Do you usually book thru AAA or Costco ??

[Disney-Kim]

Just curious if there are no Disney deals at the time...which do you prefer?

Costco gets $20 gc and charachter meal but is $100 more

AAA is $100 less

just curious what you all like? I have not booked thru either of them before.

thanks

 

[marcemc]

Just curious if there are no Disney deals at the time...which do you prefer?

Costco gets $20 gc and charachter meal but is $100 more

AAA is $100 less

just curious what you all like? I have not booked thru either of them before.

thanks

Costco also gives you a magical booklet that contains preferred seating for different show, lanyard & pin & some other stuff.

We rarely find a better deal than Costco

 

[specialks]

You get the same "Magical Extras" booklet with AAA and Costco, these booklets have the "tickets" for the special seatings and lanyards. The lanyard is printed with the co. name (ie AAA, Costco). I don't know if the pin is the same but I do know that the character you receive on your luggage tags is based on who you book through. We booked with AAA in 2009 and received Goofy tags. AAA gives you free parking at M&F garage and a "Diamond Savings Card" with discounts for various local businesses. Costco gives you the meal and gift card. I think the premium meal (goofus, ariels) can be purchased for $39 adults and $20 kids. Do the math and if you don't need parking and want a premium character meal then maybe costo is good. A family of 4 would pay $118 to buy vouchers to eat at goofys or ariels.

 

[Minnie Loves Mickey]

I like Costco better, for the Character meal. But AAA is Great also. What hotel are you looking at? If you Check out Sheraton Park hotel and go to the read more...they also throw in a gift card based on the number of nights you stay at their hotel. It can be used for room service which is very reasonable and great when your tired and just want a quick meal in your room.

 

[FlameGirl]

We always use Costco. Love them!

 

[DisneyMomma81]

Neither ~ I book the hotel myself *usually directly with the hotel - calling the 714 number. I buy PHs from whoever has the lowest price.

 

[Mama Who]

Just curious if there are no Disney deals at the time...which do you prefer?

Costco gets $20 gc and charachter meal but is $100 more

AAA is $100 less

just curious what you all like? I have not booked thru either of them before.

thanks

We like character dining, so we enjoyed the Costco package and if you're buying CD anyway, the GC makes it "cheaper." We've never had a situation in which AAA was our best deal (we use GAT a lot) so I can't speak to their packages really.

 

[cgh]

We booked though costco because of our agent with AAA. (she kept on messing up the order, and wouldn't send anything with a detail of what I was buying-or what she sent was missing some major details). I found AAA to be the cheapest (for us it was maybe $60-70 less). I think the packages were very similar. (I compared a character meal plus park hoppers plus hotel). I would price out exactly what you are looking for, and see what 'perks' you get, and assess your agent, then make a determination. If you don't want a character meal then even if it is 'added in' it doesn't really matter.

I had also heard it is cheapest to buy everything separately but found that wasn't the case for us. I looked into each individual component separately and it wasn't any cheaper. So, it definitely depends and is worth checking out all the options.

 

[Disney-Kim]

I like Costco better, for the Character meal. But AAA is Great also. What hotel are you looking at? If you Check out Sheraton Park hotel and go to the read more...they also throw in a gift card based on the number of nights you stay at their hotel. It can be used for room service which is very reasonable and great when your tired and just want a quick meal in your room.

We are staying at the PP for now...hoping to move to the GCH if deals come out

Neither ~ I book the hotel myself *usually directly with the hotel - calling the 714 number. I buy PHs from whoever has the lowest price.

Well right now the hotels are full rack rate for our dates, Nov 22-26 so I am looking for other deals in the mean time until maybe a Disney deal comes out

We like character dining, so we enjoyed the Costco package and if you're buying CD anyway, the GC makes it "cheaper." We've never had a situation in which AAA was our best deal (we use GAT a lot) so I can't speak to their packages really.

what CD? the picture one?

We booked though costco because of our agent with AAA. (she kept on messing up the order, and wouldn't send anything with a detail of what I was buying-or what she sent was missing some major details). I found AAA to be the cheapest (for us it was maybe $60-70 less). I think the packages were very similar. (I compared a character meal plus park hoppers plus hotel). I would price out exactly what you are looking for, and see what 'perks' you get, and assess your agent, then make a determination. If you don't want a character meal then even if it is 'added in' it doesn't really matter.

I had also heard it is cheapest to buy everything separately but found that wasn't the case for us. I looked into each individual component separately and it wasn't any cheaper. So, it definitely depends and is worth checking out all the options.

right now there is a teeny price break in booking AAA or Costco...waiting to see if any deals come out later


I do agree that sometimes its a hassel to book with outside companies other than directly with Disney

 

[Disneyanajc]

We used CSAA (AAA) for our Thanksgiving trip...we saved about $450.00 over the price on the Disney site...We wanted to try Costco for this trip but Costco told me they can not book the suites So we went back to our CSAA travel agent and book a 2 bedroom suite at the Disneyland Hotel.

 

[Disney-Kim]

We used CSAA (AAA) for our Thanksgiving trip...we saved about $450.00 over the price on the Disney site...We wanted to try Costco for this trip but Costco told me they can not book the suites So we went back to our CSAA travel agent and book a 2 bedroom suite at the Disneyland Hotel throught her

wow...I only saw a $100 difference..that is great...but then its suites too..that is great for you guys !!!

 

[Disney-Kim]

Costco also gives you a magical booklet that contains preferred seating for different show, lanyard & pin & some other stuff.

We rarely find a better deal than Costco

You get the same "Magical Extras" booklet with AAA and Costco, these booklets have the "tickets" for the special seatings and lanyards. The lanyard is printed with the co. name (ie AAA, Costco). I don't know if the pin is the same but I do know that the character you receive on your luggage tags is based on who you book through. We booked with AAA in 2009 and received Goofy tags. AAA gives you free parking at M&F garage and a "Diamond Savings Card" with discounts for various local businesses. Costco gives you the meal and gift card. I think the premium meal (goofus, ariels) can be purchased for $39 adults and $20 kids. Do the math and if you don't need parking and want a premium character meal then maybe costo is good. A family of 4 would pay $118 to buy vouchers to eat at goofys or ariels.

so you don't get the preferred seating if book Disney's package? do either of you know?
thanks

 

[Mama Who]

what CD? the picture one?

[/COLOR]

No, we were talking about Character Dining. C.D. not a CD. IF you are already planning on paying for (C)haracter(D)ining the Costco package makes sense. The Costco vouchers include tax and tip.

 

[Disneyanajc]

so you don't get the preferred seating if book Disney's package? do either of you know?
thanks

Yes you will get preferred seating (Preferred Seating at select shows in Disney's California Adventure)
and if you use the Disney Credit Card to book, the package will include a Dreams BackPack and Preferred Parade Viewing.
Hope this helps
JC

 

[specialks]

Yes you will get preferred seating (Preferred Seating at select shows in Disney's California Adventure)
and if you use the Disney Credit Card to book, the package will include a Dreams BackPack and Preferred Parade Viewing.
Hope this helps
JC

Hey JC,
Do you get those Disney Visa extras if you book with AAA or Costco and use your Visa or do you only get the visa perks if you book through Disney?

And, JC is correct that if you book with AAA, Costco, or Disneyland.com, you get the same little "extras" book with the preferred seating and MTTMM.

 

[Disneyanajc]

We book through AAA and use our Disney CC and always get the Disney Visa extras...we haven't been able to use Costco so I can't help there.
JC

 

[twopeasonepod]

I haven't used either (book directly and get APs, which are never discounted haha), but my friend chose Costco over AAA and the "family" discount that her cousin could get her at the Sheraton Park. She spent a lot of time analyzing it all and Costco was her best bet.

 

[gcatt]

We've used AAA, Costco, and Get Away Today travel, and been happy with all three. It'a just a matter of pricing out the different hotels and the extras like character dining and resort credits.

Our best was back when AAA had the unlimited Fast Pass promotion -- that was spectacular! Don't think it's coming back, unfortunately.

This time we ended up booking individually rather than a package, which was a better deal in our case. We're going to other places beside DLR, so we got a 3-day park hopper as part of the Southern CA City Pass.

Basically, you won't go wrong with either. Good luck!

 

[Disney-Kim]

Yes you will get preferred seating (Preferred Seating at select shows in Disney's California Adventure)
and if you use the Disney Credit Card to book, the package will include a Dreams BackPack and Preferred Parade Viewing.
Hope this helps
JC

Hey JC,
Do you get those Disney Visa extras if you book with AAA or Costco and use your Visa or do you only get the visa perks if you book through Disney?

And, JC is correct that if you book with AAA, Costco, or Disneyland.com, you get the same little "extras" book with the preferred seating and MTTMM.

thanks !!! very helpful