Big ressie dilemma, need help!

[AnnieDan_Artlover]

Hi,
Planning my first trip to WDW with my mom (her 2nd, but last one was more than 30 years ago...). We've figured out the resort and time (not the best for cost nor attendance, but other things factor in), and that is going to be :
POFQ, April 30th to May 14 2008 (unless something very big changes that before I make the ressie, and that's the soonest possible!)

For those who wonder :
We'll be renting a car and driving there.
No, we don't want the dining plan. Maybe the Disney Dining Experience card, because of the discounts, if we take one Annual Pass (see details below)
Yes, we believe we'll use 10 day's worth of Magic Your Way tickets (going for 14 days on-site and having no other plans than to visit the parks, but being ill, that's it)
Yes, we want the park hopper option, because we want to be able to return to the resort in the middle of the day and go back to another park if we want...
We're CAA members (AAA canadian's equivalent)


Where I need the help, the DILEMMA...
I did a lot of research everywhere I possibly could think of (and more!), read these boards almost through and through,

and here are my options... and I need to know which is the best choice :

a) Book the room and 2x 10 days Magic your Way tickets + park hopper option through CAA?

b) Book the room and 2x 10 days MYW tickets + park hopper option direct from Disney and ask for the CAA discount?
*(I called Disney and the guest service lady told me the CAA discount would apply... but she couldn't tell me the price : I'd had to make a reservation for her to check the discount and give it to me... While the CAA lady told me I had to book through a CAA agent for the discount to apply... I guess it's because they're paid for that?!)

c) Buy 1 Annual Pass with the Disney Dining Experience so I get discounts at restaurants, on souvenirs and tours... and make a ressie only when my AP gets me a discount, and then take 1x 10 days MYW tickets + park hopper option, all direct from Disney (so I don't have to go through a travel agent)?
*But this way I risk not having a room available!

d) Buy 1 AP with the DDE (for the discounts), make the ressie directly with Disney whatever the discount (or with the CAA discount if I can get it), with 1x 10 days MYW tickets + park hopper option and then call regularly hoping there's a better price for the room, either with the CAA or AP discount...
*But will having bought the 10 days MYW tickets (package)/AP + DDE prevent me from getting a further discount? Can you get a later available discount only when you reserve room-only? I don't mind paying the whole thing right now (I know making the reservation room-only means that you pay only one night, and you can add tickets at check-in and pay only then, but we prefer paying everything right now to get this over with... we'll have enough to pay then...). What matters most is : to be able to get a better deal later -if there's one- should I take room-only, or can I take a package? Do the tickets or AP prevent you to change room price later?
d)d) In that case, should I buy the AP and the 10-days MYW + park hopper option aside from the ressie? (like, from The Undercover Tourist, or simply in a separate order)

e) Buy the 1 AP with the DDE, make the ressie at Disney following the strategy just mentioned (if possible and/or worth it), but buy the 1x 10 days MYW tickets + park hopper option through CAA (since they do have a good discount, looks like 400$ on room + 2x 10 days MYW tickets + park hopper!)... Of course it only works if CAA offers the discount even if you only buy the tickets...

Does Disney have discounts on MYW tickets too when you have the AP? (or does the Undercover Tourist have discounts as good as CAA?)

I'm going crazy!...
I know it can look pretty confusing... a lot of information and options... But I don't know how to explain it different. In all, it's between 2 places to buy (or a mix of the 2) : through Disney or CAA
and 2 buying options : we both get 10 days Magic Your Way tickets + park hopper option or one gets those and the other gets an annual pass (and then we get the Disney Dining Experience card... and all the discounts!).

It's a question of weighing the discounts value, really : do the discounts from the AP and the DDE are enough to outweigh the cost difference of the AP over the MYW base package (10 days). (I would tend to think so, especially since we'd like to take some of the tours, and maybe the 15% discount would help in us being able to take the more costly of them, like the Backstage Magic tour).
And it would probably be very worth it if we'd get a discount on the room with the AP... the problem is : that's not sure!!!
Also, maybe the CAA discount is usually better than the AP discount?

That's why I'm asking, I need your experiences and your opinions...

I want to make the ressie, quick! I don't want to be left with no availability!
But I also want the best overall price possible! If one option can save us 200$ it would be wonderful... but if it prevents me from maybe saving more later, well...

Thanks a lot!

 

[CanadianGuy]

This question is better asked over on the Rates & Discounts board for Disney resorts. I'm going to move it over there. You'll get better answers there!

Knox

 

[CanadianGuy]

First off.. an AP discount, IF available, is better than the CAA/AAA discount - usually.. so you'd save more that way.

You're right tho.. the other choices are hard. The price of booking with CAA or with Disney directly should be pretty close to the same. Either CAA or Disney should be able to give you this price over the phone without actually making the reservation. I think you maybe had a lazy CM on the phone and you should call back and ask again.

Knox

 

[Seahunt]

JMO, but I'd contact the experts at Dreams Unlimited here on the DIS to see how they would book it (they don't charge you anything!) and compare that to CAA. Also one thing I really like about DU is that if you book with them they will automatically continue to check on your res for any future deals that come out that might apply to your res- no worrying if you see a new code, because they'll take care of it and you will hear from them if it saved you any $$$ - which is especially nice when you book way in advance.

BTW -I don't work for them, just had good experiences using them!

http://www.dreamsunlimitedtravel.com/

 

[marlynnp]

Book a room only with Disney and use the CAA discount.

Wait and see if AP discounts are announced for your time of stay.
If they are call back and change ressie and then buy an AP voucher. When you have the voucher order the DDE card.

 

[Disney5Mom]

We usually book direct through Disney and use the CAA discount. We found the difference between the CAA and AP discount was not that much and sometimes the resort and dates you want are not available. However keep watch on this board and then you can call Disney and ask to apply an AAA code to your reservation or make a new resrvation and cancel the old one, if you see a great deal. The room only reservations you can cancel with no penalty up to 5 days before so it's easy to work with. We have made several trips with our AP but only used AP discount once. We have a large family and DDE has been well worth the money for us. We tried the Dining Plan once but it was way too much food for us! The CAA discount is 15% off rack rate at that time of year.

 

[BlueFairy]

You're going to hate me for this . . .but you look so organized, you can do it. Make a spreadsheet! I had all these questions myself. And it boiled down to a few things (after asking a lot of questions and making my own spreadsheet).
Dreams Unlimited is the best - they will make all the phone calls for you and compare scenarios, too. Just e-mail your TA a ton and ask questions. Even if you don't use them - booking room-only is the way to go for now since you may want an AP. It's easier to make changes, and you can transfer the deposit to a package or changed reservation if the need arises.
AAA (not sure about CAA) has a bad reputation for not being up-to-speed and their TA's are slow to get info. So I decided to avoid using them. You can book the AAA rate without using a AAA TA. (Although I think this is one place you can't use Dreams). Perhaps you could book it direct and then transfer the ressie to Dreams, allowing them to monitor it. THe CM was correct that Disney won't quote a AAA room without having your AAA number. But you don't have to book. They can do a courtesy 10-day hold before the deposit is due. For us, the small potential savings with AAA wasn't worth purchasing a AAA membership.
For value season, the AP rate with DDE will give me the best deal - IF rates offered are similar to years past. So I say do the math (including what you may eat, the DDE expense and the tour costs). Will that be true for you too? If so, book now with the best rate you can get (AAA?) and then watch for codes. Dreams will do that automatically for you if you tell them you have an AP. TA or not, you don't have to wait on AP rates to secure your room. You can book room-only and then have the AP rate applied if and when it comes available. A good TA can do this, too.
For us, Dining Plan was not a big savings (only 2 adults who have a squirmy 2 yo and can't eat a lot of TS). So we decided to skip a package and just wait to buy our tickets when we know which kind we need. Rates on tickets just went up last week, so you're not likely to see a savings by purchasing tickets now.
I did tell our DU agent that we might be interested in a package if AP rates were not better than general package discounts. But historically I think that's unlikely.

Bottom line - there are so many variables that the only way I could decide for sure was to do my own spreadsheet and see the $$$ differences. Good luck.

 

[hockeybabe]

If you still can't decide, and your biggest worry seems to be losing the room, and since you know your dates, book a room only reservation now and take your time deciding the rest. It will cost you one nights deposit, and you have your room. Then go ahead and take your time doing your research on what would work best for you, and then finish booking your trip, adding whatever you need to your reservation, as you go. If you go with CAA, they can book your room and you can cancel your room only reservation with Disney with no penalty, unless you wait until a week before

 

[AnnieDan_Artlover]

BlueFairy... I really don't see why I'd hate you for telling the truth!
And... Did you really think I wouldn't have my spreadsheet already?!

Of course I have my spreadsheet, where do you people think all those options' came from?

But I wanted to benefit from your experiences, opinions, thoughts... And to know if (horror!) I could've missed something! And, see, I did! I didn't know about DU...
And the problem was, I wasn't sure enough to make a decision between those options (and one thing you didn't know is : I needed amunition to convince my mom I'm doing the right thing and making the right choices!)

See, I'm the daughter (28), she's the mom (let's not say her age, come on)... We have a good relationship (why else in the world would we go to Disney together?!), she's working full-time (but will finally stop soon, at least for a year, yipee!), I'm at home on disability, am a control and planification freak... she is, too, up to some point, but doesn't like the travel planning, the research on the web, etc. as much. And mostly, doesn't have the time. But she's paying for most of our trip and she has final word. So I have to report to Mama... And I need to be convincing if, for example, I go through DU (a web-only company she's never heard of ), or want to pay more for an AP...

Anyways, thanks to you all, I think I made my choice... the last bit of indecision stands in the "AP or not AP" part (of course if it would happen that there would be an AP discount, the answer lies there).
I'm getting there, the more we'll know where we're going to be in the parks and where we'll eat when, the more I'll know how much we could save... But that's my problem : mommy doesn't want to plan at all. And I agree with her up to a point... we're not going on vacation to have a tighter schedule than at home and to be stressed 'cause we have to make this next appointment (reservation)! But there are some things I want to do that, sadly, require a reservation made months in advance or you just can't do it... If it was up to her, we'd decide if we're up for a tour or for a dinner at CRT the day before or even the same day! (like "do you feel like doing CRT tonight?" or "we have seen all we wanted to see, now we can do a tour, so let's do one tomorrow"...). She now realizes it's quite impossible without many-months in advance reservations... and would almost prefer not doing anything that requires a ressie than have to stick to a plan! (yep, that's going to be a fight)

So without a plan it's quite hard to know how much meals and tours would cost (and thus, how much an AP would save us!).
Also, the info I've gathered on AP, some advantages stop in September 2007... (La Nouba, Disneyshopping...), it doesn't help in the budgeting!

Finally, my conclusion (once again, I insist, because of you!) :
-I'll book a room-only with CAA discount through Dreams Unlimited (Rhonda will be my TA, I emailed with questions to ask if they would be able to help us, and she was the one to answer... very quickly and very friendly, I might add!)
-We'll check (DU and I... I won't be able to let all the control go!) for discounts that could become available... And jump on the occasion should the discount be better than the CAA discount I'll already have...
-If an AP discount becomes available I'll buy the AP (just one, no need to pay for 2)
-Before our trip, or once we're there, we'll either buy 2 sets of "10 days Magic Your Way tickets with the park hopper option", or, most likely, one of those and one AP with the Disney Dining Experience, so we can take advantage of the many discounts and save money... (and that's even if there's no room discount with it).

Thanks again!!!

 

[Luv2Roam]

To confuse you more --

If this January stays true to form, January is AAA Month. (Not to say because it has been in the last how ever many years, it will be again this coming January.) And I don't know if CAA is included in AAA month.

Also consider by booking through CAA/AAA, or anyone outside of Disney, they own your reservation. If you want any changes to your res, you go through them, not Disney. Some people don't mind. Some (even unknowingly) try to skirt around their TA and get frustrated when Disney cannot modify their res.

I use to use DU before moving here and had great luck with them!

 

[BlueFairy]

BlueFairy... I really don't see why I'd hate you for telling the truth!
And... Did you really think I wouldn't have my spreadsheet already?!

Of course I have my spreadsheet, where do you people think all those options' came from?

But I wanted to benefit from your experiences, opinions, thoughts... And to know if (horror!) I could've missed something! And, see, I did! I didn't know about DU...
And the problem was, I wasn't sure enough to make a decision between those options (and one thing you didn't know is : I needed amunition to convince my mom I'm doing the right thing and making the right choices!)

See, I'm the daughter (28), she's the mom (let's not say her age, come on)... We have a good relationship (why else in the world would we go to Disney together?!), she's working full-time (but will finally stop soon, at least for a year, yipee!), I'm at home on disability, am a control and planification freak... she is, too, up to some point, but doesn't like the travel planning, the research on the web, etc. as much. And mostly, doesn't have the time. But she's paying for most of our trip and she has final word. So I have to report to Mama... And I need to be convincing if, for example, I go through DU (a web-only company she's never heard of ), or want to pay more for an AP...

Anyways, thanks to you all, I think I made my choice... the last bit of indecision stands in the "AP or not AP" part (of course if it would happen that there would be an AP discount, the answer lies there).
I'm getting there, the more we'll know where we're going to be in the parks and where we'll eat when, the more I'll know how much we could save... But that's my problem : mommy doesn't want to plan at all. And I agree with her up to a point... we're not going on vacation to have a tighter schedule than at home and to be stressed 'cause we have to make this next appointment (reservation)! But there are some things I want to do that, sadly, require a reservation made months in advance or you just can't do it... If it was up to her, we'd decide if we're up for a tour or for a dinner at CRT the day before or even the same day! (like "do you feel like doing CRT tonight?" or "we have seen all we wanted to see, now we can do a tour, so let's do one tomorrow"...). She now realizes it's quite impossible without many-months in advance reservations... and would almost prefer not doing anything that requires a ressie than have to stick to a plan! (yep, that's going to be a fight)

So without a plan it's quite hard to know how much meals and tours would cost (and thus, how much an AP would save us!).
Also, the info I've gathered on AP, some advantages stop in September 2007... (La Nouba, Disneyshopping...), it doesn't help in the budgeting!

Finally, my conclusion (once again, I insist, because of you!) :
-I'll book a room-only with CAA discount through Dreams Unlimited (Rhonda will be my TA, I emailed with questions to ask if they would be able to help us, and she was the one to answer... very quickly and very friendly, I might add!)
-We'll check (DU and I... I won't be able to let all the control go!) for discounts that could become available... And jump on the occasion should the discount be better than the CAA discount I'll already have...
-If an AP discount becomes available I'll buy the AP (just one, no need to pay for 2)
-Before our trip, or once we're there, we'll either buy 2 sets of "10 days Magic Your Way tickets with the park hopper option", or, most likely, one of those and one AP with the Disney Dining Experience, so we can take advantage of the many discounts and save money... (and that's even if there's no room discount with it).

Thanks again!!!

Sounds like a plan! And perhaps it's reassuring to know that your approach is what a lot of people around here will do, too.

I guess it is hard to make that spreadsheet useful if you can't get mamma on board with the itinerary! LOL! I'm the mom around here, so I get to make the decisions. DH could care less as long as DD gets some magic and he gets to eat. What I usually do is make our itinerary with a guide for each morning, afternoon, and evening activity (usually just which park or show) and a general guide for each meal. Then I make ADRs (usually 1, sometimes 2 meals per day). DH knows in advance which ones he really cares about. The rest is always "flexible" and he's allowed to veto at the last minute. But, there is so much going on at WDW and it's so overwhelming, that 9 times out of 10 your travelling companions would rather follow "the plan" than try to figure it out on their own once you're there. The only caveat being that if I try to hop too much we get grouchy and tired and the plan goes out the window.

As for DU being an internet company, they have been around for a number of years now. You can get lots of references here (and probably from them also) from real people who are repeat customers. They don't get any money from you. Disney pays them commisions. And they never charge your credit card. It is passed to Disney (or whichever off-site hotel) for the deposits. You will also get a Disney confirmation number, too. Luv2Roam is right in that DU will need to be the one making changes to that, though.