Who do you book your resorts through?

[jajsmom]

Do you book directly through the resort itself or go with a third party? Anyone who offers the best discounts to book through?

Thanks

 

[argue]

I go through the resort. One-you can request a room and speak to a person from that hotel. A person who knows all about it. Two-it is safer i think.

 

[Lynne M]

You don't call the resort itself to make a reservation; you'd call 1-407-WDW-DISNEY. This will get to you to the central reservations office.

If you call the resort, you're actually getting a call center, not the resort itself. For instance, if you call the listed number for the Poly, they will answer "Disney's Polynesian Resort", but they're at a call center. If you ask to make a reservation, they will transfer your call to the reservations line.

You can also make your reservations through any travel agent. If you go this route, make sure you use a Disney Specialist travel agent. They don't have access to any discounts you can't get yourself, but the advantage is that they keep track of discounts as they are announced, and get the discount applied to your reservation.

BTW, you can make room requests if you use a TA.

 

[WDW LifeLong Fan]

Since 1971 we always called CRO directly. The last two years we have used Sue Ellen from DU, primarily because they provide the DIS Boards. I wanted to thank them for their service.

She has been great. We usually have 4-5 trips annually to WDW and/or Universal. She looks for and secures AP/AAA/GA resident rates, and a variety of other discounts for us.

While we don't mind doing it ourselves, we are glad to support DU!

 

[dbarker]

I am using a TA that is a fellow Diser.

I have used TAs in the past and I have done it myself. I prefer to use a TA simply b/c I do not have the time and the right time to get the best deal. I just tell the TA what I want, and they get it for me.

 

[pepe of ohio]

Albeit, after 38 visits, only 2 with a friend, travel agent, the rest have been made by phone through CRO. We rather talk to the horses head than the other end via a TA. We get direct answers, right quick, reservations for dining, and apply any discounts that are out. Our experiences with CRO have always been great, CM's wonderful and knowledgable and right on the money. Web-site, nope, again too iffy, can't beat the phone and a live person direct.

 

[Disney Planner Mama]

I use Leigh at Small World Vacations. I used to do it all myself, but with a TA she does all the work, gets all the ADRs I want, and looks for and applies discounts as they occur with no prompting from me. She puts in room requests for me. And I don't have to spend any time on hold, or wake up really early in the morning. If I change my mind, I just drop her an email. She's wonderful.

 

[DisneyFans4]

I plan our entire Disney trip on my own as I can get better discounts.

 

[MushyMushy]

I go through AAA so I can get the dining plan with the room discount.

 

[heath-and-javens-mom]

We have used the same TA on each of our trips, so far it has been great but I think next time I will try to book myself because, I like to be in control of my trip and sometimes I want to make changes to our vacation (I do this ALOT and I dont want to bother her. I change dates, resorts, number of persons, room requests, etc and I hate having to call my TA each time I have a change.

 

[Robundrh2o]

We have used Dreams Unlimited for the last 5 or 6 trips. They have been great. They have gotten us all the room discounts as they come available, made all the calls for our dining reservations and help lay out our entire trip to help us get the most for our money. All free of charge. I highly recommend DU to anybody for planning their trips.

 

[eeyoresmomthree]

I have do CR and on my own, plus used Southwest vacations. I take the CR price and then do my own thing to see what's best. I have never done a package with Disney, always too expensive. I have booked the hotel (with a code) with tickets through CR.

The Chicago Tribune just ran a comparison between Disney with free dining and same package through United vacations (same hotel, free dining) was about 1,100 less. There were "hoops to jump through" with UA but nothing weird, just book by dates, etc. It was last sunday's ((May 6).

 

[jajsmom]

I ended up calling the CRO and booked two rooms at W.L. I also get a FL discount so it worked out well. Just hoping I get two connecting rooms that I requested.

 

[peel]

I have always done it myself through CRO because I feel more in control...but for my next trip I'm going to give Small World Vacations a shot. After reading many many great things about them here on the Dis I feel confident that they will be as diligent as I am when hunting for discounts and getting them applied to my reservations ASAP.