Disney World through Southwest Vacations

[tbonestl]

My wife and I are looking at booking our vacation at Disney World through Southwest Vacations. We have a entertainment book deal, and get $150 off. I have my flights, park hopper tickets, pop century resort, and magical express ready to book through this package. My question is...Do you get the magic your way 2012 benefits through Southwest as you would if you select magic your way package on Disney's web site? (the commemorative tags, mini golf, Planet Hollywood voucher, arcade card...and so on). It doesn't say anywhere on Southwest the magic your way package name. I am not purchasing the meal plans, just wanted the basic magic your way if possible. I wasn't sure if just booking tickets and a resort stay is considered the basic magic your way package and gets you the perks through Southwest, or if you have to book through Disney to get those certain perks. I know I will get all of the other perks of staying on property. Thanks for the help in advance. This is my wife and I's first time taking the 2 kids and staying on Disney property. We are planning on going at the end of April for a week. We were leaning towards booking through Southwest Vacations because we can book it a little cheaper, as long as it has the same benefits.

 

[patty57]

Hi, I'm sorry, but I don't have the answer to your question about the package. Just wanted to make sure that you've priced this out because anytime I looked at Southwest vacation packages...they were expensive. I always did much better booking myself (hopefully with a discount) and getting tickets through Undercover Tourist. I love Southwest as an airline, but not so much for vacation packages.

 

[GenevieveRaqs]

Hi, I'm sorry, but I don't have the answer to your question about the package. Just wanted to make sure that you've priced this out because anytime I looked at Southwest vacation packages...they were expensive. I always did much better booking myself (hopefully with a discount) and getting tickets through Undercover Tourist. I love Southwest as an airline, but not so much for vacation packages.

Yes, this!

We looked into a Southwest package just a couple of weeks ago. You supposedly got six-day park hoppers for the price of a three-day ticket. Well, you actually got a six-day park hopper for exactly what Disney sells it for. It IS true that the per day price on a six-day ticket is about half that of the per day price for a three-day ticket, but that's just how Disney's price structure works. You'd never pay that higher per day price for six days. We were disappointed in Southwest's misleading marketing, and I'm glad we checked prices independently.

 

[tbonestl]

We have looked into a few other places, including Disney itself. For our 7 night stay at pop century (preferred room) w/ 4 day park hopper, and round trip airfare, the total would be $3,275 if we booked it. We are going end of April-beginning of May. This seems like not to bad of a deal to me. Is it not?

 

[pigletto]

We have looked into a few other places, including Disney itself. For our 7 night stay at pop century (preferred room) w/ 4 day park hopper, and round trip airfare, the total would be $3,275 if we booked it. We are going end of April-beginning of May. This seems like not to bad of a deal to me. Is it not?

We are also going last few days of April and first week of May. So far, there is no discount code that covers our dates through Disney. But the time that discounts are traditionally released for this time period isn't upon us yet. I am holding out for the discounts. I can't say with 100% certainty but there should be something coming out for this time frame. This will be our 7th trip.. and we've never gone at rack rate through Disney.

 

[dmbcanada]

We have looked into a few other places, including Disney itself. For our 7 night stay at pop century (preferred room) w/ 4 day park hopper, and round trip airfare, the total would be $3,275 if we booked it. We are going end of April-beginning of May. This seems like not to bad of a deal to me. Is it not?

This sounds expensive for a value resort, I would try WDW directly. I priced my trip in January to POFQ and it was more than double than what I paid through Disney.

 

[patty57]

We have looked into a few other places, including Disney itself. For our 7 night stay at pop century (preferred room) w/ 4 day park hopper, and round trip airfare, the total would be $3,275 if we booked it. We are going end of April-beginning of May. This seems like not to bad of a deal to me. Is it not?

Did you also price it out through Disney? It might be an okay price...I don't know, I didn't check it through Disney. I would absolutely do that before I booked anything through Southwest. Also, as others have said, it might very well happen that Disney will offer a discount during that time. If you book directly through Disney, you can ask them to apply the discount to your booking, and they will if there is availability at your resort.

 

[MaleficentRN]

I'm not sure where you are flying from and that may increase your cost, but I priced it individually for four adults and came up with a cost of $2941 for Southwest r/t from PHL, 7 nights at Pop Century through WDW and a 7 day MYW ticket from Undercover Tourist. I'd shop around a bit more if I were you.

 

[DisneyLoverUSA]

I would book your vacation package through Disney themselves and book your own airfare through Southwest. Southwest is a lot cheaper on flights than what you can book through Disney. And then if a discount or free dining comes out that apply to your dates you can have Disney adjust your vacation reservation to reflect the new price. DON'T buy your tickets through UT because if you do you will not be eligible for free dining if it comes out unless you want to buy an additional 2 days of tickets for every member of your family. Free dining requires a minimum 2 day ticket purchase.

If you want the real discounts that Disney may offer for your dates then booking directly through Disney is the best thing to do. Saving $150 is nothing compared to getting free dining. We got free dining and it saved us $1600. Keep watching the Disney special offers page. GO AHEAD and book your trip, just watch for the special offers that can be applied to your trip.

 

[Mousemommy1]

To answer your question....no, you do not get all of the vouchers and luggage tags, etc...when you book through Southwest vacations. Our last trip was through SW vacations and we were able to get the free dining through them...so, they offer the same discounts as the GP offers....we found that in that case the airfare was A LOT cheaper booking the package, rather than doing it separately. I would price it out both ways and see what's cheaper..

 

[tbonestl]

I'm flying from STL and am planning on going from the 27th of April to the 4th of May. I will look around a little more. Everything I come up with through Disney site comes out a tad more expensive...

 

[caro]

We are flying Southwest in June and were wondering about the MAgical Express? Does anybody know if you can now check your bags at the hotel or do you still have to check them in at the airport with
Southwest? If they are offering packages it would seem that they are a part of Magical Express but they were not on our last trip.

 

[Mousemommy1]

We are flying Southwest in June and were wondering about the MAgical Express? Does anybody know if you can now check your bags at the hotel or do you still have to check them in at the airport with
Southwest? If they are offering packages it would seem that they are a part of Magical Express but they were not on our last trip.

Yes...you can check in your bags at the hotel when using Southwest. It's a great, easy process and then you hop on Magical Express. As is the rule with ME in general, you will be required to be on ME 3 hours prior to your flight.