Dreams unlimited- thinking of transferring res. Have ?'s

[martinezfamily1126]

Hello,

I am currently booked for the 9/19/09 with Disney directly. I am thinking of transfering the reservation to DU because I heard they are pretty good and they have a better stateroom credit offer. Has anyone used them? Can I still go online and look at my info such as excursions and print my docs, etc on disney's website? I would like to talk to someone at DU directly but cannot find a phone number on the website anywhere.

Also I have my airfare booked with Disney and am thinking of canceling it and booking it on my own. I don't plan on doing this until tax time. Will I be able to cancel the airfare later and book on my own?

One more question: I currently have the raddison at port canaveral booked for the night before. I am deciding whether I should book the carribean beach resort the day before and try to spend a few hours at magic kingdom. We haev never been to Disney world so i am trying to fit in a little extra magic. How much do the tickets cost? Do you think we should do it?

Opinions and answers will really be appreciated.

 

[skylynx]

Hi, Rosemary

Dreams Unlimited is the sponsor of these boards, and many people on them (my family included) routinely move our reservations over to DU after booking them with Disney (most often on board, as you will soon find out rebooking your next cruise on board gives you a good discount, an onboard credit from Disney which you can transfer over to DU and "double up" on their onboard credit.)

We have transferred reservations to DU about six times now, and always with no problems. They are primarily an email operation, though, so if you are the type who wants to talk by phone to your travel agent a lot, you probably won't be happy. And although you can see your reservation on the DCL web site and browse shore excursions, etc., if you call DCL they will be reluctant to talk to you about any part of your reservation because they no longer "own" it. You can still ask general questions, of course, not just one specific to your reservation.

About the airfare...other folks' mileage may vary, but I would never let Disney be in charge of my flights. You have little control then over the price, the shedule, the number of stops, etc. If Southwest or another discount airline flies into your city, you can probably do MUCH better booking the flights yourself. Using Disney to book flights is a convenience offered to travelers trying to avoid the hassle of arranging their own air travel that may end up being very inconvenient when you find yourself booked on very early or very late flights that oblige you to spend precious vacation time hanging around airports. Again...my opinion only.

The Radisson is a nice place to stay before the cruise. If you haven't already, you need to call them and book space for your family on the shuttle to the cruise port as it is by reservation only.

Caribbean Beach is a lovely place, too, but if you only have a few hours I think you'd find yourself frustrated beyond belief if you've never been to Walt Disney World before and you were trying to take it in during that time frame. It is like saying you have a few hours to visit Paris or the state of California!
According to Disney's website,a one day, one park ticket is $75 for an adult. If you did decide to go, the Magic Kingdom is the classic but boy, go as early as you can and stay until they throw you out!

Hope this helps you !

 

[skylynx]

Just realized you don't cruise for a year yet...so you don't need to make your shuttle reservation yet! Keep it in mind though, when the date gets closer!

 

[tngal]

I was just wondering how you go about doing this! Can someone tell me how you would transfer from Disney site to DU? What about the check in online stuff, registering kids for activities, etc, will you still be able to do that online if you transfer reservations?

Lisa

 

[martinezfamily1126]

I was just wondering how you go about doing this! Can someone tell me how you would transfer from Disney site to DU? What about the check in online stuff, registering kids for activities, etc, will you still be able to do that online if you transfer reservations?

Lisa

From what i have been told you go to their website and send all of the infomation to their transfers department and fill out the form and they take care of the rest.



I eas able to get a phone number for DU and they told me that if i want to go to magic kingdom for the day I should try to book a 1 day package which will include the hotel and I can choose an option to include the dinig as well. I am still so cofnused though of what i should do. more opinions would be great. We are only thinking of doing just magic kingdom for the day.

 

[Maddie's Nana]

I was just wondering how you go about doing this! Can someone tell me how you would transfer from Disney site to DU? What about the check in online stuff, registering kids for activities, etc, will you still be able to do that online if you transfer reservations?

Lisa

I just transferred my reservation from Disney to DU and it was quite painless. I just went to their site and filled out the transfer form. Then I received an e-mail advising me of my reservation number. I could then log in at DU and see my reservation along with a telephone number to pay my bill over the phone rather than online. I called because I had another question and the agent was very helpful. Also the additional onboard credit is great.
You can still use the Disney site for online stuff & registering for activities, etc

 

[MagicMe]

I'm guessing you are booked on a 7-day on the Magic as it looks like the 19th is a Saturday. So are you looking at flying in the day before?

First, I would definitely book my own flight. As mentioned above, you can check on Southwest and/or Airtran as you can usually get some good prices from them (closer to your date). I'm flying out of Philly and I was able to book on Airtran for $155 round trip. I could have saved a few $$ more if I had waited as the flight home has been at $63 (I paid $79).

As far as the night (or day before depending on when you plan to go down); one option might possibly be to book a room at a Disney Resort (watch for discounts on room rates - usually only applies to rooms and not packages) and see if they'll have a MNSSHP that night (the 18th). You won't know the schedule until sometime in APR/MAY of 2009 but MNSSHP (Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party) currently has the first party for 2008 scheduled for Friday night (9/19). So maybe they'll start on the 18th in 2009!! This is a hard ticket event (you pay separately for these tickets and don't need to use a park ticket) The tickets are about $50 (for an adult) and the party starts officially at 7PM but you can get into MK as early as 4PM. After 7PM, the crowds are usually much lighter and you could see alot of the MK in a short amount of time. Additionally, you can see the Boo-to-you parade and the Hallo-wishes fireworks!!

Just a thought.

 

["Got Disney"]

I have never had a problem with DU and after you book with them you will get a toll free number that you can also talk with someone. I have used the number but find it just as easy to e-mail them because they are so prompt at returning there e-mails back usually withing a few hrs.

I like going through DU also because unlike many TA they dont hold your money they send it to DCL as you send it to them. Making it so you can book all your excursions ASAP on the DCL website. Just be sure to pay it off early so you can get your excursions and Palos before they are all gone.

DU has been great to me and will continur to use them. I book through DCL than I transfer to DU. You get a great OBC Good luck and I say do it....

 

[disneykibbes5]

I was also looking at doing this.
I have two questions.
1. Besides the extra stateroom credit. Why would/do you transfer your reservations?
2. I think I read this on here somewhere, But can you prepay your gratuities through them before you get on board?

Thank you for any advice.

 

[PrincessBelle39]

Just wanted to say hi. We are on the same cruise and have booked directly with DU. They were great to deal with when booking and very very quick to respond to our questions. I'm really happy so far.

 

[tngal]

OK...I did it!!! Transferred my reservation to DU..and you're right...it was very painless!! Now we're gonna find out how good their customer service is , I need to call and see what I need to do to modify the reservation a bit (if possible) my mom is wanting to go along now!

Lisa

 

[nenner1]

I was also looking at doing this.
I have two questions.
1. Besides the extra stateroom credit. Why would/do you transfer your reservations?
2. I think I read this on here somewhere, But can you prepay your gratuities through them before you get on board?

Thank you for any advice.

Well...to answer your questions

1. It's mainly the credit. But I'll tell you what, we have had wonderful service with DU and I trust the info from them even more than the info I got directly from DCL (I called DCL one time and the CM on the phone *insisted* that we only had one sea day, not two ) A lot of times DU has group rate rooms that are super cheap. I was able to add a whole extra stateroom onto our reservation for only $800 by taking advantage of one of their group rate rooms..and it was a GREAT room at that (sideways 11).

2. Yes you can. When you send money to DU, on the page where you do this there is a little click button where you can select if the money is going to be in full payment, partial payment, or towards onboard account. It is VERY simple.

Just to add a couple of tidbits...yes Dreams is primarily an email communicating company, however once you book you are given a toll free phone number you can call and talk to someone. We have called and left messages and have always received calls back promptly, even after hours and on weekends when it was especially important questions. In addition, we had an unusual booking situation and it was handled seamlessly and competently and when the problem arose our agent was calling us on our cell phones to fix it. We are more than impressed with the service we have received and I highly recommend them.

And one of the things I like so much about DU is how much control you retain over your reservation. Yes you still get to log in do things with your reservation through DCL...you are not at their mercy to entrust them to book your Palo, Spa, Flounders, etc. You do it yourself and this I totally prefer. Plus if you do have general questions and find it more convenient to call DCL yourself, you still can!

IMO booking with Dreams is a win-win for you. You get savings, onboard credti, great service and it costs you nothing!!