Anyone here book thru Costco?

[darlenesmommy]

Do the prices seem good or is it chaper to book thru the hotel we want to stay at and buy the tickets thru disney. We are going to do goofys kitchen and ariel's grotto. The toon town morning madness sounds fun for my 4 year old so I would like to do that. If I dont book thru Costco how would I get the tickets for that? We are going on a budget and just making sure I get the best deal for hotel, tickets things like that. Are the prefered seating at certian things worth it or things I would do with a 4 year old. We will have 2-4 adults and 2 kids 4 years old and 4-5 mos old.

 

[TechGuy]

I bought my entire package (hotel/park hoppers/premium character meal) thru Costco. They are simply an agent for Walt Disney Travel, as are many of the other companies.

My Costco package included the Premium Character meal and was less expensive than my CSAA quote.

 

[erinbharris]

I booked through them, no problems yet--we haven't got our package but everything seemed great. The emails are all from Disney travel.

 

[TechGuy]

I forgot to mention, you get several freebies (including preferred seating at Aladdin and the Animation class) that I feel would be worth a little extra expense.

The whole package with live park tickets, hotel voucher, premiums, dinner vouchers was UPS'd to the house. Very simple process. A couple keystrokes on the computer and it was delivered to the house.

 

[so_oregon]

I booked through costco, extra benefits were premium character dining with gratuities included and a $25 gift card.

the toontown entrance is not available unless you buy a package through a travel agent...i.e, AAA or Costco. Period. Also you get early entrance one day and you can't get that without package or staying onsite.

free lanyard/pass holder as well with pin and lovely lovely preferred/priority seating at Aladdin where we did NOT have to wait in line and right next to us in line was Jennette McCurdy from iCarly!

 

[carolinamama]

We, too, booked through Costco. Like PP said, they're just basically a travel agent. When you book online, you actually go in through the Costco website and end up on the Disney website. We got the same 5 for 3 price for GCH that we would have gotten going straight through Disney, but we got all the extra perks the others have mentioned, most notably the premium dining vouchers for our choice of character meal (we're using them for Goofy's Kitchen). You don't get the vouchers if you go straight through Disney.

We got our tickets/voucher package a week ago via UPS.

 

[bumbershoot]

We booked through them for our '07 trip.

Ultimately, price-wise, we could have done better just booking the hotel at an AP rate (we knew we were upgrading anyway) and buying the AP. But then, it was good for us to know what a package deal was like...

You can only get ToonTown Morning Madness vouchers if you book a package via an agent that uses WDTC (so Costco, AAA, disneyland.com are the biggies for that) or if you buy them on ebay (not worth it IMO) or plunk your name on the big list we have going here and hope that your name comes up before you go. We went, we were "family of the day" for it, and it's really not that big of a deal. Little song and dance, then off you go to the two rides or into Mickey's house to meet him.

The Aladdin priority seating...it depends on when you go, but we used our vouchers for that in early December. We had to check in an hour or so early, then come back and we waited in the preffered seating line for ages. The standby line people went to their line later and got in FIRST. Then the seating area is the "orchestra" seating area, which means that you've got things going on up *above* you, which is NOT the best way to see the big elements of the show! I would go for the standby line in the future, and sit up in a balcony, to get a better seat. The Animation seating thing (and Turtle Talk) went unused, as there was simply no need. We've never had to wait more than one "cycle" for either of those things (the seating voucher wouldn't get you into a show that already started anyway so you'd still have to wait if you walked up just as a show started), and we've now gone to the Animation Academy at nearly all times during the year...Dec, Sept, March, May, June...

However, I know these things b/c I did the package deal!

Costco's prices were about even with the costs of the other packages, taking the included character meal into account. At that time, for the pckage I was booking.

YOu have to go through and figure out where you want to stay, when you want to go, and how long you want to be there, and then figure out the prices for your exact stay, to determine what's the best deal for your own vacation. Why? Because others have found Costco to be a better deal than the rest, while others have found it to be a bad deal, and it all depends on the exact, specific vacation you are taking. So do the homework, including booking things separately, and pick which one is right fo ryou!

Little hint, though, when you find what you want and the price is right, BOOK IT. I waited just one extra night...when I woke up the next morning and went to book, everyone's prices had gone up across the board. And this was booking in March for a September trip!

 

[darlenesmommy]

We are not going untill May or June of 2011 but Im a planner and have things planned or priced as far out as I can. We did pick out the 2 hotels we like so now we just need to pick one. I did price one out thur costco (checked a date for next month) and it was around $1900 for myself, dh and our 4 year old. That was for RI resort area. RI maingate is the other one on our list. For maingate I got $1705. Im guessing they will go up for next year but it may be worth it just for the few extra perks and really just to have to put my c.card in once not many times. I hate putting it online on sites.

 

[jacobsmommy]

We booked a Costco trip for the first time this year. We leave on Tuesday. Our stuff came UPS a few weeks ago. I was even able to call Costco and add another character meal to our trip. Very easy and it seems like you get great perks. The luggage tags they send you are very nice and cute too!

 

[aristocat65]

Costco's prices were about even with the costs of the other packages, taking the included character meal into account. At that time, for the pckage I was booking.

YOu have to go through and figure out where you want to stay, when you want to go, and how long you want to be there, and then figure out the prices for your exact stay, to determine what's the best deal for your own vacation. Why? Because others have found Costco to be a better deal than the rest, while others have found it to be a bad deal, and it all depends on the exact, specific vacation you are taking. So do the homework, including booking things separately, and pick which one is right for you!

I agree. For my dates, I priced out packages on the Disney website, and booking hotel and tickets separately (I'm looking at Disney hotels only), then went to the Costco booking engine and the prices were exactly the same as the packages through Disney. Of course the added bonuses make Costco a better deal with the Character dining and the gift card.

One question though. Does anyone know if the Character dining can be used for non-character meals? We don't have little ones anymore and would prefer that. I was thinking Storytellers, but at the dinner buffet which is non-character.

 

[Mary09]

I priced out our July 2010 vaca both through Costco and not. For the Disney hotels it was a better deal. For Good Neighbor hotels, they didn't have the hotels we wanted and the hotels they did have the deal seemed no better than anywhere else.

If you're going on a budget, I'd recommend staying offsite. We switched from GC to Tropicana and gave up almost no distance to the esplanade (depending on GC room) but saved liked $120/night each room. Times 4 nights, time 2 rooms = $960. I guess if you've only got a night or two and need to Disney it up 100% though, onsite is great. We choose more nights, less Dis.

 

[bumbershoot]

We switched from GC to Tropicana and gave up almost no distance to the esplanade (depending on GC room) ...

I think you'll find that the distance to the esplanade from the Tropicana is going to be less than the distance from even the exit from the Grand to DTD (to get to the esplanade). So if it's short distances you want, I think you've made a terrific decision!

 

[maryland24]

We book tru costco and LOVED it! everything was so easy. When adding hotel and tickets it was cheaper to do a package. With costco the extras are: luggage tagas, Mickey Toontown Morning madness (my girls really liked it) preffered seating for Aladding (we were on the third row), a $25 disney gift card and of Course a premium character dinning (we did Ariel's Grotto) and believe me at the end of our lunch total was $129 so using our vouchers and been told you are set was great!!

We stayed at the fairfield inn and total was like $89 night including tax. The hotel package included a medium pizza and two drinks. A free movie and a bag of popcorn. We were told parking was $8 per day but at check out we didn't have to pay!!

Our package arrive on the mail on time and we had everything we needed inside. I say go for it! Good Luck

 

[jacobsmommy]

We are staying at the Fairfield Inn too! I wonder if we'll get a free pizza... Did you know about the pizza/popcorn/movie freebees beforehand?

 

[maryland24]

We are staying at the Fairfield Inn too! I wonder if we'll get a free pizza... Did you know about the pizza/popcorn/movie freebees beforehand?

costco didn't told me but I read it here!! but I wasn't 100% sure so I didn't tell my husband. I was nervous about picking this hotel but it was great, so close to Disneyland. When we arrived they told us parking wasn't included in the package but at check out we didn't owe anything so I guess it was.

have fun! I miss disneyland so much

 

[Mindy71]

Same with us when we stayed at the Fairfield a few months ago. We booked our package through Costco as well. We were never charged for the parking and got all the freebies too!!

 

[masonite]

I searched nearly every option available [booking through disney, booking packages, etc.] and we ended up booking our package [hotel [onsite], park hoppers, etc.] through Costco, and our flight through Jet Blue. We ended up spending $4 more than if we had booked the whole package through JetBlue [like we have in the past], but we came out on top with the character meals and gift card!

Our trip isn't until September, so we haven't recieved anything in the mail yet!! Can't wait!

 

[guarian22]

Did a little research after reading this thread (since yes I'm already thinking about my next trip in May '11) and it looks as if Costco packages will result in the same price and Disneyland.com packages, with the same benefits of the Disney package (early morning, TTMM, luggage tags, priority seating) plus you get a premium character meal and a disney gift card thrown in by Costco. These two extras can add up, since the premium character meal is like $38 adults and $24 (I think for kids). So it looks like Costco is probably the best choice. I'll have to remember that when it comes time to book for next year.

Happy Planning!!

 

[Mindy71]

It's a great deal. For my family, our trip to Goofy's Kitchen would've cost us $160. How can you pass that up?!

 

[Mary09]

I think you'll find that the distance to the esplanade from the Tropicana is going to be less than the distance from even the exit from the Grand to DTD (to get to the esplanade). So if it's short distances you want, I think you've made a terrific decision!

That's terrific! Thanks! I was just going by aerial views of the area. I've never stayed at the Trop.

For us the character meal or TTMM weren't something we'd do anyway, so the Costco deal was no great loss. It IS a great deal, though once you figure it includes parking and taxes and resort fees and gift cards and all. I wound up booking through Getawaytoday and didn't love the little charge they tacked on the end, though it was a good enough deal it was no big problem.

We've stayed at the Fairfield before and liked it a lot. One trip we used up my Marriott Rewards there for a couple nights then moved to the cheaper, closer Desert Inn & Suites and it was a big step down.