Help! Planned Trip Mon. March 28th thru that Thurs

[Jade]

DH, myself, and our three daughters (ages 9yrs, 5yrs and 3yrs old).

We want the whole shabang! We will be staying onsite at DLH.
Coming in late Monday evening. Doing the parks Tues,. Wed. and half a day or more on Thursday.

We would like to do the Princess Character Breakfast. Should I let my girls dress up for this? Pain if so, because then we have to go back to the hotel and change clothes. I'm not even sure where the breakfast is located.

My main question is do I book through Disney's site for tickets, hotel and character breakfast?!

We will be getting connecting rooms which will up our price to and extra $700. The total I got from the DL site was $1681 for 3 Day Hopper Passes, Hotel and one Character Breakfast. That didn't include the connecting room I wish to add to that. So we are looking at $2350 for the deal now.

I suspect another $1k to 1,500 for meals, gas and trinkets. Ouch. For 6k more we could be doing the Disney Cruise.

Are there any corners we can cut here to save us money?!

Thanks for any input you have to offer up

 

[karylrocks]

It looks like you can get a pretty good deal at getawaytoday.com. After you input your travel information and the quote comes up, delete the "attraction tickets included in package" and add 2 3-day adult tickets at regular price ($139), 1 child ticket at regular price ($109), and 2 child tickets free. Your total for one room plus tickets should be $1328. The rooms are large and most have 2 queen beds and a daybed, plenty big for your family so you should not need to get an extra room (we are planning to share one room with 4 adults and 1 teen). The Princess Breakfast is at the Plaza Inn at Disneyland. You can pay for it when you are there, but you should call now to make reservations, (714)781-3463. I would think that it would be hard to spend $1000 on food, etc. in 3 days, even at Disneyland. I think $500 would be plenty for food depending on where you eat. If you splurge at every meal it could be more, but from what I hear the portions are large at most places and you could easily share meals among the 5 of you (your kids probably do not eat much at their ages).

 

[zipDdoodah]

I would let them wear the Princess dresses if they REALLY want to and just bring a backpack to put them in afterwards. Then you could rent a locker if you don't want to carry it around all day. The pictures with them in their princess dresses with the princesses would be very memorable. My DD (2) likes to wear her dress for the whole day at the park. It makes her feel like she's really a part of the magic. I noticed there are many others who do this as well. I think it really just depends on what you and your daughters are most comfortable with.

I know what you mean about the prices! I like to go all out when we go if we can afford it, and we love to stay at GC. I think in a lot of ways DL can be more expensive than WDW, but I think the overall experience is worth it if you can afford it. Sounds like there are ways to get some deals on the hotel out there. My food budget for 4 days is $600.00, and we will do some character breakfasts each day, Blue Bayou, and maybe 1 nice dinner with the rest being counter service restaurants.

 

[Blackunicorn]

Yes, let them wear the dresses! In my opinion that's the whole point of going to Disney, to be a part of the fantasy. If I had a dress, I'd be wearing it, too. (But they don't make them in my size, darn it. )

As for cutting costs, there are some basic things--eat lunch instead of dinner at the more expensive places. Research menus to see what places are how expensive. (I think that laughingplace.com has menus, or you can look in a guidebook.) Rancho del Zocalo has large portions, which you could easily share among family members, as well as order a la cart for smaller appetites. (The last time we were there, my 5yo only wanted tortillas, so we got her tortillas a la cart, saved money, and didn't waste food that she wouldn't eat.) Some people buy souvenirs ahead of time at the Disney store so they can save a little bit over park prices, and then just leave them in the rooms for the kids to find. I give my kids a budget like $30 that they can spend however they want, and they can't spend any money on souvenirs until the next-to-last day we're there. That way, I can try to make sure they're getting what they really want, and we have less time to deal with, "But I didn't see this before I spent all my money!"

The last time we were there, I though that I budgeted $600 for 6 days of meals at the park. I can't remember, though, and I've lost my paperwork. >sigh< Again. I hope I helped a little!

 

[LucyKate]

My girls didn't wear their princess dresses for the breakfast, and still had a great time - but many others did, and we saw them wandering the park hours later.

But the easy answer is the one above - rent a locker (they are just down Main Street from the Plaza Inn, which is where the breakfasts are held) and swap clothes when the breakfast is finished - lockers are only $5.

Book the breakfast to avoid the queue and get the earliest possible sitting - it's the only way to guarantee good food, food service and a good supply of princesses.

 

[karylrocks]

It actually looks like all the Disney hotels are getting booked up for your time frame; it is a very busy season and kind of late to make reservations. You should probably call the reservation line right away at 714-956-6425 to see what they have available.