Disney Package or Separate??

[spudman]

Hi everyone,

We just got back from a great trip to DL and I'm starting to plan our next visit because we loved it so much! I'm wondering if anyone has advice on whether to get the disney vacation packages or whether it is cheaper to buy them all (hotel, air, tickets, food) separately?

We've always bought everything separately in the past to try and save money, but I'm not sure in the end we really save that much. We have a family of 6.

Thanks!
Spudman

 

[blackjackdelta]

I reserved a suite at GC and it was $600 diference (room and parkhoppers)between the package online thru AAA and doing it directly with out the package stuff. 72 hours cancellation notice instead of all the package requirements. We are also a family of 6.

Jack

 

[Tasmen]

I've booked a la carte and as a package for DL before. I have found that booking a package through AAA saves you a little money. I usually price both options out and go with whatever ends up being cheapest.

 

[rosiep]

One of my favorite things to do to occupy myself while I wait for my next Disney trip is to price them out. If you have some extra time (which I obviously do) search the web for deals. I found a great deal at getawaytoday after other places had the hotel I wanted booked solid. Airfares varied by how far in advance I looked and as for food...I don't like vouchers..I hate to be commited to a particular restaurant....
Good Luck and keep us posted

 

[spudman]

One of my favorite things to do to occupy myself while I wait for my next Disney trip is to price them out. If you have some extra time (which I obviously do) search the web for deals. I found a great deal at getawaytoday after other places had the hotel I wanted booked solid. Airfares varied by how far in advance I looked and as for food...I don't like vouchers..I hate to be commited to a particular restaurant....
Good Luck and keep us posted

I was curious about the meal plans. I like the idea of not having to worry about food, but I don't know if it would be a good idea for my family. My kids are such picky eaters that we are best off just bringing a bunch of PBJs for the day! I hate spending money at a restaurant to just see them pick at their food!
Spudman

 

[hlbtimes2]

It really varies and you have to check the prices to be sure. Perfect example- we are going in April. Our family of 4 booked thru Disney travel. We were able to get the kids fly free prices on Alaska air. If we booked things seperate, we would have lost the kids fly free. It would have cost us about $300 more. My mom will be going with us for part of the trip and MIL and FIL for the other part of the trip. I prices out tickets, hotel, and airfare as a package and seperate. Because they wont be using the kids fly free its about $75 less to book things seperate. They wont get prefered seating at DCA and toon town morning madness, but those things are not worth $75.

 

[hlbtimes2]

Spudman, We've used the dinning vouchers a couple of times. We do it strictly for budgeting. We often book our trip when we have a chunk of money. We buy the vouchers then know we wont have a huge out of pocket amount during the trip. However, they dont save you any money and can be a bit complicated to use. Because of that, I think I'll buy a couple gift cards for this trip. We can "pre-pay" for meals that way, and not have to deal with the vouchers.

 

[spudman]

Thanks for the advice Linda. I'm a very frugle shopper, so I was planning on comparing the two costs and probably going with the lower cost. But if the costs are only off by a hundred or so, I'm wondering if there are any 'extras' that make it worth using the disney travel package, such as the hotel, preferred seating, character breakfast, etc. We've never stayed at a disney hotel (stayed at Anaheim Desert Inn twice - not sure why we went back the second time!) and don't know if it is worth the extra cost or not.
Spudman

 

[bclydia]

I think it can depend on where you are travelling from and when.
Generally, I find it's cheaper to do it all myself and I prefer that.
However, last fall we went twice and I booked both through Costco
travel because the airfare from here was outrageous to LA.
It was actually almost as much for airfare as the packages as a whole were.
I found the the perks from Costco were the best and $20 cheaper than
WDT co.

 

[hlbtimes2]

Costco usually does offer a pretty good deal. The character meal and $20 gift card sure help! I just wish they had a bigger selection of good neighbor hotels. They dont offer all of them, and our favorite, the Candy Cane is not on their list.

 

[hlbtimes2]

The disney package will get your lugage tags, lanyard with pin, coupon book (good for a lot of places in down town disney and a few things in the park- like buy a bucket of popcorn get a small one free, money off at build a bear, 10% off most dinning in downtown disney), priority seating for shows in DCA- great to have for the Aladin show, and Mickeys Toon Town Morning Madness- great way to quickly do toon town and meet the characters. While none of them have a huge $$ value they are nice to have. If you book thru Costco.com you get all of those perks as well as (1) $20 gift card, and a character breakfast for everyone on the reservation.

 

[tracer]

We just booked through Costco. I had the time to price everything seperate vs. the package. I could have saved about $90 if I had done it sep...but I wouldn't have received all the little perks, morning maddness, collector pin, prefered seating... For us it was just easier going through one place that takes care of everything. Also we are going in March, value season. I think that you get a better discount when you go at a peak time and book a package. Costco gave us the same quote for the off peak season vs. the peak. If you have time and patience to quote everything out it might be worth it.