Call me a dufus. . .room only vs package

[pepe of ohio]

We call CRO and just book room only. We don't need alot of extras that the packages provide and we pay for and don't use. Same for free dining, we can't eat all that food so we just pay as we go and eat where we like and we do save money doing this. Since the meals are huge we share alot of meals.

As for AAA, the cost of the membership is gained by the discounts we get. The 10-15% discounts on resorts rooms, the longer you stay the more you save and we use Amtrak to get to WDW and use the AAA 10% discounts on rail fare. The cost of the membership is small for the coverage they provide and having that card, even if you just bop around your hometown makes you feel more secure that if you have a flat, need gas or a jump, AAA will respond and with the location of spare tires no a days in these cars, I'ld rather not bother seeking out the sucker and all the jack components, especially my wife. AAA is well work the fee for Disney.

 

[Bobo912]

I booked 3-nights/4-days with park hoppers for two people with the AAA discount on the room a couple of weeks ago and the totals came to $850. Thought we might want to do one of the water parks, and figured it would be cheaper just to buy single day tickets, rather than adding on the WP&M option. Then the Visa offer with free ticket upgrades came out, so I called Disney to price it, thinking that it wouldn't be a good deal. In fact, since the offer was just for ticket upgrades and no other kind of discount, I expected it to be the same as the price for the rack rate package with regular park hoppers, which was $912 on Disney website. The price they quoted me was $815. Of course, I cancelled the other ressie and booked the package. I checked my old reservation and since each piece was booked individually there was an itemized list with a price for each componenet, so I know I was actually getting the expected AAA discount. Don't understand why the package was less, but I'm very happy about it. From now on, I'm always going to call and never make any assumptions about the price.

 

[DrivingfromNJ]

I thought about calling AAA for a quote on a WDW vacation. But doesn't it cost to join AAA? So would this cancel out the 15% savings?

We're hoping to do 5 days park hopper and hopefully stay at WL maybe in Jan 2009.

AAA only cost $50.00 for the year. So when saving $200-300 for your vistit, you are still ahead of the game and then you also get other AAA perks like parking, meet and greets etc not to mention all the AAA discounts for other during the year

 

[Bobo912]

Even without the Disney benefits, I think a AAA membership is worth it. If you stay in hotels occasionally or even if you visit local attractions you can save a lot with their discounts. If you book a AAA Disney package you also get a Diamond Card which gives you discounts on dining & activities.

Question about the Meet & Greet, etc. Can all AAA members receive those benefits by presenting their membership card or do you have to book a package through AAA? I used the Disney Rewards Visa package for our next trip, but it would be nice to still take advantage of some of the AAA benefits.

 

[wyorider]

Howdy, on our trip the AAA booking also got us a few other perks, 90 min fo r the cost of 60 on a Sea Raycer rental, discount at Planet Hollywood, 2 for 1 mini golf.............and the AAA card gets you discounts at nin travel places, I more than pay for mine each year just in saving at the NAPA (auto parts store) and it also has a parking pass and the luggage tags are GREAT........I quess I should have checked stuff seperately, but I was so excited to actually go back after 12 years I just "got er done"!!! great thread .