buying WDW tickets separately through AAA vs through WDW website

[halfmonkey]

We're planning our first WDW trip next March which is part of a 2 week vacation where the second week, we'll be going on a Disney cruise. We've already booked the cruise and now I'm looking into the park tickets and hotel since they recently just opened up the listing for 2017. Normally, I would try and find the tickets separately since I might be able to find some discounts like buy 4 days and get the fifth free or something like that.

We're planning to fly into FL on Sunday and then go into the WDW parks Monday through Friday. Saturday morning, we'll head out towards Port Canaveral for our cruise. My question is, does anybody have any recommendations about whether we should book the hotel and buy the tickets through Disney's website or will I be able to find better deals through AAA? We're not planning on park hopping so it will pretty much be 1 park a day and we'll more than likely spend 2 days at the Magic Kingdom. I know one of the benefits of booking hotel and tickets through Disney is we'll be able to book Fast Pass+ an extra 30 days early, I believe. Are there any other benefits to booking the hotel and tickets directly through Disney vs buying them through 3rd party vendors like AAA?

 

[rwdavis2]

Who you book through has no bearing on when you can make FP+ reservations. If you stay on site you can book 60 days in advance. There is no advantage either way. If you buy tickets directly through Disney via your MDE account they will appear and be automatically linked to your account. And magic bands if you stay on site.

Although a problem is unlikely, I usually book direct with the place I'm staying. If you book via AAA they "own" the reservation and if you need to make changes you have to go through AAA and can't deal directly with Disney. (Someone correct this if I have it wrong)

 

[Alesia]

Book your hotel through Disney and buy your tickets from Undercover Tourist or Parksavers (whichever is cheaper for your particular ticket needs.) AAA doesn't have great ticket prices.

 

[halfmonkey]

Book your hotel through Disney and buy your tickets from Undercover Tourist or Parksavers (whichever is cheaper for your particular ticket needs.) AAA doesn't have great ticket prices.

If I buy the tickets through Undercover Tourist or Parksavers, will I lose out on any of the benefits such as the free Magic Bands or whatever else you might get by purchasing the tickets directly through Disney?

 

[Alesia]

If I buy the tickets through Undercover Tourist or Parksavers, will I lose out on any of the benefits such as the free Magic Bands or whatever else you might get by purchasing the tickets directly through Disney?

No. If you're staying on-site, you get magic bands - regardless of where you bought your tickets. If you're staying on-site, you book your fastpasses at 60 days out - regardless of where you bought your tickets.

 

[halfmonkey]

No. If you're staying on-site, you get magic bands - regardless of where you bought your tickets. If you're staying on-site, you book your fastpasses at 60 days out - regardless of where you bought your tickets.

Thanks for clarifying. I just went to Undercover Tourists and Parksavers and priced out the tickets and compared them to Disney directly and Disney was actually cheaper by a few dollars. On the Disney website, it showed it pre tax and then priced it after tax. I'm not sure if the other two websites add any additional fees or taxes to the prices they showed but I will assume they'll at least add taxes. With taxes being added, Undercover Tourist and Parksavers come out just a tad more expensive. It looks like I will be booking directly with Disney. Since it's our first time with so many moving parts between hotel, tickets, airfare, and cruise stuff, it may be just easier to book directly with Disney.

Does anybody know if I book hotel and park tickets directly with Disney, is there an option to cancel with no penalty in case I find a better deal between now and when we need to travel? I imagine if I book the hotel separately, I should have no problem canceling but what if I book the hotel and tickets as part of a package directly through Disney. Do they have some rule about not being able to cancel ticket purchases?

 

[Serenebean]

Id double check that - The only tickets that are more expensive than gate price appear to be the 1 day tickets. You are correct that Disney shows pre-tax. UT and Parksavers do not have any additional fees. I think they show the price including tax, so you don't have to add that. UT shows how much less it is than the gate price on the screen. I have found it to be accurate. The best deal out there right now appears to be Parksavers for a 7 day ticket (with hopping for the price of a 4 day ticket). I know you said you don't need the hopping, but that ticket price is so good if you are staying that long. Its really only worth it to go through UT or Parksavers if you are doing 4 days. The 3 day ticket is only a savings of $8.

You can cancel a package up to 45 days in advance of check in for a refund of your $200 deposit

 

[Alesia]

Thanks for clarifying. I just went to Undercover Tourists and Parksavers and priced out the tickets and compared them to Disney directly and Disney was actually cheaper by a few dollars. On the Disney website, it showed it pre tax and then priced it after tax. I'm not sure if the other two websites add any additional fees or taxes to the prices they showed but I will assume they'll at least add taxes. With taxes being added, Undercover Tourist and Parksavers come out just a tad more expensive. It looks like I will be booking directly with Disney. Since it's our first time with so many moving parts between hotel, tickets, airfare, and cruise stuff, it may be just easier to book directly with Disney.

Undercover tourist prices include all taxes and fees. I'm pretty sure parksavers does as well.

 

[halfmonkey]

Id double check that - The only tickets that are more expensive than gate price appear to be the 1 day tickets. You are correct that Disney shows pre-tax. UT and Parksavers do not have any additional fees. I think they show the price including tax, so you don't have to add that. UT shows how much less it is than the gate price on the screen. I have found it to be accurate. The best deal out there right now appears to be Parksavers for a 7 day ticket (with hopping for the price of a 4 day ticket). I know you said you don't need the hopping, but that ticket price is so good if you are staying that long. Its really only worth it to go through UT or Parksavers if you are doing 4 days. The 3 day ticket is only a savings of $8.

You can cancel a package up to 45 days in advance of check in for a refund of your $200 deposit

So on the WDW website, it's showing 5 day base ticket for adults as $340/adult and $320/child. I found the equivalent on the other websites to be a few dollars more expensive. Granted, there were some deals where you could buy 3 days park hoppers with water park and get 4th and 5th day free but that was $385/adult. Granted that might be a better deal if I was interested in park hopping and the water park but I don't really think we'll have the time to park hop and do the water park. We'll be relying on the free bus system and I hear the bus system can take almost a hour to travel from the various parks to the hotels/other parks and so we'll be wasting time that way. My plan is to spend 1 day at each park and spend two days at the Magic Kingdom. I'm not too worried about the water park because from WDW, we'll be going on a Disney Cruise and it'll stop at Castaway Cay. Your thoughts and am I missing something with the pricing as what I'm seeing doesn't actually show to be less expensive?

 

[Serenebean]

So on the WDW website, it's showing 5 day base ticket for adults as $340/adult and $320/child. I found the equivalent on the other websites to be a few dollars more expensive. Granted, there were some deals where you could buy 3 days park hoppers with water park and get 4th and 5th day free but that was $385/adult. Granted that might be a better deal if I was interested in park hopping and the water park but I don't really think we'll have the time to park hop and do the water park. We'll be relying on the free bus system and I hear the bus system can take almost a hour to travel from the various parks to the hotels/other parks and so we'll be wasting time that way. My plan is to spend 1 day at each park and spend two days at the Magic Kingdom. I'm not too worried about the water park because from WDW, we'll be going on a Disney Cruise and it'll stop at Castaway Cay. Your thoughts and am I missing something with the pricing as what I'm seeing doesn't actually show to be less expensive?

A 5 day Base ticket for an Adult from Disney is $340 + tax = $362.10
A 5 day Base ticket from Undercover tourist is $348.59 - that includes tax. It is $13 cheaper

For Children from Disney it is $320+ tax = 340.80
On UT it is $327.53

I don't usually hop myself - I don't like to waste the time on busses either 8o)

 

[gatorlisa]

Are you sure you are looking at the ticket prices correctly? Looks like you would need a 5-day ticket. UT is offering a 4 day + free day, so you get 5 days for $348.59 (including taxes), $327.53 for a child ticket. From Disney, a 5-day ticket is $362.10 (including taxes), $340.80 for a child ticket. The discount isn't huge, but UT is cheaper for multi-day tickets than Disney. UT lists their ticket prices inclusive of taxes (you can click on the details to see the pre-tax price if you want). Disney shows them pre-tax and only shows the price including tax at the bottom or in your cart, once you have selected what you want.

The tickets are not refundable, but they also don't expire as long as they have not been used yet. So you can buy them, and if something happens, save them for a future trip. This is the case of multi-day tickets from both UT and Disney.

If you book hotel only through Disney you can cancel up to 5 days in advance and receive a refund of your deposit. If you book a package that is room and tickets, the cancellation must be done much further in advance.

As others have said, FP+ 60 days out and magic bands are related to your having a room booked at a Disney property. You have to have tickets linked to your MDE account to book the fastpasses, but it doesn't matter where you got the tickets from.

 

[Marionnette]

So on the WDW website, it's showing 5 day base ticket for adults as $340/adult and $320/child. I found the equivalent on the other websites to be a few dollars more expensive. Granted, there were some deals where you could buy 3 days park hoppers with water park and get 4th and 5th day free but that was $385/adult. Granted that might be a better deal if I was interested in park hopping and the water park but I don't really think we'll have the time to park hop and do the water park. We'll be relying on the free bus system and I hear the bus system can take almost a hour to travel from the various parks to the hotels/other parks and so we'll be wasting time that way. My plan is to spend 1 day at each park and spend two days at the Magic Kingdom. I'm not too worried about the water park because from WDW, we'll be going on a Disney Cruise and it'll stop at Castaway Cay. Your thoughts and am I missing something with the pricing as what I'm seeing doesn't actually show to be less expensive?

Did you go all of the way thru the checkout process? Disney adds tax (6.5%) at the end rather than including it in their quoted ticket prices. The prices that you see on UCT and ParkSavers already include the tax.

 

[halfmonkey]

Are you sure you are looking at the ticket prices correctly? Looks like you would need a 5-day ticket. UT is offering a 4 day + free day, so you get 5 days for $348.59 (including taxes), $327.53 for a child ticket. From Disney, a 5-day ticket is $362.10 (including taxes), $340.80 for a child ticket. The discount isn't huge, but UT is cheaper for multi-day tickets than Disney. UT lists their ticket prices inclusive of taxes (you can click on the details to see the pre-tax price if you want). Disney shows them pre-tax and only shows the price including tax at the bottom or in your cart, once you have selected what you want.

The tickets are not refundable, but they also don't expire as long as they have not been used yet. So you can buy them, and if something happens, save them for a future trip. This is the case of multi-day tickets from both UT and Disney.

If you book hotel only through Disney you can cancel up to 5 days in advance and receive a refund of your deposit. If you book a package that is room and tickets, the cancellation must be done much further in advance.

As others have said, FP+ 60 days out and magic bands are related to your having a room booked at a Disney property. You have to have tickets linked to your MDE account to book the fastpasses, but it doesn't matter where you got the tickets from.

I assume that booking through Parksavers or Undercover Tourist will charge the full price of the transaction upon check out. Does anybody know if I book the hotel and tickets directly through WDW, will they charge the full price or just take a deposit?

 

[Marionnette]

I assume that booking through Parksavers or Undercover Tourist will charge the full price of the transaction upon check out. Does anybody know if I book the hotel and tickets directly through WDW, will they charge the full price or just take a deposit?

If you book a package (hotel + tickets together), Disney will take a $200 deposit with the balance being due 30 days before your arrival.

 

[gatorlisa]

I assume that booking through Parksavers or Undercover Tourist will charge the full price of the transaction upon check out. Does anybody know if I book the hotel and tickets directly through WDW, will they charge the full price or just take a deposit?

For tickets, yes, UT will charge you for the full amount of the tickets when they are shipped. I have not used Parksavers, but I would expect they do the same.

Marionette covered the room + ticket package. But, if you book room only with Disney, they charge you for one night's stay as a deposit at the time of booking, with the rest charged when you check in.