AAA Package Rates for Early December

[mickeysaver]

We have been dragging our feet about booking our vacation....mostly because we have not had the money for the room deposit. But, tomorrow is the day that we will make our way over to the AAA office nearby. I have never used a regular TA or an agent of AAA to book my travel. But, the MYW package with dining is a good enough deal to make me want it instead of breaking up everything into pieces and paying along the way. Less hassle and roughly the same price...it works for me.

Now, I have run the numbers off of Disney's website and we have several possible plans to choose from....some are more budget friendly than others. My question is, that while I realize that AAA has room only codes released for 2005 since late last year, does AAA apply that discounted room rate to the MYW package deals? If not, I might find that booking a room only AAA rate and paying for all the pieces to be a better deal. Does anyone know? TIA Maggie

 

[tkldisney]

I have ressie for Dec. that I booked through AAA. We did get the room discount with the dining plan. (MYW option) (For 5 of us, 3 adults & 2 children, it was 625.00 to add dining for 5 nights/6 days.) You have to include at least a one day ticket per person to be a package. We did five day hoppers which only added 5.00 per person per ticket. The discount with AAA more or less gave us one night free resort accomodation. I personally think it's worth it to book with AAA w/MYW plan.

 

[mickeysaver]

Thanks! That was exactly what I was hoping to hear. We think that this time we would like to stay somewhere a little more adult. We have stayed at ASMu and POP. We loved both, but we need a little less cute and a little more romance. We like POR, POFQ, and CSR. My hope is to book CSR with a king bed for 6 nights, 5 day Hoppers, and the dining package. It's quoted by Disney to be $1978.76 with the travel insurance for just the two of us. I am hoping that AAA can offer me a little more of a deal. My ultimate deal would be a free dining offer to come up for December, but I can't plan on that.

I will be at AAA bright and early tomorrow to meet my new TA. Maggie

 

[dpic]

I have a room only AAA ressies Dec 3-11 for a standard room at WL for $1504 (tx included). If I buy the basic 8 day MYW tickets on my own, they are $860, so my package is $2364. I checked today on a AAA MYW package through AAA. There are no standards left--just courtyard. A WL courtyard MYW AAA package without dining for the same dates is $2798. So, I'd be paying $434 for the courtyard over the standard. Having stayed in courtyard twice before, they're nice, but not over $400 nice (at least not for us). I checked on dining. Having the dining added to the AAA courtyard package (2 adults, 2 juniors 12 & 15) would add an additional $1100.

We'll be there eight days, and I figured our dining at about $800-850. For us, the amount of food with the dining plan would feed an army. We normally do one sit down or counter meal a day. If we do a character breakfast we would do a counter meal also that day, but would split the burgers. There is no way we could eat a sit-down with desert and a counter meal every day--we'd explode, and I'm a big eater. We use our fridge for breakfast then either a counter meal OR a sit-down. The nice thing about the dining package, though, is trading two meals for a premium. That's where it gets nice.

So, the final out the door price is: our self booked AAA discount standard, room only package (room-$1504, tickets-$860, food-$850) is $3214, and the AAA courtyard MYW package with dining is about $3900. If we could have gotten a standard AAA package with dining, we would have considered it because trading some of the sit-downs for premiums (Hoop De Doo, Cali Grill) would be worth it.

 

[triplefigs]

We have the AAA package plus dining for Nov 29- Dec 6 at the GF. GF GV room rate is $296.65. For 7 nights, 6 day park hoppers, and dining for 2 adults/3 children under 9 it is $4085.

The price difference for the AAA and AP rates is less than $20. We figured adding the dining with the AAA rate was a better deal for us.

 

[kath1210]

We booked a AAA MYW package for WL (standard room) with dining for December 18-24. The cost is about $2300, which is almost 300 less than the same package booked though Disney.

 

[abline]

Triplefigs you got the GF for $296.00 a night thats a great deal. Good work. How's the GF for kids? We've been shy away w/ our 6 and 4 year olds.

 

[mickeysaver]

Well, we went this morning. They did not have their Disney specialist working, she was supposed to be there, but had traded the day with someone who had no clue at all about Disney vacations. It was like we were speaking Greek to her. But, let me back up.....the first young woman we met was nice enough, but clueless about what we needed. I tried to explain what I wanted, but she wasn't listening very well and didn't really do a great job of taking notes on what we needed. She turned over our info to the clueless woman....I would give a name, but she never introduced herself. She hollared out "Where is Seacott?" We came over. She asked if we wanted room only or a package, I told her that we were there to price both at ASSp and CSR. So, then she snapped "Sit Down!" at us like we were errant mongrel dogs or something. Gabby and I just looked at one another and we knew that we would not be booking with AAA today. It was after about 30 minutes of her asking me what I wanted and then parroting it back to someone on the other end of the phone. It would have been easier to have just given me the phone, because she kept messing up what I told her and giving me the wrong quotes. UGH! At the end, I just gave up and asked if the Disney specialist would be in next week and was told that she should be there on Monday and would be able to help me over the phone.

As we left, I was so ticked off that I called Disney. I got a wonderful CM named Harriet. She gave me quotes for a room with AAA discount at ASSp for $71/nite or a king room at CSR for $119/nite. Well, $30 off of rack was good enough for me, so we booked 6 nights at CSR and purchased MVMCP tickets for 12/11. I called back later and spoke with another wonderful CM named Vera and she assisted me in the purchase of a couple of 5 day MYW PH passes. I was thinking of ordering our tickets through TicketMania, I would have saved about $20 total on the tickets, but it wasn't worth the hassle to me. So, now I know why it is that I book all my travel myself....because I know more than my average local AAA TA does about Disney. Maggie

 

[christianweecare]

So are you guys saying that you are getting the AAA rate discount on your room plus the MYW package with dining? If so, I may be checking into this down the road. We are planning a trip with a large group of our extended families for Feb. 2006. We were planning on doing the MYW package with dining for everyone but if we can get a better deal on the room part of the package through AAA, we need to investigate all our options.

 

[mickeysaver]

My experience with AAA left a lot to be desired today. Yes, I was quoted AAA package rates that included the AAA discount on the room, but oddly enough they quoted me straight up rack rates with a room only booking. Disney did give me the AAA discount today on the room only booking that I made through them.

With AAA, you milage may vary, you might want to find the Disney specialist in the office and become their friend now....because the average AAA TA is most likely as clueless as the woman that we dealt with today. Maggie

 

[christianweecare]

Thanks, Maggie. I noticed that you are in Georgia, too. We are in south GA, however, with no local AAA office. I will have to phone one of the out of town offices to try to get some information. Maybe I should ask for the Disney specialist right up front.

 

[mickeysaver]

If you call the AAA office in Tucker, GA, which is where we went today, Ms. Hunter is the Disney travel specialist there.

Tucker AAA Office
2200 Northlake Parkway
Suite 129
Tucker, GA 30084
(770) 939-7520
(770) 723-8038 - Fax

Hours Of Operation:
Monday - Friday - 8:30 am - 5:30 pm; Saturday - 9:00 am - 1:00 pm

I hope this helps. Maggie

PS. I used to live in Dublin, GA. I still have lots of friends and family there.

 

[christianweecare]

I thought about calling either the Macon or Columbus branch as both are about two hours away from us if we have to travel to either one. We are in Albany. I can't believe that a town the size of Albany would not have a AAA branch!

 

[triplefigs]

Triplefigs you got the GF for $296.00 a night thats a great deal. Good work. How's the GF for kids? We've been shy away w/ our 6 and 4 year olds.

We've never done the GF, but everyone on the GF post says it' great for kids. They have all the kids activities there (Princess Tea, Adventures in cooking, Pirate Cruise, 2 character meals). We're really looking forward to being right on the monorail, and it has a theme pool and a quiet pool.

HTH!

 

[mickeysaver]

I would call Macon. Surely, somewhere in Macon, GA there has to be a AAA Disney vacation specialist! Good luck! Maggie

 

[christianweecare]

I think you are probably right about Macon vs. Columbus. I'll try them this week. Although packages have not come out for 2006 yet, maybe I can get a feel of what kind of service/knowledge they have. Thanks for your help!

 

[tkldisney]

Our rate for the GF in Dec. is also 296.65. The discount is getting one night free for us.
I know what you mean by AAA TA's. I went to one (Lebanon, OH) and Erin quited me price, then went to another office (Middletown, OH) and the TA I spoke with didn't have a clue! I called Erin back and booked through her. I had orginally booked with CRO, room only with AAA discount, so with Erin I got same room rate that CRO gave me, then added dining and 4 day hoppers, then changed to 5 day hoppers for only 5.00 more. I am very pleased.
I'm hoping that the free dining might show up, but don't think that will happen. They are trying to fill the rooms during hurricane season, and a lot of kids are back to school during free dining offer.

 

[legalslave]

I got my package through AAA. December 6-12 at Pop, preferred room, 7 day MYW tickets, plus dining - three adults for $1,895. The same package prices out at $2,017 on the Disney website. I know $122 is not a fortune, but it sure will buy a lot of Mickey bars!!

 

[tkldisney]

Disney's still getting the $$ from us one way or another. Just not entirely on room!

 

[DznyDreams]

You know...you don't have to use a GA AAA agent if you don't want to. I found this out when I posted my own disgust with my "local" AAA TA in here in TX. You see, I live more than an hour and a half away from my "local" AAA office, and the TA didn't want to have to mail me anything. He said that he "preferred" that I pick up all trip documents, etc. in person. I didn't like this option or his personality, actually . . . . but that's another story.

Anyway, my new AAA TA is in South Carolina, and I'm more than pleased with her and her vast knowledge base concerning all things Disney!