Bibs through Travel Agents - CHANGES

[Ariel484]

Read the following on Facebook:

Packages (EDIT: I think this applies to WDW only but I am not sure about that - this particular post was talking about 2016 Wine & Dine and 2017 Princess packages) will include the following:

• 2-night minimum stay at a Disney resort
• Race registration(s) for up to 2 runners per room
• Minimum 2-day Park Hopper at a slight discount
• Tickets may be upgraded
• Tickets "expire" (guessing they have to be used during the race weekend)
• Tickets MAY NOT be transferred to another person
• Resort reservation numbers will be given within 2 weeks of booking
• Dining plan can be added

Unfortunate change for Annual Passholders since the included ticket cannot be transferred!

 

[Z-Knight]

Is this for both World and Land?

World usually had 2 day min stay - no tickets.

Land had tickets - no stay. And if land now requires stay how can they do that when there is no way they have enough room at Disney resorts for all the people.

 

[Ariel484]

Is this for both World and Land?

World usually had 2 day min stay - no tickets.

Land had tickets - no stay. And if land now requires stay how can they do that when there is no way they have enough room at Disney resorts for all the people.

I'm guessing it's for WDW only - the post where I read this was talking about bibs for Wine & Dine and Princess, so I'll update that in my post.

The non-transferable tickets point was what stood out to me the most.

 

[Z-Knight]

Yeah that does suck for all you AP, etc, c3po, r2d2.

I just hope to do Dopey for the rest of my life so only one trip to Disney World, so no need for AP and I guess I can suffer through a couple of days at the parks, if I'm being forced, twist my arm.

 

[bumbershoot]

Is this for both World and Land?

World usually had 2 day min stay - no tickets.

Land had tickets - no stay. And if land now requires stay how can they do that when there is no way they have enough room at Disney resorts for all the people.

When you say that world "usually had" a minimum stay, that's only recently. Last 2 years IF that. No, not even that. We bought 5K bibs for January marathon weekend 2015 from a travel provider with NOTHING ELSE. Just the bibs.

We're DVC, when we are planning serious park trips we get APs.

This requirement is hamstringing the travel providers terribly, IMO. Why are they doing this?

 

[pigletliz]

Any chance they are doing it to stop travel agents from selling just tickets or closing the no transfer ticket policy loophole? There seemed to be a lot more of that going on than usual.

 

[bellrae]

For anyone who has used these packages before, can you transfer an existing resort booking to the TA?

 

[FFigawi]

Yeah that does suck for all you AP, etc, c3po, r2d2.

I just hope to do Dopey for the rest of my life so only one trip to Disney World, so no need for AP and I guess I can suffer through a couple of days at the parks, if I'm being forced, twist my arm.

That's a pretty good goal. Marathon weekend is my favorite of the bunch too. I bet @DopeyBadger could help you put together a solid training plan in hopes of improving your times from this year.

 

[DopeyBadger]

That's a pretty good goal. Marathon weekend is my favorite of the bunch too. I bet @DopeyBadger could help you put together a solid training plan in hopes of improving your times from this year.

@Z-Knight Always willing to help. Just let me know if you're interested.

 

[BuckeyeBama]

This requirement is hamstringing the travel providers terribly, IMO. Why are they doing this?

Well, they are travel providers, not bib providers. Seems like a minimum stay requirement would make sense. The ticket thing seems silly, but Disney does that with many other promotions so it doesn't surprise me.

 

[Z-Knight]

@Z-Knight Always willing to help. Just let me know if you're interested.

No offense, not interested in participating in marathon forum, for my own reasons. Times were bad because of 3 injuries not lack of plan. Thx

 

[txdisneygrl]

I understand a large reason for booking with a travel agent is the guarantee of a bib, but does it actually save money? Both Feb and Nov usually fall under discount periods for Disney. Are event weekends excluded from regular promotions?

 

[Ariel484]

Well, they are travel providers, not bib providers. Seems like a minimum stay requirement would make sense. The ticket thing seems silly, but Disney does that with many other promotions so it doesn't surprise me.

Very true - Disney wants to fill their on-property hotels, and this is a way to help them do that. The ticket thing is a bigger issue to me since I have an AP, but again, I see why they're doing it.

I understand a large reason for booking with a travel agent is the guarantee of a bib, but does it actually save money? Both Feb and Nov usually fall under discount periods for Disney. Are event weekends excluded from regular promotions?

I'm not sure if it does with the room prices, but I got the impression from the post that I read that the tickets were slightly discounted. But if you book your room yourself, you would be eligible for any discounts that can apply to your reservation. Of course, we keep hearing that WDW is dialing back their discounts, so nothing is ever guaranteed...

 

[Z-Knight]

I understand a large reason for booking with a travel agent is the guarantee of a bib, but does it actually save money? Both Feb and Nov usually fall under discount periods for Disney. Are event weekends excluded from regular promotions?

It does help with hotels - yes. At least for me, the hotels were slightly cheaper than I could have gotten myself - i'm not dvc, ap, etc

 

[Ariel484]

@Z-Knight did you get to pick your hotel? The post I read was talking about them having room blocks at Pop and Caribbean Beach, and made it sound like you'd get one or the other, but weren't guaranteed your first choice.

 

[Z-Knight]

@Z-Knight did you get to pick your hotel? The post I read was talking about them having room blocks at Pop and Caribbean Beach, and made it sound like you'd get one or the other, but weren't guaranteed your first choice.

For marathon weekend I had multiple choices. POP and something else, i think, for economy, then Riverside and Beach for Deluxe, and some higher end one.

For Darkside I think I only had choice of Riverside

 

[Ariel484]

For marathon weekend I had multiple choices. POP and something else, i think, for economy, then Riverside and Beach for Deluxe, and some higher end one.

For Darkside I think I only had choice of Riverside

Thanks...so if you said "I want Pop" were you guaranteed Pop? I'm trying to figure out how this works in case I want to use a TA in the future (of course...they'll probably change things up again by the time I do want to use one!)

 

[Z-Knight]

I believe I was, but it might depend on when you signed up - ie how close to the dates. I used Acclaim for marathon weekend and they seemed to have room, but I'm not sure they ever said it was guaranteed. Probably wasn't. You can always call Acclaim and they can probably answer in more detail.

 

[Ariel484]

@Z-Knight thanks!

 

[Z-Knight]

Btw here were the prices

Pop Century
$110 + tax = 123.75
(Value Resort)
walk to Art of Animation
Great Food Courts
2 Queen Beds

Caribbean Beach Resort
$ 179 + Tx = $ 201.38
(Moderate Property)
food court + Shutters (table service)
Brand New Pool
2 Queen Beds

Port Orleans Riverside Resort
$189 + tax = $ 212.62
(Moderate Property)
food court + Boatsright's (table service)
Ferry boat to Downtown ( Real Nice)
2 Queen Beds

Beach Club
$349 + Tx = $ 392.62
Deluxe Resort
Great Food Options
Plus Bar, lounge, room service, Fitness & Spa center.
Ferry Boat Epcot / Hollywood or walk
( you are 200 yards from Epcot )
(2 Queen Beds)