First time booking directly through Disney

CPostchainitch

Earning My Ears
Joined
Feb 14, 2010
Im not sure if i have put this in the right place, so please correct me if I have done so. I've always booked trips through expedia, and have decided to book directly through Disney this trip. Disney is the cheapest option...whoooo hoo! I am booking a whole package, flights included and I am not sure how paying in instalments works. I would like to book ASAP to beat any price changes. Here are my newbie questions.

I know I have to pay for flights at time of booking. Other than that, is there a set amount I need to put down as a deposit? Do I have to set up specific payments or can I put lump sums on when I have it ready? Since I'm not planning to travel until October, can I still add on any promotions or pins even if it is fully paid or should I wait to pay it completely off until the 45 day mark? Should I call and book, or do it online? Any tips or advice anyone has for me would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.
 
We booked our WDW trip to stay at the Poly in June 2013 last August. The down payment was $200 with the remainder due 45 days. I made payments on as I had extra money, there is a $20-25 minimum I think. I paid the balance off on 3/15/13, a bit early but wanted to get it taken care of. Disney VISA just announced a summer 2013 discount that is open to all on 4/2/13. I just called and added the discount to the reservation and will be refunded $1298. I did our flights separate as I used mileage points. Booking through Disney is easy, although there have been issues with the website lately.
 
Book your airline tickets yourself. You will get a cheaper rate and have control of the booking.
 
Would like to echo the PP who recommended that you book your flights separately from the rest of your Disney trip. So much easier (and often cheaper) when you have control over your flights.

When you reserve your vacation package you will have to pay $200. The remainder is due on or before 45 days before check in. You can make interim payments whenever you want. If a special offer comes out you can call and ask that it be applied to your reservation. Your remaining bill will be reduced accordingly. If you have already paid in full, the amount of the discount would be refunded to your credit card (or whatever other form of payment you used).

You can book your vacation package online, but if you have never done it before, I would recommend that you call instead. That way if there are any questions about room types or problems with availability, a CM would be right there to help you.
HTH
 


I also book my own air. I use Kayak to check on fares. I prefer to book wdw by phone, because I like to add room requests. It's easy to go online to make payments. You just bring up your reservation and there will be a link to make a payment. The package has to be paid off 45 days in advance. So I divide how many months I have to pay in full, and make monthly payments.
If any promos come out, you can phone and have the lower price applied to your reservation. You may have to be flexible, maybe your room category choice isn't available. Maybe you booked a standard view, and only garden view is avail under promo price, etc. also you have to watch for release dates. When promo sells out, that's it. They only release a certain # of rooms for each promo.
 


I booked thru Disney and included airfare. They applied the $200 initial package payment TO the airfare that was due at booking; I've called twice and made two separate payments, and have one left the last due this week.

One thing to mention is that if you have a daily credit limit on your card you are using, you may have to use two cards to pay the airfare. We are traveling during a holiday weekend and booked fairly late, so the prices were steep to me. I have a $999 daily limit and had to split the fare on two cards.

we are not seasoned travelers so I decided not to book my own airfare this time as it is the first time traveling with kids. I've had a good experience so far booking thru Disney :)
 
I booked thru Disney but separate on the air fare. And its more practical because its cheaper to have a separate air fare.
 

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