DL Package vs Book Separately?

[poohj80]

Greetings all you DL experts! Can I pick your brain about making DL reservations?

We plan to go to DL in May for my b-day and the 50th celebration. I am comparing booking room and passes separately (what we usually do at WDW) versus getting one of the Disney packages. Currently, the only room rate discount I can find is a 10% AAA discount. When I add in the $10 resort fee per night plus 15% tax, it's not much of a savings over booking a Resort Magic Package. However, if we book a package and the room rates drop, we would have to cancel the package (at least $100 cancellation fee) and re-book to get the discount.

Since we don't get to DL very often (Dec 1996 was last trip) and this is a special occasion (both my and DL's b-days) should we just bite the bullet to ensure we get exactly what we want or play the waiting game in hopes of room rates dropping in the near future? I know it's hard to guess what Disney will do with rates due to the 50th, but anyone have any historical experience they can share?

Thanks!
PJ

 

[KMH1]

We are facing the same dilemma PJ!

Help us out DL experts!

Thanks,
Amy

 

[jgmklmhem]

Not sure if you have kids but when i booked my package I got my kids park hopper free with a paying adult hopper. This was only able to be done in a package.

 

[poohj80]

Thanks, but those passes and most deals we've found expire at the end of April and we're looking for May.

 

[jgmklmhem]

my bad...

 

[JC Butterfly]

I had the same dilemma you did. But last October I went ahead and booked a package at the Disneyland Hotel. It has given me time to budget for the trip and know that I am getting exactly what I want. I booked through AAA so that does offer a couple extra perks like early morning entry, unlimited fast pass, some special souvenier items (like pins and picture frames) so I convinced myself that even if the rates drop, I still came out at least "even". My guess is that especially for May with it being the start of the 50th celebration, everyone is so excited that they won't have to offer any great promos or discounts, people will come anyway. Why not guarantee your spot now and not worry about if it's going to book up while you play the waiting game?

 

[poohj80]

I had the same dilemma you did. But last October I went ahead and booked a package at the Disneyland Hotel. It has given me time to budget for the trip and know that I am getting exactly what I want. I booked through AAA so that does offer a couple extra perks like early morning entry, unlimited fast pass, some special souvenier items (like pins and picture frames) so I convinced myself that even if the rates drop, I still came out at least "even". My guess is that especially for May with it being the start of the 50th celebration, everyone is so excited that they won't have to offer any great promos or discounts, people will come anyway. Why not guarantee your spot now and not worry about if it's going to book up while you play the waiting game?

Thanks, this was one side of the coin we were considering. The other was being able to make this trip as reasonably as possible without skimping since we don't get to DL as often as WDW. After going back and forth last night, we decided to go ahead and book the package and quit worrying about it. However, after several more discussions with AAA yesterday, I'm definitely not booking through them. Not only did they keep quoting me a more expensive price for less amenities, they also tried to tell me that there were no flights available to use our frequent flyer miles on our dates. After booking our flights last night on the exact dates we wanted with frequent flyer miles, I decided it wasn't worth my time to educate AAA. We decided to use one of the Disney specialist travel agents online instead.

 

[laceyb]

Have you checked Expedia.com? I got about a 20% discount over DL packages. They also offer the park hopper passes.
Hope this helps!

 

[poohj80]

Have you checked Expedia.com? I got about a 20% discount over DL packages. They also offer the park hopper passes.
Hope this helps!

Thanks for the tip, but I'm not that familiar with the Disney options at Expedia. I tried pricing out my trip there and couldn't find where I could book a package similar to Disney's including room, passes, etc. Is your comparison by booking everything individually?

Also, when I look at booking the Grand Californian as a room only, Expedia is not giving me a choice of views. I assume their "Standard 2 queen bed" room would be city view?