Anyone used mousesavers , discount codes or booked D.I.Y from the UK?

[Korbs]

I think i must be going mad, I'm becoming addicted to just planning my disney holidays!

So, i've already booked for sept 2004, booked a package through a travel agent. I'm not planning to book for 2005 yet but i'm just starting to gather information as i've decided i'm going to go the d i y route and have no idea where to start. I will be going beginning/mid september (usually just after labour day weekend).

Hotel
The most important thing i wanted to know was can you use the discount codes from mousesavers (or elsewhere) to book hotels (onsite) from the uk?
And how do you do it? Is there a number to phone from the UK or do you have to phone the US?
Do you pay by credit card over the phone or do you have to pay a deposit, and the balance when you get there? (I'd prefer to have it all paid by the time i get there!)

Flights
Is it best to book flights or accomodation first?
Is it generally cheaper to book them way in advance or last minute?
Am I better off trawling the travel agents or the net for the best prices?

Timing
To book d i y, is it generally better to book a year or so in advance or just a few monthes, bearing in mind that september isn't that busy and i want to use the codes for the hotels?

Do you generally find a large price difference in a package through a travel agent and doing it d i y?

Our 2004 trip has cost £7900 for six (4 adults, 1 teen, 1 kid) for two weeks at AKL, flying wirgin and including ultimate park hoppers and 5 day flexitickets (no car hire). I dread to think what i could have saved doing it d i y! It's gonna take me the year and a half advanced booking to pay it off! 2005 will be just 2 adults but there's no way we can afford to pay those prices again per person. 2004 will be our first stay onsite and i'm already addicted, there's no way i'll go back offsite now!

Please give me an idea how much you guys generally save, so i know if it's worth the hassle.

Thank you so much for your help in advance, and i'm sorry this is so longwinded!

Many Thanks
Karina

 

[snookhams]

We have taken to DIY holidays to Florida and am in the process of planning for 2 more, I generally start about a year in advance, but because we can only go during school holidays I book my Villa asap, next years villa has been booked for a year already and we are just looking at booking 3 weeks in July/August 2005, I have found it cheaper to book flights as soon as they start selling seats for them, which is about 11 months before you intend to go other things like car hire and tickets can obviously be organised a little nearer the time, we have found it easier to book and pay for your car hire in full here in the UK it saves time and none of that extra insurance they try so hard to sell you. But you will enjoy it we find that alot of the pleasure is in the organising and being in control.

 

[AlexE]

We usually go the DIY route.

Flights first or preferable a flydrive - easy in our case as only 2 adults the children have flown the nest and dont want to holiday with the oldies anymore. I dont know if it would be easier to book flight and car separately or not, maybe?

Then a villa - some will say it just makes it expensive - we have done disney for many years so this is not our prime 'thing to do' when holidaying in Orlando. We can usually get a 3 bed villa for between £325 to £425 depending on time of year. We managed to get a 3 bed villa over christmas for £450 per week including pool heating.

Its probably not the cheapest option but it suits us better than a hotel. We are not big eaters and prefer to be able to eat a 'light salad' by the pool rather than visiting the restaurants with the huge portions - never managed to find a small portion for a meal in 15 years+.

We do not visit the parks to the extent that we used to when the children were younger but we have an annual pass at the moment so this will be our 3rd trip since Christmas. We just love the atmosphere, relaxation and of course the climate.

Hope this helps

AlexE

 

[Goofyish]

We booked our Disney accommodation through DreamsUnlimited - they are very good and will keep a check for any discount codes that become available and apply them to your booking - all for free!

 

[signtalker]

Again, were another family who book 11 months out(flight first), its easier to work acc round flights rather than the other way round!.

£7900!!!!!!!!!!!! WOW thats alot of money, Id want 3 holiday to WDW for that LOL.

Jules

 

[LINCLAIRE]

I'm all for DIY planning.
We are going in January 04 and it is costing us just over £6000 all in and that is for 12 people ( only 3 are classed as kids).
This price includes 7 bedroomed villa, flights and car hire, overnight airport stay at Gatwick Hilton, airport lounge on return and theme park tickets and also a bus to get us to the the airport whick will take 3 hours!!.
The 4 of us went last September with Virgin as a package holiday and it cost us £2000 with no tickets.
We could have made this holiday a lot cheaper than £6000 but we decided on a little bit of luxury this time!!
I have found Mousesavers really useful, especially with the special offers you can get through Ticketmania.
Lin xx

 

[Peebee]

Hi Karina,

Just a suggestion for you: if you think your Disney addiction is set to continue (like so many of us here !), and you're looking to stay on-site in future, it might be worth looking into the Disney vacation club. If you're into spending time at the deluxe Disney resorts each year (or even every other year), it will most likely save you money in the long-run.

If you want any more info, feel free to drop by the UK DVC board http://www.disboards.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=61

Paul

 

[Lobey]

Karina,

Sometimes things aren't so clear cut. Last time round I decided to go the diy route but ended up doing it all through a travel agent. Here's why.

I started with the flights, deciding first that I wanted to go on scheduled flights as opposed to a charter. This means you can not book your flight until 11 months before your return date. On the first day I could book I shopped round to find the cheapest price which was from USAirtours (now TravelPlanners) and phoned them to book a flight only. Their agent was quite happy to take a flight-only booking but offered a huge discount if I booked accomodation and car with them too. There was no pressure from them and I took some time to check things out. And what I discovered was that although I could get a car and accomodation for less than they had quoted me, overall there was no way a diy approach could beat the total price they quoted. So I just went ahead and booked everything through them...

Paul

 

[BevS97]

I have booked using mousesavers codes. We stayed at AKL last year, I called CRO directly - it is an US number, but phone calls to the USA are not that expensive.
I had a code which I quoted and they gave me the rate Mousesavers had quoted, so I was quite happy.
I had to pay the first night in advance, and then the balance at the hotel when we arrived. I presume you could pay in advance if you wanted to. I didn't ask as I didn't want to.

Flights - I always book my flights first, you can get great deals on accomodatoin, but flights are expensive and it's much harder to get a good price, so I look for them first.

Someone mentioned villas - we have started staying condos, and compared to the price of a hotel room, especially onsite, I think they are very cheap. I like staying onsite too, so we split our stay, 10 days offsite in a condo and 3 or 4 nights onsite someplaces nice. That way we get the best of both worlds.

Bev

 

[susie2]

hi does any one know if you can pay the nights deposit on a disney hotel with a debit card and not a credit card it is a visa debit card from abbey national also will they let us pay the balance on this card when we arrive, hope this makes sense! thanks susie

 

[mike230652]

susie2

Don't know if they'd accept a debit card...........BUT!!


Florida hotels tend to take your card details to confirm the booking............and don't charge until you've arrived so why not take out a credit card for the holiday only? What we did last visit was to join American Express, use the card for just about everything on holiday ( including Illuminations Cruise @ 10% discount, petrol, food etc )...then paid it off when we got the bill.

We'll be doing the same this November, most credit cards are accepted in Florida..........and sure as heck Amex is!


Hope this is of some help
mike230652

 

[psharrock]

susie2

As long as your card has a VISA logo on it, then it will be accepted in the US

Paul

 

[wee-haggis]

Just a humble opinion from an ex-pat now in Canada.
For the second year in a row we are doing everything DIY.
There is no comparrison money wise (to packages).
Everything was booked online including flight,villa,vehicle,Sea World,Cirque Du Soliel,Disney etc ,etc.(the secret is shopping around and using the available codes etc).
Its hard to give an accurate $ difference between online and travel agency/packages, but I would estimate it to be somewhere in the region of 35% saving doing it DIY (plus unlike a package ,you actually get exactly what you want).
The actual time involved in setting it up was over 2 weekends and its worked out great so far.
Total for Villa,Minivan and flights for 3 adults and 2 children for 10 days (ie:equivalent of basic package) = $3,550Canadian (about 1430 pounds).
Now, I realize that the flights from Toronto are quite a bit cheaper than flights from UK ,so its not really a fair comparrison.
(without the flights ...$1760 or 720 pounds).
Admittedly its not a Disney Hotel but it is a highly recommended ,reputable 3 bedroom villa.
The last word I got from (what used to be) our local travel agent......"We just can't compete with online companies".
Sadly for them its true...but for us its great!

 

[vernon]

I think i must be going mad, I'm becoming addicted to just planning my disney holidays!

Well you've found the right place for plenty of company/kindred spirits LOL.

Your 2005 trip, will that be within 12 months of your 2004 trip? if so look at getting annual passes for Disney (or at least one AP). You can usually get some great deals with an "annual pass rate" at many of the Disney hotels and it should save you money over buying UMP's for both trips. To get "AP rate" you only need one Annual Pass in the group.

Flights.
It can be time consuming to continually check on the "going rate" but if you're flexible and go outside of school holidays you should be able to pick up some great deals. Knowing what is a good deal is a good place to start. BA is offering some good deals at the moment to put you in the ball park, I picked up a flight to Miami for early Dec for £234 (inc taxes). It's rare to get a deal below £200, IMHO anything less that £250 for the dates you want to travel is worth booking, it's unlikely you're going to save much more than £50 per person from that rate. It's worth registering with Expedia and Ebookers so they email you with any deals that crop up (although it does add to your "junk mail").

Hotels
If you want to stay on site I would look at using Dream Unlimited who are part of this site, they will match any deal that Disney's CRO offer at that time, but unlike CRO they will regularly check your booking to see if there is a better rate for your bookings and reapply when that is possible. IMHO you have no downside to using Dreams and they will do the work ( and negate the cost of you calling to check any new rates) to try and get you a better rate. If you plan to visit USF I would think about spending a couple of nights (more if you plan to visit SW) at one of the excellent Universal hotels. Price and quality they are similar to the Disney hotels, but the front of the line access at the Universal parks is worth it's weight in gold IMHO. Plus it gives you a nice change of venue and the chance to eat out along I-Drive or citywalk.

While it is possible at times to get some good deals package, generally they work on "family of four" and usually are value for money only if staying off site. I would guess that usually booking "DIY" can save about 30-35% on booking through a TA.

 

[Penny12]

The only time I've not done DIY is my very first trip. I doubt very much if I'll ever buy a package again!

I've used Car rental codes from Mousesavers. (I have annual car insurance and on this occasion didn't have a flydrive but needed a car for about a week of my trip) and it was fine.

I've never used room codes, but as stated you definately can. I've never used Dreams myself except for Disney Cruises because I own in the DVC (Disney timeshare), but if I didn't I'd probably go that route because it would be easier than having to keep re-checking for better codes and I'm pretty lazy, hehehe. The reason why I mention this is because you were asking about best times to book your hotel, a long way out or a couple of months before. Basically, book your dates early, and then when the codes come out they can be applied to your booking - you can do this over and over again in theory. In other words, when you book your room, you are only locked in on price if rates go up - if the price drops, you can apply the later discount and it can get cheaper. This is <b>the</b> major difference between booking direct and booking a package, once you pay the deposit you are locked in on a package price - even if it later goes down. However, if hunting down discounts is something you prefer (and enjoy) to do yourself, then there is no reason not to

Oh, and remember tax. Rates mentioned on Mousesavers, or quoted by CRO are <i>before</i> tax. Dreams, travel agents, etc. They normal give quotes <i>including</i> tax I think. Don't want that to catch you out!

Last of all, I nearly always book my flight first as this is the part that you need most flexibilty on in order to get the best price. However, as you can change room reservations without penalty (though you risk losing a room code), there's nothing to stop you doing it the other way round without too much headache

 

[BevS97]

we used a debit card all the time, as someone else says, as long as it has the Visa logo on it, they have no idea if it's a credit or debit card, nor do they care.

Bev

 

[Korbs]

Thanks for all your excellent info, it is very much appreciated.

Just one more question!

Are the room rates that are quote in dollars (on mousesavers for instance), per room or per person?

Thanks
Karina

 

[Mark&Jackie]

I agree with all the DIY folk - it's half the fun of the trip as it gets you in the Disney mood ages before you actually arrive.

We've been planning our June 2004 trip since January of this year and although we haven't got any further than booking the villa, I've gathered a huge amount of material.

In 6 days time I hit the 330 day mark for flight bookings - that's 330 days from the day of return.

At the moment I think it's going to work out cheaper for me to book my flights through my travel agent rather than online but I think that's more to do with the fact that we're travelling from so far away - if I were travelling from the UK then I'd definitely book online.

Have great fun planning Korbs - it definitely helps to cover the time between thinking about going and actually getting there which can be a helluva wait if you're planning a year in advance.

Take care
Jackie

 

[vernon]

Karina, in the US the usual way for the rate to be quoted is for the room. This usually means for up to 4 people in 2 double or queensize beds. If you use a company like Priceline or Hotwire they don't guarantee that you will get two beds though, it is possible that you'd only get a room that's for two people (i.e one bed) , although all the times I've used their system I have received what I would consider a "standard" American hotel room with two beds, with the exception of the times I've called the hotels direct, after the booking and requested to have one kingsize bed instead.