Help me figure out how/when to book package please

[tracilicious]

Myself, my husband, MIL, two year old ds, and 6 month old dd are going to WDW in early Feb. We want to do 7 or 8 nights at AKL via MYW plus dining. My conundrum is that because of year end bonuses and such, we won't be able to pay for the complete package before the middle of January. Should we:

a) book the full amount of nights with dining at a lower resort and upgrade to AKL in the middle of Jan?

b) book AKL without the dining and add the dining on in the middle of Jan?

c) book fewer nights with dining at AKL and add the rest on in the middle of Jan?

Also, we are planning on getting AAA for the discount. Should we instead wait until October to see if any discounts come out and then maybe we wouldn't have to join AAA? What are the chances of both POR and AKL being full for value season?

Lastly, ds will be a few weeks away from 3 when we go. I'm thinking about buying him a one day ticket in order to add him to our dining plan. Thoughts about this?

Thanks.

 

[tracilicious]

Oh, come on. 48 views and somebody has to have some sort of input. This is the DIS for crying out loud!

 

[Jackie H.]

You will probably get a better idea, but I recommend this: (in fact, we just did it this way ourselves).

I would book the AKL room only with AAA discount. The room is held with a 1 day deposit now and can be cancelled up to 6 days before arrival without any penalty. We belong to AAA already, but I think you can go ahead and book without being a member.....you've just got to have the card when you check in.

Then if something better comes along, you can change it....but you've got the room no matter what. With choices A or C, you risk the rooms being booked and not getting into AKL. I don't think that is very likely at that time of year....but you never know.

On the dining plan and the 3 year old.....don't 2 year olds eat free? The dining plan hasn't been offered free for this time period....so I don't think I understand why you would want to do this. If you buy him the dining plan you are paying for meals that you really don't have to pay for (aren't you?). If he is 2, he can eat all he wants at the buffets for free. At the table service places he can eat off the three adult plates for free....most Disney meals are HUGE. And if the 3 adults are on the dining plan you are each getting an appetizier, entre and desert....so I would think there would be plently to share for sharing with a 2 year old.

On a related note, you will really enjoy ALK! Your kids will also They have a lot of activities as well as the beautiful animals

 

[tracilicious]

Thanks for the reply. We have to do a package because we want the dining plan. As for the two year old, he's a pretty picky eater, so unless one of us wants to order chicken fingers all the time then he needs his own food. Plus we could use some of his credits for breakfast for the four of us.

 

[freakylick]

First…I agree with the other poster that you are taking a risk with options A and C. With option B, there may be a risk here that they run out of dining plans. Someone else can correct me if I am wrong, but I think they only allow a certain number of bookings with the dining plan….though I have never heard of anyone being denied the plan.

Regarding AAA…if you want the AAA discount on the package, you have to book through AAA. WDW can only give AAA discounts on room-only ressies. I booked my Oct trip through AAA and was informed that we needed to pay a $200 deposit and the remaining balance was due 45 days prior to our trip. So if you go through AAA, you will need to pay the entire amount before that bonus check comes through. A possible option would be an “interest-free” credit card. I receive offers all the time for credit cards that give you an introductory period with no interest (though you still have to make the minimum monthly payment or your “interest-free” offer is gone). I don’t know what your credit situation is, but if you get these kind of offers, they can be great to take advantage of when you KNOW that you have money coming in to pay it off. If you go that route, you can book the entire thing once you get the card and not have to worry about losing out on AKL.

If you want to wait until Oct or so for any potential discounts, that may not be a bad idea as some of the discounts are not available to AAA bookings…though you can always cancel a AAA booking at no cost to you (other than membership fee of course) before the 45 day mark. Many people book with AAA and change when discounts come out.

Regarding the 2 yr old…If you book a package, all people on the package MUST have the same ticket plan. For example, if you buy 7 or 8 day hoppers for the 3 adults, you must buy a 7 or 8 day hopper for the child. So after the cost of the child’s ticket and the cost of the child’s dining plan, it will be much, much cheaper to pay for her nuggets out of pocket.

 

[Jackie H.]

I agree that it would be cheaper to buy the kids chicken fingers than buy the child a dining plan. Do you plan to do any buffets? The child can eat FREE at those (unless I mis-understood this child will be two when you travel, right?). If the child is two, don't pay for something that you can get for free, IMHO So while it is true you all have to have the same plan, the child doesn't have to have a ticket or dining plan.....enjoy it while you can!!!

As far as running out of dining plans....well I didn't know that was a possiblity. I know they will run out of free dining plans....but they haven't even offered that for the time you are traveling...and they may not. You were talking about buying a dining plan, right? I can't imagine they would not sell you one as long as you had a room and tickets... This is news to me...

I still recommend reserving the room only with AAA. You can change it to a package later .... the room is what is at risk of being booked up. You may get more responses to this on the regular resort board (as opposed to the codes board).
Good Luck!