From Betsy Malloy,
Your Guide to California Travel.
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If you're looking for Disneyland packages for your trip, you'll be faced with a bewildering array of choices offered by a seemingly infinite number of companies.

Prices and features of Disneyland packages change so fast that it's futile to recommend any specific one - before we could get the information online, it would undoubtedly be out of date. Instead, this article will familiarize you with the basics of Disneyland packages and give you some things to think about when you compare them.

To compare Disneyland packages, we used a fictional family of four with one child over 10 years old (who would require an adult ticket), staying four nights in a hotel and buying a 3-day ticket. We collected our Disneyland packages data in early 2008.

Disneyland Packages at Disney Hotels

The first place you may go to look at Disneyland packages is Disney's website. They offer multi-day Disneyland packages, combinations of tickets and lodging, but they seldom include airfare or car rentals, especially during the busiest parts of the year.

The biggest apparent benefit to Disney's Disneyland packages is early entrance into the park (one time, an hour before normal opening time) and a special activity in Toon Town called "Mickey's Morning Madness." It sounds like a great benefit until you realize that everyone who bought Disneyland packages for a Disney hotel or one of the Good Neighbor properties gets the same benefit as you do. Visitors complain of long lines and big crowds, and some people think you're better off to skip it.

Pluses: Disney's Disneyland packages include the perk mentioned above.

Minuses: The extras don't come for free. Our fictional family would pay about $90 less if they reserved their hotel and bought tickets separately (but still through Disney). Disney also requires a $200 deposit when you make your reservation for a package, but not if you just reserve the hotel by itself.

Disneyland Packages Through "Good Neighbor" Hotels

Information is scarce about how Disney's Good Neighbor properties are chosen, but they're all near the park. They cost less than the Disney properties. You get the same perks on Disneyland packages at them as you would at the Disney hotels.

Pluses: Less expensive than Disney hotels and you can still get the early entry perk.

Minuses: You can pay much less for your tickets and a room at many of these hotels by shopping through the hotel websites. Our family of four would pay $140 more for Disney's package than they would by getting their room through the hotel website and buying tickets from Disney.

Other Sources of Disneyland Packages

The big travel reservation websites like Travelocity offer Disneyland packages that can include airfare and car rentals, as well as reservations and tickets for other things you want to do during your trip. Their Disneyland packages don't include the early entry perks, but with some, you can reserve character meals online, saving you from having to make a separate phone call. Southwest Airlines also offers hotel and airfare discounts. They don't participate in the other travel booking sites and you should check them separately.

While researching this article, we found some of the lowest prices on Disneyland packages at Welcome to SoCal, as much as $280 less than Disney's price for Disneyland packages at the same Good Neighbor hotel. You can reserve your hotel, get the early entry perks and buy tickets to Disneyland and other area attractions through them, but they don't handle airline reservations.

Pluses: One-stop shopping is convenient, especially for busy people.

Minuses: You may save money, but you won't always get the early entry and Morning Madness perks.

Do-It-Yourself Disneyland Packages

A smart vacation planner can save the most money by shopping around to find the lowest price for each individual part of their trip instead of buying the Disneyland packages. Use our 9 steps to get the lowest hotel prices you can and read about discount ticket options. A few more money-saving tips may help you lower your trip costs even more.

Pluses: Least expensive option, cheaper than most all-in-one Disneyland packages.

Minuses: Most time-consuming option. No early-entry perks.