Disney Land and Sea package ?

[lanejudy]

We wrote down the prices of the hotels since early August, and even though it may seem they aren't supposed to change they have. In August we had noted Pop Century and AoA prices on DW website for December vacation, and I looked last night and again few minutes ago (for Pop as AoA little mermaid no longer available).
The pop century DW website prices for same nights are more now than they were just over a month ago for same dates, and they're now even more than what AOA was.
But DCL gave us a better deal on AoA, but the significant part of the savings came from 3 day Park Hopper tickets.

I think we'll just pay for meals and checkin at hotel ... Hopefully line and wait to get room won't be too long ... We have a 2 year old that naps from 2 to 4 pm.

I'm thinking maybe this is because you are in Canada? I can't say what the Canadian packages are or how that website works since I believe it may not be the same website we use here in the U.S. (I know the UK has different packages and such).

The WDW resort and package rates offered in the U.S. are released about 6-18 months out (this past summer rates for all of 2014 were released) and while rates vary by "season" you'll be visiting and even by weekday vs weekend, they do not change if you look up those rates in March, August or November. What may change is availability and room preferences, and packages and discounts or specials offered. At least in the U.S. the "rack" resort rates will not change. Ticket prices increased this past June and will not change until the next increase (could be anytime but not expected until next summer).

I'll caveat this with the fact that WDW's website has experienced numerous glitches since the re-vamp earlier this year. There have been times that incorrect info was showing or unavailable. But that was a website glitch and not the rates changing.

 

[KanataDad]

You can arrive whenever you want and do not need to request an early check in. Even if you request it, there is no guarantee you'll get it. If you arrive before your room is ready, they can hold your bags at bells while you explore the resort, go to the parks, etc. They will text or call you when the room is ready. We arrived just after 7am (red eye) once. We went to the food court for breakfast and got the call that our room was ready before we even finished eating. We've never requested an early check in either.

As far as online check in goes, you are probably better off not doing it. The first time we did online check in, it worked well. Now, everyone does it. The online check in line is ALWAYS long while the walk up lines are short. Plus, online check in probably saves less than 5 minutes once you get to the window. Also, you have a better chance of getting an early check in if you're not pre-assigned to a specific room.

As far as the cost going up by $700, I believe you. If you cancelled and rescheduled, you pay today's prices for the cruise rather than the price when you booked. The costs raise regularly as time moves on.

When it comes to hotel rooms, they do raise the prices a little if demand increases. However, $700 for 4 nights does seem excessive. My guess is the $700 is coming from something else, like being forced into a suite rather than a regular room.

We don't need to cancel the cruise portion to rebook the hotel portion with Disney world. If we were just to cancel the 4 night AoA hotel and 3 day park tickets booked through DCL, and rebook same 3 day park hopper tickets plus 4 nights stay at pop century through DW we would be looking at approx $120 more for hotel and approx $580 more for park tickets today.
Thanks for the tips. We'll just checkin at the hotel.

 

[KanataDad]

I'm thinking maybe this is because you are in Canada? I can't say what the Canadian packages are or how that website works since I believe it may not be the same website we use here in the U.S. (I know the UK has different packages and such).

The WDW resort and package rates offered in the U.S. are released about 6-18 months out (this past summer rates for all of 2014 were released) and while rates vary by "season" you'll be visiting and even by weekday vs weekend, they do not change if you look up those rates in March, August or November. What may change is availability and room preferences, and packages and discounts or specials offered. At least in the U.S. the "rack" resort rates will not change. Ticket prices increased this past June and will not change until the next increase (could be anytime but not expected until next summer).

I'll caveat this with the fact that WDW's website has experienced numerous glitches since the re-vamp earlier this year. There have been times that incorrect info was showing or unavailable. But that was a website glitch and not the rates changing.

No - this was not any Canadian Disney website or prices. This was the US DW booking site and checked at home and at work (from work our internet provider some how makes us appear like we're in the US). And I confirmed prices with DW agent directly by calling the booking number in Florida.
If you go to DW website today Pop Century same basic room is more expensive than when I was looking almost everyday in early August. Can't explain it - I believe you when you say it isn't supposed to change through the year but for some reason I've noticed a change for sane room on same dates.
And I'm not comparing suites to a base room.
Well I'm happy I was able to save $700 (via DCL) rather than book through DW.
And since this is our second cruise we were able to pay in full earlier and book all our on board activities and port excursions ahead of time.
Can't wait to take our daughter to bib bidi bobidy boutique and pirates league on board.

 

[KanataDad]

They are actually 2 entirely separate companies and entities. Yes, under the Disney umbrella, but otherwise no connections. Separate booking systems, separate financials, etc. It's sort of like calling ABC and asking them to book your WDW vacation - they really are that separate. That's why most of us recommend booking the 2 parts separately. Plus, most WDW offers don't come out until closer and by having the 2 separate reservations you can modify WDW to take advantage of possibly free dining or room-only or whatever.

Good luck and enjoy your cruise!

Even though I booked everything brought DCL it all shows on disney my experience site, and I was able to do my pre checkin when I got under the 60 day mark. I would definitely recommend to all those trying to book land and sea to see/compare the prices offered by your travel agent, disney wood agent and DCL agent. If you don't mind not having a dining plan then booking through DCL will hopefully save you a bundle.

 

[su_A_ve]

No - this was not any Canadian Disney website or prices. This was the US DW booking site and checked at home and at work (from work our internet provider some how makes us appear like we're in the US). And I confirmed prices with DW agent directly by calling the booking number in Florida.
If you go to DW website today Pop Century same basic room is more expensive than when I was looking almost everyday in early August. Can't explain it - I believe you when you say it isn't supposed to change through the year but for some reason I've noticed a change for sane room on same dates.
And I'm not comparing suites to a base room.
Well I'm happy I was able to save $700 (via DCL) rather than book through DW.
And since this is our second cruise we were able to pay in full earlier and book all our on board activities and port excursions ahead of time.
Can't wait to take our daughter to bib bidi bobidy boutique and pirates league on board.

I can guarantee you that you are missing something. Prices are set and do not change unless announced. But the only way to show what's exactly different is by showing the reservation details (there's an email that you get that states exactly what options you get and what not).

For exact same offer, resort, dates and room types, the ONLY difference that changed during the summer was ticket prices. They did indeed went up. Reservations made early summer had the old ticket prices. Those done after, had the ticket prices increase and this could be a $100-$300 difference depending on the number of days and tickets.

DCL will not be able to save you anything unless you originally did not have an offer attached to it and now you do.

Free dining offers are basically rack rates, plus full price tickets and dining is free.

RO offers are percentage of the rack rate. You can then add full price tickets and/or dining.

If you list actual dates, number of tickets, resort type and type of guests (adult, junior, child) we can calculate to the cent what you had before and can even see what you are potentially missing now.

For example, you may have requested hoppers and water and they were not entered by DCL (ie base tickets only) - that would about $150 per person...

Finally, a TA will give you absolutely ZERO discount. There's no secret sauce. Either you qualify for a promotion (public or specific like a PIN offer) or you don't. Same goes for DCL. A TA can only give you a gift card or something else for free, but cannot discount your reservation. A TA could make you a room only reservation and sell you tickets separately for a discount, but these tickets are no more than $5-$10 cheaper. And if you want dining, you cannot do that - that must be a package reservation and that means Disney set room and ticket prices.

Same as DCL - prices are fixed (except that they change as the ship books). Doesn't matter if you book via DCL directly or a TA. The only difference is that they can give you OBC, but the rate you pay will be the same.

 

[Donald_Quackers]

Even though I booked everything brought DCL it all shows on disney my experience site, and I was able to do my pre checkin when I got under the 60 day mark. I would definitely recommend to all those trying to book land and sea to see/compare the prices offered by your travel agent, disney wood agent and DCL agent. If you don't mind not having a dining plan then booking through DCL will hopefully save you a bundle.

Any reservation should show on MDE, even those booking through travel agents. A reservation is a reservation for DW, regardless of how you booked it, right?

I will agree to always compare prices. Usually you do wind up better off booking separate, but there are times (like this one) where booking together can be beneficial.

 

[TwinPrincessMermaids]

We wrote down the prices of the hotels since early August, and even though it may seem they aren't supposed to change they have. In August we had noted Pop Century and AoA prices on DW website for December vacation, and I looked last night and again few minutes ago (for Pop as AoA little mermaid no longer available).
The pop century DW website prices for same nights are more now than they were just over a month ago for same dates, and they're now even more than what AOA was.
But DCL gave us a better deal on AoA, but the significant part of the savings came from 3 day Park Hopper tickets.

I think we'll just pay for meals and checkin at hotel ... Hopefully line and wait to get room won't be too long ... We have a 2 year old that naps from 2 to 4 pm.

Can DCL sell US residents the same? You got my attention with the 3 day hopper passes as savings...

 

[KanataDad]

I can guarantee you that you are missing something. Prices are set and do not change unless announced. But the only way to show what's exactly different is by showing the reservation details (there's an email that you get that states exactly what options you get and what not).

For exact same offer, resort, dates and room types, the ONLY difference that changed during the summer was ticket prices. They did indeed went up. Reservations made early summer had the old ticket prices. Those done after, had the ticket prices increase and this could be a $100-$300 difference depending on the number of days and tickets.

DCL will not be able to save you anything unless you originally did not have an offer attached to it and now you do.

Free dining offers are basically rack rates, plus full price tickets and dining is free.

RO offers are percentage of the rack rate. You can then add full price tickets and/or dining.

If you list actual dates, number of tickets, resort type and type of guests (adult, junior, child) we can calculate to the cent what you had before and can even see what you are potentially missing now.

For example, you may have requested hoppers and water and they were not entered by DCL (ie base tickets only) - that would about $150 per person...

Finally, a TA will give you absolutely ZERO discount. There's no secret sauce. Either you qualify for a promotion (public or specific like a PIN offer) or you don't. Same goes for DCL. A TA can only give you a gift card or something else for free, but cannot discount your reservation. A TA could make you a room only reservation and sell you tickets separately for a discount, but these tickets are no more than $5-$10 cheaper. And if you want dining, you cannot do that - that must be a package reservation and that means Disney set room and ticket prices.

Same as DCL - prices are fixed (except that they change as the ship books). Doesn't matter if you book via DCL directly or a TA. The only difference is that they can give you OBC, but the rate you pay will be the same.

When I called DCL they said they had a special price for the hotel and park tickets - they say this does not happen all the time.
All I know is I saved $700 over what DW offered on the same dates with park tickets. I also had 2 quotes from TAs that matched DW quote. When I tried to get dining I called DW agent and she said I'd have to cancel DCL first, and the land and ticket option would be $700 more, before even adding the cost of dining approx $500.

I've gone through all the print outs with my wife and we've confirmed we've saved $700 and it's not worth cancelling DCL for dining plan

 

[amomma23]

DCL just posted a new land/sea deal on Facebook. It's up on the site, now. Http://disneycruise.disney.go.com/c...sourcecode=18922&CMP=SOC-DCLFY14Q1LandSea0001

 

[rays2001]

Too bad that Disney stopped the Land & Sea vacation packages. It was the beginning of our family's cruising adventures.

Back in 2001, after having been to Disneyworld a few times and once to Disneyland, we booked the 7-day Land & Sea vacation, 4 days in the the parks followed by 3 days at sea. My wife and I figured if our young children did not enjoy the cruise, it was only 3 days to get through.

The cruise was booked for late-November, final payment day was late-September. When 9/11 happened, we almost cancelled the cruise, but decided to go since we had planned it for over 4 months. Not only did my children enjoy the cruise, they wanted us to go on a 7 day cruise.

Since 2001, we have been on 3 7-day cruises with our children, and my wife and I have been on three additional Disney cruises without them. Just got back from the 14 day September Eastern repositioning Panama Canal cruise, 2 weeks on the ship was fabulous!!

Children, now young adults, are both in college, and we have another 7-day cruise booked for next year with them.

So glad the Land & Sea package got us hooked on cruising with DCL!!!

 

[IBelieveInTheMagic]

DCL just posted a new land/sea deal on Facebook. It's up on the site, now. Http://disneycruise.disney.go.com/c...sourcecode=18922&CMP=SOC-DCLFY14Q1LandSea0001

Yep - just saw this on FB. What a pity, because we are booked on the 1/17/14 sailing on the Magic AND going to Disney next week and separately - obviously they are more than what the deal is. However the offer is for 11B and we have the verandah room we want and my DS won't miss as much school this way since we are going over two long weekends each time. We are also within our cancellation period and I already bought tickets for MNSSHP ($200) so it's not worth it for us to cancel and rebook everything.

It is, however, a great deal for those looking to do both trips and those that can go in these few weeks!

Heather

 

[TwinPrincessMermaids]

Wow! Its so nice and simple! Kudos to them! Transport, hoppers, rooming, port, cruise.

I'm glad this isn't available for my 4 day cruise in May because it is definitely a great deal and I am already booked. But now we don't know how yet to book from Fri to Mon morning (and get to ship) and then from Fri night to Sunday morn (and get to airport) with WDW tix and rooming.

At least cruise and (some of the party's) airfare is booked!

Edit: I sent my boss the link. His kids are homeschooled and if they are looking for a great vacation, this is definitely a great offer.

 

[KanataDad]

Glad to see that they finally advertised it.
When I booked they said the same - land and sea package and can only choose 1, 2 or 3 day park hopper (3 was perfect for our 4 nights land), and only select resorts to pick from at the time. But looks like they no longer offer AoA as a choice in the package.
If you've not booked get the quotes from DCL for the package, and compare to prices if you booked land through DW and sea through DCL. I bet it will be a big difference.
Just remember that you can't add a dining plan if you book the package. If anyone else is able to do this then please post how you were able to get it done.

Also note that you can add your land package reservation to MDE by using the cruise reservation number (but it took 2-3 weeks before the system accepted the cruise reservation number).

Once you have everything in MDE you should be able to do pre-checkin for land part around 60 day mark, and do the FASTPASS+ selections.

I was able to do pre-checkin at 60 days and FASTPASS+ a week later.

 

[Seamama]

Really, really hoping that w/ the next round of schedule announcements they'll add some land/sea packages involving Disneyland and LA as the departing port!

 

[su_A_ve]

Pricing it out... 2A/2C age 9

WDW - Pop - Jan 14-17, 3day tix w/hopper using 20% RO promo - $1591.24
Magic 3n - Jan 17 - 10B (nothing lower) - $1669.08
Transfers (4x) - $280
Total: $3540.32

Package (11B): $3156
Taxes: $252
Total: $3408

The difference is $132.32 but remember the quoted price is for an 11B. Difference for 11B to 10B is about $120. Note that there is a current promotion on value resorts of 20% off. Also the sailings are based on Thursday sailings, hence you are looking at mid week hotel prices. There's currently play/stay/dine option and this might be better for some instead.

IT'S ALL MARKETING! You can easily get some OBC by going with a TA for the cruise and booking this yourself...

 

[amomma23]

Pricing it out... 2A/2C age 9

WDW - Pop - Jan 14-17, 3day tix w/hopper using 20% RO promo - $1591.24
Magic 3n - Jan 17 - 10B (nothing lower) - $1669.08
Transfers (4x) - $280
Total: $3540.32

Package (11B): $3156
Taxes: $252
Total: $3408

The difference is $132.32 but remember the quoted price is for an 11B. Difference for 11B to 10B is about $120. Note that there is a current promotion on value resorts of 20% off. Also the sailings are based on Thursday sailings, hence you are looking at mid week hotel prices. There's currently play/stay/dine option and this might be better for some instead.

IT'S ALL MARKETING! You can easily get some OBC by going with a TA for the cruise and booking this yourself...

Just like WDW, you have to crunch the numbers with all available promos and see what works for you.

 

[su_A_ve]

Just like WDW, you have to crunch the numbers with all available promos and see what works for you.

Absolutely. DCL and WDW are known for sending out special offers that mean nothing. Recently they had 'special discounted fares' for certain cruises. The discount was indeed lower than the opening day rates. The difference was ONE DOLLAR.

WDW has been sending special promotion with specific 3 digit codes. They in fact are rack rates but they make it look like a special. The only true special offers are:

WDW - PINs, DMR codes or general public offers
DCL - booking code discounts (on board, mil, fl rate, *GT or kids sail free)

That's about it...

 

[jdb in AZ]

Thank you for crunching the numbers. Note the packages don't include any week-long cruises, any verandahs or deluxe hotels. We'll just continue to book land/sea separately so we can book what we want.

And get a hefty on-board credit from our TA. And book onboard so we get another on-board credit and a 10%discount.

 

[KanataDad]

Thank you for crunching the numbers. Note the packages don't include any week-long cruises, any verandahs or deluxe hotels. We'll just continue to book land/sea separately so we can book what we want.

And get a hefty on-board credit from our TA. And book onboard so we get another on-board credit and a 10%discount.

Try calling DCL directly and ask to add a land package to a 7 day cruise that you want - although you may be limited to the resort and max 3 day hopper they should be able to customize it for you.

But you're right - you don't get the large on-board credit you get from TA ... But it's hopefully offset the same or more by the cheaper price DCL offers.

I'm just going by the experience of what we booked (we had TA quotes and compared the inboard credit to DCL price and for us there was bigger savings booking with DCL)

 

[TwinPrincessMermaids]

WDW - PINs, DMR codes or general public offers
DCL - booking code discounts (on board, mil, fl rate, *GT or kids sail free)

That's about it...

Don't forget too that there are the 10% off PIN codes for DCL that are sent out too. I know its not every one and is 'special", but that goes for just about all the discounts mentioned.