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Planning your theme park vacation: More useful Web links for saving money

By Robert Niles
Published: April 23, 2009 at 9:03 PM
My former LA Times colleague Liz Pulliam Weston, who now writes for MSN Money, has published a great list of The 100 most useful Web sites, upon which she's included Theme Park Insider. Many of the other 99 are well worth checking out, too.

I've been writing about what you can do to save money on your theme park vacation and many of the sites that Liz lists can help with that, as well as getting everything else in your household's budget in order.

Some of the most valuable sites that she links offer tips and advice on saving and investing, as well as finding the best quality for lowest price when shopping for just about anything.

But there are several sites devoted to coupons and travel deals, too.

Slick Deals has an awful interface, but if you go straight to the search box, you can find some good discounts on theme parks, including Six Flags and Busch Gardens.

I've written before about RetailMeNot, which allows you to search for online discount codes, and Liz recommends the site as well. Also, Liz suggests CouponCode.com, which includes a nice page of online travel discounts.

In addition to Theme Park Insider, Liz recommends MouseSavers, which has a nice page on Disneyland discounts. (I didn't like their Disney World advice as much.)

If you'll be traveling by air this year to your favorite park, don't forget to check both FareCast and Seat Guru before booking your flight. FareCast offers predictions on whether airfares on a given route will change in the next few weeks, given historic data, and SeatGuru helps you find the best seat locations on any model of airplane.

Finally, if you are a total cheapskate, and simply looking for a free place to crash, you're covered, too. Try CouchSurfing.com.

Feel free to submit other favorite money saving links, in the comments.

Readers' Opinions

From Joshua Counsil on April 23, 2009 at 11:42 PM
Very cool, although I think MouseSavers has excellent WDW advice. I just forwarded my buddy (who's new to theme park vacation planning) to MS and she saved about $400.
From Anthony Murphy on April 24, 2009 at 4:11 AM
I will say this: So far I have really not found a good cheaper deal on Disney World tickets anywhere else than just the Disney Store or the front gate. Most sites offer a seven day for a four day price which, at that point, is only actually $10 savings. What is more, unless you want to go pick them up off grounds, they charge you $10 to ship the ticket so you are spending the exact same! So be careful and really compare and check! So far as I see it, if its too good to be true at WDW and the offer is outside Disney, it really is TOO good to be true. THere are also a zillion other ways to save at WDW!
From Mike K on April 24, 2009 at 5:20 AM
The Point Online keeps track of all discounts for Cedar Point once they are available.

www.thepointol.com/discounttickets.html

From Robert Niles on April 24, 2009 at 7:37 AM
I like our guide to buying Walt Disney World tickets. I need to update the prices, but the logic's the same. Also, once you are in the parks, I stand by our four hour tour plans. Combine the two, and you'll get great value for your vacation.
From Doug Kelley on April 24, 2009 at 8:58 PM
SeatGuru is great. A lot of us in the airline industry use it. Believe it or not, all airplane seats are NOT created the same.

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