Thrifty Living Archives - Magical Family Travel Guide

The Ultimate Guide to Affordable Disney Vacations

katie — Mon, 20 Apr 2020 00:15:00 +0000

Disney vacations can be one of the most memorable trips you ever go on…but it sure can get pricey! Here are some tips for making your Disney vacation a little more affordable.

Disneyland is truly one of my favorite places.

It holds so many happy memories for me – both as a child and an adult. I know people sometimes think it’s weird that it’s my vacation of choice – but what can I say…it’s magical!

But there’s no doubt that it is an investment. Prices ALWAYS seem to rise every year, and everything in the park is expensive.

However, there are things you can do to make it a little more affordable without compromising the excitement that comes from Disneyland.

I have gone to Disneyland many times, and I feel like every time I come away with more tips. My biggest one? Book through Get Away Today. They always are offering the BEST prices on tickets and vacation packages, and they make it worry-free. I have booked every trip I’ve planned through them, and I wouldn’t do it any other way. You can even get $10 off a vacation package with the code Clarkscondensed.

Now, without further adieu…here is your ultimate guide!

Make sure you signup for our planning guide:

Table of contents

Planning your trip
Tickets and Loding
Getting to Disneyland
In the Park

Originally posted in 2014; updated. in2020.

Planning Your Trip

Determine your budget

Before you do anything…decide on your budget. Be realistic with it (so, if you have a family of six and you are flying to California from across the country, don’t think you can do it for under $1,000.)

By starting out with a specific budget in mind, you will know how much wiggle room you have.

Here are a few things you will likely need to pay for, to help you determine that budget:

Disney Tickets (obviously). These vary in price depending on the time of year, how many days you get, etc. The worst day is a day long pass, and the best deals come as you purchase more days.
Hotel or Lodging: Lodging varies a lot. If you stay on Disney premises, you will be paying a lot more than at an off-site location. I’ll talk a little bit more later though.
Travel Costs: Flying? Driving?
Food: This also varies, depending on how much you want to eat in the park
Souvenieers
Incidentals

Disney Vacation Cost Calculator

Obviously, your budget is going to depend a lot on how many people are going to go to, how many days you want to go, your hotel, and what/how you plan to eat.

Here is a basic calculation for determining how much you will pay, at a minimum.

For all the current prices for tickets, click here. Get Away Today frequently has promotions, so keep your eyes open for those.

You may not use all of these different options, so just skip those if necessary:

Adults (10+) x ticket price =

Children (3-9) x ticket price =

Cost of hotel x nights =

Hotel parking x nights =

Disneyland Parking ($25 at this writing) x days =

$30 x number of people = cost of souvenirs (adjust this to what you feel is appropriate. Souvenirs aren’t cheap!)

$20 x number of people = cost of food per day (this is on the low end and if you are trying to save money. Check out Disneyland Dining on a Budget for this. This could be up to around $50+ per day if you aren’t trying to do it on a budget).

Then add all those calculations together. Here is what my family minimum budget would be, based on the trip we are planning for in November:

2 Adults (10+) x 360 = $720 (this is for a three day park hopper)

2 Children (3-9) x 249 = $498

Cost of hotel x nights =

Hotel parking x nights =

Disneyland Parking ($25 at this writing) x days =

$30 x number of people = cost of souvenirs (adjust this to what you feel is appropriate. Souvenirs aren’t cheap!)

Obviously you have a lot of fill in the blanks above. The price of your ticket will vary depending on if you get a Park Hopper pass or a one park per day pass, as well as how many days you stay.

For your hotel, you will need to price that out as well. We always book through Get Away Today. Be sure to read this post about the best hotels near Disneyland for families.

Consider Layaway with Get Away Today (only available for Southern California vacations)

I’ll mention Get Away Today a few more times throughout this post (yes, I am an affiliate, but I truly love what they have to offer).

However, one of the huge advantages of booking through them is their Layaway program. It’s great for planning a vacation several months in advance, and not having to pay it all up front.

Basically, they allow you to book a vacation, and lock-in that rate, for as low as $125 down. That fee includes a $50, non-refundable fee to lock in the rate.

After you pay that initial fee, all you have to do is make sure you pay off the vacation two weeks before it’s set to happen. You can make as many or as few payments as you want up until that two weeks before.

Personally, I think this is an amazing option, especially if you can’t necessarily pay for an entire vacation up front.

It’s great for people who only can allocate a certain amount of money per month to their Disney trip.

Layaway trips can be set up through the Get Away Today website, or by calling 855-GET-AWAY. And for any of my readers, if you use the code ClarksCondensed, you can get $10 off any vacation!

Disneyland Discounts

A lot of people wonder how to get discounts for Disneyland vacations, and while I’m not expert on the topic, here are a few tips I’ve found:

Book through Get Away Today. I know, I know, I’m sounding like a broken record. But they offer some of the best discounts available when they are able to.
Sign up (and use…but pay off 😉 a Disney Visa. You can get exclusive discounts this way.
Pin Codes — These are special codes that people get at random times…there’s no way to really predict when you will get one, but I’ve read that if you request a copy of the Disney Vacation DVD, create on account on Disney.com and save your family’s information and trip dates, or create a Disney customize map, your chances increase substantially.
AAA members can get great Disney discounts
and Military members, too!

Book several months in advance

The general consensus is to try to book your trip several months in advance. While you may be able to find some “last minute deals” somewhere, but personally, I think that would be too stressful!

In general, you need to find a happy medium — planning too far in advance (a year or more) isn’t really a good idea, but neither is planning to close (less than a month). You probably won’t find great deals, and won’t be getting the most bang for your buck.

I have booked a trip a couple times just a month or two in advance, and while it worked out, the availability of the hotels we were looking at was a lot less.

Typically, the most recommended time to schedule the trip is 4-6 months in advance. These typically yield some of the best deals, plus it gives you plenty of time to change your mind.

However, starting to plan your trip before then would be a smart idea, too!

When to go to Disneyland?

There are definitely times that are better to go Disneyland.

As you could probably guess, during the summer will typically be the most expensive time.

Not only is it most expensive, but it’s also very hot, and likely to be super crowded.

Other times where it will be crowded and you aren’t as likely to get a good deal, is during spring break (so April-ish) or over the holidays.

The general consensus is that the best times to go are during the fall and winter and during the week.

I have gone during October twice, May once, July once, and November once, and honestly, it was busy almost every time. However, the lowest crowds were on rainy days and Wednesday.

This guide is specifically for 2020, but it should give you a general guide to when the best time to go to Disneyland is.

Determine Priorities

Some aspects of your trip may be more important than ever!

Perhaps you really want to attend a Disneyland character breakfast, or you really want to stay in one of the resorts on Disney grounds. Knowing what your priorities are from the start can help you make a decision early on where your money will be best spent.

PURCHASES

Tickets

I’ve already mentioned a few tips about buying tickets, but here are a few more things to consider:

Booking through Get Away Today is a great idea, too, for getting the best deals.
Children under three get in free!
Many tickets include one “Magic Morning Early Admission” pass, which is awesome for extending your stay.
As I already mentioned, you can get Military discounts.
Buying one-day passes are typically the worst deals.

Lodging

If you are going overnight, you’ll need somewhere to stay. Thankfully, there’s a lot of great options out there, and you should be able to find something in your price range. Here are a few options:

Disney Hotels: This is probably the most fun option…but probably one of the most expensive as well. There’s definitely perks to staying on the Disney Park’s premises (they’ll deliver things you buy to your room, it’s close, and it’s magical), but it can definitely cost a pretty penny.
Off-site hotels: There are tons of hotels in the LA/Anaheim area, and many of them are reasonably priced. A lot of these hotels will have free breakfasts, and some may even provide free shuttles to Disney (or, even better, be within walking distance!) If you choose to stay off-site, I think that Get Away Today is definitely the place to go to check out hotels. They give you all the details of the hotels (free breakfast, free shuttle, and other amenities, as well as the distance), and, if you book for a certain amount of nights, you can get free ones. You can search for hotels that have things you specifically want, too. Combined with buy tickets from Get Away Today, you can save a lot of money on lodging. And remember, if you use the code Clarkscondensed…you get 10 dollars off!
Camp on the Beach: Ever done this? I sure haven’t. But I know a lot of people have had very fun memories of camping on the beach before going to Disneyland. I have no idea what rules are associated with this, but hey, it’s worth looking into.

GETTING THERE

One of the most pricey parts of a Disney vacation is getting there! Unless you are lucky enough to live close to Disney, you will likely have to shell out a good amount of money on flights, or gas, to get there.

There are pros and cons to both methods of travel, which is especially dependent on how many people are going, and where you are coming from.

Driving

I always love using AAA’s fuel calculator when I’m trying to see if flying or driving is a cheaper option. It’s also important to consider the shape your car is in — will it cause significant wear and tear to drive a good distance in it?

Flying

If you are planning on flying, you can get some seriously cheap deals if you are vigilant about checking. There are, of course, sites like Priceline, Expedia, etc. that will help you see what prices are best at that given time.

We honestly fly Southwest most of the time, so we just look for flights through their website. We earn a lot of points using our Southwest credit card.

If we aren’t flying Southwest, I will use Google Flights and their flight tracker.

The Skyscanner app is also SUPER helpful for getting good deals on flights.

But if you want some of the BEST and unique tips for getting deals on flights, check out these posts from the Trip Fixers:

Obviously when buying a flight, you have to consider what time it leaves (many red eye flights are cheaper) and if they include any luggage with the price. While an airline like Spirit may seem super cheap, once they start piling on the feeds, it can get a little out of control.

There’s been numerous studies done on when the best time to buy a flight is, and apparently, 54 days, or about 7.5 weeks, before your departure date has been shown to have the best deals! I’ve never tested it myself, but it could be true. It’s also cheaper to fly on Tuesdays and Thursdays, as opposed to weekend dates.

Rental Cars

And finally, if you are going to be flying, you might want to invest in a rental car.

If you stay on Disney’s property, and you don’t plan to ever leave, you can probably get away with just using a shuttle to get to your hotel.

However, if you are staying off site, or plan to go to the beach, or anywhere else, having a rental car is worth it. I’ve seen some crazy low deals (we’re talking $15 a day or less) online…it just takes some searching. Websites like Priceline are where I’ve found the best deals.

You can also just use Uber or Lyft as well. This is what we did with our most recent trip. We stayed close to the Toy Story Parking Lot, so we just hopped on that shuttle each day (free! You don’t have to park there to get on).

Be sure to check out this post all about Disneyland transportation.

Another awesome reason to use Get Away Today? They can help you with ALL of your travel needs, including flying, rental cars, etc.

INSIDE THE PARK

Spending money doesn’t stop once you’ve gotten your tickets, travel, and lodging taken care of. There’s definitely a lot of temptations to tempt you to empty your bank account…but try and resist them! Here are a few ways to save inside the park.

Souvenirs

Ah…souvenirs. Something that most parents dread the thought of. If you can avoid buying anything in the park, you are better off.

However, it can be hard to resist Mickey Ears. So, if you want to let your kids buy a souvenir, just set a firm budget for each kid beforehand. I know some people will buy a Disney gift card beforehand for each child.

Some items can become rather tempting if you are walking around in the hot sun, such as spray bottles. Consider stopping by the Dollar Tree, or Target, before you leave and stocking up on spray bottles, hats, etc. to help keep you cool.

There are some free souvenirs you can collect while at Disney. I think the most well-known ones are buttons that say it’s your birthday, anniversary, first trip, etc.

These obviously aren’t anything big, but they are fun, and can even get you some special recognition throughout the park.

I’ve heard that if you tell restaurants that it’s your birthday or anniversary, some of them will even give you a free treat! Other free souvenirs include maps of Disney.

You can also buy souvenirs before you go. We have done this before, and we just pull things out of our backpack throughout the trip. The kids LOVE it. Be sure to read this post about the best Disneyland souvenirs to buy at the Dollar Tree.

How Much Cash Should You Bring to Disneyland?

I do recommend bringing cash over just relying on your credit cards. I’ve had situations where my credit card suddenly stopped working due to something being flagged as fraud – and that would not be fun to have happen in the middle of a trip!

Plus I think it helps curb spending a little bit.

I would recommend bringing $30 per person, per day in cash – if you plan to use credit cards. If you don’t want to use credit cards, I would probably say $40 per person, per day. You won’t necessarily need it, but it’s nice to have on hand.

First Aid

This may seem like a silly topic, but if you find yourself with blisters, or even a headache, head on over to the first aid station.

They have an assortment of OTC medications that guests can use, free of charge.

In addition, you can store medical equipment (such as a breast pump) if you don’t want to carry it around the park (and who would?!)

Rides

Okay, so obviously, if you have admission to the park, you don’t have to pay extra to go on rides.

However, there are a few ways to get the most bang for your buck, and get to see as much as the park as you can. Here are the two most popular ways:

Fast Passes: This is a great way to make sure you get to go on some of the more popular rides, without having to wait for hours in line. Basically, you get a pass from rides that offer them, and it tells you a time you can go back and get in the “Fast Pass” line. Generally, the wait time is a lot shorter, and you can spend your time going on rides with lines that are less long, or eating lunch. Sometimes you might run into people that give out fast passes they couldn’t use, which is always a pleasant surprise!
If you want to spend a little extra, you can purchase a MaxPass. We LOVE this, because it allows us to spend more time on rides and less time running around trying to get FastPasses. Here is everything you need to know about the MaxPass.
Ride Switch Passes: If you are traveling with small children, this is a must! Basically, it allows one parent or guardian to go on a ride with a child, and then, instead of having to wait in line again, the other parent can go straight to the front of the line afterward to go on the ride themselves with their child again. I love how Disney is such a family-oriented company, and they make it easy for families to go and have fun.

Food

One of the most expensive parts of Disneyland is the food! It’s crazy how expensive some things are (and, after a long day of playing, how tempting the food gets, regardless of the price.) However, with a little bit of planning, you can save a lot!

While you aren’t supposed to bring large amounts of food into the park, they have some great picnic areas outside of the park.

If you are parking near Disney (or even just staying on the premises) you could leave a cooler there, and go grab your food when you are ready to eat. You can even throw a few granola bars and fruit snacks in your bag to help lessen the temptation to buy some of the overpriced treats in the park.

The outside food and drink rules are a bit iffy, but most people have said they have brought in food in their backpack and water bottles with no trouble – myself included. The main limitations are no alcohol, and no glass bottles.

You can get free water anywhere in the park, with a few exceptions. At most restaurants or food stations, you can walk up and ask for a cup of ice water. If you don’t want to carry around a water bottle, this is a great option.

I also feel like it’s worth it to try and book a room at a hotel that has a complimentary breakfast.

The hotel we stayed at when we went a few years ago had a full, hot breakfast, that was included with the booking of the room. It was a nice way to start the day, and it usually held us off until lunch.

Even if your hotel doesn’t have a breakfast, it will end up being a lot less expensive if you buy bagels, donuts, or cereal and milk, to store in your room. If you have a refrigerator, even better!

Some hotels come equipped with kitchens, as well, which makes it even easier to prep or eat food at the hotel.

Sometimes, certain Disney “clubs” will offer discounts on food, such as having a Disney visa. Downtown Disney restaurants often have coupons, as well, so be sure to check online before you go.

And of course, there’s tons of places to eat outside of Disney, that aren’t even too far away! I’m sure you can easily find fast food or other restaurants that are significantly cheaper than eating in Disney.

Of course, there are a lot of great places inside of Disney, and I think going to at least one is worth the splurge.

For the more “casual” places, you can easily buy the kid meals for adults, and they will probably have plenty of food. Some places will even let you get an upgraded kid’s meal, which is more of an adult portion, for just a few dollars more than a regular kid’s meal.

Here are some Disneyland food Posts you may enjoy:

I hope that this post has helped you think of some ways to make your next trip to Disneyland a little more affordable. Please feel free to ask any questions below

The post The Ultimate Guide to Affordable Disney Vacations appeared first on Magical Family Travel Guide.

Secrets to Getting the Best Deal on Priceline

katie — Thu, 26 Feb 2015 14:14:02 +0000

Do you want to stay in a good hotel on a budget? You’ve come to the right place – here are a few secrets to playing the Priceline game.

We stay at a fair amount of hotels throughout the year – whether it’s because I’m attending a conference, we’re traveling, or any number of other reasons.

While I like staying at a nice hotel, I also don’t like paying an arm and a leg, especially when we need multiple nights. I’d say about 95% of the time, we get our hotel booked through Priceline.

There are a number of websites out there that claim to have the best deals on hotels, but we prefer using Priceline. I can almost always get a nice hotel, typically with a free breakfast, for a very reasonable price – far below what you could get booking through the hotel, AAA, etc.

The best prices will vary depending on time of year, where you are going, etc. For instance, a few months ago, we went to Provo, and while we can typically find a great hotel between $40-$60 a night, this particular weekend there was NOTHING under $150. I believe there was some big concert going on.

Just this week, we were in Pasadena, California. By following these tips, we were able to stay at a 4 Star Westin for $82. When I checked elsewhere, the next cheapest price was around $150 (though most were over $200).

Coupons

Priceline doesn’t release a lot of coupons…which makes sense, since they offer already discounted prices. However, occasionally you can get them. Typically they are just 5-10% off, but hey, every little bit counts, right?! I would first google “Priceline coupons (put month/year here)” to see if there happens to be one.

If there aren’t any, don’t worry! I’ve found that when you sign up for the email list, you usually get a coupon. Sometimes they’ll even send you one after you book a hotel room, so you can use it on your next time using Priceline. We’ve also occasionally gotten coupons through our email as well, so definitely sign up for their email list.

Check Website (on different computers) and Mobile App

Not everyone sees the same deals. For instance, a few weeks ago I was looking at the Little America in Salt Lake City. It kept giving me the price of $90, which is a great deal for that particular hotel. However, when I mentioned this to other people attending the conference I was going to, not all of them saw the same deal. A lot of them saw a price that was $10-15 higher. While I honestly couldn’t tell you the exact reason for this, I think it might have to do with two things:

I had been doing a search for hotels in Salt Lake about every other day for about a month. I think it may have known I was interested and locked in those deals.
I don’t live in Utah, so it may have been giving me a better deal.

Like I said, I don’t know if either of these reasons were true. A similar thing happened last year when we were in North Carolina – we were looking for a hotel to stay at, and I searched both on the mobile app and on the computer. I was able to find a better deal on the mobile app. So, moral of the story is – check the website in multiple places – different computers, the mobile browser, or even ask someone in a different area to do a search for you. You never know what kind of deal you’ll find!

Use the Mobile App

I just attended a conference in California, and there was actually a representative there (no, this post wasn’t written for them. I”m actually adding this tip months after the initial publication :). She told me that the mobile app has Express deals that are ONLY available on mobile. These are typically same day deals, and you can really save a bundle.

So I decided to try it out. I had been looking for a hotel for us to stay in during our last night in California, but none of the prices were looking too great for me. So I decided to wait until last minute, but instead of using the website, I checked the app.

Sure enough, there was a GREAT deal on a Westin Hotel that wasn’t on the website’s Express Deals, nor was it available the day before. We paid the same price for it that we were looking to pay for a one star, 2/10 user rating hotel in the same area.

Obviously, we went with the Westin. I’ve also been offered mobile only coupons before as well.

Understanding Ratings

So, on Priceline Hotel Deals, they give you two different rates when you are looking at hotels – the star rating (which, in the United States, are decided by several different organizations on a variety of criteria) and then user ratings.

Personally, I rarely pay attention to the star ratings. We’ve stayed at 1 star hotels from Priceline that have been excellent, and then 3.5 star hotels that have been subpar (though, in full disclosure, we feel like the sweet spot is 2.5 stars – they are usually clean, comfortable, and have a free breakfast. Most 3+ star hotels don’t have free breakfasts!) The key is to look at the user ratings.

Personally, we like to stay at hotels that have at least 7+ average ratings from customer ratings. We’ve never been disappointed with a hotel that has over a 7+ rating.

If you aren’t a picky person, you can probably go below that…but definitely proceed with caution! Just last week we stayed at one that had a 5.2 average rating, and I’m personally shocked it was that high. It was one of the worst hotel experiences ever!

The user ratings are from people who actually stayed at the hotel. Sure, some of the people rating are probably biased, but for the most part, I’ve found the ratings to be fair. When we aren’t trying to bid for a hotel, or get one of the last minute deals (more on that in a second), I’ll take the time to read through the reviews to see why or why not a person liked a hotel. You can only do this if you are looking it the list view of available hotels (this typically aren’t the best deal, but they are cheaper than most anywhere else!)

Triple Check Dates (and get the $5 insurance)

Once upon a time, Forrest and I were trying to book a hotel for right after our wedding. Since we were poor college students, we turned to Priceline, where we were able to find a 4 star hotel for $80. Well, for whatever reason, I put the wrong dates down. And I purchased those wrong dates. And I was SO upset.

Usually, Priceline won’t let you change the dates or cancel if you make a mistake. Fortunately, some kind customer service representative made an exception for the crying bride-to-be who begged her to over the phone. However, they usually won’t do something like this, so TRIPLE check your dates and don’t book until you are sure of them. Unless you like paying for a hotel room that you can’t stay at.

Something that they did add is the $5 trip insurance. Basically this will protect you in SOME cases where you may need to cancel your trip.

When To Book

I’m not sure if there’s a specific time that’s best to book, but I have often found the best deals about two weeks before, especially on the Express Deals.

However, I’d start looking (if you have this much time) one month beforehand, just to see what prices are available, and check back every couple days to see if the prices drop. Then, at about two weeks, you can see the trends and decide when to book.

As of late, I have actually found some of the very best deals the day of. Hotels will often want to fill their inventory, and the prices may drop considerably. I’ve only seen these drops in the Express deals, but the past few times that we’ve traveled, we have gotten VERY nice hotels for cheap by booking the day of. However, this can be a bit risky, and if you have to be in a very specific area, I might not chance it.

Different Options for Getting a Hotel

There are a couple of different ways to get a hotel from Priceline, and I’ll talk about them here, starting with my favorite – Express Deals.

Express Deals

I believe this is the best place to get the best deal and knowing what you are getting. I think you can get similar prices with bidding, but this is a little less risky, because you know what you are getting (except for the actual name of the hotel.)

Anyways, Express Deals are typically $10-20 less than the prices listed on the first page of the Priceline hotels (where you can see the hotels.) The only difference is that they don’t tell you the name of the hotel. However, each deal shows you the star rating, the average user rating, the approximate location, and the guaranteed amenities. Really, that’s all you need to know in my opinion (unless you have to be at a particular hotel.)

Bidding

This is another way to get pretty good deals, though it’s a little more risky. You can bid for hotels in certain areas, and you can require it be a certain star level or higher. However, you can’t see the guest ratings (which, as I mentioned, are crucial), and it can be a bit annoying!

I rarely bid anymore, but it’s all I did before they introduced the Express Deals. What I typically would do is look at all the hotels in a certain star rating, and then I would find the average price. Then, I’d start my bid at about $15-20 cheaper than that. Typically it never took my first bid, but it will typically give you a suggestion like “if you increase your bid by $5, you’ll get a room!” I typically would also try and pinpoint which hotels were available in different areas, decide which area had the best ones, and then just bid there.

Low Prices & Seeing the Hotel

This is a good option for people who like to have control and know exactly what they are getting before they get their hotel. If you need a specific hotel, or to be in a particular area, this is the list risky option. You won’t get the cheapest prices (and sometimes I do see better deals directly from the hotel websites), however, I think the deals are usually pretty competitively priced.

For instance, earlier I mentioned that I was looking at the Little America in Salt Lake City. The price they gave was at least $30 cheaper than ANY other place I looked. So definitely look around at different places if you are trying to find a specific hotel, but Priceline can really be a great option.

Factor in Tax

Finally, one thing to remember is that the price you see for a hotel doesn’t include tax. I usually end up having to pay about $12 extra in tax, so that $35 room suddenly because $47. This is just something to remember in case you have a really tight budget!

Bonus – What Hotel is the Express Deal?

One of the issues people may have with doing the Express Deals is not knowing exactly what hotel it is. As someone who likes to plan things, I can understand this frustration.

However, I’ve found that with taking a little bit of extra time, you can typically figure out what hotel it is.

When I’m looking at Express Deals, I also have a separate window open with the hotels that you can know the names of (but pay a higher price). After I’ve found an Express Deal that I like, I will look at the area it says it’s in, as well as the star rating.

At that point, I’ll go and narrow down the search results on the shown hotels to the same area and star rating. Then, I’ll just compare apples to apples – eliminate hotels that don’t show the same amenities, look at the guest rating, etc. With the exception of one time, I was able to figure out the hotel very easily.

The post Secrets to Getting the Best Deal on Priceline appeared first on Magical Family Travel Guide.

The Best Money Saving Travel Hacks

katie — Thu, 04 Dec 2014 12:00:00 +0000

Traveling is expensive! We’ve traveled a good amount since we’ve been married. Here are a few of our favorite ways to save money on travel.

Gas Buddy

There are several apps and websites that allow you to see current and updated gas prices during your travel! Our favorite is Gas Buddy, which is something my sister-in-law told me about. This will allow you to make sure you’re not stopping at any gas stations with gas marked up.

Often times, the first and last gas stations in and out of a town are the most expensive for convenience. You should be able to avoid that by planning where you want to stop ahead of time.

Is flying or driving cheaper?

It’s important to sit down and calculate which form of travel is more feasible and price appropriate for you. If driving is cheaper but your car isn’t necessarily

If driving is cheaper but your car isn’t necessarily equipped for road trips, flying is probably a better idea.

For instance, this last summer, we went to North Carolina. We were going to fly initially because there was no way our car was going to make it without making some major (expensive) repairs beforehand. We ended up driving in our brother-in-law’s car, but if we had to drive our car, flying would have been better.

How to Save Money on Flights

If you’re flying, book holiday travel on Tuesdays.

Many people aren’t aware that flights typically drop their prices on Tuesday. Folks don’t often purchase flights on these days so if you can fly to your destination on a Tuesday (or even Wednesday!), you’ll save a noticeable difference. Flying on the weekends are typically a lot more pricey, unless you are able to grab a “last minute deal” that same companies will occasionally put up.

Book your flights 54 days in advance

This website did any in-depth analysis of over 4 million flights in 2013 to determine when the best time to buy airplane tickets was. The verdict was about 54 days in advance, or about 7.5 weeks. When I look back on tickets that we’ve bought, this seems about when we typically get ours and find the best deals.

Southwest Rewards Credit Card

Whenever possible, we fly Southwest. They still give free bags, the customer service is pretty good, and we’ve never had an issue with our flights. I also feel like their fares are pretty affordable.

We actually use the Southwest Rewards Credit Card – when you sign up (right now, at least), you get 40,000 points after spending $1000 in the first three months. 40,000 points is a lot, and you can accumulate points otherwise. We have gotten a lot of free flights just by using (and paying off) our card.

Compare flights as much as possible

I rarely book a flight directly from their site, unless I’m flying with Southwest (because they don’t show up on sites like Expedia.) Trip Advisor is one of my favorite websites for finding affordable travel, including flights. You should definitely be spending a lot of time on that website!

I also don’t buy a flight the first time I search. I usually search over the course of a week. Several sites I’ve seen will have a flight predictor, which will tell you if they anticipate the flight prices dropping or rising in the next little while. I’ve found these to be very helpful.

I have heard great things about using AirfareWatchDog for finding the very best deals on flights. I can’t wait to use it for my next flight.

Consider One Way Tickets

Round trip tickets are NOT always going to be cheaper. Make sure you check one way tickets, too, to see if you can find a better deal.

Look at Different Airports

You can sometimes find a cheaper ticket if you fly into a different airport. Whenever we fly to the LA area, we try and fly into the John Wayne airport – it’s smaller, easier to navigate, and flights are often less expensive.

Fly to and from the same airport

If you are buying a roundtrip ticket, this will almost always be cheaper.

Skip the Last Leg

This is kind of a tricky way of flying, but it can pay off. You can try and buy a ticket that has a layover in your destination. (So, say you are flying from Denver to Chicago. Perhaps there’s a cheaper ticket that is going from Denver to Chicago to Las Vegas. You buy that one, and just skip the last leg).

If you do this, make sure they are one-way tickets, as you may get your ticket canceled by some airlines if you miss a leg. SkipLegged can help you with the research on this. Not totally sure how ethical this really is, but it’s something I see recommended a lot.

Email Lists and Social media

This is the BEST way to get hot deals on flights! I’ve signed up for Frontier, Southwest, and Jet Blue alerts, and they seriously have some amazing email deals. For instance, last week, Frontier had flights from Denver to North Carolina for $39, as well as to a ton of other locations (some for only $19.)

The only way I knew about it was because I had signed up for their email list. Often there are deals that only last for 24 hours, or that are last minute deals. I’m always seeing awesome flights through these emails, so it’s definitely worth signing up for.

Make sure you follow all your favorite airlines on social media as well! Thrifty Traveler is an awesome page to follow on Facebook. They post amazing deals all the time (for instance, I just saw some insane Europe plane tickets!).

Use your Credit Card

You won’t often hear me advocating credit cards, but I think when you travel, it’s a good time to use one, simply because most credit cards offer travel insurance (especially on hotels, flights, car rentals, etc.). Check into your credit card and see what they offer for travel!

Finding Cheap Lodging

One of the priciest parts of travel is simply finding a place to stay! Fortunately, if you are savvy about it, you won’t have to put out an arm and a leg.

Most frequently, we use Priceline for our lodging. I have a whole post about secrets to playing the Priceline game to find the best price. I highly recommend reading it. But basically, the express deals are the way to go. TripAdvisor also has some great deals, so I recommend checking them out as well.

Air BnB

However, something that is super popular right now is using AirBnB. Basically, people rent out parts of them home (from just a room to the whole house), and it’s often much cheaper than staying in a hotel. My sister-in-laws use this frequently and they love it. If you sign up through this link, you can get $35 toward your first stay.

I also know people who are hosts on AirBnB to fund their travels – so that’s something to consider as well!

Bring your Own Snacks (and Meals!)

This is important for road trips especially. Gas station food isn’t exactly cheap, and it also tends to be pretty unhealthy in the long run. Anything healthy like sandwiches or wraps are usually marked up, too.

If you plan ahead and bring a cooler with some fruits, veggie snacks, and sandwich ingredients, you’ll probably save quite a bit of money.

If you’re stopping in a hotel along the way, find the nearest grocery store rather than order room service so you can replenish your cooler for the next day and eat dinner that doesn’t cost a ton!

Find Hotels with Fridges or Cooking Amenities

You should also check beforehand to see if a hotel you are staying at has a mini fridge and microwave in the room. This makes it easier to eat breakfast, and even lunch, in your room.

We also love when they happen to have a mini kitchen, because then we can eat all our meals in there, rather than paying for pricey restaurants. If your hotel has a free breakfast, that’s even better.

Free Breakfast Hotels

This is always an essential with us. We never stay at a hotel (if we can help it) if they don’t offer some kind of free breakfast.

Don’t buy food from airports.

While you can’t take certain packaged foods or drinks through airport security, you can take something like an orange or apple to eat later! Doing this allows you to save tons of money that you would otherwise be spending on astronomically priced airport food.

Cruise Control

Does your car have cruise control? If so, USE IT! Forrest always uses cruise control, even when we would just drive 40 miles up the freeway to Salt Lake. It helps keep the car more constant, which helps with fuel efficiency. Plus, as an added bonus, it makes it a little more relaxing to drive.

Bring an Empty Water bottle

You can take an empty refillable water bottle through and fill it with drinking fountain water on the other side! Water bottles are insanely expensive at airports. It doesn’t seem like a lot but the food and drinks on either side of your destination will definitely add up, especially for traveling families.

Some restaurants will even be willing to fill your water bottle up with ice and water. I recommend having one of these 24 hour cold water bottles to ensure it stays cold your whole flight!

Make sure you dump out any water bottles before you go through security though, or else they’ll likely take confiscate them (unless they have a sink you can dump it out.)

Hotel Rewards Program

I always sign up for hotel rewards programs (well, if they are free). They often will include benefits like a free room upgrade, free WiFi (though most hotels have this anyway). If you stay at a chain of hotels frequently enough, you can even earn free nights. I heard that Hotels.com has a welcome club that allows you to earn a free night with every 10 booked.

Stay in a smaller town

There’s no reason to stay in the biggest city if you don’t have to! Most of the time, you’ll find less expensive hotels and restaurants (and less traffic) if you stay in a surrounding suburb.

Vacation Homes

Don’t let this idea scare you away – a vacation home can be more cost-efficient if you are staying somewhere for multiple days (or with multiple families). For instance, you can probably avoid parking fees, make more of your own meals, and just have more space in general. VRBO is a great place to find affordable vacation homes.

You can probably even find something with AirBnB if you look far enough in advance (remember, you get $35 off your first stay using this link).

Family Deals

You can actually sometimes get family deals at hotels and resorts. I frequently see places that advertise that children get to eat free, so if you have a lot of kids, that could save you a lot (though, in all honesty, I think most hotel restaurants are WAY overpriced!).

It never hurts to ask!

Timeshare Presentations

If you are good at saying no, attending timeshare presentations can often yield big results. I often see them giving free activities, meals, etc., and even on occasion, you can get an entirely free vacation by agreeing to listen to a 90 minute presentation.

Be aware, though, that these are VERY high pressure. If you are someone that can’t say no, this is not the method for you.

Prepaid Travel Money Cards

These are great if you are traveling out of the country. You can save on transaction fees and currency rates, and it’s a safe way to travel with money.

Car Rentals

Car rentals can cost you a lot of money! If you can, use public transportation and walk. However, that is obviously not always going to be an option, so be smart about it.

One of the best websites I’ve heard about for helping with car rental prices is Autoslash. Not only can you look for rentals, but you can also have it track your rental vehicle and tell you if a cheaper rate is found.

I often use my AAA membership to book our rentals, and I find pretty good rates that way, as well.

Car rental insurance

Oh, and be very, very careful about signing up for any extra insurance. Most of the time, if you get the rental with a credit card, it will have car rental protection on it (always double check with your credit card provider). Some car insurance companies will cover rental cars as well. This will save you a TON.

Get the smallest car you can

There’s no need to rent an SUV for two people. Make sure you get the smallest car you to avoid higher prices. Oh, and make sure you return to the car to the same place! Car rentals are way more expensive if you drop them off somewhere else.

Use other forms of transportation

If you don’t have to have a car, don’t get one. A bike rental is much cheaper. If you can get free transportation to and from your hotel, you can look into the public transportation system, bike rentals, or even Uber. I think Uber is a great idea if you don’t consistently need a car (you can even pay extra to have a car with a car seat).

Pilot Gas Stations

During our cross country trip, we discovered our favorite gas station – Pilot Travel Centers. I had seen these before, but I didn’t realize how great they were until this trip. Every single one we’ve been in always has very clean bathrooms, showers (mainly for truckers, but I think anyone can use them), lots of food, and most importantly, the cheapest prices on gas!

Be Flexible

If possible, be flexible – with your travel dates, when you do activities, etc. If you can travel during the off season for a place, do it. You can almost

If you can travel during the off season for a place, do it. You can almost always travel for much cheaper and find activities for less expensive as well. Good off-season times are right after New Year’s, right after Spring Break, and right after school starts in September.

Six Block Radius

This is a good rule to keep in mind when eating or finding lodging. If there’s a major tourist attraction, you will probably find better deals outside of a six block radius. While you may be closer to cool things, you will certainly pay for that in other ways.

Eat a Bigger Lunch

Lunch is almost always going to be cheaper than dinner. Make your big meal of the day at lunch so you can get away with buying some cheaper or less fancy at dinner time.

Research Free Things to Do

Most cities have free things to do. For instance, we are in North Carolina right now, and the city of Raleigh has an AMAZING free Natural Sciences museum. I’ve heard that a lot of museums in Europe are free as well.

In this day and age, most major cities have a blogger who writes about free, cheap, or inexpensive things to do in the city. Don’t be afraid to search these out!.

Use Skype or Google Hangouts

If you are traveling out of the country, and you don’t happen to have a phone that will work outside the US (or it’s super expensive), use Skype or Hangouts on your computer to call people. It will save you a lot!

Use Advantages (if you have them)

If you are student, military, etc., you may get nice discounts place. For students, make sure you check out STA!

Free Food

Signup for local restaurants email clubs (or follow them on social media) – you can often get free appetizers (or even meals!). Hang out at Costco and get samples. Go to a farmers market and eat any freebies that are given out. You never know where you might find some free or discounted food!

Plan Your meals

I don’t know if you are like me, but when I’m hungry, I often just go to the first place I see…and it’s not always the best price. If you are traveling, look up places before you get hungry and decide where you want to eat. This will save you from accidentally eating at a 5 star restaurant on a 2 star budget.

Apps like Yelp or Zomato can be helpful in finding good restaurants in your price range.

Follow Hyperlocal Blogs

As soon as you know where you are going, find some Hyperlocal blogs or Facebook groups. You can find some great deals or ideas for things to do that you may not have known about otherwise.

Be sure to comment below with your favorite tips for saving money on travel!

BONUS

First off, if you are going on a vacation to Southern California, you HAVE to use Get Away Today! We used it when I went to Disneyland right after I graduated, and the deals are unbeatable. They have a best price guaranteed on all sorts of great Southern California vacations (the most popular being Disneyland, of course!) They have a great layaway program, as well. If you use the code ClarksCondensed, you can get $10 off a vacation package booked through them.

Second, there are a lot of travel apps out there that can make traveling a little easier. A few of these I’ve already mentioned, but there are a few other ones that you should definitely check out.

Best Travel Apps

SkyScanner – available for iOS, Android, and Windows
GasBuddy (available for all major smart phone brands)
Tourist Eye – this helps you to find the best tourist attractions
Yellow Pages – I love this one for finding restaurants (you can browse even by a specific food!)
City Guide’s Offline Apps – iOS and Android
GateGuru – this is a great app for helping you make your connections on time, find out where the best food is in the airport, and even figure out how much traveling left you have to do!
Viator – browse nearby locations and interactive maps
WiFi Finder – I don’t specifically have a recommendation for this, but it’s helpful for when you are trying to find a place that has WiFi! There are tons of apps out there for this.

If you are going to Disneyland, be sure to check out my ultimate guide to planning a Disneyland vacation as well my post on tips for saving at Disney!

The post The Best Money Saving Travel Hacks appeared first on Magical Family Travel Guide.

The Ultimate Guide for Planning a Disney Vacation

katie — Thu, 24 Oct 2013 22:04:22 +0000

To say that I love all things Disney is an understatement. One of my very favorite vacations was going to Disneyland with my parents and little brother after I graduated, and another favorite was going with my entire family when I was only about five years old. No matter how old I get, just the thought of all things Disney gets my giddy.

Jack has recently started loving Disney movies, and I admit, I don’t mind watching them over, and over, and over, again. The music, the heartwarming stories…it all gets me. I don’t think you’re ever too old to outgrow Disney.

Even though we aren’t currently in a position where we can go to to Disneyland or Disneyworld, nor do I think Jack’s really old enough to truly enjoy it, I find myself pinning all sorts of “Guides to Disneyland/World” on Pinterest. I even thought about creating one myself, but I don’t think I quite have the extensive knowledge required for one of those (Disney is serious business!) So I thought I would gather together all those resources and put them here, so when you go to plan your dream Disney vacation, you have all the information you need in one place.

I should note; many of these sites are dedicated to Disney vacations, so be sure to look at them for awhile when you check out these links!

Disney With Kids

Fun for Under 40″ and Other ‘Fraidy Cats – This is a guide I wrote after our recent (2016) trip to Disneyland!

Unofficial Disneyland Autograph and Activity Book – this is a must-have for anyone with children! My good friend, Danielle, worked tirelessly on creating this activity book, and it is sure to make your Disney vacation a little more magical.

Preschoolears – this site is ALL about traveling to Disney locations with young children; it talks about Disneyland, Disney World, and has a lot of great ideas.

Secrets and Practical Advice for a Perfect Disney World Vacation with Kids by Making Lemonade Blog

“Thanks, Mickey!” Teaching Gratitude at Disneyland

Exploring the Magic Kingdom with Toddlers by Mama Cheaps

Avoiding Tantrums at Disney Parks

Staying Safe at Walt Disney World

Tips for Bringing an Infant to Disney World by Touring Plans

Disney World with an Infant by Magical Kingdoms

A Guide to Walt Disney World with Toddlers by Mom Endeavors

Disney Height Requirement Calculator

Disney in Diapers by Home is Where the Mouse Is

Disney World Resort with Toddlers by Off to Neverland

Tips for Avoiding the Infamous Cranky Toddler at Disney by Capturing Magical Moments