AAA Disney rates

[skbasnett]

Hi all...I was just on mousesavers.com (and I love that site) but I came across the following statement and I find it to be incorrect: "Packages
A lot of people like packages because they are convenient and worry-free. You don't have to spend any time doing a lot of research, making decisions, or worrying about little things like whether your Hopper pass will get you into DisneyQuest. However, be aware that in general the regular-priced "brochure rate" Disney vacation packages (including those offered by Walt Disney Travel Company, AAA, American Express, Delta Vacations, etc.) are not going to save you money. Fortunately Disney has recently improved the overall value of its packages and there are sometimes good specials on packages. For more information, check out the link above. "

I work for AAA in the Travel Agency and do a good number of trips to Disney World. The above statement is inaccurate because we do offer very good savings to Disney. I am heading down soon and I booked it before I worked in the agency and I got a very good discount. (we have a site specifically for travel agents that get the best rates for members). For the amount it is to actually join AAA you will save so much more at Disney. My trip (without AAA) would have been around 1100. With AAA (and getting meals for free) it cost us 998. So you tell me where the savings really lie. As for the others listed in the statement, I dont know what the savings are. But I thought I should defend AAA. Anyone who agrees or disagrees please post and let me know.

 

[mickeysaver]

Not all AAA TA's are equal. I had a nightmare with AAA locally trying to just price out packages vs room only for a 5-6 night stay in December. The woman I spoke with had no clue and gave me quotes that were higher than what they should have been, some even higher than Disney charges directly. The room only rates were quoted the same as rack rates through CRO. I got totally fed up and left without booking through AAA directly. I got a pretty good deal with my AAA discount through Disney on my room only booking. The MYW tickets are not discounted, but you know, the hassle that we had when we tried to use a AAA TA was just not worth it. I love the fact that I can get discounts and a few little perks, but jeez....

Most "deals" offered by TA's in general just are not that great when you are looking at booking a package anyway. While Disney has improved the value of their package offerings with the MYW offerings, it still can be cheaper to piece meal a deal together from various sources rather than booking their packages. I could have saved $20 on our tickets had I not booked them through Disney and purchased them through TicketMania, but I felt that the convenience factor of having the room key and my tickets as just one piece of plastic was worth it to me to spend the extra $20. In our case, the dining plan is a great deal if it's discounted or free, but as it stands, it's roughly the same price as what we would normally pay, when you consider extra beverages and the missing meal. If we had kids, this might be a different story. So, we chose not to do the dining plan.

TA's are great, but do they offer packages that offer savings that are that far superior to what you can do with some online research and a couple of discount plans....not really. Most of the deals are less than a 20% savings on the packages. Not what I call a great deal, but it beats nothing.

This is only my opinion of course. Maggie

 

[skbasnett]

My only thing with booking online (and we use to do it all the time) is that nothing is refundable. Meaning if you are flying down and if something comes up that makes it so you cant go, you lose your money. And with Disney if you book and cant go but dont find out til the last minute you lose your money or at least half. It is difficult to reschedule. Dont get me wrong, I LOVE Disney too!

 

[mickeysaver]

I booked a room only not a package and as long as we cancel or move the reservation before we hit 5 days before our arrival there is little to no penalty. I love that it also includes our park tickets too. Maggie

 

[skbasnett]

My husband and I are going down in Sep. We got our meals free...that was the best. Disney prices are alot no matter WHERE you get them.

 

[mill4023]

I think you're misunderstanding.

Mousesavers isn't saying that AAA won't save you money. They are saying that booking a package won't save you money over booking a room and buying tickets separately. So you saved $100 because you used AAA, NOT because you bought a package instead of getting the room and tickets separately.

Obviously when there are promotions like the free dining, a package can be a much better deal. But under normal circumstances, it's basically the same price to book a package or buy all the package components separately. So the statements you quoted are accurate.

And you don't need to defend AAA. If you read the rest of the Mousesavers site, you'll find that they talk a lot about AAA as a good way to save money.

 

[skbasnett]

Quite right! Just that one sentence set me off! As I said, I LOVE the site!

 

[FoodLover]

in general the regular-priced "brochure rate" Disney vacation packages (including those offered by Walt Disney Travel Company, AAA, American Express, Delta Vacations, etc.) are not going to save you money.

You know, when I first read that quote, I thought "where the heck did she read that?" Then I realized I must not have updated a page somewhere on my site. I found it, and fixed it.

You are quite right that AAA packages (and ONLY AAA packages) do include a discount on the room portion, so my statement above was inaccurate. I've removed AAA from the list... and on my WDW Packages page, added a statement that AAA packages are discounted.

However, as some of the other posters to this thread have mentioned, it is frequently cheaper to book "room only" with the AAA discount (or any other available discount) and buy other package components such as tickets and meals separately.

I'm glad I saw this thread, since that statement on my site did need correction. I hope next time you'll e-mail me directly. There's a "Contact Mary" link on every page of my site.

Mary
MouseSavers.com

 

[vicb]

Hi Mary,

Love your site, really appreciate the info you keep updated for us. Thank You!

 

[TuckandStuiesMom]

Ditto me on the I LOVE MOUSESAVERS post above. It is the GREATEST!!!! We are not worthy... We are not worthy...