December '06 advice

[Bryce]

Hi all,

I apologize in advance if I'm asking questions that have been repeated 47,000 times.

I've booked a trip for December 8-17 of '06 with my wife and two of our friends. I got a ridiculously cheap flight from Seattle so just to get something lined up I went ahead and booked two rooms and park tickets together at Sports through Disney Reservations, knowing that it might not be the absolute cheapest option (paid about $1300 for 9 nights), but figuring I'd better get something in the bag immediately.

Here's my questions: is there any way to view what the AAA rate availability is on the web? I'm an AAA member and AAA's website doesn't seem to let you see how much of a discount you can get on the rooms. I'm trying to figure out if it's better for me to re-book through AAA, then cancel my original reservation (which I can do at no cost to me), but I don't want to cancel until I can get a good picture of what the AAA rate is going to be for a value resort at that time of the year. Can anybody tell me how much the rates are at that time of the year using AAA?

Alternatively, should I hold on to the package I booked through Disney? I know this past December WDW was running discounts below what I've paid, and that I can lock into that cheaper price if a special is run later in the year.

I'd also be willing to buy an Annual Pass to save more money but that seems to be somewhat of a crapshoot.

Thoughts? Advice?

 

[Rootskate]

The AAA rate for your resort and dates is $63.20 for a standard room. Tax is not included in that rate.
Hope that helps a little.

 

[goofy4tink]

Welcome to the DIS boards!!! You have several options....go with AAA and get a room rate discount and pay for park passes and food, keep the package you have now and add DDP at $38 pp a night, or wait and see what happens to the AP rates, then buy two APs, get a discounted room, and you can then buy a DDE card for $60 and get 20% off a lot of meals.
The best way to figure it all out is to sit down, with pencil and paper, and make a sample schedule for your trip. Jot down, day by day, where you would eat and the cost...all meals. Then you can total it up and compare the costs vs DDP and DDE.
So your package could be say....$1399 for nine nights, plus $684 for DDP. Total of $2083
Or....using an AP rate as prev. given...$567, two APs $880, DDE $60, food...maybe $125 per day (up to you) total of $2632...those APs add up and this is a very rough summation...I don't ever come close to using $125 per day for food.

 

[Bryce]

Thanks for the responses -- I've been to WDW something like 16 times, but I still feel as though I know very little about the ins and outs of getting the cheapest deals.

Does the 63.20 AAA rate for value hotels include taxes?

 

[SeattleMark]

Hey Bryce, where'd you get your airfare? We're going down at approximately the same time and also fly out of Seattle.

 

[thornphoenix]

Bryce,

I experienced the same thing as you (e.g. not being able to see AAA rates on the Disney or AAA website). I called Disney today and asked if I could book AAA rates through them for December 2006 and they said yes. They gave me a quote for 10 nights in a Savannah view room at Animal Kingdom lodge that was almost $500 cheaper than the rack rate so I booked the AAA rate through Disney. I will likely be purchasing a Premium Annual Pass and check for passholder rate codes for December when they're released. I asked if I could apply passholder rate codes to my exisiting reservation instead of cancelling it and rebooking a new one and the reservation agent told me that I did NOT have to cancel my original reservation and yes, I could apply AP rates to my reservation if they were released.

So, no need to cancel your original reservation with Disney. Just call up Disney and ask if the AAA rates are available for your dates of stay and at your resort and see what they quote you. The reservation agent will just remind you to bring your AAA card so you can show it at check-in.

On a side note....I asked the reservation agent about the "Best Rate Plan" and "Best Rate Program" and how it compared to AP rates/codes. She seemed utterly clueless and she asked where I had heard about the BRP and what I knew about it. When I told her that I've been reading about the plan on the internet since about June/July 2005 she then "softened" but didn't give me any additional information. I asked if the BRP was only available to AP holders and she said yes. She then said, however, that plans change all the time at Disney and that the BRP may not be available by the time we come to Disney in 2006. My entire conversation with the reservation agent was pleasant until I asked about the BRP program and then she seemed to turn cold. Don't know what the issue is there, but thought I'd pass along my experience in case anybody can shed light on it.

Cheers,
Tracey

 

[thornphoenix]

Hi again,

I forgot to mention that I did a room-only reservation with Disney and got the AAA rate. I'm not sure if you can book the AAA rate through Disney if you're doing a package. I don't see why not - probably worth the phone call.

I notice a lot of people book their travel directly with AAA - why is that if you can get the same AAA rate booking through Disney which is what we did? Anybody have any idea?

Thanks,
Tracey

 

[Bryce]

Can you add the dining plan through AAA? I'm debating whether or not to add dining, so that'll factor into the equation.

As far as flights from Seattle go, I got mine through Delta. I'm just praying they'll still be in existance when we fly. $228 round trip, which is by far the cheapest I could find. Alaska, by comparison, was something like $380-400.

 

[thornphoenix]

Hi Bryce,

I've been reading other posts on this "codes and rates" board and it sounds like you can only book through Disney with the AAA discount on room-only reservations. So, if you want to book a package (e.g. room and dining plan) with the AAA discount it sounds like you have to book that directly with AAA. Don't know why though - seems silly.

We got a flight on American Airlines from Portland to Orlando (via Seattle) for $278.70. Red eye on 12/7 landing in Orlando on the morning of 12/8. We like to take the "red eye" so that we don't lose a day travelling. We also looked at Alaska and their tickets were about $85.00 more per ticket for a similar itinerary. Too bad Alaska is more - I like flying with them.

Cheers,
Tracey

 

[Taja]

AAA discount with DDP has to be booked through AAA travel services. Not sure if you also have to purchase park tickets. If so, try to purchase 1 day only for each person in the room and purchase multi-day tickets through TicketMania or Mapleleaf (or other reputable discount ticket broker).