Where to Find the Best Prices on Disneyland Tickets
For those planning a trip to Disneyland, the cost of the trip is an important consideration. Many wishing to visit Disneyland begin to wonder where they can get the best price on Disneyland tickets. With many sources from which to obtain Disneyland tickets, finding them at the best possible price can take some legwork. If you would like to find out where to get the best prices on Disneyland tickets, the following suggestions may be helpful to you.
Visit the official Disneyland website - The truth is, that the ticket prices listed on the official Disneyland website are not always the lowest you can find. However, sometimes Disney will run a promotion during which Disneyland tickets can be purchased at a lower price from the website than anywhere else. These low price promotions often require that your travel to Disneyland occur during the off season, but for some people this might be an added bonus. So before you jump into your quest for the best prices on Disneyland tickets, check the Disney website first. Just in case.
Try getawaytoday.com - It is not uncommon for getawaytoday.com to have the best prices on Disneyland tickets and packages. The site is comprehensive and easy to use. Simply plug in your preferred dates of travel, the number and ages of children you will be bringing, and the getawaytoday.com travel tool will give you many options to choose from. You can also purchase Disneyland tickets alone from getawaytoday.com, without having to purchase them as part of a hotel package.
Check out Ares Travel - Ares Travel has been offering some of the best prices on Disneyland tickets as of late. The Disneyland tickets at Ares Travel have been listed at approximately $5 less per ticket than getawaytoday.com or the official Disneyland website. Ares Travel offers multi day Park Hopper tickets.
Check with your usual travel agent - Sometimes travel agents can get a better price on Disneyland tickets than you will find online. So if you already have a travel agent that you have had good experiences with, ask about Disneyland tickets.
Don't forget AAA - When searching for the best prices on Disneyland tickets, don't forget to check with AAA. Even though the individual ticket prices may not be lower than Ares Travel, a purchase of Disneyland tickets with AAA can sometimes get you free parking at the Mickey and Friends Parking Structure. Depending on how many days you are planning to visit Disneyland, at a savings of $11 per day on parking, you may find that it actually saves you a few bucks to pay the membership fee to join AAA.
If you can purchase tickets through Costco or your employer, check those prices, too - Sometimes these are the places where you can find the best prices on Disneyland tickets. The Costco tickets might require that you be a Southern California resident, and your employer may not be offering tickets at lower prices than other sources, but it's definitely worth it to check into it.
How to Use the Fast Pass System at Disneyland
Long lines at Disneyland can be the difference between a good day at the park, and a bad one. Long lines with wait times of an hour or more can seriously affect how many attractions can be enjoyed in one day at the park. Additionally, waiting in extremely long lines can be nearly impossible for families with young children, or those with conditions that make standing for long periods of time difficult.
Fortunately, Disneyland has a way to help guests spend less time in lines. By using the Fast Pass system, Disneyland guests can cut their wait time in line by half, or even more. Using the Fast Pass system at Disneyland can be a little tricky for those who have never before tried it, so if you need directions for how to use the Fast Pass system at Disneyland, these tips will help!
First, know which rides are part of the Fast Pass system - Fast Pass is not available for every ride at Disneyland. Although the Fast Pass system has been available at different attractions since its implementation, it is currently available for several of the most popular rides. These include Splash Mountain, Space Mountain, Haunted Mansion, Indiana Jones, Autopia, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Roger Rabbit's Cartoon Spin, and Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters. Although these attractions are part of the Fast Pass system, Fast Pass is generally only implemented on days where crowds are heavy enough to produce lines long enough to warrant its use.
Next, get a Fast Pass - Obtaining a Fast Pass is relatively simple. Near the entrance to the attraction you want to get a Fast Pass for, there will be Fast Pass machines. If you don't see the machines, simply find a Disneyland employee and ask where the machines are and they'll be happy to point you in the right direction. You will use your paper admission ticket that you received at the front gate, or your annual pass card. Whichever one of these you have, insert it into the Fast Pass machine, and the machine will then return your ticket or card, and then give you a Fast Pass.
Now, use your Fast Pass - Your Fast Pass will have two times on it. The time listed first, is the earliest time at which you may redeem your Fast Pass for entry onto the corresponding attraction. The second time is the time at which your Fast Pass expires. When the time comes for you to use your Fast Pass, approach the entrance to the attraction the Fast Pass is from. You will notice a sign that directs you to the Fast Pass line for that attraction. As you enter, or shortly thereafter, a Disneyland cast member will take your Fast Pass and permit you onto the ride.
How to Use the Parent Swap System at Disneyland
Disneyland can be a lot of fun for most people. However, visiting Disneyland with children who are too small for some rides, or perhaps too frightened to ride on other rides, can be a challenge. Fortunately, Disneyland has a Parent Swap system that was designed to help people in precisely this predicament. The Parent Swap system makes it possible for both parents to ride an attraction, even if their child or children do not want to ride, or cannot ride due to the ride height requirement. And with the Parent Swap system, parents will not have to wait in a full attraction line twice. If you are interested in using the Parent Swap system during your next visit to Disneyland, the following information will likely be useful to you.
Know which rides allow you to utilize the Parent Swap system - One of the really nice things about the Disneyland Parent Swap system is that it is available on every attraction. Unlike the Fast Pass system which is only available on relatively few select attractions, parents can use the Parent Swap system on every attraction they were hoping to ride during their visit to Disneyland.
Using the Parent Swap system at Disneyland is easy - In order to use the Parent Swap system at Disneyland, one parent will need to wait in the full attraction line once. Parents will have to split up, with one parent sitting out with children who are too short or too frightened to ride a particular attraction. Simultaneously, the other parent goes through the line in order to ride alone, or with additional children who wish to ride, and who meet any rider height requirements that may exist for that attraction. The parent who is not riding first, and who is choosing to sit out with children, will have to be present when the parent who intends to ride first makes their way to the cast member working the line of that particular attraction. This is because the cast members will not issue a Parent Swap pass unless they actually see the parent who will be sitting out. This is to cut down on the possibility that certain individuals might abuse the Parent Swap system. Once the Parent Swap pass is issued however, the parent who is sitting out for the first ride, can take the kids to another attraction, or just wait near the exit. Ask the cast member who handed out the Parent Swap pass where the second parent should enter when it is their turn to ride, because this will vary among different rides. Some attractions have the second parent enter through the exit, whereas others do not. When the parent who is riding first comes off of the attraction, the parent who waited out first can now ride. The parent riding second can also bring one person with them, as long as that person meets any rider height requirements that may exist for that attraction.
Read also
Preparing for a Trip Abroad with Children
Taking Pictures on Your Walt Disney World Trip
Planning a Trip to Walt Disney World with Preschoolers
Tips: How to Shorten Wait Times at Walt Disney World
Disney World Cruises
By Brandy Madison
Showing posts with label Family Travel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Family Travel. Show all posts
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Friday, September 12, 2008
Preparing for a Trip Abroad with Children
Personally, I think a basic safety guideline for any parent travelling with young or adolescent children is this: multiply what you know by ten, then you may have what you need to know. Vulnerabilities, risks and potential dangers are magnified ten-fold or greater when anyone leaves the comfort and familiarity of home (and their home country) to explore foreign territories. Add to this equation a parent, or parents, travelling with more than one child and the need to research and prepare adequately may increase as well. Where to start?
First off, of course, is where are you going? To another First World country like Sweden, France or Japan where health concerns are minimal if non-existent and safety issues similar to back home. Or are you planning an adventure in a Third World country such as Mexico, Zimbabwe or Nicaragua where basic levels of sanitation may be considered unsafe for drinking water, eating out in a restaurant, eating fresh fruits or raw shellfish, etc. and that may be the least of your concerns. Personal safety issues such as prevention of armed robbery and potential for kidnapping or abduction could be risks as well, greater than what you may have taken precautionary measures against back home.
Take a deep breath and don't throw away the suitcases! A sound mind and sound travel planning is all you need to assure your vacation or extended stay abroad is enjoyable for the whole family and worth the time and money you spent. When it comes to life experience and education for children, the value of a trip abroad is difficult to calculate.
How to Prepare
When I travel to a new country or destination with my child I ask myself these basic questions:
1) Health, Food and Water Safety
Is the water safe to drink? Are we likely to become ill from eating in a restaurant (such as in India)? Are vaccinations needed for travel (such as Yellow Fever shots for travel to Ecuador or Peru)? Is there a Dengue Fever or Malaria risk in the area? Other health risks?
2) Personal Safety for Adults and Children
Have there been incidences of aggression against tourists such as armed robbery, sexual assault or other? What is the risk of abduction or kidnapping for foreigners?
3) Relative Safety of the Country or Location
Is the country in a state of civil unrest (such as currently in Nicaragua) or relatively peaceful? Is there infrastructure already in place for visitors such as tourist police, hotels, restaurants and basic medical care? Or is the location remote and off the beaten track and therefore potentially more dangerous and hostile to outsiders?
Researching Your Chosen Destination
In researching the answers to the above questions the most important consideration is to ensure the information is as up-to-date as is possible. Situations can change in a country seemingly overnight.
As an example, we traveled through Nicaragua approximately three months ago. I researched thoroughly online and chose three destinations to visit and a stay of approximately a month. Personally, I would not have felt comfortable with a more extended visit or time in the country due to safety concerns for my child. As Americans I felt we were vulnerable.
We had a pleasant experience with no major mishaps. A month or so after we left the country to head further south, a bus strike was initiated and news reports flooded the Web with photos of University students in Managua burning public busses in protest of raised fares. Taxis drivers also went on strike. If that had been the situation prior to our entering the country I would have traveled differently, for less time or possibly avoided the country altogether.
Guidebooks are a great first step in researching an area, as they offer background information about the country and addresses of hotels for you to have on-hand when arriving in a city or town. I've had many taxi drivers take advantage of my 'not knowing where I was going' when landing somewhere new without a sound game plan intact, being driven around the city (or in circles) in lieu of an available hotel unnecessarily so as to be charged an over-priced fare.
Three popular brands of travel guides that list high-end hotels as well as low-cost backpacker hostals are: Rough Guides, Moon Handbooks and Lonely Planet. All three have information about countries on their websites free of charge for you to review before purchasing a book.
Lonely Planet and Rough Guides have eBooks available online. Rough Guide eBooks are the full-text of a guidebook, minus maps and photographs that you can download to a PDA or your computer. Lonely Planet eBooks are similar, yet include maps and photos and you have the option of purchasing a section of a book such as 'Honduras' in the Lonely Planet guide to Central America. The cost for a chapter or section of a Lonely Planet guidebook is around $2-$3 USD, and is sent to you via email as a PDF file after ordering online at Lonely Planet Buy by Chapter online.
You would also want to do an online search specific to the country such as 'Costa Rica and Crime' entered into Google. A quick way to get current information is to do a search for newspapers for the area. When writing an article on Costa Rica, it was the information I read in the Tico Times online that informed me of the serious increase in violent crimes (murder, sexual assault, armed robbery during the night in expatriate homes) in Limon province on the Carribean coast. We had traveled through the area a week earlier unknowingly. I knew they had a problem with drugs and theft, but had no idea about the level of violent crime that was going on in the area until I read the article: "Fear and Loafing in Puerto Viejo - Residents say town suffers from rampant crime as cops just sit around ". That information you will not get from a guidebook.
If planning an extended stay, I would check to see what listservs or newsgroups were available and post a few questions as well. Expatriates who have relocated to an area are an excellent source of information. An example of one for Panama would be the Yahoo group 'Americans in Panama'.
Here are some websites I would use to research the below concerns online. These are general resources. Again, a location should be researched independently and thoroughly online. Relying solely on the information from a guidebook is not an adequate way to prepare for a trip abroad when traveling with children.
Health, Food and Water Safety
1. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention located at: http://wwwn.cdc.gov/travel/. Enter in the country you are researching and you will find information such as Travel Notices in Effect, vaccinations that may be needed, and much more.
Read also:
Top 10 Things for Kids to Do in Boston
Family Vacation in Las Vegas
Planning a Trip to Walt Disney World with Preschoolers
Planning Your Walt Disney Vacation Online
Tips to score an airfare bargain
By Molly Mc Hugh
First off, of course, is where are you going? To another First World country like Sweden, France or Japan where health concerns are minimal if non-existent and safety issues similar to back home. Or are you planning an adventure in a Third World country such as Mexico, Zimbabwe or Nicaragua where basic levels of sanitation may be considered unsafe for drinking water, eating out in a restaurant, eating fresh fruits or raw shellfish, etc. and that may be the least of your concerns. Personal safety issues such as prevention of armed robbery and potential for kidnapping or abduction could be risks as well, greater than what you may have taken precautionary measures against back home.
Take a deep breath and don't throw away the suitcases! A sound mind and sound travel planning is all you need to assure your vacation or extended stay abroad is enjoyable for the whole family and worth the time and money you spent. When it comes to life experience and education for children, the value of a trip abroad is difficult to calculate.
How to Prepare
When I travel to a new country or destination with my child I ask myself these basic questions:
1) Health, Food and Water Safety
Is the water safe to drink? Are we likely to become ill from eating in a restaurant (such as in India)? Are vaccinations needed for travel (such as Yellow Fever shots for travel to Ecuador or Peru)? Is there a Dengue Fever or Malaria risk in the area? Other health risks?
2) Personal Safety for Adults and Children
Have there been incidences of aggression against tourists such as armed robbery, sexual assault or other? What is the risk of abduction or kidnapping for foreigners?
3) Relative Safety of the Country or Location
Is the country in a state of civil unrest (such as currently in Nicaragua) or relatively peaceful? Is there infrastructure already in place for visitors such as tourist police, hotels, restaurants and basic medical care? Or is the location remote and off the beaten track and therefore potentially more dangerous and hostile to outsiders?
Researching Your Chosen Destination
In researching the answers to the above questions the most important consideration is to ensure the information is as up-to-date as is possible. Situations can change in a country seemingly overnight.
As an example, we traveled through Nicaragua approximately three months ago. I researched thoroughly online and chose three destinations to visit and a stay of approximately a month. Personally, I would not have felt comfortable with a more extended visit or time in the country due to safety concerns for my child. As Americans I felt we were vulnerable.
We had a pleasant experience with no major mishaps. A month or so after we left the country to head further south, a bus strike was initiated and news reports flooded the Web with photos of University students in Managua burning public busses in protest of raised fares. Taxis drivers also went on strike. If that had been the situation prior to our entering the country I would have traveled differently, for less time or possibly avoided the country altogether.
Guidebooks are a great first step in researching an area, as they offer background information about the country and addresses of hotels for you to have on-hand when arriving in a city or town. I've had many taxi drivers take advantage of my 'not knowing where I was going' when landing somewhere new without a sound game plan intact, being driven around the city (or in circles) in lieu of an available hotel unnecessarily so as to be charged an over-priced fare.
Three popular brands of travel guides that list high-end hotels as well as low-cost backpacker hostals are: Rough Guides, Moon Handbooks and Lonely Planet. All three have information about countries on their websites free of charge for you to review before purchasing a book.
Lonely Planet and Rough Guides have eBooks available online. Rough Guide eBooks are the full-text of a guidebook, minus maps and photographs that you can download to a PDA or your computer. Lonely Planet eBooks are similar, yet include maps and photos and you have the option of purchasing a section of a book such as 'Honduras' in the Lonely Planet guide to Central America. The cost for a chapter or section of a Lonely Planet guidebook is around $2-$3 USD, and is sent to you via email as a PDF file after ordering online at Lonely Planet Buy by Chapter online.
You would also want to do an online search specific to the country such as 'Costa Rica and Crime' entered into Google. A quick way to get current information is to do a search for newspapers for the area. When writing an article on Costa Rica, it was the information I read in the Tico Times online that informed me of the serious increase in violent crimes (murder, sexual assault, armed robbery during the night in expatriate homes) in Limon province on the Carribean coast. We had traveled through the area a week earlier unknowingly. I knew they had a problem with drugs and theft, but had no idea about the level of violent crime that was going on in the area until I read the article: "Fear and Loafing in Puerto Viejo - Residents say town suffers from rampant crime as cops just sit around ". That information you will not get from a guidebook.
If planning an extended stay, I would check to see what listservs or newsgroups were available and post a few questions as well. Expatriates who have relocated to an area are an excellent source of information. An example of one for Panama would be the Yahoo group 'Americans in Panama'.
Here are some websites I would use to research the below concerns online. These are general resources. Again, a location should be researched independently and thoroughly online. Relying solely on the information from a guidebook is not an adequate way to prepare for a trip abroad when traveling with children.
Health, Food and Water Safety
1. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention located at: http://wwwn.cdc.gov/travel/. Enter in the country you are researching and you will find information such as Travel Notices in Effect, vaccinations that may be needed, and much more.
Read also:
Top 10 Things for Kids to Do in Boston
Family Vacation in Las Vegas
Planning a Trip to Walt Disney World with Preschoolers
Planning Your Walt Disney Vacation Online
Tips to score an airfare bargain
By Molly Mc Hugh
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