Anyone book with CAA?

[Puccaw]

Just wondering if anyone has booked Disney through CAA and if they know any little tips?
Thanks

 

[irisesareblue]

I got a quote through CAA but then I called Disney direct and got a cheaper room only rate at the CAA rate.

 

[CanadianPaco]

Be sure you are dealing with an agent that has experience with Disney. When we booked our last trip, I'm sure our agent hadn't even heard of Disney! Ugh!! Very frustrating.

 

[DisneyStiles]

We have booked our trip through CAA here in Alberta and our agent has been excellent. She has did a lot of the calling and has saved us a ton of time. We leave in 15 days and it looks like we have everything we need. Also we booked two trips to DL through AMA and they have been excellent. We book our own airfare.

By the way home for us is the Annapolis Valley of NS - we were back last fall.

 

[DisneyStiles]

Noticed I put AMA in my last post - that is just Alberta Automobile Assoc. or CAA

 

[krazy4crusing]

We booked our stay and tickets with CAA. They were cheaper than Disney and they gave us a Diamond parking pass (preferred parking), story time with the princesses (DS will love this.... NOT!!!).

We have a good TA, no complaints.

 

[FirstTimeDisneyDad]

...story time with the princesses (DS will love this.... NOT!!!).

.

The CAA/AAA storytime is not necessarily with a princess. We had Peter Pan last year and I have heard of other non-princesses before (although, for the life of me I cannot remember who). Alice? Fairy Godmother?

 

[ChristinaMouse]

My family recently went to a AAA/CAA Storytime that was read by Aladdin. He was good but not as good as the Snow White we had the last time we went. We booked through CAA again for our most recent trip just to get to go to this Storytime. I think it is one of the great perks of booking with CAA.

 

[CDNCA]

We have booked our WDW and DL trips through CAA. You get all the deals from the Disney site (free dining, 5 for 3 ....) and you have an agent to iron out details such as one way Magic Express, Different hotel drop off and pick up for Disneyland Express, rental cars etc. The perks of the Diamond parking, storytime etc are nice also along with the baggage tags, summarized itinerary, help with ADR's....

We found an agent in Winnipeg who was a big help. We let her know what we want to do and she does all the up front leg work. If I want to move around ADR's, I usually call Disney Dining myself with no problems.

 

[laura001]

My family recently went to a AAA/CAA Storytime that was read by Aladdin. He was good but not as good as the Snow White we had the last time we went. We booked through CAA again for our most recent trip just to get to go to this Storytime. I think it is one of the great perks of booking with CAA.

I booked years ago with CAA and swore never to do it again! I learned my lesson after booking with an agent that said she knew Disney and really in the end had no idea I am not saying that there aren't some agents that know what they are doing.........BUT..........if I was booking a trip I would make sure that I was booking with someone that TOTALLY specializes in Disney and is willing to spend time doing and helping with my park planning, dining etc. For me, trading that off for storytime does nothing for me. Again, just my opinion!

 

[twokids0204]

We booked CAA. They were a bit cheaper then WDW.

Our agent was useless, she pretty much got us a price, but had no answers.

We wanted to make a small change after booking, she was unable to.

We got the Diamond Parking, never even used it. We used the regualr parking lots.

My kids LOVED the Story Time, ours was with Snow White. It was a small intimate meeting, and she took time with each kid. Just for that, I may book with them again.

 

[absolut_mandy]

I booked our last trip from CAA and they got us a good deal.
We were booked by a "disney expert" and I felt like I was more of an expert (thanks to the disboards).
I had to keep on her about the costs of things and the extras that she wanted to charge us.

My suggestion: if you want to get the security of booking with a travel agent, go right ahead but stay of top of all the charges. Also, most of the information that you can get from the travel agent, can be easily found out on the disboards. (just think of all the good folks on the disboards as your travel agents!)

Hope I helped a bit

 

[Remmy]

I booked my family's vacation (this past January/February 2009) with CAA. I used a local office. Our agent goes to Disney World almost every year and was very familiar with everything. I too agree, only book with people that have gone and know all about it. We did not have any extra costs that were not first quoted to us when we agreed to the package. We received a discount on the room only, as per their usual package. We went during the pay for 4 nights receive 3 free nights and a $200.00 gift card. It was still cheaper to use CAA as when the agent, and myself (double checking without her knowing) checked out that deal as well. My agent also told me if any other special deal came out after purchasing the package (eg. free dining) and it would lessen costs she would change it for the best for our family at no extra cost and refund the difference.

We loved the storytime, that she booked for us, after asking what times would be best, with Snow White. Be certain to look at the extra cut outs they have around the room that we took pictures of the children with. They had various sets up of different scenes.

We used the diamond pass the most at the World of Disney at Downtown Disney that offers a discount off your purchases. We did most of our shopping here as it was mostly the same merchandise found everywhere else but there we could receive your discount.

Do what is best for your family, research for yourself and only work with someone you feel most comfortable with.

Remmy

 

[fivebyfive]

Also, most of the information that you can get from the travel agent, can be easily found out on the disboards.

lol...I can't believe how many people who post on these boards don't know that the DIS is OWNED by a Travel Agency (Dreams Unlimited Travel).

If it weren't for them, this board wouldn't even exist. Same goes for every other major Disney Discussion board out there.

So in reality, we all need Travel Agents sorry I mean Disney Specialists a LOT more than we think we do.

 

[scoop]

do the disney characters read their story (ie snow white reads her story?). Do you know in advance which character you will have? (my daughter gets frightened by many disney stories so Id want to know in advance if its worth going for her).

ANyone take advantage of the CAA/AAA parade viewing area? worth reserving a spot for?

 

[Tinkershelly]

I have booked with the CAA office in Halifax for many years and have only had good experiences. If that's the way you want to go, or at least check out, call the office and say you are looking for a TA with a lot of Disney experience to help you. I can pm you with the name of our agent if you would like. They also have a program that they will take your passport picture for free if you have a trip planned with them. At least they used to, it's been awhile since we needed a passport pic taken.

 

[Gigi22]

We have booked with CAA, and we get a bit of a discount.
I find the discounts available for Disney a bit of a crapshoot, especially if you have to arrange air transportation from Canada as well. We all know how expensive air travel direct from Canada is.
If you receive a PIN from Disney, you can certainly do a lot better than CAA, but you can never be certain of getting a PIN you can actually use--it can be at the wrong time of year, or can cover stays at hotels you wouldn't use.

 

[Tinkershelly]

I had the TA at CAA use a pin code to book a Disney stay for me a couple of years ago, so you don't have to do that yourself either.

On the other hand I always book flights myself since the fares change by the minute the closer you get to departure. I just have to share my good fare though. I booked flights from Halifax to Orlando for late September for $419 each, all taxes in! I've never gotten any cheaper in all the years we've been going to WDW.