Decided on resort, now what?

[Alanna]

We are planning to go again next May. It is me and my two kids, DD will be 13 and DS will be 7. We went in May '05, but because I won the trip in a contest, it was all prepared and booked by Disney (or maybe Clear Channel Radio, who I won the trip through?).
Anyway, I know we want to stay at CSR and we plan to stay 8 days. But I am lost regarding how to go about booking a trip. We will want the whole package as far as room and tickets, meal plan, plane tickets. Even though the trip is over a year away could someone let me know where to even start with this? I am confused as to rack rates, AP rates, codes .
Oh, and I am a member of AAA. Is that the best (i.e. cheapest) way to go, or should I do one of the travel agencies that specialize in Disney?
Help me, of wise ones .

 

[DLBDS]

If you're a member of AAA, I say go for it! They have very decent discounts avaliable and they can arrange the whole trip for you including air. AP's (Annual Pass) have a lot of benefits also. Go here to see them...
http://www.allearsnet.com/pl/apass.htm
Good luck and have fun!

 

[MICKEEP]

We stayed at CSR last December and after much research, booking, cancelling and rebooking we found that the best deal we were able to get was thru AAA with park passes and dining plan. On the other hand we split our stay and booked a room only at a different resort directly thru Disney. Disney had the best room only rate.

If you want to make the effort it doesn't cost anything to book something and then cancel it if something better comes along. We must have changed resorts, room types, packages, etc at least 7 times on our last trip.