AAA or book direct?

[MODisneyfan]

I just had our reservation switched over to AAA Carolinas and the lady I'm working with couldn't be more helpful She's looked at rates at almost all the resorts for me because I'm so indecisive

Glad to hear that you had a great experience. Do you know her name? ( I am the unknown person I didn't know that I wasn't loged in)

 

[kidcdv]

That is just rude.. I as an agent would never do that.. clients are the people that pay my paycheck so I would have helped you the best that I could to help you make the right decision.. That is just not right..

Are they supposed to get better rates? Like "triple A" rates that AAA has? I'll go back to her or her supervisor and ask them to get me the rates if they do offere discounted rates. If not, I'll just stick with my AAA agent.

 

[melissa.irwin]

I called disney directly inquiring about the AAA code and then I asked them if their was an AP discount for the same time and the AP discount was over $600 cheaper than the AAA discount. So I bought an AP for $480 and saved $120. This was for 5 nights at a deluxe resort on a moderate park attendance week.

I guess you need to stay about 7 nights to break even at a moderate. But, now I have the AP so I will probably head back in less than a year.

One note on this, you only need the AP for 1 person in order to get the discount for the entire room. So everyone else in your group should just get the magic your way

Hi, I'm brand new, can you please tell me what AP is?

 

[melissa.irwin]

I use to work at AAA in the travel department as a travel agent and they do have great rates. You also will get the promotions that are on also. So if Disney is having a sale you should get a cheaper price with AAA then with Disney directly. The only thing that they sometimes do at AAA is that they only have a certain amount of rooms at the aaa rate especially with free dinning and such so make sure to go ahead and book but keep a look out for specials. You should be able to call and have your package even though it is under deposit changed to the special rate. And if I am not mistaken there is also a place to put the little savings code so if you do happen to have one make sure to give it to the TA to see if they would be able to get you an even better rate.

Also there are other AAA only perks.. I work for AAA Carolinas so I know that we had the free VIP parking, a special Storytime with Belle as well as other things like luggage tags and a VIP discount card to get discounts on food and such in the parks. So make sure to ask about that as well

I keep reading about Free Dining, can anyone please tell me what this is or where I can find information on it? I'm a new member and am trying to plan our first trip to Disney. Thanks in advance.

 

[shmedly123]

Hi, I'm brand new, can you please tell me what AP is?

sure, it is the Annual Pass. If you are unfamiliar with the Annual Pass it is the ticket that allows you to use the parks every day for an entire year from date of first use. It is obviously more expensive than the magic your way tix but there are often some great room only deals especially during non peak times (up to 40% off room rates).

The pass is $480 and we are saving $600 on a 5 day trip so it is actually $120 cheaper for me to buy the pass as it "pays for itself".

 

[shmedly123]

of course we are staying at a deluxe resort so 40% off a more expensive room saves you more money than a value resort would. I read somewhere that typically it is around 5 days for a deluxe resort, 7-8 days for a moderate resort and just over 10 days at a value resort to "break even" for a typical discount.

 

[melissa.irwin]

of course we are staying at a deluxe resort so 40% off a more expensive room saves you more money than a value resort would. I read somewhere that typically it is around 5 days for a deluxe resort, 7-8 days for a moderate resort and just over 10 days at a value resort to "break even" for a typical discount.

Wow, thanks for the info. I hadn't even considered the AP. We are planning on going in December (2 adults, our son is 11 and daughter is 5). We were originally going to stay at a moderate resort as that was what we have budgeted for, since then I have learned about renting points from DVC members which means we could stay at a deluxe resort for the same amount of money (assuming we could find the points to rent). However, perhaps I'll look into the AP and it's discounts as if I can get the same or similar savings I would rather book everything myself and not have to go through a third party (my husband is quite leary about doing that).

I'm so glad I learned about this place BEFORE I made my bookings! Just when I thought I had a handle on figuring this all out...guess it's back to the drawing board .

 

[druidcat]

Glad to hear that you had a great experience. Do you know her name? ( I am the unknown person I didn't know that I wasn't loged in)

Patrice...whom I need to get off the computer and call

 

[MODisneyfan]

Patrice...whom I need to get off the computer and call

OMG I use to work with her.. She is great..