DL vacation planning - package or not?

[Liz]

When planning a Disneyland trip do you find you get the best deals by making hotel reservations separate from purchasing tickets, etc. or are better deals out there in packages? I feel so lost planning a DL trip since its WDW I know so much better!

What about the Passport Plus tickets? I believe those include a breakfast and unlimited fastpass. Are those available to anyone and are they a good deal? How many days do they include?

Thanks and sorry for so many questions!

 

[jimmiej]

I can't answer all your questions, but I'll give you my experience. We booked our DL trip through DL Travel. Just DW & I-no kids. PP, 5 days for 3 days ticket special, shuttle to & from hotel/airport, two side trips(LA/Hollywood & San Diego Zoo), & air. Total with Disney Club discount came to roughly $1900. I was satisfied with the amount but not with the flight times. They had us leaving home late afternoon & leaving California before 6:00 AM!. I tried to change the flight times, but was unsuccessful. So I booked my own flights through Orbitz & was able to choose the flight times I wanted. When I dropped my flights from DL Travel, my package went down $800!!! You're telling me I'm paying $800 for two adults to fly from San Antonio to Orange County?!? I don't think so! I payed about $450 on Orbitz with much better times(adding a half day on either end of our trip). I saved over $300! More $$$ for souvenirs ! And we would need it!

Other than that, we were very pleased with our travel package. However, I never use a package at WDW. I've found ala carte to be better.