AB trip planning

[jasper12]

Hello

We hope to go to Disneyworld Nov 6-13. Wondering if anyone has a company preference for booking a flight - best price and or service? We can fly out of Edmonton or Calgary.

Do you normally book online? Or go through an agent?

Also, do you pre-purchase all your park passes before you go or do you purchase at the gate?

TIA - Jasper (we haven't travelled for many years) Starting to get excited!

 

[Cdn Friends of Pooh]

I would suggest booking everything yourself online ... it's super easy. Just go to the airline's website and put in your dates and preferred flight times and click search - it will bring up a bunch choice of flights for you to choose from.

As for flying - we fly to WDW twice a year (May and Oct) and have found that flying on a US carrier out of Edmonton is much easier (and often cheaper) than flying on a Canadian carrier. By flying on a US carrier, you clear US customs here in Edmonton rather than having to transfer to either Calgary or Toronto, collect your luggage and go through US customs there. We've found that Delta or United have good flight choices which will get you into Orlando around 5:00 pm with one stop-over (which is good to stretch your legs).

Booking your hotel is just as easy ... if you're looking at staying at a Disney resort - just go to their website (http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/) where you can check out any special offers and price out/book your vacation (including room, tickets and dining options). If you purchase your park tickets as part of a package, you won't receive an actual park pass to use, but the park days will be put onto your resort Key to the World card. As well, if you add a dining package to your stay, your dining credits will also be put onto your Key to the World card.

Everyone who is registered for your Disney resort hotel room receives a Key to the World card. The cards are personalized for each person in your party with the dates of your stay, name, account numbers, and notations for Disney Dining & park tickets (if purchased).

The first time we headed down to WDW in 2003, we booked with a travel agent, but found that we really didn't save anything by booking with a travel agent, and have booked our own trips from then on.

 

[ABCanada]

Agree with previous poster on flying US airlines. I would add Continental to the list. Just flew down with them for a short notice trip and they were great, price was good too, $370 all in PP. Your may want to consider Alaska as well, they have an overnight flight through Seattle so you arrive first thing in the morning rather than late afternoon or evening.

While we find the US carriers fine, a couple of cautions:
-most charge for checked bags (we do carry-on so this is not a issue for us)
-most do not have back of seat TVs in fact they may not have TVs/ movies at all on the flight from Edmonton which is generally the longest leg, ok for us, DD 'does not approve'

WJ has a direct flight from Calgary, does not operate every day (They have also been offering some great flight / accommodation packages on WJ Vacations up to the end of September. So you may want to watch those for your dates.)

For park tickets if you are planning on staying at a Disney resort I would not buy my tickets in advance. Most of the deals, other than AP, require that you purchase a package which includes a park pass.

Enjoy your planning

 

[GrtWtNorth]

I also agree with previous posts, that if you have to connect, connect in the US so you don't have to handle your luggage at the connecting airport.

In addition to the US airlines already listed, check out Alaska Airlines. They normally fly at least 2 direct Seattle-Orlando flights each day, and have connector flights to numerous Canadian cities including Edmonton. (My family is using Alaska to fly out of Kelowna in the fall.)

As well as being price competitive, Alaska Airlines also uses Seattle as a hub. Compared to other hubs, Seattle has better weather and less flight traffic, therefore fewer delays (especially in winter). Your flying time will be longer, but it's less frustrating than finding yourself stuck for hours in airports like Chicago.

 

[GrtWtNorth]

Also, do you pre-purchase all your park passes before you go or do you purchase at the gate?

Two ways to save:
1. Buy from a reputable discount broker like undercover tourist. There may be a shipping charge, so check how much you're really saving.
2. Buy direct from Disney, but do it in June or July, before the annual ticket-price increases hit (usually first week of August).

We've purchased our tickets from our resort in WDW without any problem. Not that we didn't want to save, but we just didn't think the savings were worth the extra effort.

 

[jwcollin]

Totally agree with all of the above posters' suggestions! How I start, is I go to expedia and search for flights. Then I go to the individual airline companies to see if they are the same price. I have seen it all over the map!
Sometimes it is cheaper with Expedia, sometimes on the airline websites. We are going in August of this year, and this time I ended up buying one-way flights! Saved $400!

The last couple of our trips, I have booked flights and hotel seperately. Disney has always been the least expensive, with their discounts and getting the tickets as part of the package. Even after I have purchased everything, I keep going back to check prices/packages and Disney still comes in the lowest.

It does take some time, at times a little stressfull. But it is kinda fun

 

[dis_guy]

Wow, lots of good information above! I'd just add that if you're looking at United flights from Edmonton, check out the same flights on aircanada.com. I saved over $400 (for 2 persons) buying there compared to the united.ca site.

 

[jasper12]

Thank you everyone for all the suggestions.

Now I just need to sit down and figure things out!! When do you think we will need to book our flights? Dates are Nov 6-13. (We hope to use our Visa points for most of the flight bookings.)

We hope to rent a 3 bedroom condo from Windsor Hills? Does anyone have experience with this? We were thinking vacationcentralflorida.com. And with staying off site we will need a car rental too.

Sooo much to look into...but such a bad time as I'm planning our summer vacation too.

TIA Jasper

 

[Cdn Friends of Pooh]

We hope to rent a 3 bedroom condo from Windsor Hills? Does anyone have experience with this? We were thinking vacationcentralflorida.com. And with staying off site we will need a car rental too.
TIA Jasper

Since you're staying off-site you will have to pay for parking ($14/day) ... if you are planning on going to more than one park in a day, keep your parking receipt from your first park and you won't need to pay for parking at the second resort.

 

[almacdonald]

Book your flights ASAP! Especially if you're hoping to use points. We're going around the same time and the flight prices have already gone up significantly. Also, if it's possible, try to be flexible with your dates, flying on Saturdays can be expensive. Since you're only going for 7 days, I would strongly encourage you to look at WestJet or Air Canada's flight that leaves Calgary at 12:30am and arrives in Orlando in the early afternoon. You get an extra day at the parks this way. I believe they have a return flight in the evening which will allow you to enjoy the parks on your departure day too! It could be well worth the extra money to get 2 extra park days. Oh, and flying out of Calgary is usually cheaper than Edmonton.

Can't give you any advice about staying off-site. We like the perks of staying at the resort too much!

 

[drag n' fly]

Book your flights ASAP! Especially if you're hoping to use points. We're going around the same time and the flight prices have already gone up significantly. Also, if it's possible, try to be flexible with your dates, flying on Saturdays can be expensive. Since you're only going for 7 days, I would strongly encourage you to look at WestJet or Air Canada's flight that leaves Calgary at 12:30am and arrives in Orlando in the early afternoon. You get an extra day at the parks this way. I believe they have a return flight in the evening which will allow you to enjoy the parks on your departure day too! It could be well worth the extra money to get 2 extra park days. Oh, and flying out of Calgary is usually cheaper than Edmonton.

Can't give you any advice about staying off-site. We like the perks of staying at the resort too much!

Excellent advice! You have to waste a day flying it might as well be at night.
DISing from Disneyland as we speak lol!

 

[cab0899]

If you collect air miles, you can redeem them for Disney passes.

check out www.mousesavers for park passes

 

[peterandlisa]

If you book any part of your vacation through AMA you will get a preferred parking pass. Even if we purchase everything else ourselves - we purchase our tickets through AMA - I beleive there is a small discount, plus you get the preferred parking pass and a story time (which we have never used as our kids are older), as well as some other coupons. The preferred parking pass lets you park very close to the park - right next to handicapped parking. If you are driving to the parks - this is a huge perk.

 

[chimo2u]

We live in Edmonton, our first time to DisneyWorld (January '08), we flew United from Edmonton connecting through Chicago. We hated that flight, as there was NO ENTERTAINMENT for the whole flight!! With 2 teen boys that was a huge bummer on a 7.5hr flight!! Price was approximately $375.00/pp total...not bad.

Our second time to the world was just last September '09. This time I was smarter and booked us around December for a September flight. We flew AirCanada the whole way from Edmonton. Flew the red eye (12:20 am arriving in Toronto early AM and departing again around 10:00 am. ) Arrived in Orlando around 1:45pm. This was not a bad flight. Entertainment the whole way, all Canadian carrier....so much better! even flying at night everyone was so hyped up that we weren't overly tired. Flights for our family of 4 came to around $1,600.00

This upcoming trip, my son and I are going by ourselves. I have come to realize I hate transfers and I want to get there as easily and direct as possible! We have chosen to try West Jet's direct flight from Calgary (leaves on a Saturday at 9am and arrives in Orlando 5.5hrs later around 4:45 pm) no transfers, great airline...that's A+++ for us!!!
We fly out Sat. August 21 and fly home Sat. August 28th....the good thing about the return flight is it is at 5:45pm, so we get to enjoy much of our last afternoon at Universal before leaving to the airport to catch our flight.

As for pricing....I looked for a long time for this direct flight. For so long, it was never under $500.00 /pp . One day I randomly logged onto West Jet's site and saw these coveted, direct flights at $175.00/leg!!!! That's the lowest I've ever come across the tickets!! I grabbed them and our total with all taxes in was $900 ish for the 2 of us.
We are driving to Calgary and staying overnight at the Holiday Inn before flying out the next morning. We are making it part of the trip, so I don't mind travelling away from my home city for our flight this time!
I am so excited we managed to get West Jet direct flights at a decent price, as ever since I booked, I have NEVER seen the same flights less than double the price I paid!! One leg of that same flight is now over $300.00!!! So glad I jumped on it and booked when I saw it low!

Hope this helps. I think if you can find any flight from Alberta under $450.00 per person, then you are doing ok!

 

[Kat&Dom]

Thank you everyone for all the suggestions.

Now I just need to sit down and figure things out!! When do you think we will need to book our flights? Dates are Nov 6-13. (We hope to use our Visa points for most of the flight bookings.)

We hope to rent a 3 bedroom condo from Windsor Hills? Does anyone have experience with this? We were thinking vacationcentralflorida.com. And with staying off site we will need a car rental too.

Sooo much to look into...but such a bad time as I'm planning our summer vacation too.

TIA Jasper

I would look at booking your flights as soon as possible. I booked for November 10-16 on American Airlines and got our flights with all taxes for $345 CAD per person - 2 days later the flights jumped up to $787 US and now are running in the $400-$500 range. I typically check on Hotwire.com to see what airlines are showing deals then check the Airline Website too.

I am watching flights for my boss right now in October and the flights have been all over the place. On Wednesday, there were $401 with all taxes and on Thursday, there were $503. Check every day and when you see the price that you want to pay, book the tickets.

I have also had really good luck booking car rental through Hotwire.com. The thing with Hotwire.com is that you don't usually see the car rental agency until after you have booked and paid for the car rental. I like to get the car rental for $12.95 or less per day. I usually book economy and almost always have been upgraded to a mid-size. I have paid $89 for a week a couple of years ago and $150 for 8 days this past trip including all the taxes. The $89 one - I got the car rental for $8.95 per day. I am happy with $12.95 or under too. On our trip in April, it was when tonnes of Europeans were stranded due to the volcanic ash so the car rental agency was running out of cars. Because I had prepaid for my car through Hotwire, I was guaranteed my car and I did not have to wait for hours like other people. I would keep checking the car rentals but you probably won't find any super deals until about September but I am watching now for our trip just in case, a good deal comes along.

I have always stayed off-site in a timeshare rental and love the space and convenience of having full kitchen and laundry in the unit. It is also so nice to come back from park in middle of day to relax and swim with hardly any people around. We like to be at rope drop, spend a few hours, leave around lunch when it is getting hot and crowded then returning in the early evening when it is cooler. We save a tonne of money on groceries and it is nice to tour when the parks are cooler.

Oh yeah, we redeem AirMiles for our park tickets which is a huge savings. If you collect, redeem now because last year, the amount of AirMiles needed at the end of August increased by 100-150 AM. If you don't collect, sign up and start collecting - it is amazing how quickly they add up and it is free to join and redeem.

 

[Cdn Friends of Pooh]

We live in Edmonton, our first time to DisneyWorld (January '08), we flew United from Edmonton connecting through Chicago. We hated that flight, as there was NO ENTERTAINMENT for the whole flight!!

That's why we make sure to take our own entertainment

 

[chimo2u]

That's why we make sure to take our own entertainment

Unfortunately we didn't know until we were on the flight and realized there was NO radio or TV at all!! We assumed it was like all other flights we'd been on before that there was at least a tv in the seat....ended up having to rent the kids a DVD from Chicago!!! Now I only fly airlines that I KNOW offer the personal entertainment system!

ETA: I really don't want to buy 2 DVD players for all of us (we'd need 1 per 2 family members at least)...and the amount of times we fly, it only happened once on the american line, so I know to only fly West Jet or Air Canada from now on!!!

 

[irisesareblue]

Buy from a reputable discount broker like undercover tourist. There may be a shipping charge, so check how much you're really saving.

As of this week, Undercovertourist.com does not charge to ship to Canada - they are often the cheapest way to get Disney tickets, however, be aware that if you are staying onsite at Disney, you should then book "room-only" rather than getting tickets included.

You may want to subscribe to the newsletter at mousesavers.com - they then send a newsletter out on the 15th of each month with a link to even better priced tickets through undercovertourist.com

More often than not, the best (for me that would be the cheapest) way to do a trip to Disney is to book trip portions separately rather than as a package.