Trip Coach: December 5, 2006

Budget Travel editors: Welcome to this week's Trip Coach. Let's get to your questions!

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Tolland, CT: What are the best accommodations for a family of six (mother, father, a 5-year-old girl, a 2-year-old boy, grandmother, and grandfather) visiting Disney World the last full week of April? We want a kitchen, laundry facilities, and a pool. We want to spend no more than $2,000 on lodging. Are rental villas the way to go? How far from Disney is too far? Is this even possible?

Budget Travel editors: As someone who has traveled to Disney more times then she'd care to admit, I think this is definitely possible. My recommendation would be to go for one of the many two-bedroom villas (kids can sleep on the usually provided pull-out couch, so all you really need is two bedrooms for the adults) that are offered either on or around the Walt Disney World property. While the week you want to travel isn't THE busiest time of year to go, rates are still high at most of the Disney properties that offer two-bedroom villas. The lowest I found on Disney properties for six nights during the last week of April was $3,660. All these resorts have elaborately themed pools and the villas include kitchens and laundry services. An added bonus of staying on Disney property is all resorts include complimentary transportation to Walt Disney World parks. Visit disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdw/index and look at Disney Vacation Club resorts to book a villa.
Off the property I've found that staying on one of Marriott's properties is close enough to not feel left out. Marriott has several properties with villas. I've stayed in at least two of them and found that both offered exceptional amenities. I found a two-bedroom, two-bath villa at Marriott's Cypress Harbour property for $1,174 and a similar villa at Marriott's Sabal Palms property for $1,208. These prices are based on a six-night stay during the last week of April. All villas have a kitchen, pool and laundry services. However, the Marriott properties do not have transportation to Walt Disney World so there will be an added expense to get to the parks, unless you have a car. Visit marriott.com and focus on Marriott Vacation Club properties to book a villa. In my experience, staying on Disney property is usually worth the added expense, especially when you consider that most of the parks are spread out all over. Plus when you stay on property, guests usually get special extras like early entrance to the parks and deals on meals, etc.

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Seattle, WA: My husband (32), Sister-in-law (30), Brother-in-law (38) and I (36) and my dog (14) are planning a trip to Whistler, BC on February 15-18, 2007. We are driving up from Seattle on Thursday, and need a place to stay for three nights in Whistler Village that is "pet-friendly." We are considering the Delta Whistler or Summit Lodge. Three of us want to ski at least two days and would like to know the advantages of buying our lift tickets in coordination with the room reservation as it is offered by many hotels. We would also all like to snowshoe while we are there. In the evenings, we enjoy recouperative massages, art galleries and pubs with character. In addition to being a much needed get-away, this trip is a celebration of our 15th wedding anniversary and my in-laws 5th wedding anniversary. I would appreciate any help you can offer us for planning our trip.

Budget Travel editors: Congratulations on your anniversary! Whistler is a terrific place to celebrate. You can save up to 20% off lift tickets, which start at $69.99 for a one-day adult pass, when you buy your tickets with accomodations through Whistler's official website, whistlerblackcomb.com. Washington State residents can also buy an EDGE card, which offers savings on lift tickets, skiing and snowboarding lessons, and other discounts.Delta Whistler Village Suites also has some great skiing packages. We recently ran a deal for four nights lodging, a two-day lift pass, roundtrip airfare from San Francisco, and hotel transfers from $692 per person. Since you don't need airfare, you can also book lodging-only packages through their website.
As you're looking for lodging, don't forget the favorable Canadian exchange rate--currently U.S. $1 to CAN $1.15. Check out our currency converter for up-to-date rates. And don't your to ask for a VAT (value added tax) refund receipt or application when you check out of your hotel; Canada offers a 7% VAT refund on hotel accomodations. Read more about how VAT works here.

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Manhattan, KS: My mother is turning 70 in February, and since she's alone now following my father's death, my sister and I want to take her on a trip for her birthday. She's always mentioned interest in the California Coast, so we thought a trip along the coastal highway might be perfect, especially in February. What's the best way to plan this trip? Is it something we can do on our own with a rental car and travel guidebook? We'd like this to be very special--hitting all of the highlights along the way--yet relaxing. Thank you.

Budget Travel editors: California's Pacific Coast Highway is a classic road trip, full of breathtaking views and twists and turns. You can definitely plan a trip with a car and a guidebook--in fact, you could ditch the book, as we recently wrote about a similar trip in our magazine.
Check out "Road Trip: Pacific Coast Highway."
In our magazine's Trip Coach column, we also helped a family plan a road trip from Seattle to San Diego, with lots of fun stops along the way. Read about it here.

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Walkersville, MD: A group of 9 will be in Vancouver in June from 4pm-11am before boarding ship the next afternoon. Suggestions for don't miss sightseeing or a good variety restaurant for dinner? All staying in hotels near port area.