Considering booking everything separately.......

[LuvindisCruiser]

I'm thinking of just booking everything myself: Airfare,WDW Resort, Travel Insurance, Transfers, and 4 nite Wonder Cruise.
Has anyone done this, and is it worth my time and money? We are not going till May 2005, and with all the info. I have gotten here on the boards, I think it will be fun to do.
1. What will be the hardest part in doing it all myself, compared to a travel package?
2. Will the check-ins be any harder/longer at Resort or Cruise ?
3. Am I crazy ? ................................

 

[CM_Mom]

We booked our Travel, WDW and Cruise separately. Because we only booked two weeks before the cruise we didn't bother with travel insurance. We had Disney Transfers and absolutely loved the convenience. We did cruise first and the DCL transfers were between Hyatt and Port, then Port and Coronado Springs. We did taxi van between Coronado Springs and MCO.

IMHO, the convenience of the DCL transfers was worth the price for us. Some of the Limo services offer a "grocery stop". We didn't need that because DD had made a WalMart run the week before and left the stuff on the ship with a friend.

 

[staylor]

I enjoy booking everything myself. So no, I do not think you are crazy. There are many websites, this one included, that can help you. If you have any questions about any part of your travel adventure, just ask at this site and someone will be able to help you. I always book a car rental. For one, it is less expensive. And for two, we ,my family, enjoy doing things at our pace. I use Priceline a lot. A great website to find out what the current hotel and car rental line up on priceline is www.biddingfortravel.com.
I hope this helps!

 

[ivanova]

Originally posted by LuvindisCruiser
I'm thinking of just booking everything myself: Airfare,WDW Resort, Travel Insurance, Transfers, and 4 nite Wonder Cruise.
Has anyone done this, and is it worth my time and money? We are not going till May 2005, and with all the info. I have gotten here on the boards, I think it will be fun to do.
1. What will be the hardest part in doing it all myself, compared to a travel package?
2. Will the check-ins be any harder/longer at Resort or Cruise ?
3. Am I crazy ? ................................

No, you're not crazy. You actually have quite a few more options when you do all the booking yourself, and you have several opportunities to save money.

If you do Land & Sea through DCL, they dictate which WDW Resort you stay in .. if you want to save $$ on the WDW resort, then you have to book the"land" portion yourself.

Last year we booked everything "a la carte" because a family member was able to get us the CM discount at the resort ... something DCL wouldn't apply for us. The savings were astronomical!! Well worth giving up the "one time check in" bennie of the DCL Land & Sea pkg IMHO.

Also, I like to have control over our air travel .. we like arriving at certain times of the day (wee hours of the morning and late hours of night are NOT our favorites) .. we like to control if we have plane changes, and where, and what airllines we fly .. and quite often we can use DH's frequent flyer miles, which again we couldn't do if we booked the air thru DCL.

As for travel insurance we let your TA arrange that for us, and it comes out cheaper than what DA would charge for insurance.

And transfers - you can always decide to go with DCL ($25 per person one way or $49 per person roundtrip from MCO to the port) - or a rental car (we got a one way rental car for the 3 of us, full size, from Budget for $46 and change after fees/taxes) - or a towncar, limo, etc.

 

[WooWoo]

We booked separately. We were going to be charged $1300 for air and transfers if we booked with the cruise. I got aifare for $700.00 for the 3 of us. We are flying in a day earlier and with hotel and rental car/shuttle we will be saving about $400.00

 

[Hygiene99]

Highly reccomend this....
As i feel u will Be happier with what u Get and Save some Money

As the package usuallly has portions that u will not be able to use and Still get to pay for......

Good luck .. And have a great trip in about a year...

U will Do fine...

As for the check in you have to check in at the resort and At the
Port for the cruise it is painless and takes no time at all..
with the package u only have to checkin once .. not a big deal...


Peter

 

[eye R.N.]

It's the control freak in me. We go to WDW often enough that I have favorite airlines, hotels, limo's etc. I am also a big fan of two rooms for our family of five when cruising. This way I'm in control of when we arrive, how we get to where we are going, which hotel, and which cabin.

For example, we love the AK lodge rooms that sleep five and catagory 9 cabins. The land/sea package won't provide that option.

Do some research, see if you can save some $$$ and then make the phone calls. To me half the fun is planning, why should I let someone else have my fun?

 

[LuvindisCruiser]

Whew........ Thanks everyone for your advice. I'm sure I will save alot of money booking it all myself, which I think I will use to go to WDW an EXTRA day !!! And with the advice of everyone on these boards, who needs a travel agent, huh !!! And, I think planning is also half the fun. What am I going to do a year from now when our trip is over ..................... Any more advice would be very welcome !!!

 

[WisconsinDisneyGirl]

It is a great idea to book everything yourself! I enjoy that kind of stuff and saved a ton of $$$. My husband travels almost every week for work and has a ton of mile and hotel stays. Sooo...I got a free airline ticket, 3 out of 4 nights free hotel stay at WDW and 7 of 8 days free on a rental car! Not too bad. I also got a great deal on the cruise! I think you have greater control over your own vacation if you book everything yourself.

 

[LostGirls]

We had a TA book everything, but we can alter our reservations up until our final payment is due. My intent is to find our own air, cause I'm pretty sure I can get a better price -- we just did it "just in case" -- what, with gas prices being so high, who knows what the airlines will be charging! I've already bought our own travel insurance.