Explanation of package vs. separate hotel & tickets

[disneywith3boys]

So, with the new 5 for 3 deal my package price is $3500 at the GCH, but if I book separate with the summer hotel deal plus the 5 for 3 ticket deal, the cost is only $2900. Why the $600 difference for the package?
What am I giving up with the package...
1. Toontown Madness early entry...is it really a special perk?
2. Preferred parade seating....again, is it really a special perk?
3. Anything else?

Just trying to convince myself why to stick with the package...is it worth it for the $600...help.

 

[HydroGuy]

So, with the new 5 for 3 deal my package price is $3500 at the GCH, but if I book separate with the summer hotel deal plus the 5 for 3 ticket deal, the cost is only $2900. Why the $600 difference for the package?
What am I giving up with the package...
1. Toontown Madness early entry...is it really a special perk?
2. Preferred parade seating....again, is it really a special perk?
3. Anything else?

Just trying to convince myself why to stick with the package...is it worth it for the $600...help.

The preferred seating is worth very little. You can just show up and get good seats. TTMM is the only real perk you will gain as you cannot do TTMM without it. Is it worth $600 to you? To me it might be worth $30 for my family.

Sometimes Disney offers do not make sense when you look at all the options. I think it is a no-brainer to go with the lower offer.

 

[3Minnies1Mickey]

So, with the new 5 for 3 deal my package price is $3500 at the GCH, but if I book separate with the summer hotel deal plus the 5 for 3 ticket deal, the cost is only $2900. Why the $600 difference for the package?
What am I giving up with the package...
1. Toontown Madness early entry...is it really a special perk?
2. Preferred parade seating....again, is it really a special perk?
3. Anything else?

Just trying to convince myself why to stick with the package...is it worth it for the $600...help.

One thing the package includes that the "room only" price quote doesn't is tax and resort fees. But I can't see that being $600! This is the great mystery of packages vs. room only.....

 

[Sherry E]

When you book a room-only reservation, they charge you for one night's deposit up front, and that will include the 15% room tax. You can choose to pay the additional $13.80 per night resort fee when you arrive or in advance.

The packages tend to have little collectible luggage tags and sometimes a pin or a collectible coin with them, as well as maybe a discount card to use on food and shopping in Downtown Disney, and maybe another coupon for a certain percentage off of merchandise in DL or DCA, as well as a certificate for a free pin at the gift shop of your choice. At least that's what I got when I had a package, along with the previously mentioned things in the posts above. I prefer room-only reservations.

 

[HydroGuy]

One thing the package includes that the "room only" price quote doesn't is tax and resort fees. But I can't see that being $600! This is the great mystery of packages vs. room only.....

Shannon, you got me a little concerned I missed something when I booked room only at the GCH yesterday. I did look at my confirmation just now and it says something about bed tax not being included and something further down about $150 per night not being included.

So I called DLR and they told me that the taxes were included in my total price which agrees with the total price I saw online. The only difference then between package price shown online and room only online is the whether the resort fee is included or not. That is $12 per day plus 15% tax.

ETA: For good measure I made a note of the Disney person I spoke to and the date and time of my call today in case I get a surprise later on.

 

[disneywith3boys]

What is the toontown madness like...is it actually fun with some special character time or just a crowded event...

 

[disneywith3boys]

Shannon, you got me a little concerned I missed something when I booked room only at the GCH yesterday. I did look at my confirmation just now and it says something about bed tax not being included and something further down about $150 per night not being included.

So I called DLR and they told me that the taxes were included in my total price which agrees with the total price I saw online. The only difference then between package price shown online and room only online is the whether the resort fee is included or not. That is $12 per day plus 15% tax.

So am I understanding you right that the room only final price includes the 15% tax, but you still owe the $12 resort fee plus tax when you check in?

 

[DisneyJewel]

I'd booked hotel only yesterday on the getaway rate, but cancelled (no charge) and did the package deal today. We're not AP holders so we need tix. We are going in August for 5 nights to GCH.

Although I got $2900 on the disneyland.com site, I booked the Costco disneyland package (also goes through WDTC) for the same price because that gets you a gift card ($20) and a character meal too. Since we needed tix anyway I decided to do the package and get the character meal for DD2's bday and the gift card. Good luck!

So, with the new 5 for 3 deal my package price is $3500 at the GCH, but if I book separate with the summer hotel deal plus the 5 for 3 ticket deal, the cost is only $2900. Why the $600 difference for the package?
What am I giving up with the package...
1. Toontown Madness early entry...is it really a special perk?
2. Preferred parade seating....again, is it really a special perk?
3. Anything else?

Just trying to convince myself why to stick with the package...is it worth it for the $600...help.

 

[HydroGuy]

So am I understanding you right that the room only final price includes the 15% tax, but you still owe the $12 resort fee plus tax when you check in?

The 15% tax is on the $12 resort fee which comes $13.80 per day. And I will owe that when I check in.

 

[3Minnies1Mickey]

Shannon, you got me a little concerned I missed something when I booked room only at the GCH yesterday. I did look at my confirmation just now and it says something about bed tax not being included and something further down about $150 per night not being included.

So I called DLR and they told me that the taxes were included in my total price which agrees with the total price I saw online. The only difference then between package price shown online and room only online is the whether the resort fee is included or not. That is $12 per day plus 15% tax.

Yeah, but if you just look at the quote online (before clicking continue) it doesn't include tax or resort fees.

 

[HydroGuy]

Yeah, but if you just look at the quote online (before clicking continue) it doesn't include tax or resort fees.

When you see the original quote online it does not include the 15% tax. When you then click the Continue button it does. And that total is the same as the final total that shows on my confirmation.

Here is what I conclude:

o For the room only reservation the original quote includes all taxes except for 15% on the total plus $12 resort fee (and the 15% tax on that = $13.80)

o The final quote includes the 15% tax but not the resort fee. So it includes everything except the resort fee.

o The resort fee is not a tax. It is a fee they charge for internet service, newspaper delivery, health facility access, self-park, etc.

 

[Sherry E]

Not sure if anyone saw my post above, but I was saying that the room-only price includes the 15% tax when you pay it (that doesn't account for the online quote layout, which doesn't add the tax in until you ring up the sale). You must put down at least one night's deposit - which includes the tax - when you book it. It is up to you if you want to pay the resort fee of $13.80 up front or when you arrive. You can pay it in advance if you want.

 

[Sherry E]

Oh, and I forgot to add one thing - the packages are much worse in terms of allowing flexibility with cancellations. Not only do you have to pay the full package price at once, up front, but you are penalized if you have to cancel and you don't get a full refund. The closer to the arrival date you cancel, the more $$$ you are charged for it. With room-only reservations, you can cancel all the way up until 5 days prior to arrival with NO penalty fee of any kind, so much more flexibility and room for changes. Also, you can alter your reservation without fee with room-only, whereas with a package, you are charged for changing anything in the reservations.

 

[bumbershoot]

TTMM just gives you about half an hour extra time to either ride the rides or meet the characters. It also lets you be done with TT before the sun starts to get hot; TT seems to be the hottest area in DLR! They open the gates when the front gates open, but they let you have time to get all the way back there. Around 20 minutes into the hour they have a little tiny parade and a song and dance, and then you can go into Mickey's house, etc.

It's not something my family would pay extra for (unless we had another family member who hadn't been part of it, of course), and that's despite having had the cute experience of having DS picked by CMs so that we got "ToonTown Honorary Family of the Day". Which really just means we got to get up on stage and introduce ourselves, and we got a scroll thing that's still on our fridge 2 + years later.

When we got the lanyard, we found it to be scratchy and too wide, and we each bought new lanyards anyway. The free pin is not a "fun" one...DH traded his with the CM that gave them to us, but DS and I kept them as a memory of sorts.

Preferred seating...that can really vary; Aladdin is the main one you'd use it for, but when we used it, we got *worse* seats, and waited *longer*, than the people in the normal seats. We had to line up well before the regular people, and we were the last into the theater, and then got "orchestra" section seats, which isn't good for the big effects of the show.

I can't even imagine a time you'd really need the preferred seating for Turtle Talk or the others you get...


It's good that you're price-checking! By the time our big package deal vacation rolled around, I was well aware that I could have gotten a better deal just booking the AP rate (we were upgrading our tickets to APs anyway), but I was too invested in the whole thing, and there were cancellation fees involved (not much, just $25 I believe at the point I thought of canceling). And now I know what a package is all about, so that's beneficial. But since you'er still just price checking, you have the chance to get the BEST deal you can!

 

[lilsprstr]

When I'm looking to book a trip I always price it both ways. In our particular case it was a difference of only $50, plus since we use Costco Travel, we also got the benefit of the free Character Breakfast plus the $20 GC. In that case it was a no-brainer. In your case, I'd probably do room only. If I'm not mistaken, you get TTMM if you are staying at a Disney Resort anyway, right?

 

[HydroGuy]

If I'm not mistaken, you get TTMM if you are staying at a Disney Resort anyway, right?

No, you get Magic Mornings which is different than TTMM. TTMM is a voucher event which you get when you book a package. The package can also be for a good neighbor I believe.

 

[blackjackdelta]

No, you get Magic Mornings which is different than TTMM. TTMM is a voucher event which you get when you book a package. The package can also be for a good neighbor I believe.

You are correct on the Good Neighbor hotels and TTMM vouchers that are in a package.

Jack