AAA vs. separate

[la79al]

I know if we want dining, we have to book a package. But if we are skipping the DP this trip, is it cheaper to get everything separately? I can still get the AAA rate on room only and then get tix through UT and save a little bit of money. My AAA people know NOTHING so there's really no benefit to booking through them.

 

[Maggie'sMom]

You can book a room-only reservation with the AAA discount through Disney directly. So yes, it would be cheaper if you don't want the dining plan to book separately and get the tickets through UC.

 

[brentalex]

This is how we usually book our vacations. Book through disney using the AAA discount on the room and then buying our tickets separately.

 

[Mermaid2sea]

How much is the AAA discount?

 

[ncdisneygal]

This is what I have read for AAA room only discounts:

Value Season: 15% off Value, Deluxe & DVC
20% off Moderate & FW
Regular Season: 10% off Deluxe & DVC
10-15% off Value, Moderate, FW
Peak/Summer Season: 10% off all resorts
Holiday Seasons: Blacked out

FYI, Travel agents can also book your AAA room only discount, even if they are not with AAA.

 

[momof2minnies]

I am booked over Thanksgiving this year with AAA through Disney.

 

[floridascgirl]

We, too, booked our December trip through Disney using our AAA discount. We will either get our tickets through UT or our local AAA office (the cost is basically the same, I believe).

 

[NorweJenNY]

This is what I have read for AAA room only discounts:

Value Season: 15% off Value, Deluxe & DVC
20% off Moderate & FW
Regular Season: 10% off Deluxe & DVC
10-15% off Value, Moderate, FW
Peak/Summer Season: 10% off all resorts
Holiday Seasons: Blacked out

FYI, Travel agents can also book your AAA room only discount, even if they are not with AAA.

If you want to go during the FREE DINING promo...

For the most part, if you're staying at a value, the discounted room & ticket prices won't compare to the food savings if booking rack rates and full priced tickets.

Really... say the room is $100 rack rate (pretty close estimate for value season in a preferred room... round numbers are easiest to work with here) and Disney gives you $15 off per night for AAA. (Going by the info given by ncdisneygal... thank you!)

Each ticket, you might save $2-3 per person per day. (Maybe $10 total per day.)

If you're a family of 4, you might save a total of $25 per day doing these separately bought pieces ($15 room savings + $10 ticket savings)...

Chances are that you won't feed your family of 4 for a full day for $25, unless you get by on water and smuggled in bags of cereal... Even just one CS meal for such a family is going to be more than that $25.

The AAA savings might be worth while if you intend to stay at higher level resorts, however.

If you stay at the Polynesian with a rack rate of $355/nt, you'd save $53 for the room for the night, plus your $10 for tickets, meaning you have $63 in savings to spend on food... this still cuts it close to plan $63 for a family of 4 for meals for a day, but it is possible with some creativity. I just think that if you're going to be that frugal with your funds, you probably wouldn't be staying at the Polynesian in the first place!

It really comes down to this: how much do you budget for meals for your family for one whole day in Disney?

 

[NorweJenNY]

To add to my previous post (as I first thought you mentioned the free dining period, but you didn't)...

As long as there is no free dining promo when you go, by all means pay separate with AAA discounts instead of booking a package. Though I wouldn't be surprised if Disney offers some more nice packages later this year... they've been really good lately!

Keep your eyes open for deals for when you are traveling! The AAA rate doesn't compare to the savings offered by Disney for our summer and fall trips this year!

One more thing... if you hold off on getting your discount tickets a bit, you can still book a AAA room-only for your dates now, but just wait until WDW announces more package deals to see if it's worth it to keep your room-only and go through with the discount ticket purchase.