please note, booking a trip with rewards is only a good deal if you pay your credit card off in full every month. I do not recommend putting anything on a credit card and making payments. When it comes to credit cards, we pay for all of our expenses with credit cards and the total amount due is automatically subtracted from our checking account when it’s due, this way we never pay interest. We use our credit cards for pretty much everything, medical bills, auto repairs, utilities, groceries, travel and the list goes on.

Flights

First up, we had to get to Disneyland! We booked our flights using our Alaska Airlines miles. Fortunately, my husband has quite a few airline miles accrued because of his job. I don’t recommend just using miles when you want to go somewhere, I suggest you still watch for low fares. Usually when fares are low the amount of miles you need is lower too. Flying from Seattle to California isn’t that expensive and it’s easy for us to find deals. This is one of the reasons why it’s easy for us to take quick trips to Disneyland. If you have an airline that you frequent, look into the credit card for that airline, they will often have bonuses when you sign up. Alaska is currently offering 40,000 bonus miles. As an example, our flights to California were only 7500 miles each. You could easily send 2 people round-trip somewhere with 40,000 miles.

Hotel

Next up we booked our hotel using our Marriott Rewards. One of the main reasons we opened the Marriott credit card is because we had a trip planned for Tokyo that was a couple of years out and we wanted to save up some points so we could get a few free hotel stays on that trip. We have enough points for 3 nights in Tokyo so we used some of the extra points for this stay. We scored two free nights at the Four Points Sheraton, one night stay was free with our anniversary reward and the second night we booked using 25,000 reward points.

One of the perks of signing up for the hotel rewards credit cards is they give you bonus points for signing up, which makes it a fairly quick and easy way to save on a Disney trip, it will take only a few months to earn this bonus reward.

Both my husband and I have Hyatt Rewards cards too, the offer when we signed up were 2 free nights at ANY hotel. We used both our free nights when we went to Paris. If you are looking to maximize your rewards, sign up fo the rewards cards separately instead of adding your spouse onto you credit card. You will get double the bonus sign-up rewards! Decide on your favorite hotel chain and sign up for that card.

Park Tickets

Once we had our flight and hotel booked, we needed to take care of the Park tickets. Both my husband and I have an annual pass so we only needed to buy a ticket for our youngest (the older kids are off at college). I have a Disney Visa and I used the rewards from that card to pay for his 2-day Park Hopper ticket. I know what some of you are going to say…if you have annual passes than the trip wasn’t actually free. Guess what??? I actually paid for the passes last year with credit card rewards!! See how fun this is? I have seriously been saving my rewards for nearly 10 years and we are now reaping the rewards.

We also bought tickets for all three of us to attend the Oogie Boogie Bash and those tickets were bought with the rewards from my Disney Visa too.

Food

Since this was a short trip there wasn’t a huge food expense, the items were paid for with my Disney Visa Rewards. Another general money saving tip is to share meals and just drink water from the restaurants. You can ask for a cup of ice water from any restaurant, you don’t have to buy bottled water or soda, it’s a great way to save. Because of our annual pass, we also save 20% on our meals. We ate breakfast at Panera one morning and I paid for that with a Panera gift card I earned from ibotta.

Lightsaber building

This trip happened during our son’s birthday and we knew that he would love making his own lightsaber at Savi’s Workshop. We gifted him with a new wallet (he lost his old one) and we put a note inside telling him he had an appointment to make a lightsaber at Savi’s Workshop. My husband built one on our last trip and the whole experience is completely magical, especially if you are a die hard Star Wars fan. My son absolutely loved the entire experience, he went on and on, all day long about how it was one of the coolest things he’s ever done. This experience was paid for with my Disney Visa Rewards (I’m starting to sound like a broken record, aren’t I?)

Rental Car

The last expense we had on this trip was our rental car. We always book a rental car through Costco, it is often times cheaper than it is to pay for a shuttle. The trick is to book your car and keep checking back every week to see if the price drops. If the price is lower you can book the new car at the lower rate and cancel your old one. I find that I can usually get the best deal about 3 weeks prior to our departure date. Sometimes, I find 2-3 days before I pick up the car there is a major drop in the price too. I paid for the rental car with the rewards from my Costco Visa (you thought I was going to say Disney Rewards, didn’t you?). The Costco Visa is probably the rewards card I used most now, because the perks are the best. With the Costco rewards, you will get a rebate check once a year, the check can be redeemed at Costco or you can get cash back. I opted for cash and used some of the money on our rental car and the cost of parking at the hotel. Booyah!

Whenever we take our trips to Disneyland we usually always incorporate one or two credit card rewards in some way. This was the first trip we took where I actually used rewards to pay for the entire trip and it was kind of exciting. Unfortunately, this trip used up a lot of our rewards so I am going to have to start saving again.

I hope this encourages you to come up with some creative ways to save on your next Disney trip, whether it’s with airline miles, credit card rewards or just basic money saving tactics like sharing meals or ordering free water.

Another great way to save on a Disneyland vacation is by booking your trip through Get Away Today. I have found Get Away Today has some of the best deals! When we aren’t using rewards for our hotels or tickets I usually always book my Disneyland trips through Get Away Today. If you book a package for 2 nights or longer, you can use the code THRIVING10 to save an additional $10 off the package price. You can also purchase discounted Disneyland tickets through Get Away Today too.

Once again, here is the rundown of how we used our rewards to get this trip for free:

Flight – Alaska Airline miles
Hotel – Marriott Rewards
Park Tickets – Disney Visa Rewards
Lightsaber Building Experience – Disney Visa Rewards
Food – Disney Rewards Visa & gift card from ibotta
Rental Car – Costco Visa Rewards

It’s worth mentioning that we planned our stay with the minimum hotel nights as possible. We flew in Thursday morning, went to Oogie Boogie Bash that evening, spent Friday in the parks all day, we then spent 1/2 the day on the park on Saturday and flew home late Saturday night. Since we made our arrival and departure days park days, less hotel stays were required. This may not work for everyone, but we live fairly close to California and we visit on a regular basis so we don’t feel the need to fit everything in all in one trip. Just another tip your might try when booking your trip.

We visit Disneyland on a regular basis and we have a bunch of posts to help you with your trip planning, check them out below:

I don’t recommend signing up for all the credit cards at once, just pick one and start with that, maybe a couple years later add another one. If you have experience with traveling with rewards I’d love to hear what your favorite cards are, let me know!

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Exclusive Disneyland Discount Code

Christy — Wed, 22 Jan 2020 18:33:10 +0000

Hello friends! I am heading to Disneyland and I am crossing my fingers that I get the chance to experience the new Rise of the Resistance attraction in Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge. I have been a huge Star Wars fan since I was in elementary school when I saw the very first movie, to say I am just a little excited to check out this immersive attraction would be an understatement.

While I am traveling and visiting Disneyland the great folks at Get Away Today are offering an exclusive discount code to save you an additional $20 on your Disneyland hotel & ticket package. Just book a 2-day or longer trip with a hotel & tickets and use the code THRIFTY20 at checkout. This code is valid January 22-27, 2020. Right now you can Save $86 per child on all 3-Day Disneyland Resort tickets for travel now – May 21, 2020!

In addition to seeing what’s new at Disneyland we will also be visiting my son who starts his job this week as an official cast member at Disneyland. He is taking part in the Disney College Program. He was assigned to an attraction, but he didn’t learn the specific attraction until this week. My son will be a cast member at it’s a small world! This is totally funny to our family, because it’s the one ride pretty much everyone in my family refuses to ride with me. He’s totally taking his roll seriously though, he’s already read up on all the history about it’s a small world.

You can share in the adventure and the excitement of Disney in the following ways:

Join our Disney Planning & Tips Facebook group – We’ll be be post updates and tips about getting a boarding group for Rise of the Resistance. You can join us and other Disney fans who are looking to plan and share tips about Disneyland, Disney World, Aulani and even the international Disney Parks.

Follow along on our Disney Vacationeers Instagram account – We’ll be sharing photos and stories about out visit to Disneyland

Read the Blog – The Disney parks are some of our favorite places to vacation. We have a ton of posts to keep you informed and help you make the most of your trip.

If you are in the process of planning a Disney trip make sure you check out our other Disney related posts, we have a ton of great Disney content:

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Save on Disneyland Tickets

Christy — Wed, 08 Jan 2020 20:30:21 +0000

Some affiliate links are used in this post, if you make a purchase I may earn a small commission.

You won’t find huge discounts on a trip to Disneyland, but I am sharing some ways you can save on your Disneyland tickets! Some are straight forward discounts and others are more creative, but they all will save you some money. First, make sure you only buy the type of tickets you need. If you are unsure if you will use a 4-day Park Hopper, just buy the 3-Day Park Hopper. You can always add an additional day before the park closes on the last day of your 3-day ticket. You can also save money by choosing one park per day tickets over Park Hoppers. If we have a 2-day trip planned we will just buy two of the one park per day tickets and spend one full day at each park. This option saves us $45 per ticket. Here are a number of ways to save on Disneyland tickets. We will keep this post updated as new deals pop up.

Get Away Today – You can buy discounted tickets to Disneyland every day through Get Away Today. This is a reputable company that I have personally used more than 10 times and I have always been pleased with the service. You can purchase individual tickets or a package deal that includes tickets and a hotel. I have found that the Get Away Today vacation packages often beat the prices of booking your hotel and buying tickets individually. You can save an extra $10 off the low package price by using the discount code THRIVING10 at checkout.

Costco – You can book a package deal through Costco Travel that may save you money on a hotel/Disneyland ticket combo. The Disneyland Costco packages usually contain extras like a Disney gift card and pins and lanyards. Also, when booking through Costco travel you can pay with your Disney Visa Rewards or a Disney Gift Card.

Disney Visa – If you sign up for the Disney Visa you will earn points for every dollar you spend. You can then use those points to purchase Disney tickets (or hotel stays, food, souvenirs or more). In addition to earning points to spend at Disney, they had an offer where you will get a FREE $200 Disney gift card if you open and account and spend $500 within the first 3 months. We did this offer for both my husband and myself several years ago and it gave us a free $400 to put towards our Disneyland tickets. The Disney points may not save you money right away but it is a great way to save up for a future Disney trip. (This method will only save you money if you pay off your balance in full every month. You do not want to carry a balance on the card) The current Disney Rewards Visa offer is a $300 statement credit for the Premier Visa & a $150 credit for the no-annual fee Disney Visa.

Target REDcard – Target sells Disneyland Park tickets, so you can purchase your Disneyland tickets via Target.com and save 5% with your REDcard. They sell both Disneyland one-park per day tickets and Disneyland Park Hoppers. You will also have the option to buy with or without Genie+. You can also save 5% on Disney gift cards if you use your REDcard which can save you money on park tickets or your food or souvenirs.

Military Discount – Active and retired U.S. military personnel can purchase Military Promotional 3-Day and 4-Day Disneyland Park Hopper Tickets. Contact your participating U.S. military base ticket office for all the details.

Consider an Annual Pass – If you visit Disneyland on a yearly basis (or more often) an annual pass might be a way you can save money. In addition to admission to the parks you can also get discounts on food and merchandise. We occasionally buy one annual pass because with the additional discounts it is worth it to buy it for one person. My husband usually get the annual pass and then the dining & merchandise discounts can be used for our entire family.

Here is an example of the thought process on how we decided to get a pass (I used regular discounted rates from Get Away Today, because that is the price we would have paid, not the prices at the gates). Please note pass prices have gone up, but this is still the method you would use when deciding on an annual pass, just use current prices.

We had a trip planned for October (cost of 3-day Park Hopper = $310)
We had a couple only trip planned for Disneyland the following year in April (this trip was getting tacked onto a business trip my husband had in California (cost of 2 One-Park a day ticket = $197)
We had a trip planned the following year in August (cost of 3-day Park Hopper = $310)

The cost of a Disney Signature Passport was $849 and the cost of all the admissions we had planned was $817. We were just $32 shy of breaking even on the Disneyland park tickets. This pass offers 15% discount on dining and a 20% discount on merchandise so we knew we would be able to save that extra $32 over the course of the year. This is the reason why we only buy a pass for one family member, it usually is for my husband because he is the one with business trips to California. In addition to savings from Disney, there are some Good Neighbor hotels that also offer a discount if you are an annual passholder. Just something to consider.

In the past we have also purchased the Disney Premier Passport which offers admission to both Disneyland and Disney World. It was much cheaper when we first purchased it, but if you plan to visit both Disney Parks in the same year it might be a good option. The pass for Disney World does not offer as many dining discounts, but it does offer the merchandise discounts and even admission to the water parks and more.

I’d love to hear if you have ways that you save money on Disneyland tickets.

Disneyland is one of our favorite vacation destinations, you can check out our complete guide to the newly reimagined Pixar Pier. If you have a trip planned this year make sure you check out our other Disney posts too:

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Disneyland Black Friday Sale with Get Away Today

Christy — Tue, 12 Nov 2019 16:47:45 +0000

It’s time to celebrate because Get Away Today is having an early Black Friday sale on Disneyland tickets and packages. I’m sure you know by now that we are big fans of Disneyland! In fact, I am heading back in a couple of weeks to enjoy the holidays at Parks, it’s one of my favorite times to visit. I can’t wait to share all that Disneyland resort has to offer for the holidays.

Get Away Today is offering Adults at Kids’ Prices on all 3-Day and longer Disneyland Tickets and there are NO BLACKOUT dates! The tickets are valid for travel though 12/31/2020. The pricing will automatically apply, there is nothing special you need to do to get they discount. This sale is valid on Park Hopper and 1-Park per Day Tickets with or without MaxPass.

The ticket sale can be combined with the Extra Night Free Hotel stays and up to 25% off at the Disneyland Resort Hotels. You will automatically see the savings in the package price. You can use my promo code THRIVING10 at check out save an additional $10 off your vacation package (minimum 2-night hotel stay & 2 tickets). If you have a trip planned for next year now is the perfect time to buy because of the sale, but also because we usually see ticket prices increase at the beginning of each year. Book now and save!

If you need help deciding on a hotel, make sure you check out our hotel reviews of all the hotels we’ve used around Disneyland, we’ve stayed at over a dozen of them. If you want even more help planning your Disneyland vacation check out my Disney posts below:

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2020 Disneyland Packages Now Available

Allie — Wed, 07 Aug 2019 16:34:16 +0000

Get Away Today is now selling vacation packages to Disneyland for 2020, but at this year’s prices! Typically, the price of tickets goes up each year in January, so if you are looking to book a trip for the upcoming year, now is the time to act, to ensure that you get the very best prices. In the case that you aren’t looking to book a trip to Disneyland, let me tell you why you should:

1. It’s Disneyland. Who doesn’t want to go to Disneyland? (Hint: Answer rhymes with ‘drazy people’)
2. The new ride at Galaxy’s Edge, Rise of the Resistance, is set to open January 17th. (More on that, here: Complete Guide to Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge)
3. In the Spring, you get to experience Disney California Adventures’s Food & Wine Festival, which if you don’t know what that is, it essentially combines two of life’s greatest gifts: food and Disney magic, so it is a must-see in my opinion. (You can learn more about it here: Disney California Adventure Food & Wine Festival)
4. Phase 1 of Marvel Land. I REPEAT PHASE ONE OF MARVEL LAND. If you’re a crazy Marvel fan, such as myself, then this is majorly exciting!
5. Lastly, towards the end of the year, you can experience holidays in the park, which is an experience like no other. From September through October 31, Disneyland celebrates Halloween and their parties are where I have made some of the best memories. After that, from Mid-November to Early-January, comes all of your other favorites during the Festival of Holidays!

Our family has used Get Away Today on numerous occasions, and have found that they always have the very best deals on packages. Not only, that, but you can use the coupon code THRIVING10 for an extra $10 off your hotel and ticket package. You also can purchase individual Disneyland tickets for 2020 now too. Now go plan that trip! If you need more incentive, Get Away Today also offer a layaway plan so you don’t have to pay for everything up front.

To help you plan your Disneyland vacation we have lots of posts to help you along the way.

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My Tips for Finding Cheap International Flights

Christy — Thu, 16 May 2019 16:49:34 +0000

This post contains affiliate links. If you sign up through my links, I receive a commission. My thoughts are honest and true.

We love to travel and have found that one of the most expensive parts of traveling internationally is the cost of the flights. Fortunately, I stumbled upon a site that helps me find the best deals on flights, it’s called Dollar Flight Club. Last year we were able to fly our family to London for $372 round trip per person!

Dollar Flight Club has a free subscription service that will get you 1/4 of the deals they find, however, I totally recommend paying for the premium service. The regular yearly rate for the Dollar Flight Club Premium service is $40, but right now you can use the code discount40 to save 40% off the regular rate. That means you will be paying only $24 for this service that can possibly save you hundreds on travel. The premium service gives you more flight deals than the free service and also includes extras like choosing your home airport, text alerts and more.

Last year we planned on taking a family vacation and we told my daughter that since she was graduating she could pick the destination (within reason). She really wanted to go to Paris, unfortunately we weren’t finding any flight deals and it was too expensive to fly 6 people at $900 per person. We had finally decided we would head to Canada, but thanks to Dollar Flight Club I saw an amazing deal on a flight to London, the tickets were only $372 round trip. I knew that London was a quick train ride away from Paris, so we decided to fly to London and split our vacation between London and Paris. I’m so glad we did! London was an amazing place and we can’t wait to go back.

Here are a few tips we use when it comes to getting deals on international flights:

Be flexible with your dates – Many people plan the dates of their vacation and then try to find deals to fit into those dates. You will find the best deals if you look for cheap flights first and then fit your vacation into those dates. I know this doesn’t always work, but it has worked for us on several occasions and it has saved us a ton a money. We do the same with our flights to Disneyland, we book when the deals are good and not on set dates we had planned in advance.

Check for deals at neighboring airports – You may find a cheaper deal in an airport that is in a neighboring state or even a neighboring country. We have flown out of Portland, OR to go to Hawaii because they had a better deal than our airport here in Seattle. Like I mentioned above we also flew into London as a way to get to Paris.

Use Dollar Flight Club – Dollar Flight Club will send you emails on flight deals as they come available. They include all the links in the email so you can check flight prices for different days using Google Flights (I love Google Flights). I highly recommend signing up for the Premium service of Dollar Flight Club and using the code discount40 to save 40% and pay only $24 for the year. I love the fact that you can go to their site and see all the current deals at one quick glance too. Here is a peek at some of the current and past deals. You will only have access to all the deals if you are a premium member.

Here is how to get signed up! Head over to Dollar Flight Club and enter your email address, and then your closest departure airport. You then can choose to “Try Premium for free” (you will get a 14-day free trial) or “Continue with Basic”. If you choose the free trial of premium you will need to enter your CC number on the next screen. Before you hit submit, make sure you click the “promo code” link just under where you enter your credit card. A promo code box will pop up and enter the code discount40 to get the service for only $24 a year. If you don’t want to be charged, you can still try the service for free for 14 days, just make sure you cancel before the 14 days are up.

Where would you love to travel? We’re watching for deals to Italy and Toyko. We are hoping to visit Disneyland Tokyo and Disney Sea next year. We’ll have to wait and see what deals pop up, maybe the deals from Dollar Flight Club will take us somewhere else exciting next year.

The post My Tips for Finding Cheap International Flights appeared first on Gather Lemons.

Get Away Today Black Friday Disneyland Deals

Christy — Wed, 21 Nov 2018 19:26:58 +0000

Sale extended one day! Black Friday isn’t just for toys, electronics and appliances, it’s also for saving money on trips to Disneyland! My favorite travel site Get Away Today is having a big Black Friday sale on 3-day Disneyland tickets. The amazing discount on tickets are valid on individual tickets or package deals. Adults will pay kids prices on all 3-day Disneyland Park Hoppers or 1-Park per Day tickets. These tickets are valid for travel in 2018 and 2019!! The 3-day Disneyland Park Hoppers purchased through Get Away Today do include the Magic Morning. Here are the details on the special:

Adults at Kids’ Prices for ALL 2018 and 2019 with a MAJOR price cut for spring travel
Valid on all 3-day and longer Park Hopper and 1-Park per Day Tickets
Must be booked by Wednesday, November 28, 2018

I highly recommend checking the package deals at Get Away Today, the discounted ticket prices will be reflected in your package price and if you book a 2-night or longer Disneyland package use my code Thriving10 for an additional $10 off. If you are new to Get Away Today, I have a post that explains the entire booking process from start to finish.

Even better there are extra savings if you are planning for spring travel. Combine the Adults at Kids’ Prices Black Friday Disneyland deal with the value spring travel dates, and you can save up to $95 per ticket over annual pricing! That’s almost an extra $500 savings for a family of five! I don’t think we’ll see Disneyland prices this low ever again, so it’s a once-in-a-lifetime sale!

Below is a breakdown of the savings depending on travel dates:

Now – January 6, 2018: Up to $31
January 7 – May 23, 2019*: Up to $95
May 24 – December 31, 2019: Up to $19

Savings vary per ticket and are calculated based on annual park pricing. Blockout dates April 14 – 22, 2019. Standard pricing with Adults at Kids’ Prices $19 per tickets savings will apply for travel over these dates. Here is a peek at the prices for spring travel.

3-Day Disneyland Park Hopper (Adult) $255 (reg $330) SAVE $75
3-Day Disneyland Park Hopper (Child) $255 (reg $330) SAVE $75

4-Day Disneyland Park Hopper (Adult) $274 (reg $355) SAVE $81
4-Day Disneyland Park Hopper (Child) $274 (reg $337) SAVE $63

5-Day Disneyland Park Hopper (Adult) $284 (reg $370) SAVE $86
5-Day Disneyland Park Hopper (Child) $284 (reg $351) SAVE $67

These are the fun events you can expect at Disneyland in 2019:

Get Your Ears On: A Mickey and Minnie Celebration begins in January
January/February: Lunar New Year Festival
March/April: Disney California Adventure® Park Food and Wine Festival
Summer: Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge Opens
September/October: Halloween Time at the Disneyland® Resort
November/December: Holidays at the Disneyland® Resort

We have a bunch of posts to help you plan an enjoy a Disneyland vacation. Don’t hesitate to email me or leave a comment with any questions you may have, I am always happy to chat Disney!

We’ve got your complete guide to Pixar Pier
I share honest reviews of all the hotels we’ve used near Disneyland
10 of the BEST places to eat breakfast at Disneyland
10 of the BEST places to each lunch at Disneyland
Several ways you can save on Disneyland Park Tickets
Great tips that will help you to do Disneyland (and California Adventure) in a day.
Another great way to save on Disneyland package deals is through Costco Travel
Check out the highlights from our trip to Disneyland Paris

The post Get Away Today Black Friday Disneyland Deals appeared first on Gather Lemons.

My Biggest Money-Saving Tip for a Disneyland Vacation

Christy — Thu, 11 Oct 2018 00:10:16 +0000

I am an affiliate with Get Away Today, I will make a small commission if you make a purchase through one of my links. I have been a customer of Get Away Today years before I even started blogging about them. I honestly love them!

I’m sure many of you know by now that one of our favorite family vacation destinations is Disneyland. Truth be told, it happens to be a favorite vacation destination for our kidless couple-only trips too. There are many ways you can make a Disneyland vacation less painful on your pocketbook and one of the biggest ways to save is by booking with Get Away Today. I have used Get Away Today on numerous occasions and I have been very pleased with the service and impressed with the savings! It is by far one of the biggest ways I save on our trips to Disneyland.

Here are the current specials and sales happening at Get Away Today. You don’t have to enter a code to get these specials they will automatically be added to your package if you qualify.

Save $24 on 3-day Park Hoppers, purchase by 11/9, travel through December 31, 2018
5th Day Free Park Hopper Tickets now – December 31, 2018
Layaway Plans from just $125 down
Extra Night Free Hotel Specials

I am sharing an example of the savings on a vacation I planned for November 14-18, 2018. Occasionally the savings from Get Away Today may only be a couple hundred dollars, but with this trip the savings was pretty substantial! This trip I save $585.40 over booking the hotel and tickets individually. I am saving 33% by booking with Get Away Today. Many times when you book with Get Away Today, extras like hotel parking will be included too. This will vary per hotel, but you will see the savings while you are booking your trip.

For this stay, I chose a 4 night stay at the Four Points Sheraton with (3) 2-day one park per day tickets. I’m sharing the process I go through when booking my trips. I always start with Get Away Today and then I see what the price is when I book everything individually. I usually check out Costco Travel too. Costco has extras like character dining, but I usually find that Get Away Today offer the lowest out of pocket costs for Disneyland trips. My total for this trip from Get Away Today was $1057. This price includes the hotel, park tickets and parking.

When I priced everything separately with the hotel and tickets I got a package price of $1642.40. I chose the cheaper rewards rate at the hotel, because I figured everyone can sign up for the rewards program (there is no fee). You can also save a little extra by purchasing your Disneyland tickets from Get Away Today instead of directly from Disney. The cost breakdown is as follows:

Hotel = $948.40
Parking (4 nights) = $64
Disneyland Park Tickets = $630

By booking through Get Away Today I am saving $585.40. That savings is HUGE!

I am going to walk you through the entire process of booking a vacation package at Get Away Today to show you just how easy it is. Don’t let the length of the post overwhelm you, I made sure to be extra thorough so you’d understand exactly what you are getting and so you’d know how you can make some changes to save yourself a little money. It’s way easier than it seems, I promise!!

First, you need to know the dates you plan to travel. Usually, when it comes to our Disneyland trips we let great airline deals dictate when we travel. This doesn’t work for everyone, but it helps us save even more money on our trips. As an example I’m showing you the details of the trip for November 14-18, 2018. You will enter all the necessary information on the front page and hit the search button. I always select the hotel and ticket bundle.

On the following page you will see all your available hotel options (you can even book the Disney owned hotels too). These prices usually include 3-day Park Hoppers, which is a great option, but I will show how you can change the tickets if you don’t need that many days in the park. This will lower your package price. For this trip, I am choosing to stay at the Four Points by Sheraton Anaheim. Notice under the hotel price that this is one of the hotels that includes a 4th night for FREE. If you need help in choosing a hotel, you can check our reviews of all the hotels we have used near Disneyland.

Once you click “book” you will be taken to the specific hotel page where you can choose the type of room you need for your family. Since we only have 3 people on this trip, I am going to choose the 1 King, Sofa Bed option.

The next page will tell you about your ticket options. The amount of days in your package will determine the type of Park Hopper that will be added to your trip. You DO NOT have to go with the Disneyland ticket option they suggest. You’ll want to think about how many days you will need in the parks and if you think the Park Hopper option is a necessity. We honestly love the Park Hopper option since the parks are so close to each other, but because most of our trips are only 2 park days, we often choose the 2-day one park per day option. This option saves us a little extra money and one day at each park works out perfect for us.

To change your ticket options, you will want to scroll down the page where you see the “Or Select One of Our Other DISNEYLAND® Resort Resort Ticket Options”. For this trip we chose the 2-day 1 park per day option by hitting the “view” button. Make your choice and hit “update cart”. You can also choose to have longer Park Hopper options too. You an get up to 5 days in the parks.

You can see the price of my vacation has dropped from $1385 to $1067. Now you hit continue to complete checkout.

The next page will give you optional add-ons. If you have plan to do a Character Meal at Disneyland, I recommend you purchase discount tickets from Get Away Today. You can save up to $10 per person. To purchase Character Meal vouchers, click on “view deals”. To see which character meals are considered regular and premium, you can click “details” underneath each title and it will tell you which locations are considered regular and premium.

Before you complete checkout, there are a couple of things you need to know. You can save an extra $10 off your package by using my coupon code Thriving10 at checkout. To enter this code scroll down to the bottom of the page and click the “promo code” button on the left hand side and enter Thriving10. This will take $10 off your package as long as it includes a 2 night hotel stay and 2 park tickets.

You will also notice at the bottom of the page that Get Away Today automatically adds their “Peace of Mind Plan” for $75.

The Peace of Mind Plan allows you to to change or cancel your trip without a fee. If you feel your plans are pretty much set in stone you can remove the “Peace of Mind Plan” from your cart and not pay the $75.00. Once you click “remove” an image will pop up where you can learn more about the Peace of Mind Plan, if you decode to remove it hit “Remove” on the pop-up, it will be taken out of your cart. The majority of our trips are last minute (because of great airfare deals like I mentioned before) so we usually don’t buy the Peace of Mind Plan. However, if I was booking a longer trip that was further in the future, I would gladly pay $75 for the peace of mind of knowing I could change things if necessary.

Next to you will need to sign in or sign up for an account to complete checkout.

You will notice you have several different options for payment including credit card, check, gift certificate, PayPal or even a Layaway Plan, where you can save your vacation with as low as $125 down.

While checking out, pay attention to how your package will be delivered. Sometimes it will be delivered via mail, other times it may be all electronically and you will get your e-tickets and hotel voucher sent via email.

There you go! The entire process of booking a trip with Get Away Today! If you book a trip with them I would love to hear about your savings.

You can also just purchase discount Disneyland tickets through Get Away Today too. Sometimes you may be staying with family, you may use points for your hotel stay and all you need are the tickets, so that is a great money-saving option too. Just head over to Get Away Today and click the “tickets” link at the top of the page.

Check out my other Disneyland posts for even more tips. If you have any questions, let me know. I am always happy to chat Disney.

We’ve got your complete guide to Pixar Pier
Several ways you can save on Disneyland Park Tickets
Great tips that will help you to do Disneyland (and California Adventure) in a day.
I share honest reviews of all the hotels we’ve used near Disneyland
Another great way to save on Disneyland package deals is through Costco Travel
Everything you need to know about visiting Disneyland in the fall
Check out the highlights from our trip to Disneyland Paris

The post My Biggest Money-Saving Tip for a Disneyland Vacation appeared first on Gather Lemons.

Complete Guide to Pixar Pier at the Disneyland Resort

Christy — Tue, 31 Jul 2018 15:50:13 +0000

Summer at Disneyland has just gotten cooler because Pixar Pier at California Adventure is now open! The newly themed area changed from Paradise Pier to Pixar Pier with themes and characters from your favorite Pixar movies. I was able to visit Pixar Pier opening weekend so I’ve got all the fun details you need to know on all the rides, food and more. For this trip I used Get Away Today and booked a package deal. Get Away Today is one of my biggest money saving tips when it comes to Disneyland vacations. You can buy individual tickets at a discount or package deals (I almost always go with the package deals, because it saves me the most).

You will find new billboards decorating the boardwalk of Pixar Pier. This Up billboard is my favorite. It’s so bright and happy. They’ve also switched out the light bulbs with star shaped light bulbs. Disney thinks of everything!

When Pixar Pier is complete is will consists of four Pixar-inspired neighborhoods, Incredibles Park, Toy Story Boardwalk, Pixar Promenade and Inside Out Headquarters. Inside Out headquarters will be completed in 2019.

Probably the biggest highlight of Pixar Pier is the Incredicoaster. California Screamin’ has been transformed into a roller coaster featuring the Parr family. You can join the Incredibles in their mad dash to catch baby Jack-Jack as he wreaks havoc throughout every inch of this high-speed chase!

I recommend riding the Incredicoaster at night! The neon lights stand out better during the nighttime. It’s fun during the day, but it’s another level of cool at night.

Toy Story Midway Mania is a family favorite of ours. This ride has a Fast Pass, so it’s much easier to play without a long wait. Before Pixar Pier opened, we would usually skip Cars Land first thing in the morning and make a mad dash for Toy Story Midway Mania. We could ride it 2-3 times in a row before the lines started getting long. I’m wondering if now everyone will make a made dash for Pixar Pier leaving Cars Land more open.

Mickey’s Fun Wheel is now the Pixar Pal-A-Round (which is not as easy to say). The ride is essentially the same, you can still choose between a non-swinging and swinging car. It’s a non-swinging car for me!

You will find each car/cage is decorated with some of your favorite Pixar Pals.

Jessie’s Critter Carousel is a bright and fun carousel filled with fun critters from the Toy Story films.

The Pixar Pier now has the Lamplight Lounge restaurant, this was formerly Ariel’s Grotto and the Cove bar. This is a popular restaurant, so making reservations in advance is highly recommended. You can make restaurant reservations 60 days in advance, and this one fills up quickly. If you don’t see a time available for your date, check back later. The restaurant was completely booked the first time I checked, but on my third try, I found an opening.

The theming at this restaurant is amazing! There are so many fun details to check out. You’ll find Pixar images and movie quotes. Even the coasters have fun Pixar drawings on them.

The beloved Lobster Nachos are back! I was happy to find out you can also order the nachos with chicken or steak. I recommend the nachos and the Donuts with raspberry and chocolate dipping sauce are definitely a must. They were so good! The have an extensive drink menu with both alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. We tried the 2319, which is a a Non-Alcoholic Mocktail with Frozen Strawberry Purée, Cream of Coconut, Pineapple Juice topped with Coca-Cola.

Adorable Snowman Frosted Treats opened before the grand opening of Pixar Pier and it has already been a big hit with Park goers. They serve frosted treats like lemon, chocolate and vanilla soft serve in cones and cups. They also have the “It’s Snow Capped Lemon” which is lemon soft serve topped with white chocolate.

The biggest seller seems to be the Pixar Pier Frosty Parfait, which is lemon soft serve with a blue raspberry swirl. This is so refreshing on a hot day! I love the tart mix of the lemon with the sweetness of the blue raspberry It was really good! Lines form early for these treats, but they are totally worth it. I’ve also heard great things about the lemon and vanilla swirl cone, that is next on my list of things to try.

I recently tried the It’s Snow Capped Lemon Cone and I would pass on this one, the lemon is a little too much on it’s own. Plus, as soon as I took a bite, all my white chocolate broke and fell on the ground. I do think the lemon is great with the blue raspberry float or swirled with vanilla, but on it’s own not so much.

A brand new quick service option is the Poultry Palace. How cute is the take-out box shaped building? Here you can get a take-out box with 3 Chicken Drumsticks and Coleslaw or a Jumbo Turkey Leg. They also have corn on the cob with either chili-lime or butter.

I tried the 3 drumstick box and I was impressed. I love the take-out box! Drumsticks aren’t usually my favorite (I prefer white meat), but the drumsticks were super moist and the seasoning was really well. It did have a little kick to it, but it wasn’t bad, I’m not a fan of super spicy food. The coating on the outside kind of reminded me of a lighter version of Shake-and-Bake. That probably sounds weird and not like a compliment, but it is. I like the fact that it comes with 3 drumsticks so it makes it super easy to share, and at $9.99 I didn’t think the price was all that bad. I will definitely hit up the Poultry Palace next time I visit California Adventure.

Churros are a must on every visit with several members of my family. Now you can feed your Churro addiction on Pixar Pier with Señor Buzz Churros. They have two flavors to choose from the Cinnamon Super Galaxy Churro or the Caliente Churro.

The Cinnamon Super Galaxy Churro is the regular cinnamon-sugar churro with a sparkly sprinkles. The Caliente Churro has a coating with a flavor similar to Red Hots.

Angry Dogs sells hot dogs, you can choose either the Slightly Angry Dog, which is a regular hot dog with chips or the Angry Dog which is a spicy all beef hot dog. The Angry Dog is served with “hot fries”, which are essentially flaming hot Cheetos fries.

You can top your angry dog with different condiments ranging from “Keeping it Together” (Ketchup) to “Raging” (Buffalo Hot Sauce). I had the Slightly Angry Dog, because like I mentioned before, I don’t do spicy. The hot dog was full of flavor and actually pretty good.

You’ll find Jack-Jack Cookie Num Nums at the exit of the Incredicoaster. Don’t pass this one by! They have 3 different varieties of cookies, warm Chocolate Chip, Shortbread Cookie with frosting and a gluten-friendly Blackberry Jam-filled Cookie. You can wash it down with regular, chocolate or strawberry milk. They also have vanilla almond milk and soy milk too.

I had the Warm Chocolate Chip cookie and it was amazing! I’d give it a 10 out of 10. It’s thick and gooey you can eat with with a fork. The chocolate is just the right amount of melty. The only thing I think would make it better is a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top.

You will find Boardwalk Games along the right side of Midway Mania. These games were previously on the Paradise Pier too, but now they have been themed to match some of your favorite Pixar movies.

You will find the following games:

Laluna Star Catcher
Wall-E Space Race
Heimlich’s Candy Corn Toss
Bullseye Stallion Stampede

At the Pixar Promenade you can listen to music and meet your favorite Pixar characters. While we were at Pixar Pier there was a dance party with Sully and other Pixar characters at the Promenade.

Bing Bong’s Sweet Stuff is open and you will find Pixar souvenirs and sweet treats throughout the store.

The entire store has a fun colorful theme. With a rainbow on the ceiling and a candy design on the floor.

You can order Memory Refreshers here, which are fruit slushies in the following fun flavors: Rainbow Unicorn, Sunshine in a Cup, Imaginary Pal, Slow Burn and Gloomy Blues.

You can also get the yummy Churros Toffee here at Bing Bong’s Sweet Stuff.

Don’t forget to stop by Knick Knacks for even more Pixar souvenirs.

Coming later:

Inside Out Headquarters (coming 2019)

When booking our Disneyland trips I use both Get Away Today and Costco Travel for the best package deals. This time around we used Get Away Today and stayed at the Four Points Sheraton (previously Menage). I have priced numerous vacations and Get Away Today is usually always priced the lowest. I usually save hundreds of dollars with the packages from Get Away Today.

For even more Disney news, check out our following posts. They will provide you with tips, money saving ideas and great places to eat!

Everything you need to know about Pixar Fest
Check out the highlights from our trip to Disneyland Paris
10 of the BEST places to eat breakfast at Disneyland
10 of the BEST places to each lunch at Disneyland
Several ways you can save on Disneyland Park Tickets.
Great tips that will help you to do Disneyland (and California Adventure) in a day.
Craving a Dole Whip? Check out our recipe for Homemade Dole Whip
Check out the time my husband and I has six meals & one snack at Disneyland and paid less than $30 (thanks to a lot of planning)

The post Complete Guide to Pixar Pier at the Disneyland Resort appeared first on Gather Lemons.

Surprise Disneyland Vacation 2-Day Trip Report

Christy — Wed, 05 Apr 2017 18:33:01 +0000

My husband totally surprised us by planning a quick 2-day trip to Disneyland. I mean, he seriously planned the entire thing BY HIMSELF and kept it a secret. I was shocked!! Not only was I shocked he planned the trip without me knowing, but he also made the trip as cheap as possible. That’s the way to win me over, Disney trips on the cheap.

I’m even impressed that he shopped around for the best deal on lodging and tickets. He’s been listening to me when I’ve mentioned that Get Away Today is one of my favorite places to book our Disney vacations because the savings is so great. Here is a peek at our 2-day trip and some Disney tips and money saving ideas along the way.

Our 3 oldest are off at college or on missions for church so it was only 4 of us this time. Wow! What a difference it is traveling with a family of 4 instead a family of 7. Our vacation was cheaper than normal from the get go since we were traveling with less people.

How we got there: We are fortunate to live in an area that has occasionally has inexpensive flights to Disneyland. The best deal we ever scored was our $62 round-trip flights on Jet Blue. This trip we flew via Alaska Airlines into LAX (we much prefer flying into LGB or SNA). My husband used our frequent flyer miles to score reward tickets for only 7500 points for one leg of the trip. That was an amazing deal! The flight for all four of us was made with airline miles so there was no money out of pocket.

When we went: We took this trip during our schools mid-winter break in February. We usually always avoid the weekends at Disneyland and we did so this time too. The crowds were a little heavy, but a busy day at Disneyland is still better than no day at Disneyland (I’m pretty sure Christmas & New Year’s are the exception to this rule, I still haven’t ventured to Disneyland on either one of these days and I don’t plan to in the future).

Where we stayed: We love staying within walking distance and since this was a short trip where we needed to maximize our park time it made the most sense to stay at a hotel within walking distance again. We stayed at the Grand Legacy at the Park (this is our 4th stay at this hotel). It is a super easy walk! I highly recommend checking the price of the hotel directly from their website and checking for any discount codes and them comparing it to the prices from Get Away Today. Keep in mind that the prices at Get Away Today include your park tickets so you will need to factor the cost of tickets in to the hotel to see the total savings.

Park Tickets: Since we had only 2 days in the parks, he opted to save money by just getting 2-day tickets with admission to one park per day instead of Park Hoppers. This made the most sense because it gave us one day at each of the parks. By choosing these tickets he saved us $180. Keep in mind if you are unsure if you will want Park Hoppers, you can buy one-day tickets and upgrade them to Park Hoppers while at the parks.

Souvenirs & Spending Money: I have mentioned before that we love buying Disney souvenirs. My husband usually has an annual pass that saves us 20% on merchandise. His pass expired recently and since we don’t have another trip planned for at least 10 months we figured it was best to hold off on updating the annual pass until our next trip. Since we often visit the Disney Parks once as a family and usually twice as a couple (due to business trips that take us to California anyway) we decided to get just one of us an Annual Pass on several occasions because in the long run it saved us money with the free parking and dining, merchandise and hotel discounts.

I do have a Disney Visa that allows me to save 10% on purchase of $50 or more at all the shops within Disneyland area. Right now there is an offer for a $200 Disney gift card when you are approved for a Disney Visa and spend $500 within the first 3 months of opening the card. You will earn 1% on all purchases as Disney Rewards that you can spend at Disney Theme Parks and more.

I had more than enough Disney Rewards to cover all our food, snacks and souvenirs. I signed up for the same offer several years ago. I figured the $200 gift card would be a great way to save money on our trip.

Food: The food has become one of my favorite things about a Disney vacation. Here is where we ate and what we snacked on this time around. I’ve mentioned it before, and I will say it again, it is totally worth planning where you want to eat ahead of time, it saves so much time and this way you get to make sure that everyone gets to eat at their favorite places at least sometime during the trip. It could just be our family that struggles with the “I don’t know where I want to eat, where do you want to eat” when on vacation, so I solved that problem with the planning. I am a HUGE fan of sharing meals too. It’s a great way to not over eat, save room for snacks and save money. We also tend to just order ice water with our meals, since it’s free, it’s another great way to save money and you better for you too.

Panera Bread – We ate breakfast here both mornings before entering the park. They open at 6 am so it’s easy to eat before the parks even open. I love that this is so close to the parks now!! The Panera Bread is located near McDonalds in the parking lot of the Marriott Fairfield Inn. You can even use their app to place your order ahead of time and pick it up.

Cafe Orleans – My daughter and I shared a Monte Cristo (it’s a must do for us) and my husband tried the “Crescent City” Salad with Blackened Chicken for the first time and he said it was one of the best meals he’s ever had there. We have a son that is picky when it comes to food, so instead of paying the high prices for something we knew he wouldn’t eat here, I packed a bagel and a few other lunch items for him.

Rancho del Zocalo – We had dinner here on our day at Disneyland. It has been awhile since we’ve eaten here and I forgot how much we loved it.

Flo’s V8 Cafe – We ate dinner here while we were at California Adventure, we pretty much make sure to eat here on every trip. It’s one of our faves! I recommend breakfast, lunch or dinner here.

Snacks – Our snacks consisted of Dole Whip, Churros, Hand Dipped Ice cream bars and believe it or not corn on the cob (my picky child loves the corn on the cob). If you haven’t yet tried the Hand Dipped Ice Cream bars from Clarabelle’s in California Adventure they are a must! This time I tried the Raspberry Sorbet dipped in milk chocolate and covered with Blue Raspberry Bursts (essentially Pop Rocks). It was yummy!

FastPasses: With only 2 days in the parks we made sure to take advantage of the FASTPASS system. Here is a tip for you! Check out the message we had on our Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters FASTPASS . This ride is occasionally not connected to the entire FASTPASS system so it allows you to have this FASTPASS and another one at the same time. If we weren’t paying attention to the time to get a new FASTPASS we would have totally missed the message. We ran over and got us another FASTPASS for Hyperspace Mountain.

Things we Did – No matter how many times we visit Disneyland, there is always something new to experience. I actually rode the Mad Tea Party for the first time ever (I had to make sure there was no spinning allowed)! We all saw the new Frozen – Live at the Hyperion and got to ride Soarin’ Around the World together for the first time as a family. The Main Street Electrical parade was back at Disneyland and our kids hadn’t seen it before. This is the same parade my husband and I saw on our honeymoon at Disney World 25 years ago.

We also like to visit the Animation Academy in Hollywood Land and try to draw a different character each time. They now have a schedule posted so you can see who they will be drawing at each time during the day. Head there at the beginning of the day so you can make sure to get the character you want.

Disneyland is one of our favorite vacation destinations, if you have a trip planned this year make sure you check out our other Disney posts:

Affiliate links have been used in the post, I may be compensated for products or services you click through. All my thoughts and opinions are honest and true.

The post Surprise Disneyland Vacation 2-Day Trip Report appeared first on Gather Lemons.

Costco: Disney California Adventure Annual Pass $329.99

Christy — Tue, 06 Sep 2016 15:39:09 +0000

Costco is offering a annual pass to Disney’s California Adventure Park for only $329.99. The regular one-day rate to get into California Adventure is $95.00. I guess if you are a local this could be a good deal, but it seems like you would also want to visit Disneyland too. I think this pass might be a hit with local teenagers, I know many teens enjoy California Adventure (especially when they had the Mad T Party).

Here is what the pass includes:

One year of admission to Disney California Adventure® Park at the Disneyland Resort
Valid for use one year from first use, first use must occur on or before December 1, 2016 (Select blockout dates apply)
Up to 10% off merchandise, food & beverage discounts (restrictions apply)
Disney California Adventure® Park collector’s pin

Keep in mind that this pass does not include parking so you will have that as an added fee when you visit the park. Let me know your thoughts on this pass. Do you think it’s something you will buy, or does it not make sense for your family because you want to visit Disneyland too? If you are looking for a great deal on a Disneyland package that contains tickets to both parks, I recommend buying a package through Costco Travel or Get Away Today. These two services are usually how we book our Disneyland vacations.

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Get Away Today: Discount Disneyland Ticket Prices (through 3/8)

Christy — Thu, 03 Mar 2016 18:01:56 +0000

I’m sure you’ve heard the news that Disney recently raise their admission prices. The new higher rates when into effect February 28th. If you have a trip planned sometime this year I have good news for you! You can still purchase ticket to Disneyland and the older rates through Get Away Today. You will need to purchase your tickets by March 8, but they can be redeemed anytime before 12/31/16.

Here is a look at the current discounted prices during the Adults at Kids’ Prices months (May, August, September and November):

3-Day Park Hopper Gate Price: $295: Get Away Today price: $264 – $31 savings!

4-Day Park Hopper Gate Price: $320: Get Away Today price: $285 – $35 savings!

5-Day Park Hopper Gate Price: $335: Get Away Today price: $299 – $36 savings!

If you do have a trip to Disneyland planned make sure you check out some of our most popular Disney posts:

10 of the BEST places to eat breakfast at Disneyland
10 of the BEST places to each lunch at Disneyland
Our most recent trip report from the 60th Anniversary Diamond Celebration
10 Things We’ve never done at Disneyland (happy to say we’ve crossed some off the list)
Craving a Dole Whip? Check out our recipe for Homemade Dole Whip
Check out the time my husband and I has six meals & one snack at Disneyland and paid less than $30 (thanks to a lot of planning)

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Disney World Hotels on Living Social

Christy — Thu, 17 Jul 2014 04:18:45 +0000

Wow! Here’s something I have never seen before. Several Walt Disney World hotels are on Living Social with some nice discounted rates. Here are the hotels you can choose from:

Disney’s Port Orleans – French Quarter from $136 a night.

The 1,008 rooms are set along landscaped lanes, some overlooking the Sassagoula River
Mardi Gras-inspired rooms boast French-inspired paintings and antique-style furnishings
Enjoy the outdoor pool with a water slide that resembles a giant sea serpent
Dining options include The Mint and a food court that serves American and Creole food

Walt Disney World Dolphin Resort from $139 a night.

This 87-acre resort was designed by Michael Graves
Enjoy transportation to Walt Disney World theme parks and attractions
Stays include extended theme park hours as part of the Extra Magic Hours benefit
Play at the on-site pools, health clubs, tennis courts, and other activities
Resort provides delivery of purchases made in the Disney theme parks to the hotel lobby

Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge from $188 a night.

More than 200 animals and birds inhabit the savannas surrounding the hotel
Treat yourself to a relaxing massage in the spa
Resort boasts one of the largest collections of African art in the United States
Savor South African flavors at the on-site restaurant, Jiko – The Cooking Place
Swim in the 11,000-square-foot tropical pool
Enjoy benefits like complimentary bus transportation to Disney theme parks

Disney’s Old Key West Resort from $228 a night.

The resort is a boat ride away from the hip Downtown Disney area
The Magical Express provides a complimentary transfer service to the airport
Renovated in 2005, this hotel has 761 rooms spread over a three-story main building
Enjoy the relaxed family-friendly atmosphere in Olivia’s Café
Families love the four swimming pools, as well as the separate children’s pool

Thanks The Coupon Project!

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