Anybody done land/sea package?

[InsanelyMickey]

Ok, I've tried the cruise line board and the transportation board with no luck, so I figured I'd try one last board that was somewhat related...

For anybody who has done the 4-day Land/3-day Sea package and purchased the air package from Disney, did you arrive in time to enjoy your first day in WDW? Or was your flight later in the day? DH and I will be flying Manchester to Orlando, and I just wanted to get an idea of what other people's experience was with this.

Thank you in advance to anyone who can share their experience.

 

[Familyof6]

We did the Land/Sea Pkg last May but we did NOT pay the Disney airfare...I got much better prices on direct flights on SWA Manchester/ Orlando than I could have otherwise. (Plus SWA will adjust your fare if the price goes down...you just need to call and have them book the new fare. After your trip, they will credit your card.)
We also went down one day early...11:20 flight from MHT...so we could settle in and be ready to hit MK first thing in the morning! I thought it was well worth it to do it this way and dh agreed. We've booked it again this same way for next May! (not L/S, just the parks this time)
Sorry I couldn't help with the airfare with the pkg, but perhaps you should just look into booking it yourself. That way you can pick your flights. BTW, Disney may book you out of Logan instead of MHT. They tend to book the "major" cities... and I don't think MHT would be considered a major city. Also, you may have connecting flights booking with Disney. We prefered the direct flights since we were travelling with 4 small children. (and just knowing what we were getting made it worth it to me--but I like to control my trips )

I hope this helps a bit. It's just my opinion.

Lisa

 

[InsanelyMickey]

Familyof6- Thank you for your reply and advice on the air travel. Due to my lack of travel experience, I figured I'd just let Disney do the "work" for me so that's why I hadn't really considered booking my own air. This will only be my second time flying can you believe it? And the first time was our honeymoon for which my MIL made the arrangements for us and originally had us flying into an airport that was as far away from our destination than if we just drove from home. So, needless to say, I don't have much luck in the air dept.

Thank you very much for your comments, though. It gave me something to think about

 

[DMRick]

(Plus SWA will adjust your fare if the price goes down...you just need to call and have them book the new fare. After your trip, they will credit your card.)

Wow, when did they start actually crediting your card? I've been very happy having them give me a credit (they keep it on file) toward another flight (and you have had to use it within a year). We always book, and seem to have the price go way down, and they have been the only airline that lets you get a credit..but this is even better. They have, in the past, credited back the airport fees, but this is the first I've heard that they will give you the entire difference back.

 

[Kaitysmom]

I did the Land/Sea pkg twice (fantastic! both times). The first time we went, we did the 3 day land, 4 day cruise. We were disappointed by the first day counting towards one of the days as we flew in and didn't get to our hotel until the afternoon. It was OK but it certainly wasn't a full day at a park like we had envisioned. The next time we went down, we added a couple days on the front end of our trip on our own and used the Mear's Shuttle coupon, given to us in our packet, to get to our hotel. We liked this a lot better as we didn't spend half of the trip traveling to/from instead of relaxing.

I hadn't considered booking the air part myself, I like you thought I'd let Disney do it for me. In hindsight, we could have done so much better! Good luck with your planning!

 

[InsanelyMickey]

Thanks Kaitysmom. You confirmed what I had guessed was the case - we'd be arriving in the afternoon sometime on the first day. Now I'll just hope that similar arrangements are made for us. I guess as long as it's afternoon and not late at night, we can still enjoy a lot of the attractions and/or downtown disney. It helps that DH and I are both night owls and stay up late.

Thanks for your reply.

 

[Familyof6]

I can't say for certain that SWA will actually credit your card back after your trip, but that is what I was told. We ended up having to cancel the trip on which we would have gotten all that money back...long story. We ended up using all that SWA had credited to our account. (and then some) I will just restate that "we were told" that AFTER we used our tix, our cc would be refunded the difference. (but only after we had actually travelled) Unfortunately it didn't work out that way for us. (I had gotten an incredible deal...flying from MHT to MCO for $550 for SIX of us and I had to cancel!)


Lisa

 

[Familyof6]

Just try this...go online to www.iflyswa.com and click on reservations. Choose your cities and dates. Then choose your flights from the given choices. Click to continue on with the process and it'll tell you how much it'll cost you. (No commitment yet...just info) You can think it over. If you decide to go with it, call Disney and cancel your airfare. If not, at least you have educated yourself a bit on air travel! It's worth a try. (and can save you a bunch of money that you can spend on a massage, or better yet, a surial mud bath for you and dh! )
Ok, I've pushed all I can! (no pressure, just trying to help)

Lisa

 

[InsanelyMickey]

Familyof6, good idea! (why couldn't i think of that?) I will definitely look into it. Thank you for the great suggestion. I guess I need to start traveling more to get all these "tricks of the trade" mastered, huh?

I definitely like your way of thinking on the "other" ways to spend the money saved on airfare!



Thank you!

 

[jadyson]

Just a quick tip regarding the cruise...with all the great hotel discount codes you are much better of financially to book the 3 or 4 day cruise only and then plan your land part of the trip yourself- we looked into this and we would have saved over $250!!!!!
I guess we'll know better next time.

 

[Familyof6]

We found this out too. The only time that you must book the L/S pkg is to get the bigger suites on the 3 or 4 day cruises...they only sell the suites as a pkg up until a couple months before the cruise. Then they open them up to cruise only...IF there are any left.
Also, this wouldn't be an option for InsanelyMickey anymore...I noticed yesterday that she is within the 60 period for her trip. That means final payment has been made.
Like you said, we'll know better for our next time!

Lisa

 

[InsanelyMickey]

jadyson, thanks for the tip on booking the cruise separately. If we're ever lucky enough to do this again, I'll know what other options are out there. The land/sea package seemed convenient, especially for someone with little travel experience (that would be me!).

Familyof6, you're right...this trip is paid in full so unfortunately I can't use this option this time. Since it is our only major trip in over 7 years, though, I guess I can't be too upset about the money we're spending

Thank you!

 

[jadyson]

I know what you mean about letting someone else book the package for "convenience" we did the same thing back in 1998.
Fortunately now, with the huge expansion of Disney internet discount sites we can book vacations without the travel agents (sorry to anyone who does this as a career).
I can say the same--don't know when we'll ever get to do the cruise again, but we'll know a lot more next time around.
Have a great time--it's a blast!!

 

[InsanelyMickey]

Oh my goodness, jadyson I just noticed your countdown Your trip is so close Have a great time and thanks for the tips!

 

[Familyof6]

You will have a fabulous time. Just go with a positive attitude and don't let the little things get to you. Go expecting nothing and enjoy every little aspect of your trip.
At which resort are you staying? Do you have children traveling with you? Ages?
We took our family to WDW/DCL last May for the first time. (dh and I had been to MK for one day in the mid-80's and I had been to MK in the mid-70's but all has changed so much, it really was like seeing it for the first time!) We honestly had such a "wonder"ful time! We are planning another trip this Apr/May over school vacation. I'm having a very hard time keeping it from the kids. They are catching on...seeing me back on these boards doesn't help.

Have you thought about what attractions you'd like to see or where you'd like to eat, or will you just wing it?
Once you go, I know you'll go back! DH isn't one to go places more than once. He's a been there, done that kinda guy. I must now tell you that after our last trip, he's considering making WDW an annual trip.
After 7 yrs of waiting, I hope your trip turns out just perfect!
BTW, I noticed that you're just down the street from me!

Lisa

 

[InsanelyMickey]

Familyof6-

We will be staying at the Polynesian. We do not have any kids yet. I always said this was the one trip I wanted to get in before the kids came along (So, you probably know what's next on the "agenda" when we get back )

As for the attractions, I've already done a list of things I'd like to see in each park DH has been to WDW several times, so he helped in determining the "good" things to see during a "limited time" trip. He hasn't been for many years, though, so I'm sure he'll see lots of stuff he hasn't seen before also. As far as eating, we have a PS for Crystal Palace breakfast on its first day reopening for breakfast after refurb. Also, another PS for breakfast at Chef Mickey's As for lunches and dinners, we're planning on doing the "cheap" fast food alternative while in WDW since we'll have the "good" sit down meals on the ship. (This is our one attempt at trying to keep a budget, ha!)

That's great that you're planning another vacation in the Spring! Are you planning on keeping it a surprise for your kids? Or just waiting until it's closer to tell them? Good luck whichever option you choose

Thank you so much for all the well wishes for our trip. Yes, we have waited a long time for this and although I'm doing a lot of "planning" now, I do not plan on stressing out while I'm down there. If I don't get to see everything, we'll just have to plan to go back

I notice you're in NH, where abouts?

Carrie