Booking via WDW or on your own??? Kinda long

[disneysnowflake]

Okay. I need some advice.
We are going to Disney in Dec. 2004 and have everything booked except for the Mickey Christmas Party and dinner reservations since it's too soon.

I talked my sister into going with us. Her daughter has never been to Disney. She will be 10. There is my sister, her husband and their 10 year old.

My sister doesn't have the internet and is relying on me to book the trip.

She is only staying for 5 days and wants to only stay at All Star Movies.

Booking via WDW a 5 night stay at ASMov for 5 nights and park hopper passes is $1500.45. This is from Dec9 through Dec 14.

I'm assuming Disney is selling her passes for the 9th and the 14th, which she can't use.

Here is what I found her itinerary to be...

Dec 9th.. arrive @ 2:30 in airport, get to ASMov by 5pm, dinner with us a 6pm, stroll around for the evening. No need for passes.
Dec 10th.. park hopper pass use
Dec 11th.. park hopper pass use
Dec 12th.. park hopper pass use
Dec 13th.. park hopper pass use
Dec 14th.. plane leaves at 2pm, so no hopper pass needed.

When I figured the cost of 5 nights for the 3 of them at ASMov, WDW quoted me $487.20. That's $89 a night plus tax.

A 4 day park hopper pass via WDW for all 3 would be $576.

So, it would cost her $1063.20 for 5 nights at ASMov plus 4 day park hopper passes as opposed to the WDW package "deal" which costs $1500.45.

Doing it my way would save her $437.25. Is that right?

My sister is very leary of doing things my way. She believes in Disney.

So, is she better off booking via Disney for a hotel and tickets, or is it better to do it yourself? She says I confuse her. I told her she could book her room via Disney, but go through AAA or something for tickets and putting a package together yourself.

I already saved her around $150 on plane tickets by booking through an airline directly instead of having WDW book them.

I'm hoping someone can help me out here. Does my idea make sense?? Do you have any other tips for me?? Sheesh. This is getting frustrating.

Thanks for reading.

Heidi in PA

 

[mad4themouse]

I guess that your sis will have to decide whether her confidence in Disney is worth $437.25.

There are a lot of people who are not comfortable making the arrangements themselves, especially when they have never been some place before. I'm not sure that I would have attempted my first WDW vacation on my own either.

A compromise might be for her to book her room thru a TA that specializes in WDW (like Dreams Unlimited). DU will book the room now and keep looking for discounts to apply to her stay. They can even arrange transportation from the airport and back again.

She could then order the Park Hoppers from Disney herself by phone or you could do it via the Disney website. She can even purchase them at your local Disney Store.

But in the long run, it's her money and how she feels comfortable spending it will be up to her. You can only make suggestions.

 

[ibleedblue]

Your plan is dead on! With the exception of the kids stay free deal they had running last year, I don't think I've ever seen a case where a Disney package worked out to be cheaper than booking it all yourself. For one thing, like you said, to book the package deal you're paying for 2 days on 3 park hoppers that you can't use. That's money down the toilet. Plus you can make the reservations now and keep an eye on mousesavers.com for when (or if) any discounts become available for your trip. Your first few nights are off peak I think (going from memory on that), so it's likely that when discount codes do come out you can at least get some $$ knocked off on a couple of nights. Good luck and fun!!

Greg

 

[momm2four]

I agree with you. I spent months and months finding the cheapest way to go to WDW before our Oct. 02 trip and there is no way that a Disney package could be cheaper than a do-it-youself. (With the obvious exception of the deal they had last year, but that's history) I would just write everything down with the total cost of each method and let her see it in black and white.

Lori P.

 

[topcat011]

I was looking at orbitz and expedia for our disney vacations and when i was picking onsite packages these included hoppers for the length of stay.

 

[BrerMama]

The only way the Disney package would be a good deal for her is if her plane gets in early on the first day and leaves late on the last day. Then she can use her passes on those 2 travel days. Otherwise, she's definitely better going separately. Disney's main goal is to make money, not get you the best deal. She'd still be booking her hotel room through Disney and buying her passes from Disney, just not as a pretty little package.

We are using the kids free package deal but when I bought our air tickets, I did make sure we arrived early and left late. No sense having those passes unless you can really use them.

 

[jaross]

I just booked on my own at all star music. I was pretty sure I had done it the cheapest way, but to make sure, I got a quote from a Disney specialist travel agent for the same package from Disney. (Remember, these prices are set by Disney, not the travel agent)

The Disney package was $500 more for six nights. The only "extras" was two pins and $25 at rain forest.

Your sister is lucky to have you. Like another poster said, it comes down to trusting you to save several hundred dollars. What does she have to loose?

BTW, my sister never believes me either. One time, when we were traveling together, I told her to take a bump for a flight. My family of three took the bump as well. They gave her 5 free round trip air tickets (for her family of five) $50 in food vouchers and she took a flight four hours later from Orlando airport (it's like being at the mall). During that four hours she asked me 7 times if we did the right thing! Duh!!!!!

I got my three free round trip air as well and..... went back to Disney 6 months later! What else would we do?

Chris

 

[jlcbshaw]

Keep up the good work, there is no way that you can beat a do-it-yourself plan.

I mean does your sister think they do the planning for free? They have a mark-up to pay for their "services."

I have planned trips in '94, '97, '99, '00, '02, '03, and this years trip on my opwn and have always saved money. We are a family of 5 and on two of MY planned trips we took other families where I planed their stay as well. Plus I planned a vacation to WDW for an exchange student and her family who was in from Norway and they where willing to pay me for all of my work, but I just love the planning and dreaming.

Save the money for her and if she just has to spend it, tell her to put it towards your next trip.

 

[Carrieberry]

You are so right! You can't beat booking it yourself. It is almost always cheaper unless Disney has some fantastic deal going like the Fairytale package or the Visa package. The problem with these packages though, is the fact that you have to wait and wait for one to come out, and if you wait to long, you might end up staying somewhere you don't want to stay and paying rack rate for it! Don't forget, if you book her room now at rack rate (which is what disney quoted you at $89 a night) you can always switch it to the discount code if one comes out and maybe get the room for $59 a night. Sign up for www.mousesavers.com newsletter if you haven't already and then you will be the first to know when discounts are released. As far as the ticket goes, we never get the UPH ticket. We just don't use the waterparks at all in Dec, and by the looks of them when the bus stops, hardly anyone else does either! We have never been and have no interest in the wide World of Sports either! Unless she plans on doing these things, he will just be paying for stuff she does not need on that ticket. Better to buy the 4 day hopper and have her pay seperately (she can do it in advance from ticketmania, or wait until she is there) if she wants to do DisneyQuest. It just doesn't pay to do it any other way, esp in Dec. It is just too cold to be at the water park running around wet. At least at the hotel you just go right from the pool to your room!

 

[maggiew]

I would explain to her why the Disney package deal is not good for her this trip.
1. She is paying for tickets from check-in to check-out. If she is not using them on those days, why pay for it? If she buys the 4 day park hoppers, she will only be paying for what she uses.
2. The ultimate park hoppers also include waterparks and Disney quest and pleasure island. This makes the tickets more per day. If she is not using them, why pay the extra?
3. By booking the room-only, you have the possibility of getting a room discount.

She can buy all her components through Disney, if she wants. Just don't buy the package!!! Get the room only and buy the park hopper tickets separately!

I would hope that my sister would have more faith in me than in Disney!!! But I am not so sure ...

Maggie

 

[PattiPB]

You can get that room rate even lower, I bet. I'll be there 11/30-12/10, and was quoted $68.68 including tax for PC at AAA rates. I believe last year the room dropped to $49 AP rate, too.

Patti