First Post - Need Some Help

[kristyjab]

I am looking to take my son, boyfriend and myself to DW this Thanksgiving from Tuesday-Saturday. This will be my son and myself's first visit. I've looked at Southwest Vacations, booking thru Disney.com, seperating everything out, driving vs. flying - feel like I have ran all the numbers... We are near Houston, TX so the drive would be approx 17 hours or so.

Has anyone ever booked this trip thru SW vacations? Their flight schedule is only opened so far until August so I have no idea about the costs. Just curious about opinions if booking directly thru Disney seems to be better or SW Vacations... Or if there is another site I am totally opened for any suggestions. Any help is appreicated, I am needing some guidance.

Thanks!
Kristy

 

[scrapquitler]

I am looking to take my son, boyfriend and myself to DW this Thanksgiving from Tuesday-Saturday. This will be my son and myself's first visit. I've looked at Southwest Vacations, booking thru Disney.com, seperating everything out, driving vs. flying - feel like I have ran all the numbers... We are near Houston, TX so the drive would be approx 17 hours or so.

Has anyone ever booked this trip thru SW vacations? Their flight schedule is only opened so far until August so I have no idea about the costs. Just curious about opinions if booking directly thru Disney seems to be better or SW Vacations... Or if there is another site I am totally opened for any suggestions. Any help is appreicated, I am needing some guidance.

Thanks!
Kristy

We did SW Vacations twice. We used a travel agent both times. Stayed offsite, flew SW, rented a car. We bought our own tickets when we arrived. We had no problems.

 

[Tink-aholic]

First of all....

 

[Tink-aholic]

We did SW Vacations twice. We used a travel agent both times. Stayed offsite, flew SW, rented a car. We bought our own tickets when we arrived. We had no problems.

This is one way to do it, but probably not the cheapest way to go...

Start looking around this site and the Budget Board in particular. Sign up for the Mousesavers Newsletter (Mousesavers.com and it comes out on the 15th of each month). In it, you'll get heads up on great discounts and a link to Undercover Tourist for the link to buy your tickets. I used to pay full rack rate, too...but with all of the codes and discounts out there, there really is no reason to.

You need to decide some basic things first:

How long will you stay?
Do you want to stay on property or off? (you can run the numbers both ways)
How do you prefer to travel; value accommodations, deluxe, etc?

I feel that the more planning that goes into a vacation like this, the better. It helps that many of the most-sought-after dining reservations fill up six months in advance, because it gets you to plan out your stay.

That said, you'll never be able to see or do it all in one trip. So plan for what you want to get in (including rest time) and enjoy!

Good luck and happy planning!

 

[Marionnette]

I am looking to take my son, boyfriend and myself to DW this Thanksgiving from Tuesday-Saturday. This will be my son and myself's first visit. I've looked at Southwest Vacations, booking thru Disney.com, seperating everything out, driving vs. flying - feel like I have ran all the numbers... We are near Houston, TX so the drive would be approx 17 hours or so.

Has anyone ever booked this trip thru SW vacations? Their flight schedule is only opened so far until August so I have no idea about the costs. Just curious about opinions if booking directly thru Disney seems to be better or SW Vacations... Or if there is another site I am totally opened for any suggestions. Any help is appreicated, I am needing some guidance.

Thanks!
Kristy

I haven't booked thru southwest but I have booked thru usairways twice and they pretty much do things the same way for their vacation packages. If it hadn't been for an awesome price each time, I would have booked directly thru Disney myself.

One thing that I didn't like was the loss of control of my reservation. It belongs to the travel agency that the airline uses and not to you. So any changes have to be made thru them. And the changes can involve fees. Changes that you make thru Disney directly have no fees unless you are making a change less than 45 days before you arrive AND it winds up costing less money.

Another thing that I didn't like was that you had to pay for your trip in full when you booked. With Disney you make a deposit and then don't need to pay it in full until 45 days before you arrive. Disney's refund policy is much more lenient than the airlines travel agencies as well. Some of them will not even refund your money at all. They give you a credit that you have to spend with them or lose the money. Check the refund policy before you book!

Last of all, the deals for November have not come out yet. If you book with Disney, you will be able to alter your reservation if a better price comes out for your trip. If you book with the airline travel agency you are pretty much tied to paying that price.

You have plenty of time to research and book your trip. No need to jump in right away. Wait for southwest to open flights for your dates and for Disney to come out with their offer for that time period.