Am I getting a good deal?

[msjovanna]

Not my first time on the boards, but my first time posting a message. All the info is so helpful. We will be going to WDW July 21-26 . 2 Adults and 4 children. We will be staying at HIFS. I booked through a travel agency. For roundtrip airfare, hotel, rental van, 6 park-hopper plus passes, insurance and taxes, I got a price of $4200. Does anyone have any comments on that price? Could I pay cheaper if I did everything separate on my own.

 

[BethR]

Congratulations on delurking msjovanna!

I priced out a few things and it seems like you did not do too badly with your price. Here is how I figured things.

I took your $4200 price and subtracted about $350 for the van (the price I got using a code Dollar including taxes, etc.)

I subtracted the price of your tickets with prices from Ticketmania using 3 adult hoppers and 3 child hoppers (If all of your kids are 9 and under, or if you have someone under the age of 3 then it would be less, if your have more than one 10 and above it would be more.)

I subtracted the price that I found on DreamsRes for your dates at HIFS.

The remainder - $1376 - is what would be your airfare. Now depending on where you are flying from, or if you could find a really good price, you might have done better there - that is $229 per per ticket. We are paying $186 from Pittsburgh.

Also, if you were doing it yourselves, I would suggest the 5 day hopper plus pass to save money. You are going to be at WDW for 6 days - but I doubt if you will go to the major parks all 6 days. But if you don't you WILL have a day (or more) to save to go back with!

All of the pricing that I did was discounted, so I think you did pretty well.

Hope that you have a great time!

 

[DisneyKidds]

You could probably save a couple hundred if you booked seperately.

Delta r/t air from Newark for your dates is $215. For six $1,290.
HIFS is $149 per night for your dates. 5 nites w/ tax is $ 833.
6 Day National Minivan rental with DC contract would be $ 275.
6 Five Day Park Hopper Plus passes for 2 ad and 4 kids $1,366.

That is a total of $3,764 without insurance. Figure a couple hundred for that and you would be around $4,000.

Doing it yourself usually requires a little work, but you usually come out better on price. For some, it is worth a couple hundred for the convenience. Personally, I like to do it myself and save the $$$$. $200 would cover a couple of meals.

 

[BethR]

DisneyKidds,

Just curious, where did you see the price of $149 at HIFS? I priced it at DreamsRes and it was $169 per night.

Also, the price of your van with the DC, does it include taxes and all of the other charges? Those additional things add about 27% to the price of a car rental out of MCO.

I completely agree that I would prefer to do things myself if I can save almost ANY kind of money. That is how I always think too - "That money saved can pay for meals!"

 

[DisneyKidds]

I found the $149 for HIFS on Travelocity. The National rate for the van was inclusive of all taxes and fees. Given that it probably only took me 15 minutes to find all the info that I did, it really isn't that much "work" to save the money. With a little more "work" - like digging out a coupon for the car rental and ordering passes through Connections, looking for cheaper airfares (Delta was the first I checked) - even more could be saved.

 

[megnsamsgrace]

rate for HIFS? I looked for our trip in October and I am getting a rate of under $80... not including taxes... Steph

 

[BethR]

Thanks for the info DisneyKidds! I will have to take a look at National myself. Actually the price that I stated for the van was the price that I got for my family for a week and a day. So msjovanna's price should be less.

Interesting that Travelocity beat DreamsRes.

You know where I would be booking...

Steph, I did not know that HIFS was included in the Entertainment book.Do you know if there are blackout periods for the Entertainment rate there?

 

[megnsamsgrace]

I dont know about blackout dates... HIFS is not listed in the back of the book with the FL hotels that are available. I sent an email and called and both times given the same rate with the entertainment rate... try www.entertainment.com and see if you can get it to come up searching hotels... Steph

 

[megnsamsgrace]

Here, I couldnt remember how she told me to go about finding the entertainment rate...

Arrival Rate:68.00 USD for a NS suite (same for smoking suite)

Arrival Rate:73.00 USD 1 bed NS or king bed kid suite

Go to http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/h/d/HI/hd/disfs and when you look for rates on the left, click "enter card" that is the entertainment rate... HOPE THIS HELPS!!

Arrival Rate:68.00 USD
Rate Type: ENTERTAINMENT CARD
Rate Information

~Steph

THe dates you entered above this is what I get
Arrival Rate:94.50 USD
Rate Type: ENTERTAINMENT CARD
Rate Information
Suite-Feature

Arrival Rate:99.50 USD
Rate Type: ENTERTAINMENT CARD
Rate Information
1 King Bed KidSuite

"ENTERTAINMENT CARD

RATE:
99.50 USD PER ROOM, PER NIGHT
TAX: 11.50% PER NIGHT AND NOT INCLUDED IN RATE EFFECTIVE JULY 21, 2003 THRU JULY 26, 2003
EXCLUDES GRATUITY

RULES:
- COUPON/VOUCHER REQUIRED
- ID Required
-CHECK-IN TIME: 04:00 PM
-CHECK-OUT TIME: 11:00 AM

CANCELLATION POLICY:
IF YOU NEED TO MODIFY OR CANCEL YOUR RESERVATION, PLEASE DO SO BEFORE 6:00PM (LOCAL HOTEL TIME) ON JULY 21, 2003 OR YOUR CREDIT CARD WILL BE BILLED FOR THE FIRST NIGHT."

 

[cpl100]

Hi,

I am new to this board and would like to know what was meant by this in the above post: ordering passes through Connections

I belong to a Connections group where I order movie passes. Would this be the same place? Would you know if this is the best place to get discount Disney/Universal passes?

Thanks!

 

[DisneyKidds]

I belong to a Connections group where I order movie passes. Would this be the same place? Would you know if this is the best place to get discount Disney/Universal passes?

Hopefully for you it is the same 'Connections'. The service I belong to used to be Connections123.com. It has since been rolled into DealPass. The Connections service I belong to does provide discount movie tickets, 20% off restaurant gift cards at many places, 20% off gift cards for places like ToyRUs, etc. Also included in the discounts are "Attraction" discounts. These attraction discounts included WDW park hoppers, as well as WDW meal vouchers. The prices for park hoppers are very good, and the meal vouchers can be a great deal as well. I think they offer Universal passes as well, but I'm not sure on pricing. Hopefully it is the same Connections, and good luck.

 

[lynniepooh]

I believe an individual can almost always get better deals than going thru a travel agent. It may require some research but it is usually worth it. Check out mousesavers.com Also, check out vacation home rentals...a great deal and a great treat for a family...lots of room and usually a private pool!(floridavacationhomes.com)