Canadians... How do you book your Disney Vacation?

[deebee29]

Hi everyone,

Just wondering how you all book your disney vacations. Getting very close to booking mine, and just wondering, do you use a travel agent, book it yourself, another method?

Thanks!

 

[Cdn Gal]

My flights I go to bookit.com., or from the airline directly. For everything else I book directly- Disney- get pin codes etc. I have saved mega dollars by doing things myself rather than booking through a travel agent.

 

[spicemom]

I book everything myself

 

[Albertatraveler]

We are booking things our selfs. Now I just need to figure out how to get my self ahold of those pins everyone talks about. Any ideas?

 

[ash-n-brensmom]

We are booking things our selfs. Now I just need to figure out how to get my self ahold of those pins everyone talks about. Any ideas?

This year, knowing full well that we wouldn't be going until 2011, I ordered the 2010 planning dvd from Disney. Well, 2 pin codes later...we are going April 27-May 4 with free dining...

So, my advice would be to order the DVD and make sure you put in the time of year that you are thinking of traveling. Good luck

 

[ado121]

we do everything ourselves. oh who am i kidding....i do it all and my husband drags the luggage from the bedroom to the car!

we use airmiles for our park tickets. i have a serious addiction to airmiles....an safeway is a great way to feed that addiction.

i always book directly with the airlines although i search kayak.com and some others for the best deals. and then skip the middle man and go right to the carrier.

i make all ressies myself. car rentals, dining etc.

and i live on disboards!

although i am a major lurker!

 

[I Run Long]

The first time we went, I used a Disney specialist travel agent - she was great, got us the free dining for us too. Now that I know what I am doing - we're renting points from a DVC owner and staying at BCV. I calculated the cost of booking through Disney or an agent (no price difference) to stay at the same place and even inputted free dining (though there is never a guarantee of that) and it was still much cheaper to rent points, pay for the DDP and purchase park tickets separately. I'm talking to the tune of $1800 cheaper! I even found a good flight direct through the airline's own website and secured a rate of Cdn$ 980 return for 4 out of Seattle. I had originally budgeted a worse case scenario of Cdn$ 1800 return. I'm a pretty happy camper!

 

[dis_guy]

i always book directly with the airlines although i search kayak.com and some others for the best deals. and then skip the middle man and go right to the carrier.

I do the same thing with travelocity.ca.
I just prefer dealing directly with the airline if I have a problem.

Disney is always booked online unless we have a PIN or other special circumstance. Again, it's all about having control.

 

[Fundytrail]

We booked ourselves, we saved dollars by doing things ourselves rather than booking through a travel agent. I did price through a local travel agent and CAA travel first.

 

[Louiepipbgeeco]

Book it all myself. I love love love doing thisNow that I have the DVC it is even more fun to play with possiblities that before I would have never paid out of pocket for.
Flights--I always start looking ASAP for the next March ( I always go March Break as I teach) Usually NWA now DELTA posted their flights as early as April for next March. If I see a good rate--I buy. Last year I had them booked and paid for in April. People at work laughed but come Jan. Feb. March when they all shopped around guess who paid quite a bit more.....
I also look to Cheaptickets etc for shopping around but then book directly with the airline.
If I need a place to stay before Disney--I use Sheraton points from my mastercard. So, those are "free nights"
Car rentals--some better deals if you prepay
I often check Mousesavers for info on any deals etc.
When I retire I would love to be a Disney specialized trip planner

 

[minnie56]

Welll I am a TA so I book with me!!

 

[declansdad]

We use Dream Come True Vacations. They are Disney specialists and are fantastic.

 

[Alderbrook]

We book direct with Disney & direct for flights. We used CAA once before the internet (LOL) but now we just do everything ourselves.

 

[goldwest]

I booked with small world vacations and booked flights myself using Kayak. I was happy with origanial prices (after pricing things myself) and then we got a further discount.

 

[YukiPhnx]

I booked my room with Mouse Fan Travel, but booked everything else myself (ie,flights and park tickets)

My agent from MFT also booked my dining for me. It was great not to have to do everything by myself and still having my way. My agent easily added my CAA discount onto my room-only reservation

Oh yes. I booked my flight with travelocity.ca and didn't have any problems at all. I should've booked with expedia.ca though. After I booked my flight, I checked their site, and noticed they had MUCH better flight times and also lower prices. I would recommend expedia.ca for sure.

 

[amberg@eastlink.ca]

i've done both. last year going with kids and never booking one on my own, i went with my a ta at sears. and she is wonderful, i've sent many clients her way. this trip, the week after we got back in october i got a pin code for 30-40% off the resorts. called disney and looked into the cr. it was wayyy too pricey at 411 a nite for club level. so he dug around and came up with wl for me with meals, 14 days, and 10 day hoppers 5100, no airfare.

so i put a hold and then a 200$ deposit on it and had til march to pay off. once i did that i signed it over to my ta. she had to deal with the stress for everything else. she booked all my dinings for me on her morning off and got them all. however i booked my flights online. one via continental.com and the other via travelocity.ca.

the good thing about disney, he compared resorts so i didnt break the bank. plus that was a sunday, my agents closed that day. i liked handing it off to her to book all the other stuff.

booking my airfare online was a little stressful, westjet had that seatsale before new years. and sure eenough i waited and it jumped up a fair bit. so i snagged my trip back then the trip down on two different days and sites. only thing, i find it hard not to go back and check the now prices...of coruse its dropped! lol

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

We used a Disney Specialist, Fairytale Dreams & Destinations. Best thing we could have done, in my opinion.

We made all the decisions, they did ALL the work. We didn't have the hassle of long distance phone calls to book our ADR's (and bless them, I changed my mind half a dozen times on the ADRs alone, meaning extra work on their end), they watched for and automatically applied for any promos that were released for our travel period, they provided maps and packing lists in advance of our trip, they set up all the necessary info with Magical Express once we had our flights decided.....they even left us a "welcome home" email and followed up with a phone call just a few days later to be sure the trip was as wonderful as we had hoped.

Being first time visitors, their knowledge was sooo valuable....there wasn't a question we were unable to get answered. They've stayed at every resort, done every ride, eaten at every restaurant, and are passionate about all things Disney. They're attentive, fun, and super-reliable. And all for the same price if you book direct and do all the leg work yourself!

If we ever make another trip, I wouldn't consider booking any other way. Leaving them to do all the grunt work left me more time for the Disboards!

 

[DaniB]

The first time we went, I used a Disney specialist travel agent - she was great, got us the free dining for us too. Now that I know what I am doing - we're renting points from a DVC owner and staying at BCV. I calculated the cost of booking through Disney or an agent (no price difference) to stay at the same place and even inputted free dining (though there is never a guarantee of that) and it was still much cheaper to rent points, pay for the DDP and purchase park tickets separately. I'm talking to the tune of $1800 cheaper! I even found a good flight direct through the airline's own website and secured a rate of Cdn$ 980 return for 4 out of Seattle. I had originally budgeted a worse case scenario of Cdn$ 1800 return. I'm a pretty happy camper!

That's so funny as it mirrors me - sort of.

This is our first trip and I used a DSTA as well (fairytales dreams & destinations). While I do love my experience with her, I just found out a couple of weeks ago about DVC and renting points. I have been crunching the numbers for next year and decided if we can go next year - to rent a villa at AKL from a DVC member!

And we have not even gone on our first trip yet

Edited to add that when I freaked over the airfare cost (almost as much as our trip!), our TA suggested flying out of Buffalo. Never having flown before that was wonderful piece of information after finding out the huge price difference!

 

[Tantor]

I book everything myself

yup me too

 

[SaraMc]

We used to book everything ourselves. But the last trip we used Dreams Unlimited and loved it. So next trip is with Dreams again. So much easier.