Book through Disney, Travel Agent, or On Your Own??

[ZoZo]

Hi! Have a friend going to DL in April. He asked my advice on planning his trip. Do you think it's best to:

1) Book thru Disney as a package
2) Book through a travel agent
3) Do things on your own (separate pieces - hotel, air, tickets)??

I haven't been in a few years, so am not sure which is the best way to go.

Also, any good hotel suggestions within easy walking distance??

 

[Olallamom]

Is your friend going alone or with kids. Currently they have some very good specials running through April. Kids fly&play free, adult tickets for kids prices and $150 gift card if you stay at a Disney hotel.
I would tell your friend to check out Disneyland.com and check out the specials. I have found AAA to be slightly cheaper than the Disney travel package prices.

 

[hlbtimes2]

You really just have to shop around. I probably wouldnt bother with a travel agent, in this day and age of computers. I would either go with online booking- expedia, travelocity, etc or with an airline or with Disney or with AAA.

For my last 2 trips, and my one of my upcoming trips I've used Disney and been really happy with them. Most travel agents are going to end up using them as well, that is why I dont recomend using an agent. All you are doing is getting another person in the mix! (but, I'm probably bitter since the last agent I used booked me into the wrong airport!). Anyway, AAA was slightly more ($4) so I didnt go with them, but a lot of people swear by them. They actually use Disney as well, and you get all the same perks. My other upcoming trip (yes, I'm going in March and again in May), I booked everything seperate. I booked flights on orbitz when they had a great rate a few months ago. Hotel directly through the candy cane inn. Park hoppers will probably be from costco.

To get my great rate for March I used some of the online booking sites to find the best day for cheap airfare- usually the most costly part of our trip from Seattle. Once I had the dates, times and airline narrowed down, I went to Disney and booked it.

Be sure, if they need to fly, that they check rates for some of the smaller airports in that area. They often have great rates. Long Beach is really close, and Ontario is a good option as well.

 

[Mom2micayla]

We did alot of looking before we booked. We were staying offsite so I didn't bother with Disneyland.com I priced everything seperately and found the best deal for us was through www.gateawaytoday.com I think we saved approx. 40% over what it would have costs us had we gone through someplace like travelocity for the hotel and disneyland.com for the tickets. We are driving so airfare wasn't an issue with us.

 

[pixleyyy]

We used GetAwayToday too and felt great about the choice. Decided to add on airfare at the last minute instead of driving so added that seperately, but all in all it was still a better deal than I was finding elsewhere.

 

[ZoZo]

My friend is bringing wife and three kids (ages 11-17). Thanks for the great tips - keep 'em coming!

 

[amw]

We did alot of looking before we booked. We were staying offsite so I didn't bother with Disneyland.com I priced everything seperately and found the best deal for us was through www.gateawaytoday.com I think we saved approx. 40% over what it would have costs us had we gone through someplace like travelocity for the hotel and disneyland.com for the tickets. We are driving so airfare wasn't an issue with us.

Slight boo-boo in your e-mail The website is http://www.getawaytoday.com/

 

[SunshineOR]

We've used a travel agent and done it on our own. We've found it more work and inconvenience, but definitely cheaper to make our own arrangements--especially purchasing parkhoppers through AAA. Either way it's cheaper than using Disney.

 

[Canadamom]

It was more work to book our trip ourselves, however it was a lot of fun and a learning experience. If we are able to do this trip again in the near future, it will take way less time to plan now that we've done it once! We found we saved money in the long run and had much greater flexibility (not limited to 7 days, could stay at a place not necessariy offered in the "Packages", got a longer park-hopper than most packages offer, etc.)

 

[victorandbellasmom]

1) Book thru Disney as a package
We've did this on our last trip. We actually went through aaa to get the enhanced fastpass even though it was cheaper by $4 to go through the disneyland website. It was a a great experience since disney sends out a really cool gold envelope filled with all the details of your pacakage, including hotel vouchers, actual parkhoppers, lugage tags, and vouchers for pins and lanyards. We did pay a couple hundred dollars more than if we were to have pieced it together seperately. however, by going through aaa, we got little perks like toontown morning madness, preferred seating at dca shows and pins & lanyards.

2) Book through a travel agent
Not exactly a travel agent (dealing through one person) but we've booked through getawaytoday.com in the past for a hotel on harbor. Our package included 2 free adult parkhoppers so we only had to buy 1 child hopper for our son. It was cheaper to do it this way than to book hotel and purchase hopper seperately. We're using them again for our trip in March since expedia and the disneyland website were showing our dates as unavailable for the DLH. This time around, we didn't need the free parkhoppers so that was deducted from our total bill. It was actually cheaper to go through getawaytoday for hotel than to go through exepdia or disneyland.com since all taxes and resort fees were included in the final cost.

3) Do things on your own (separate pieces - hotel, air, tickets)??
We've always purchased airfares seperately. For our Aug trip, we're going this route. We've already made our hotel reservations and are waiting to see if airfares go down.

Our main thing when booking is figuring out what are needs are. If we are doing a budget trip, then i scour the internet finding the best deals. If we feel like we want certain perks that are only available by booking via aaa or WDTC, then we go that route. There is no one right answer.

Also, any good hotel suggestions within easy walking distance??
We've stayed at BW Park Place Inn (literally across the crosswalk) and the Tropicana and have liked. Most people on these boards recommend howard johnson and candy cane inn.

 

[MsYumiBr]

I agree with the last thread. Step 1. Decide how long you are going to stay and where. Step 2, will it fit into a package deal. Step 3, comparison shop. We have always used AAA on 2+ days at the resort with tickets. If it's just a one night thing, we opt for other accomodations and do it ourselves.