Do you book, direct, Disney, or a third party?

[fairykin]

I was wondering, how do You book your trips?

Direct to the Disney site online? Disney phone? or a third party like a travel agent, Costco or such.

So how do You book? And why do you use that manner?

And for off site stays..do You book through the hotel site online, phone, or third party?

If we book at the Holiday Inn on south walnut.. we will look online.. and call direct to see if there is any rate difference.. as they run a special for prepaying your trip in full. I think one time we used travelocity or something like that.

If we stay onsite.. I will check the online site rates then call and several times I've had to tell them.. no it shows You have avaliability and this room at this cost online.. my computer just went down while I was trying to book it.

Is Costco only for booking packages? Do they ever allow you to book just rooms at the Disneyland hotels?

okay..i guess i've asked enough questions

 

[brookies_mommy]

I was wondering, how do You book your trips?

Direct to the Disney site online? Disney phone? or a third party like a travel agent, Costco or such.

So how do You book? And why do you use that manner?

And for off site stays..do You book through the hotel site online, phone, or third party?

If we book at the Holiday Inn on south walnut.. we will look online.. and call direct to see if there is any rate difference.. as they run a special for prepaying your trip in full. I think one time we used travelocity or something like that.

If we stay onsite.. I will check the online site rates then call and several times I've had to tell them.. no it shows You have avaliability and this room at this cost online.. my computer just went down while I was trying to book it.

Is Costco only for booking packages? Do they ever allow you to book just rooms at the Disneyland hotels?

okay..i guess i've asked enough questions

I dont have much experience compared to most people on the DIS but I booked this trip online through disneyland.com. I did NOT look around for better prices..mainly because I thought that was the best way to go.. then I DIScovered the Dis and I am pretty sure I would not do it again. There are alot of website you can look at to get a general idea of price and I completely skipped that step and I wish I hadnt. We couldve stayed at an amazing hotel for the same price I am paying for our umm not so amazing hotel. So ya.. Good luck.. do your research and read the DIS.. they wont stear you wrong

 

[MrsJackSparrow4Life]

I book with whoever has the best price. I usually start with the DL website just to get an idea of the prices and then go to the separate hotel websites and the travel sites such as expedia and travelocity.

For my trip in November I bought airfare through Southwest, booked the PPH through expedia and a friend got me convention tickets through his work.

 

[specialks]

I chose AAA to book our trip. Last year I booked everything separately. This year I really wanted the Mickey's Toontown Morning Madness so I knew I had to book a package. I don't think disneyland.com has the best deal. Costco and AAA had similar prices/packages. AAA offered free parking and was $30 less and Costco had a free character breakfast and $20 giftcard. Costco also had the lowest package price for a rental car. I like the idea of our AAA parking pass and not having to stop & pay each day. We stay offsite (Homewood Suites) and we are HiltonHonors members so I called after booking with AAA and added our HHonors number and made a room request. I would have saved about $300 booking individually but I wanted the AAA perks. Also, getawaytoday had the lowest price for our package, but again, no priority seating or MTTM perks.

 

[fairykin]

My first trip I booked through the Disneyland website and paid too much. But we went and had a great time..then next time i learned to shop around.

But I didn't know Costco carried disneyland packages til someone mentioned it here. I hope that your trip is extra special

Gotta Love southwest airlines..that's who we fly with. Their rapid reward program is great..also their rescheduling and the keeping of the credits..without having to pay changing fee.

Expedia.. wow.. i'm going to have to try that out. Thanks for sharing that info.

 

[fairykin]

That's great information on Triple A! I appreciate you sharing your experience and reasons for using it with us.

 

[Buttercup26]

I used to always book myself and spent a lot of time looking for deals, making priority seatings, etc.

Our last trip in May I used Dreams Unlimited, because I always heard such great things on these boards about them booking WDW trips.

Dreams was FANTASTIC, not only did they get me a terrific deal they also booked all our PS. I saved a HUGE amount of time and didn't pay one cent more than I would have doing all that work myself.

I will use them from now on for any Disney trip. I cannot recommend them highly enough!!

 

[bumbershoot]

For our first trip (longer than one day, at least) we used costco travel. They turned out to be equal in actual cost to the others (disneyland.com, aaa), but they had the character breakfast and a $20 giftcard while the others didn't have that.

We did take that trip, but as we got closer to the trip, we realized that if we had waited, we could have used the APs we were going to upgrade to anyway, and gotten one of the great AP rates for that stay, and we would have come out better than doing the package deal.

However, I'm still glad we did the package, b/c now I know what packages are like, including Mickey's ToonTown Morning Madness, etc.

Since then we book on our own. I check hotel websites, expedia, hotels.com, etc, to find the best rate that I can find. If booking onsite, I check the AP rates, etc.

I don't need the package stuff anymore b/c we've had APs for 2 years, so I like doing things separately and under my control.

 

[Queen Elisabeth]

I booked through Costco. I did a lot of price comparisons and for us, it was the lowest price after the free character breakfast (which, for my family of 6, was worth around $200). If I stay onsite next time (with the magic mornings) and don't do a character breakfast, I may look into other options, but if I do offsite again, I'll probably go through Costco for the early entry, etc. Plus, I like being able to make payments over time, so that is an added perk for me.

 

[Caseystigger]

We always book through DL mainly because of the benefits if you loose something, the travel company is right there in property and took care of things right then. My friend lost her 5 day park hopper the second day we were there and the travel co got her a new one at a huge discount. She did find her pass a little while later and they gave her a full refund for the new one she had to get.

We just like having that little extra backup. I'm sure other places do that too but we have had a good experience with DL Travel. The Upgrades with the Disney Visa are nice too.

 

[bumbershoot]

...but if I do offsite again, I'll probably go through Costco for the early entry, etc.

FWIW, the early entry (now known as Magic Morning) is given with your 3+ day ticket, not with the package.

Getawaytoday dot com used to give 2 MMs with their packages, but that is no longer.

But every normal (not convention ticket, possibly not military rate tickets) 3+ day ticket gets a MM day with it, no package purchase needed.

(and if you stay onsite, as long as you have admission for the day, you get each MM that happens during your stay, as a perk of being a resort guest)

 

[fairykin]

Hey bumbershooter! Good to see you

Thank You all for the informaiton you are sharing..it might really help another with your experiences.

Also... another couple of questions....

What is the differences in cancellation penalties?

If you book a package through each place?

If you book a room through each place?

Because there are vast differences in booking rooms and packages in cost.

Does Dreams Unlimited book through Disneyland? or is it WDW only?

 

[DisneyMomma81]

It depends ~ but I book things seperately for the most part. Airfare ~ usually through jetblue.com (delta.com for our upcoming WDW trip). Hotels ~ well for our upcoming 1 night at GCH I booked through the Home School Conference site, I've used priceline.com twice this year ~ quite pleased both times, I call the hotels directly - HoJo's, *Anaheim Plaza (*where we're staying for 2 nights after the 1 @ GCH next month), for the 1 night we've spent at both the DLH & PP within the last year I called DLR and got the AP rate. I purchase PHs (when we need them ~ we're now on our 2nd APs) from ARES or GAT or the military (my dad) ~ but we don't get a MM with those PHs (military).

For WDW in Oct. ~ I booked our room (POP Century) and MYW tickets + free dining in a package by calling WDW.

 

[DizMe]

I've used Expedia, AAA, and going it alone. I save the most doing it myself. I could save time by letting someone else handle the details if I had a different personality, but I'm such a nerd I have to check out every little thing myself, even if I already have a package.

What I like about packages: interesting goodies you can't get on your own, like commemorative coins, VIP seating, lanyards and such; discount cards (AAA does this); having that nice fat envelope in hand with all the pretty graphics on it; feeling that if something happens, you're covered; having everything taken care of at once.

What I don't like about packages: I don't really need or want the goodies; I get the same or better discounts now with my AP; I've learned to settle for my dollar store Shrek folder in place of the fat envelope with the pretty graphics and am guessing the cost of producing the fat envelope is rolled into my package; discovered that the feeling about being covered in case of a glitch is mostly just that--a feeling.

The main thing I dislike about packages is the lack of flexibility and the change penalties. I also had trouble finding a package that had flights to/from our local airport (which is a small one and is only served by United). I always ended up booking the air part myself anyway, which also meant airport transportation needed to be booked by me.

I discovered that if you're staying onsite, you can book your own "package" by simply calling the hotel. You can get your room reserved, add hoppers or aps, get dining reservations and so on, all without penalties for cancelling or changing (until 5 days before the reservation, at least).

ETA: I have found that I can usually find out about the best deals on Disboards. That's where I learned about getting an ap to take advantage of lower hotel rates, buying an ap through Costco and getting the $50 gift card bonus, signing up on mypoints, and many other money-saving tips. If you make a reservation on your own and something better comes along, you can switch it over. Sometimes you can do that with a package without penalty but usually they will charge you $25 or more (unless you are increasing the cost of the package, which is usually without penalty). But as Bumbershoot points out in her post on the next page, if you book an onsite hotel, you do have to pay a full night's deposit (including tax) immediately. That can be pricey for something you may not use for several months or cancel altogether. You'll get your money back, but it can take some time for it to reappear on your cc.

 

[akdaisy]

I do the airfare on my own, hotel direct with the hotel, and tickets through the the ITT office on base (we are active duty military).

 

[cari12]

When I was researching prices for our trip in Oct, I tried the Disney website for a package for 4 nights DH and 3 day park hoppers and then tried hotel only and tickets only (on the Disney website). The package was about $150.00 more than paying separately! I emailed them to ask what the extra charge was for and got no response. I found this very interesting and quite a turn-off.
I booked the DH through Expedia at $270 (Disney site was the same)per night back in July and also bought the park hoppers (same price as tickets only on Disney site) at the same time (and there was no extra $150 added on!). On August 12 however, as I never stopped checking hotel rates as I really did not want to pay $270 per night, Expedia rates went down to $150 per night so I immediately booked the hotel again at this lower rate. I then called and cancelled the hotel portion of my original booking and got a full refund. I am very happy with expedia so far.
the only thing with Expedia is that you have to pay the whole charge up front.
Hope this helps!

 

[bumbershoot]

Cari's post reminded me of something I wanted to mention.

When I was booking our first trip, doing a hotel-only booking was pretty simple with the resorts. But in the last year or so, they now require a "deposit" of one night's stay. And there's something like a 6 day advance cancellation policy now (it was a shorter number of days before).

So while it's easier to cancel the hotel-only than some packages, it's not without risk, if you have a late-breaking need to cancel.



The packages that go through Walt Disney Travel Company all tend to have the same cancel/change fees and timeframes.

 

[dollarmite]

Does Dreams Unlimited book through Disneyland? or is it WDW only?

Yes, DU does DL as well as WDW. I currently have 2 reservations with them - one for a WDW package and the other for a room only booking at the DL Hotel.

I can't praise DU highly enough! They are great! Our agent there saved us an absolute fortune with a free dining deal she got for us and she made all our ADRs, at the times we wanted them for. The thought of having to make ADR calls from Australia wasn't at all appealing (and the cost probably would have negated all the savings we made on the food).

As for the original question - I book through whoever has the best deal at the time, which at the moment usually seems to be the (Australian) Expedia site. It's wonderful to be able to have everything in Australian Dollars, rather than mucking around with exchange rates etc.

I have found, though, that the best deals for airfares on their own seems to be directly with the airline's own website.

I've found it to be cheaper overall to book everything online rather than through a local travel agent. It's also a lot more fun and interesting to do it myself. Not to mention I can research all the hotels thoroughly to ensure they meet the strict criteria I have rather than take the TAs word for it...

 

[rune_74]

Well this is a subject I have a pretty strong opinion on:


DO IT YOURSELF.

In todays internet world it is so easy to research and find good prices all on your own. I have done everything myself and for a family of 5 for 7 days in disney 1 day at universal for me and my son, and the family at sea world it came out to just over 3000 canadian. This includes hotel(hojo's), full sized rental car for the complete time and a flight from seattle to long beach and all our tickets.

A travel agent, qouted me 5800 to fly from victoria(where I'm from) to LA and not have any rental and only 5 days in disney....thats 2800 more then what I paid on my own. Thats crazy. Travel agents I feel are a thing of the past. They told me when I said it was too much that at least you would have the protection of the travel agency...I was like....from what?

Not only did I save money but I costum built our vacation....I already know what to do for the next one

For instance I just got my rental car last night for 261 american for a full size car...I was pretty happy bought that.

Oh well to each their own though...