Cheap Hotels

Wow.  Sorry it has been so long! Life is always crazy for me. So here we go! Hotels.
I have stayed in the quite a few different hotels when we have gone to Disneyland.  Some were close (across the street), some were down the street and some were about 10 minutes away.  Each has its pros and cons.  Today I am going to talk about those as well as how I got 6 nights at a Marriot for $75.00.


Let's start with my CHEAP $75.00 for 6 nights.  Now I am sure most of you are freaking out.  Yeah. I did too when I figured it out.  Once again, my disclaimer!  Do NOT do this UNLESS you are responsible with credit cards!  If you are not, this is NOT WORTH IT!  Okay.  So I went to Chase.com and looked up the Marriott card.  At the time I applied, it was free for a year, so NO yearly fee the first year.  I also received 50,000 points and a free night at a Marriott that was either a level 4 or lower.  This was ALL FOR FREE!  The catch was you had to spend 1,000 dollars in three months.  Piece of cake.  I could do that with one bill!  So I applied for one for my husband and one for myself.  Of course we were approved and we each quickly spent and paid off the 1,000 dollars.  The next part is what is tricky!  I looked online at Marriott.com and found the point amount it would cost for hotels by Disneyland.  I searched about 6 months before we were leaving.  I found a hotel across the street for 25,000 points per night.  I was pretty stoked about this!  We could stay for four night without paying a cent!  THEN, I read into it even further.  If you went certain weeks, you could get the 5th night FREE!  We picked one of those weeks immediately!  Next I made the reservation on the phone with Marriott and then had them transfer me to the rewards department.  When I talked to them I explained that I wanted to combine my husband and I's points for our vacation.  They agreed that was fine ONLY because he was my husband.  So this offer ONLY works with spouses.  They sent us a paper in the mail and my husband had to sign it and say he was okay with transferring points to my account to pay for the trip.  After that, we had to pay for taxes which came out to about $75.00.  We were so excited!  Then we decided we wanted to leave a day earlier and just make our vacation a whole week.  I didn't want to pay for another night at a hotel, so I looked for a Marriott that was a level 4 or lower.  I found one down the road from Disneyland...yes down the road...and booked our room there for FREE!  We also get early check in and free breakfast.   Did I mention that one was for FREE?!   So after all is said and done, we have gotten 7 nights ( 4 nights with points, 1 free because of the four nights in a row, and 2 certificates for free nights at ANY Marriott that was a level 4 or lower) for $75.00.   It blew my mind after we did it all!  After our vacation I will cancel my husband's card and keep mine.  I will just pay the $99.00 fee every year for the FREE night at a Marriott and rack up points for our next vacation.


The second part is about WHERE you want to get a hotel.  I will go from what I think is the WORST to the BEST
3. 10 miles or further:  I picked this as last because of the biggest con in my opinion....DRIVING THERE AND PARKING.  WORST NIGHTMARE!  Of course it is better than most places, but if you have children....it is a nightmare.  You are already excited driving there and will probably get stuck in traffic, then parking will take awhile, then getting on the tram to the front gates, then going through security....you get the picture?  If you have kids, pay MORE FOR THE CLOSER HOTEL!  If you don't, then the cheaper hotels are DEFINITELY 10 minutes away!
2. Down the Road Hotels;  I picked these as second because most of these hotels have a tram that will actually drive you to the park and drop you off by the front gates.  No Parking! Yeah!  These hotels are usually a little nicer for the price.  I have enjoyed these hotels, BUT that tram only holds a couple people and it isn't very fun to fold up a stroller on there, wait for the ONLY times they send one out and the time it takes to get there and back.
1. Across the Street;  These hotels are seriously the BEST to stay at.  They have a range of cheap hotels to nicer ones! There is a McDonald's RIGHT THERE for a quick and CHEAP lunch!  The best part is being able to walk across the street to Disneyland and go right in WHENEVER you want.  We usually head back in the afternoon and take a nap and stay WAY late.  The only issue is they book up FAST.  You have to book these in advance.


Another way to get a cheaper hotel with Disneyland tickets is to visit getawaytoday.com.  They usually have the cheapest prices.


The next post will be about EATING at Disneyland.  Where is good to eat, how to eat cheap and what you CANNOT miss out on!