Originally Posted By RidgebackLuver This is the feedback I left for Disney and Getawaytoday.com. This trip was for a family of four with an 8 yr. old boy and 5 yr. old girl. All in all I do recommend the travel company, but be sure you get concise and clear info from them before you leave on what you need for the trip. P.S. The prices are me going on memory. I could be off a few dollars here or there. AND this is only my opinion and experiences I am sharing. Please no attacking me just because you don't agree with me on something. Be constructive and kind. Our trip to Disneyland from November 29-December 3 was great! No crowds or lines Monday through Thursday. Friday, however, was a nightmare! So busy that we rode four rides all day and we closed the park at midnight. We spent most of our time playing on Tom Sawyers Island and waiting for the parade and fireworks. On the plus side, we loved the Christmas decor, parade, and fireworks. The staff (besides a few rude cast members) were awesome as usual. We met some nice people from all around the world. The kids loved the Storytellers Cafe breakfast. Rancho Del Zagaldo (sp?) was delicious! Great improvement in their food the last few years. The Jedi Training Academy was a big thrill for the kids. They both got chosen to be in the show and it made them feel very special. Darth Vader and Darth Maul were wonderful actors in realistic costumes. Couldn't have done a better job there! I wasn't happy with how Getawaytoday explained how to get vouchers for the Storytellers character breakfast though. I thought we just had to check in at the restaurant and they'd have our vouchers in the system since I made a reservation and told them we were booking through Getawaytoday.com. There was confusion at the restaurant desk and after calling the company, we got a less than helpful staff member who told us we had to go aaallllllll the way back to the ticket booths and get our park tickets and meal vouchers at the same time. We didn't know this, and this ordeal lost us about an hour total by the time we finally sat down and got our food. Put quite a cramp in our schedule for the day. On yet another negative note, we were more shocked than ever at the prices at the Disneyland Resort. They go up every time we visit, not a little, but by leaps and bounds it seems. Over $20 for a pair of Mickey ears, really? Embroidery used to be free, now it is $7. Want a light up Jack Skellington balloon? It will set you back $12. No that's not a typo. I felt more than ever that Disney wants my money more than they want to make sure my family has a magical vacation. We have to save more and work harder every year to be able to take our kids to Disney. Peoples' salaries are not going up to match their price increases. Especially in this economy, I would think they'd make it easier for families to go, but not so. It's truly getting to where a hard working middle class family can barely afford a simple three day trip anymore. Another thing that happened to us was I had my purse stolen, right out of our stroller...while we were with it. I lost my drivers license, ATM card, $250, park hopper tickets that had three days left on them, and two brand new cameras totaling $800. The cameras can be replaced, but the memories on those memory cards cannot. We lost every picture from Medieval Times, the Storytellers breakfast I mentioned earlier, and our first two days at the park. The police said people are entering the parks and stalking strollers just to steal from them. They found my emptied our purse in the Men's room trash can. Sad. Disneyland DID replace our park tickets, so that was awesome of them! So watch your strollers and bags people! I never left mine unattended and it still got stolen. All you have to do is turn your back for a second. We loved the Hilton Homewood Suites and would stay there again! Spacious kitchenette suites, three pools, and helpful and friendly staff. The grounds, rooms, and pools were very clean and the buffet breakfast was very good. Bus service couldn't have been easier and they were always on time and helpful. So four stars for that place.
Originally Posted By tashajilek Omg thats horrible about your purse!! I make sure to bring a backpack with our things and wear a money belt! Hard to imagine people going to Disneyland just to steal, thats sick. Besides the purse mishap sounds like you had a nice time. Yes DL is getting VERY expensive.
Originally Posted By Autopia Deb How horrible that your purse was stolen! You are so right about the prices, I thought the prices they charged for balloons were nuts when my teen was little, but $12!? Gack! There's more than one kind of robbery happening at Disney these days :-/.
Originally Posted By WDWdreamin Oh my goodness. What horrible new about your purse! That's always been one of the things I appreciated so much at Disney was that I felt safe. I felt like I could leave my purse at the table while I went and got napkins or a fork. I'm really upset to hear that. And you had so much valuable stuff in yours - I'm so sorry that this happened to you after all the hard work you went through to earn those things. Yeah, the prices sometimes make me feel less magic too. Hopefully the trip was positive overall?
Originally Posted By amazedncal2 I'm SO sorry about your purse being stolen That must have been just horrible for you. Thank you for posting the report I'm glad that overall you had a great time. We went the following week and found that Friday was MUCH more crowded than any other day including the weekend.
