Booking through CAA and free dining question

[jaybee1026]

When booking through CAA/AAA, can you make changes to your reservation or does it have to come from the CAA TA? I'm specifically wondering about applying the FD discount if it becomes available for our dates. I've read that most people try to phone in at opening (7am EST) but we're in MST, plus the office doesn't open until 9am (11am EST) Could I call in myself? (My TA refuses to be on the phone at 5am) Secondly, I was told that if free dining came out I could have both a CAA discount and free dining discount. Is this true? I always thought it was one or the other. FTR, the TA I spoke to was not very knowledgeable about applying the FD discount to an existing reservation. Initially I was told that I couldn't apply it and would have to wait and book my entire reservation (room, tickets, etc) on the day FD was released.

I think I should just stick w/ Disney and wait like everyone else.

 

[Stitch'sCousin]

Unfortunately it is only one discount. You can not have both the CAA discount and free dining. As far as dealing with Disney, if you book through CAA, your TA will have to make any changes for you.

 

[Tinkershelly]

When you book with a TA you can't manage your reservation, the TA must do that for you. When you get your receipt from CAA there will be a confirmation number at the upper right hand side of the first page (a combination of eight numbers and letters) that you can use to log into the Disney website and link that room package to any dining reservations you make, and also do online check in. You can't manage your Magical Express reservations, so if you have changes to your flights your TA must call Magical Express for you.

We have always used a TA at CAA to make the Disney reservations for us but I make the flight reservations. We wait until the promotion that we want actually comes out and then send an email to the TA immediately with our request. I usually draft the email the night before and check in the morning that the promotion is good and then hit send.

In my opinion and for what it's worth, I think a TA who is not a Disney specialist would be more likely to process a new request for a reservation when they arrive at their desk in the morning than to drop everything to sit on the phone and modify an existing reservation. That is my way of saying that a new reservation, with a new commission, would get the attention first thing in the morning before spending any time modifying an existing reservation.

Good luck, we're waiting for free dining ourselves. Not waiting patiently, I might add.