help- Hotwire, Paramount or ticketmania (or local AAA or disney store)?????

[log]

Scheduled for april 3-10, 2004 with 2 kids (6 1/2 and 3). Need to decide on tickets and where to get them. First timer, so am little intimidated by all these decisions we have to make (in so little time). Thinking of 7 day hopper plus tickets ONLY because when you divide daily cost, it seems to come out equal to 5 day hopper ticket (ie, about $44-46/day). (In actuality, we probably won't be using the PLUS part of tickets!! AND if we decide on a day at Seaworld, we probably won't be in parks for 7 days. However, want to be financially efficient/wise )

Question #1: For those of you who ordered online, pls tell me which of the 3 services above you chose to order from - and WHY? ??
(pls share your experience(s) - including 'when you ordered' and 'what tickets you ordered', etc)


Question #2: for those of you who chose to use Paramount, why did you choose to use them (over the others) even though they charge $15 shipping and their prices are comparable to the other services?

Question #3: It seems in terms of hopper plus prices, that Hotwire has the lowest prices (am I right or wrong?). SO... why isn't everyone going via hotwire? I'm tempted to order through hotwire cuz of prices, BUT am kinda scared and really wonder why EVERYONE is not going through them if they have the best price?

I know these are silly questions, but it's alot of money and i'm not used to ordering online.


pls help!!!!! let me know if i'm missing anything. thx

 

[mugglemom]

We used the regular Disney number to reserve the room only and found for us the AAA discount gave us the best room rate. None of the codes seemed to help make it less expensive.

We found that our local AAA has the cheapest prices on 4 day Hopper passes($203 with tax included). Our Disney store had them for a dollar or two more. We will buy them before we go. We figure we do not need the water parks so we are getting just the hopper tickets.



We are packing our own snacks for the room and breakfast bars so we can save on buying breakfasts. We do plan on buying the refillable mugs($12.99 I think) at the resort so we can have frozen cokes, drinks or hot chocolate depending on what the weather decides to do to us!

What ever you do have a great time!

 

[DisneyFanatik]

Hi! We will probably get our hoppers from our local Disney Store. We do not want the hoppers with any "pluses" on them as we really don't go to the water parks. We went to DQ once and although it was fun we will wait until our youngest DS is a little older to go back. Anyway, back to the tickets.....I really can't see buying tickets online if there is a shipping cost involved - unless the savings is really great - which I really don't see. I can get them from AAA and save around $20 total, but again to get them through the mail involves a shipping cost. Our local office is in another borough and getting there involves a bridge toll plus gas - any savings over our local Disney Store (10 minutes away at the Mall) is eaten up by that. Another reason I am going with TDS is that I can SEE the tickets and I can see the clerk validate them. I guess I am just a little paranoid. Anway, whatever you decide have a really magical trip.....

 

[mad4themouse]

Originally posted by log
Question #1: For those of you who ordered online, pls tell me which of the 3 services above you chose to order from - and WHY? ??
(pls share your experience(s) - including 'when you ordered' and 'what tickets you ordered', etc)

I ordered thru Ticketmania in the past. My reasons were: free shipping, good reputation and great prices. They offer special ticket prices thru the MouseSavers newletter every month that are even better than their published prices. The last time I ordered, it was for Disney Quest tickets that were well-below the gate price.

Question #2: for those of you who chose to use Paramount, why did you choose to use them (over the others) even though they charge $15 shipping and their prices are comparable to the other services?

I believe that Paramount (aside from also having great prices and a good reputation) offered a free breakfast voucher for every 6- or 7-day PHP purchased. The added value of those vouchers made them a better buy for some families. I'm not sure if they still offer the vouchers or not. A phone call to Rosa would answer the question.

Question #3: It seems in terms of hopper plus prices, that Hotwire has the lowest prices (am I right or wrong?). SO... why isn't everyone going via hotwire? I'm tempted to order through hotwire cuz of prices, BUT am kinda scared and really wonder why EVERYONE is not going through them if they have the best price?

Hotwire offers a 30-day free trial membership. You have to call them to cancel the membership or else they begin to charge you credit card $7.95 per month. Some people have had difficulty with getting the membership cancelled. This makes some others nervous about dealing with them. Ultimately, it is up to the individual as to how comfortable they would be with such an arrangement.

I know these are silly questions, but it's alot of money and i'm not used to ordering online.
pls help!!!!! let me know if i'm missing anything. thx

Not silly questions at all. We're all here to help each other and to learn from each other.

PS- Welcome to the DISboards

 

[Ann]

I just got my 7 day PH plus passes through Paramount. I compared prices with taxes & shipping at various sites, & they were all fairly comparable, but Paramount gives a free character breakfast voucher with each pass. Since a character breakfast for a family of four is about $54, I found this to be a good deal. The vouchers expire end of May, but we are going in Apr as I see you are so that wouldn't affect it. BTW, Paramount actually forgot to send the vouchers with the passes. One quick phone call & they had them in the mail to me pronto. Not all character breakfasts are included so you might want to call them and ask about it. We're going to Goofy's Beach Bash at the Beach Club.

 

[momsully]

We ordered online through Paramount for the same reason as Ann. We are using our breakfast vouchers at Donalds Breakfastsaurus in the Animal Kingdom. We ordered back in December and it took about three days to get the tickets.

 

[djm99]

Originally posted by log
Question #1: For those of you who ordered online, pls tell me which of the 3 services above you chose to order from - and WHY? ?? (pls share your experience(s) - including 'when you ordered' and 'what tickets you ordered', etc)

I'm not sure if you are staying on or off site. But if your staying off site you probably will not be at disney your first or last day of your vacation. With this in mind choose your tickets. Since that leaves 6 days of the World I would choose a 4 or 5 day hopper PLUS from Hotwire Savings Club. A 4 day hopper plus at HWSC is $205.13. At AAA they are $202 but no plus option. A childs 4 day at HWSC is $164.87. at AAA they are $160.00. Again no plus options. A 5 day adult hopper at AAA is $222.00 and$246.35 at HWSC. Keep in mind a 'plus' option is a extra day at one of disney waterparks or interactive park. HWSC prices includes taxes and shipping. They usually ship within a week. So I guess it depends on if you want to go a waterpark. I see them as investments because if we don't use them this year we will certainly use them next visit.

Originally posted by log Question #2: for those of you who chose to use Paramount, why did you choose to use them (over the others) even though they charge $15 shipping and their prices are comparable to the other services?[/B]

I've never used them since their prices don't seem to be a good "deal".

Originally posted by log Question #3: It seems in terms of hopper plus prices, that Hotwire has the lowest prices (am I right or wrong?). SO... why isn't everyone going via hotwire? I'm tempted to order through hotwire cuz of prices, BUT am kinda scared and really wonder why EVERYONE is not going through them if they have the best price?)[/B]

No I don't think you wrong at all. AAA does have a good price and if you live near an office its the most convenient, but in truth you get more for your money at HWSC.

And don't worry there are no "silly" questions. We have all asked them. Relax, this board is soooooooooo much fun.

HAVE A WONDERFUL DISNEY DAY

 

[GIOny]

I just ordered my 4 day park hopper through the AAA in NY and each ticket is $198.oo and that is including tax. As I am reading other posts I see they must have differen prices in different parts of the country. So I would check your own local AAA and see what you come up with. As far as the plus part of the ticket goes it will only be worth it if you use it during your stay because I don't believe that part of the ticket carries over to a future stay. Remember sometimes it's nice to take a day and just hang out at the pool or Disney Village, so take that into account when buying tickets. Good luck and have a good time. P.S. I just checked my confimation price on my tickets I ordered through AAA and they did not charge me for S&H, unless it comes up later on my credit card, but according to my confirmation it is the 198.00 per person and that's it.

 

[Lewisc]

Different AAA clubs have different tickets (and prices). AAA and ticketmania are interchangeable, just look at the delivered price. Paramount offers (or at least used offer) a breakfast with some of their packages.

Hotwire doesn't sell tickets. The offer a private label version of Connections called Hotwire Savings Club. Given the (major) problems with Connections some people don't think the savings aren't worth joining and then cancelling a club with an organization with such a track record.

 

[HaleyB]

Quote----As far as the plus part of the ticket goes it will only be worth it if you use it during your stay because I don't believe that part of the ticket carries over to a future stay.------

I could be wrong, but I am pretty sure that just like the days on a php, the pluses never expire. Anyone know for sure?

Ticketmania has the 5 day ph plus 2 for $250 adult, $202 child. No shipping. If you compare that to $198 for a four day ph from AAA it is like getting the pluses for free.

IMHO it is not worth the hassel to deal with HWSC.

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

It seems advance purchase from Disney is the way to go. But, do a price comparison from the various websites you have and see which is the least expensive.

 

[cmitch9999]

We ordered tickets from ticket mania for Disney Quest. You can have them delivered for FREE to your hotel. We only ordered them 3 days ahead of time and when we checked in at Pop Century the package was on our reservation..didn't even have to ask the cast member for it. Inside were our tickets in a nice envelope as well as several discount brochures for the Orlando area. I was very pleased with the experience and would use again.
Chris Mitchell

 

[momsully]

The plus features never expire. Even if you use all the park days on the ticket you can still save the pluses for the next visit.

 

[Mskanga]

We just came back from WDW and this time I bought our tickets through Ticketmania, I bought the florida fun in the sun pass which includes 30 days of unlimited use of all disney parks including Pleasure Island and Disney Quest.
We purchased the tickets online and had them delivered to the resort free of charge. We didn't have one problem , they were there when we checked in and the pass also included a free character breakfast for each one of us. We used it for 10 days and it paid itself off after 5 days.
I will use ticketmania again in a heartbeat!

 

[StinkerbellsMom]

We plan on doing an Annual Pass purchased at our local Disney Store because it just seemed too confusing to search out a 'better price' since for an AP it doesnt seem that there *is* a better price. We were originally going to buy a 6 day PHP or a 7day but then again, for a little more than $50/ticket we could get the AP and go back as often as possible ... for our clan of six it is worth the extra expense (plus we got discount on room too!). Since our AP's don't begin until we 'validate' them at Guest Services, buying them now for our March - April trip is fine for us. I do wish there was a place to get them at a discounted rate though, wouldnt that be sweet?! I must say though, that I do agree with what others have said, take into account just how many days you will actually USE the passes, granted they never expire, but if you are budget conscious, it may be worth it to lounge around your first day and if you are staying onsite you can do the Campfire Sing Along at Fort Wilderness or lounge at the pool. Good Luck on your decision ... either way ... have a MAGICAL Vacation!!!

 

[kimmie]

Just wondering if all the tickets are on plastic from these places. Most interested in AAA ones. I know TDS is plastic. Just don't want to deal with the paper ones anymore. They seem to have problems (atleast for us) at the gates. Twice we were sent to guest services, which slowed down the morning.

 

[Mskanga]

They are paper.

 

[GoldenOldie]

Originally posted by kimmie
Just wondering if all the tickets are on plastic from these places...

Only Disney sells hard plastic tickets and not even every one is plastic. It depends on what you get and where you get it.

All non-Disney sources (AAA, ticket wholesalers, etc) will have only paper tickets.