Does booking room through TA save money?

[pixiedust2u]

We will be booking 3 rooms for 2 nights in early December for MVMCP. I’ve always booked rooms on my own. Is there any benefit to booking rooms through a TA vs on your own?
I’m not interested in DVC or renting points as I’m not comfortable with the more restrictive cancelation policies in doing such.
Thanks!

 

[gottalovepluto]

No. Years ago some large agencies used to book big room blocks and do special rates but those days are gone for Disney World. Nowadays the benefit of booking through a TA is you don't have to call Disney to make reservation changes, requests or payments and calling Disney can be annoying. Some TAs will try to rebook clients as soon as a discount drops, that saves you having to rebook it and they'll likely be faster than you would be to grab what may be limited inventory. I'd consider using a TA for the 2nd reason since Dec discounts haven't dropped yet.

 

[pixiedust2u]

No. Years ago some large agencies used to book big room blocks and do special rates but those days are gone for Disney World. Nowadays the benefit of booking through a TA is you don't have to call Disney to make reservation changes, requests or payments and calling Disney can be annoying. Some TAs will try to rebook clients as soon as a discount drops, that saves you having to rebook it and they'll likely be faster than you would be to grab what may be limited inventory. I'd consider using a TA for the 2nd reason since Dec discounts haven't dropped yet.

Thank you for the info!

 

[SL6827]

With Disney converting more hotel rooms fo DVC now, the agency exclusive deals may never return.

 

[tony67]

Yeah - I really miss the days they did.

We had a really good travel agent and became friends with her - even met her in the parks a few times.
She always got us amazing deals.

Then Disney pulled much of the stuff in house and Amex pretty much shut it all down.
If she was still in the industry Id probably use her- but I see little reason to anymore.
I've seen as much bad as good from other travel agents.

That said if you find or have a really good one use them.

 

[ShannyMcB]

We have used dreamsunlimted (sponsors of the boards) and while they didn't have discounts per say our agent has been able to save us money by monitoring our res and applying discounts as soon as they come out. If you don't feel like monitoring and modifying your reservation yourself this is a win. We've saved a bit each year we've used them. This year our agent found a discount that ended up moving us from garden wing to tower at contemporary while saving us a couple hundred dollars in the process.
And they will make dining reservations so you don't have to be logged in at 6am. You can modify yourself after the fact but I have found this super helpful as well given I am getting ready for work and getting the kids ready for school at this time.

 

[_19disnA]

For the typical Disney hotel room, I would not expect to get a lower price than you can find on your own using the official Disney website. Once you work with a TA, you can no longer call Disney directly if you have to discuss something about your reservation. As it relates to Disney timeshares, not exactly sure how you find what is available or if you have to look on various websites to find what is open. Have never booked a Disney timeshare, but that seems like what you are asking vs. the typical Disney hotel. Doubt you would get any better price using a TA for that either.

 

[Eastern]

No. Years ago some large agencies used to book big room blocks and do special rates but those days are gone for Disney World.

I didn't realize this. Just looked at the website I used to book through and they had no WDW exclusive offers available. Used to have lots.

 

[DizneyFamof4]

A TA will not save you $$ but if you do not like always checking for discounts to drop etc. and you are not a control freak LOL or the type that is constantly changing your reservation around then I would highly suggest using a a TA that specializes in Disney reservations. I have found it very easy to work with a TA, even for changing our reservation, and once in awhile they will offer a Disney GC if you reserve a package reservation through them.
I also used the TA that had discounts years ago, but WDW doesn't have any dead periods anymore so no need to work with TA's, supply and demand

 

[gottalovepluto]

I didn't realize this. Just looked at the website I used to book through and they had no WDW exclusive offers available. Used to have lots.

Disney World changed something with groups post-Covid and they stopped. Even Dapper Days doesn’t offer hotel discounts anymore at Disney World due to “changes in how Disney World handles group sales room blocks”

 

[Lesverts]

Disney World changed something with groups post-Covid and they stopped. Even Dapper Days doesn’t offer hotel discounts anymore at Disney World due to “changes in how Disney World handles group sales room blocks”

Disney is not the only one doing this. Many cruise lines and other hospitality companies have stopped the block sale discounts.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Disney is not the only one doing this. Many cruise lines and other hospitality companies have stopped the block sale discounts.

Oddly enough Disney didn’t stop doing it across the company. Disney World stopped, Disneyland still does it.

 

[SL6827]

Oddly enough Disney didn’t stop doing it across the company. Disney World stopped, Disneyland still does it.

They have agency exclusive rates at DL?

 

[gottalovepluto]

They have agency exclusive rates at DL?

No. I suspect DL is too niche for that outfit. But, for big events like Dapper Days they are still able to do group rates at DL.

 

[kylenne]

Disney World changed something with groups post-Covid and they stopped. Even Dapper Days doesn’t offer hotel discounts anymore at Disney World due to “changes in how Disney World handles group sales room blocks”

We started working with our TA years ago solely bc her agency did the block discounts but even pre covid the discounts were getting smaller and the timeframes were more and more limited. The writing was definitely on the wall, the closures just gave them the excuse to pull the plug altogether. Funny enough they do seem to have a ton of Uni exclusives (that we’ll never use).

We still utilize our TA just because she’s a sweetheart (she always sends cookies to the resort for my birthday trips) and has always been amazing about getting discounts applied. Plus I hate calling Disney so I outsource that part to her. She’s been invaluable for our upcoming first cruise too since I’ve never done DCL and really needed an expert to walk me through it (the obc is nice too). It helps that she really knows our preferences from working with us for so long; she picked our cabin for us lol.