booking w/DL.com

[janc]

I was wondering if its worth the extra money to book my whole trip through disneyland.com or should I piece it out between the airlines, hotels.com and costco for park tickets?

Any advice or suggestions would be great!

PS I am so glad I found this site, lots of super info!!

 

[tortugaverde]

I was wondering if its worth the extra money to book my whole trip through disneyland.com or should I piece it out between the airlines, hotels.com and costco for park tickets?

Any advice or suggestions would be great!

PS I am so glad I found this site, lots of super info!!

I have been doing lots of research, here and on various sites and in my opinion... you may get a better deal if you book your room and flight through a travel site. I recommend kayak.com... you can see rates for ALL the major travel sites at one time so you know you are getting the best deal.

However, I decided to book with a travel co. getawaytoday.com... it is a bit more than if I booked it on another site, BUT they have two MM. We are going during spring break... so I decided that it was worth the little extra to get two MM. Likewise, if you book through disney... you get one MM and the toontown thing (I can not remember what it is called!).

I think you just have to decide if you want the "perks" offered by booking through a company such as disney... or if you want a bit of a cheaper rate and book it yourself.

Good luck

 

[JenDisneylandlver]

We've always saved money doing everything separate! The only thing I've done together was the hotel and tickets a few times. But this was only after making sure I couldn't do better elsewhere!

 

[hlbtimes2]

For our current trip it saved us over $250(close to $300) booking through Disney travel. PLUS-we are able to make payments to them. It was only $200 deposit to book and hold our airfare. That is comparing the exact same flights, hotel and tickets. We have booked our last 4 trips through them. Last year, it was slightly cheaper for my MIL/FIL to book things seperatly because they didnt need the kids fly free like we did.

 

[janc]

I forgot about perks, gotta have the MM and the preferred seating for Aladdin.

 

[bumbershoot]

I forgot about perks, gotta have the MM and the preferred seating for Aladdin.

If you love the perks, then booking a package will always be worth it for you. (assuming you mean Mickey's ToonTown Morning Madness when you say MM...Disneyland has made things so complicated by calling Early Entry "Magic Mornings" now)

But if you have AAA or access to Costco Travel, booking through them also uses Walt Disney Travel Company, so you get those perks (though sometimes they are a bit different from each other in the exact perks) and sometimes a lower price! Getawaytoday.com as well, I *think*. Though actually that site might not have MTTMM vouchers if my memory of what others have said serves.

So if you have access to those travel services, it's absolutely worth checking out in comparison (price and perks) to booking directly with WDTC (disneyland.com).


However, I could never get the airfare to work out better for me while booking through them. Luckily, you don't have to book airfare with them to get an otherwise "package" deal!

 

[nutshell]

The following will be comparable when booking hotel and tickets:

Disney site
AAA
Costco

Airfare can be found cheaper when booking separately.

 

[Mommy2PrincessAbby]

We booked our package through Costco 2x now... the cost savings on both trips was that Costco had a character breakfast included... so $70 or so... but I love calling them and making payments every payday. We did our flights separately... cheaper and better flight times.

--Lisa

 

[PoohBearFriends]

I have spent hours researching and because we have always gone during Kids Fly Free we could never beat the deal b/c of the cheaper airfare. With 2 Adults and 2 kids that is the best for us. I am sure that is different for people depending on kids.

Southwest did have a park ticket discount recently but their airfare was $100 more so it didn't beat DL or Alaska for us.

 

[mama2twoluvbugs]

we just booked our hotel and 5 day hoppers through getawaytoday and it was the best deal that we could find, now we didnt have to include airfare in our decision, but it was by far cheaper than DL.com and we got the two early entries. good luck in finding a great deal!!!

 

[ToodlesRN]

For our recent trip I sent hours searching for the best deal at the end it was between AAA and the Disney Site. I ended up getting a Disney visa card for the added perks and booked through the Disney site it was about $30.00 cheaper than AAA in addition to more perks DIsney offered. We didn't include airfare as we used our miles.
Like previous posters check:
Costco
AAA
Disney
Get away today
Alaska Airlines

 

[ToodlesRN]

Double post oops!

 

[bethy]

I have spent hours researching a trip for April/May. I do this to save money and b/c for me it's kinda fun to nickel and dime things. Everything having to do with Disneyland is fun for me!

Anyway, I've done the math meticulously for every package except AAA and I've looked at many different ensembles where everything is booked seperately. I could never ever get the Kids Fly Free deal to pan out. It says right during booking that the fares are "refundable". So for us from Seattle it costs more for us to have our 2 kids "fly free" at refundable fares than it would to book Hot Deals. 2 days ago the Hot Deals were $79 each way and the Refundable fare were around $200-something each way I think.

So as always I will be booking seperately. For me, even though we always do one character meal, the perks of a package aren't worth it. I am fine with just one MM because truthfully my family only wants to get up that early once and do the Commando thing. We are fine with being at rope-drop at the later times on other days. We are not huge ride people but instead go for the atmosphere mainly.

The other thing I don't like about packages is that all your eggs are in one basket. If you cancel then you lose everything it feels like . . . Also, I like to shop hotel deals even after I've booked and I'm not sure you can do that with a package as easily . . .

 

[bumbershoot]

I am fine with just one MM because truthfully my family only wants to get up that early once and do the Commando thing. We are fine with being at rope-drop at the later times on other days. We are not huge ride people but instead go for the atmosphere mainly.

The other thing I don't like about packages is that all your eggs are in one basket. If you cancel then you lose everything it feels like . . . Also, I like to shop hotel deals even after I've booked and I'm not sure you can do that with a package as easily . . .

FYI, you can get tickets-only from getawaytoday, and still get the 2 MMs with a 3+ day ticket, as far as I know.

And when I booked our package with costco, I was able to change our hotels twice without them charging the $25 change fee (that I was expecting and ready and willing to pay). It wasn't because I got better rates, though, just b/c I couldn't make up my mind. But it is a lot easier to switch your hotels around if you book separately, most definitely! I'm glad I did the package deal once so I know what it's like, but I'm also glad I don't anymore.

 

[MPHARJ]

I think every one has their own preferences. I have found that the packages always work out best for me. I always book my own air, but book everythign else as a package. When I have compared with other sites the cost is always more for what I want and what I get. I have booked our past 2 Disneyland rips through Dreams unlimited, there are no extra costs with them I get the same deal as I would booking through Disney, however they will book all of my dining for me. They were great last year and so far so good this year. I also used kayak for our air, they show you mulitple airlines and airports and from there I used Virgin America this year. Great prices for our 3 flights. When I book for WDW I use Disneys site and book myself again the best deals and I shop around first, always. We just prefer to stay on site so that's why I do what I do. Look around and price things out before you decide.

 

[Vala]

And when I booked our package with costco, I was able to change our hotels twice without them charging the $25 change fee (that I was expecting and ready and willing to pay).

Costco goes through WDTC too, is that right?

WDTC told us they will not charge the $ 25 change fee if the changed reservation comes up more expensive than the first one. So if you add an extra night, upgrade the park ticket for one more day, switch to concierge level or a better view, switch from PP to GC or something like that you won't be charged.

 

[tink2dw]

My last trip to DL I knew what Hotel I wanted, Dh got a Deal on a rent a car for San Diego, I found that one of my airline reward cards got 20% off the Sea World tickets. I called AAA to ask about DL tickets, it was between them and a stipped down tickets which were a few dollars cheaper. But AAA had perks that convinced me to go with them even though they were a few dollars more. And they were able to book my DisneyLand Expess Bus to LAX which was a plus. I got Ding flights.

 

[ballarinamom]

Our first trip to DL, we booked the whole package through Disney travel becasue we only had to put down $200. Well, since it was not paid in full, when the airfare went up, we had to pay in full by a new deadline or pay the increased airfare. That was a little shocking. Since then, we book hotel and tickets through AAA and airfare on our own

 

[bumbershoot]

Costco goes through WDTC too, is that right?

WDTC told us they will not charge the $ 25 change fee if the changed reservation comes up more expensive than the first one. So if you add an extra night, upgrade the park ticket for one more day, switch to concierge level or a better view, switch from PP to GC or something like that you won't be charged.

The first change we actually decreased the cost of the package. Went from Paradise Pier to Carousel and dropped the dining plan once we found out how useless it can be.

Whether or not it's their unstated policy, they state quite clearly what their change fees will be, so it's just lovely that they waive them, whenever or whyever they waive them.

Second change we moved back to Paradise Pier so we did increase the cost, but it still felt lovely when he waived it!

 

[Vala]

There goes my so-called understanding of their system.