Did AAA give me wrong info?

[justcantwait]

We have a package booked through AAA for our December trip. I had her book it with 9 day park hoppers and the dining plan. But, since then, we've completed our volunteer service and have 4 vouchers which we will upgrade when we get there. Therefore, I asked our travel agent to change our tickets to 1 day base tickets, so we save the money now and still qualify for the dining plan. We'll upgrade the one day base tickets on our next trip. She said she checked with Disney, and if she reduces the tickets to one day, we can only get the dining plan for one day. I was sure the dining plan was tied to the number of nights you're staying at a Disney resort, which would be 8 nights for us. Could someone please tell me I'm not losing my mind??? Thanks!

Kathy

[cburek]

I dont think you are losing your mind, unless I am too.I have my package booked this way for August.Dining plan and 1 day base ticket per person. Maybe the AAA agent is new? best of luck, I would call and ask to speak to someone else. :)

[justcantwait]

Thanks! I would LOVE to call and speak to someone else, but she's the only one who handles Disney out of that office :headache: She's the reason we didn't book with AAA last time. I knew more about it than she did, and I was a newbie then! I'll send her another email and ask her to check on that again. Maybe she gets more of a commission on the 9 day park hoppers and doesn't want us to switch? :confused3

[kaytieeldr]

"Hi, AAA Travel Agent? This is justcantwait again. We were talking about changing the park tickets with my package to one day base passes, and you thought that meant we'd only be able to get the dining plan for one night? Oh, good, you remember. Would you please check that again? All the information I can find indicates the dining plan has to be purchased for the same number of NIGHTS as our stay. Thanks, I appreciate it. I'll hold while you call them..."

[pooch]

Thanks! I would LOVE to call and speak to someone else, but she's the only one who handles Disney out of that office :headache: She's the reason we didn't book with AAA last time. I knew more about it than she did, and I was a newbie then! I'll send her another email and ask her to check on that again. Maybe she gets more of a commission on the 9 day park hoppers and doesn't want us to switch? :confused3

"thanks but no thanks" and book it yourself!! You already know she doesn't know what she's doing so why give her the business? Call Disney & make sure you can get what you want thru them then book it yourself & cancel the AAA ressie.

[cburek]

I know you can book room only with Disney directly and get the AAA discount, I cant recall if you then can add the dining and tickets or if they make you go back to the AAA agent for that. i just dont think I would feel comfortable shelling out my cash if the agent didnt know the answer to this and you did. Besides with the pricing options that are going on,those may be better than what AAA is offering.I would book directly and wait and see what deals are out for December

[catne]

as of last September (last time I booked through ourAAA agent) the only way to get the AAA discount AND a ticket/dining package is to book through AAA. Disney will book a room-only reservation and give you the AAA room discount (which is only 5 or 10% usually) but they will not book you a AAA package with the dining (they Disney reservations folks will tell you to call AAA is you want a package with AAA discount.)

Have you checked the special offers going on? Could be one of them is better than the AAA room discount (they Disney offers usually beat the AAA discount...the only time we book through AAA is when we can't get anything better, which is rare the last couple of years.)

Also, to answer your original question, yes, your AAA agent is wrong. You CAN get the dining plan through AAA for all the nights of your trip with just a one day park ticket per person.

[ginnymack]

A few suggestions:

A) As PP said, call back and confirm.
B) Ignore it and know that it will be right when you get there. (See link below)
C) Unless you were counting on a AAA perk, book it yourself. Unless you are going during a super busy time, I would be SURE that if you are going this year, you will get a better deal through Disney (although you may not know what it is until a few weeks before your trip) I just booked with a TA and said I have AAA, but I hate to take your time even giving you the number! She agreed and said there would likley be a better deal or a PIN that could be applied.
D) Call another AAA office in your "network". There may only be one in your town, but I bet if you check the next town over you may be able to find someone! Or perhaps your region has a central phone bank that can help.
E) Consider using your vouchers for FastPasses. Each voucher will get you and five guests a nice set of fastpasses for the day! 4 vouchers = 4 days of lower waits! May be extra nice if you are not a "rope drop" family!

Per Disney's website:

This plan offers one table-service meal, one quick-service meal and one snack per person, per night of your package stay.

http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/vacation-packages/2010/dining/

[clanmcculloch]

Something I haven't seen adressed is your plan to upgrade your GAD vouchers. Are you aware that you can only upgrade either your GAD tickets or your tickets that come with your package? When all is said and done, you'll have an extra set of 1 day passes. You're going to basically be paying the exact same amount as you would have anyway when you factor in the cost of your one day tickets that you'll be bringing home with you. You're better off using your GAD vouchers for the GAD fast passes since you want the dining plan.

[tinka-belle]

The AAA agent MAY have meant that you couldn't have the AAA discounted package with just one day tickets. Most special packages must have a minimum of 3 day tickets, since Disney pays no TA commission on 1 or 2 day tickets even if they're in a package.

Just speculation here, but it would make sense that AAA wouldn't offer a discount package on components that paid them zero. No reason she couldn't book a package with a 1 day ticket though since Disney will let you do this, you just would have no AAA discount on it. You could book this yourself or get another TA to do it for you.

At least find a knowledgeable Disney TA! I love "talking Disney" with my knowledgeable clients! Yes, they could book their own vacations, but they know I watch out for specials, book their dining, and make recommendations. Many have said they just like having "another Disney nut to talk to".