Help need advice

[princessboogirl]

Hello, I am new to dis boards...I have been reading them for years but never logged on. I need some advice. On WDW website in vacation planning I was quoted $2600 for 11 nights at the new Pop Century, airfare, and tickets. Is this a good deal? This is our first trip and are on a budget. If I do make reservation and a better rate comes along can you change? Also is it better to call WDW and make arrangements? I need help. Is it better to book things separate. I think we definatly want to stay at Pop Century. It sounds nice, but I am afraid not to make a reservation soon because it will book up. We are traveling for 10 full days 11 nights in early July 04. I a very excited but nervous at same time. Please help...any ideas ... Thanks

 

[barbeml]

For how many people? Hard to tell if it is a good deal without knowing that.

Just my opinion, but I would book air separately on my own.

Welcome to the DIS!

 

[princessboogirl]

It is for myself and 9 yr old DD.

How does just making a hotel reservation work and then deciding on park ticket options? i am so confused on what is the best option for park tickets. We will need 10 days and I do want flexability. I read about AP or UPH for length of stay. I know we will not be able to return before AP's would expire so don't know about them. But then they do offer discounts. Should I just at least book the room since we really want to stay at Pop Century? My head is starting to hurt! Please an advice is welcome. This is our first and dream vacation.

 

[jeankeri]

When are you travelling?

 

[princessboogirl]

July 6-17

 

[tink2dw]

How To Plan a WDW Trip!!

Get a WDW guiude book from your library and start deciding what are the things that are "must do's" and "must see's." and decide the length of your trip.

Then decide on the tickets you will need here.
http://www.mousesavers.com/tickets.html

To keep an EYE on All the discounts for on-site and off-site resorts check here often and sign up for the MouseSavers.com newsletter to get all the best news.
http://www.mousesavers.com/wdw.html

For Air fares sign up at all the Airline Web sites that fly out of your airport that fly to Orlando or MCO in airline speak. Then Check Expedia,Travelocity for airline deals. Also check out the Transporation Board air,car deals.
http://www.disboards.com/

Start a WDW change jar to save for your trip.[there are many tips here on this
board!!]

Also you can decide where you will want to eat and start making plans to make your food budget and check the Priority Seatings Calculator to know when you can make PS's some are as far out as 730 Days.
http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/dining/dispscalc.html

Also to help decide where to eat you can find menu's at Deb's wdw site,this works 2 ways to see where to eat what,and how much it costs, to finalize the food budget.
http://www.wdwig.com/menu/menus.htm

Water Plan
The water in Florida smells and tastes like sulfer!! WDW sells bottled water for $2.50 each for a small bottle!!That can be a real budget buster!! SO a Water Plan in necessary. Here are some of the solutions That have been posted

1. Buy water filtering Britta Sports bottles.
2. If you Drive bring cases of your Favorite bottled water from home
3. Flying, Buy bottled water at Walmart near All Stars.
4. Send cases of your Favorite bottled water to your WDW Resort

Well,this should get you start on a thousand more Questions!! So,don't be shy! Ask away!! The kind members here will share what they know! So,check back often!!

tink2dw

 

[jeankeri]

It never hurts to make a room only reservation while you take some time to research your other trip costs. Call and make sure you are making a 'room only reservation'. For these reservations you will need to put a deposit of one nights stay to hold the room within two weeks of making the reservation. Then you have until check in to pay the balance. You can cancel within 5 days of check in with no penalty (get full deposit back). You can always add a discount code later (if they become available).

 

[princessboogirl]

If you make a room only reservation how do you cahnge it to something more later?

 

[jeankeri]

What would you want to change your room reservation into- a package?

 

[princessboogirl]

Well.. Yes, maybe, at least to include park tickets.

 

[ceecee]

You should be able to do it for less than that. You could try pricing seperately (call WDW resv, airline and get the ticket prices) Checking the sites listed above will help you do the best thing. You can easily change ressies, we've done it just about every year.......I'm always afraid to wait! They can just apply what you've paid towards your new ressies. If you make a ressie with WDW and then do a pkg with their travel co. they do have to issue a refund, which is still quick and easy to do.

 

[HaleyB]

The only way to know if it is a good deal or not is to price it out. Go to www.mousesavers.com to find the prices.
11 nights at a Value resort in July=
UPH 11 nights/12 days=
Airfare=

Then look at alternatives like Park hoppers instead of UPH, or AP, or the Fun in the Sun pass...

Most people find they can get a better deal not going with a package, unless a great discount like the kidsplay free Visa, or last years Fairytale package turns up.

Another thing you can do is get a quote from a travel agent (such as Dreams Unlimited), there is no obligation to book with them and you will get valuable information.

 

[hercamore]

I would keep it simple, book the room now by calling CRO (get the # off mousesavers.com) , wait for the annual pass rates to come out and then call disney to change the rate to AP rate.
Your best value for passes is the annual pass for your and dd. Break even point 8 days.


Ap's ar eyour best ticket deal and yes, there will be restaurant discounts too.

herc.

 

[momm2four]

It's a rare thing to find a package thats less expensive than a do-it-yourself vacation. I think once you start pricing, you'll have fun finding the best deals (or maybe that's just a sickness that I have )

In order to change a reservation if you find a discount, I would assume you would call Disney and tell them you have a code you would like to apply to an existing reservation. We stayed offsite when we went, but I think that's how it's done. At HIFS, I changed our reserv. three times before we got our final price of $99 per night.

Lori P.

 

[jeankeri]

Disney can add UPH to your reservation- they asked us at check-in if we needed them!

 

[HaleyB]

Originally posted by jeankeri
Disney can add UPH to your reservation- they asked us at check-in if we needed them!

And up to the day before you go you can add them at the prepurchase discount rate. Also if you add them when you check in you can do them for the day after you first check in until the day before you check out. That way you do not waste money on days you can't make good use of them. Although the post above is correct, 8 days or more and an AP is a better deal for most people, AP's do not include the water parks or Disney Quest, UPH's do... so it may depend on your plans, I would think in July you might want to check out a water park.

 

[princessboogirl]

We do want to visit the water parks...My DD is a fish So the AP that does include water parks seems to be more $$$ so if I need 10 days at the parks is AP + h20 parks worth the $$$? Thanks for all the help

 

[jeankeri]

Do some math! The big difference I've found between passes is whether they include DQ or PI (UPH & PAP do- others do not- you'll have to buy those separate.). 7 day park hoppers will give you 4 plusses. The plusses can be used for water parks. So a 7 day PHP will give you 7 park days and 4 water park days. If you do not park hop on the water park days you would have 11 days. If you go to a theme park and a water park on the same day it would cost you a day and a plus. You can hop park to park each day.

 

[mad4themouse]

I can't believe that we're on page 2 of this thread and no one mentioned the 10-day World Pass!

Here's the basics of it: The pass is targeted for sales in the UK and Ireland but many US outlets have it for sale to US citizens. The pass is good for 10 days of admission to any of the 4 parks plus Disney Quest, Pleasure Island and the water parks.

The 10 days do not need to be consecutive but the passes do expire 21 days after the first day of use according to Mousesavers. I'm not sure how that works but I guess if you use the pass at a water park one day and go to a park later that day, you still use only one of the ten days off your pass.

The passes cost between $330 - $360 (adult) and $275-$300 (child). I know that it has been made available by Ticketmania and Paramount in the past. You would have to call them because they do not advertise them on their websites.

There is also the "30-day Fun in the Sun" passes which include not only all the Disney parks, DQ,PI, TL and BB, but also Kennedy Space Center, Salvador Dali Museum in Tampa, Edison-Ford Winter Estate, Miami Seaquarium and the Everglades Safari Park. Purchase of these passes run in the range of $300/$245 (adult/child). They are good for unlimited admission to all these for 30 consecutive days following activation.

Both of those admission media are less expensive than the APs and would give you admission to the water parks and DQ during your stay. However, you would not be entitled to any AP discounts on rooms or dining.

Regarding the rest of the package, I agree with the others. Book a room-only ressie now and apply any codes that come out for your stay if you can. I believe that your beginning dates fall in the "regular season" for value resorts. Rack rate will be $109 per night plus 12% tax (yeah, that tax thing is a killer!). That would be for a standard view. Book it now at that rate and you'll know that you won't be paying any more than that.

Finally, my own personal experience with packages and air travel has been pretty bad. I live near the Philadelphia Airport. We have flights that go directly to Orlando everyday, several times a day. My last package (not thru WDTC) had me and my DH on a 2-prop plane from PHL to BWI in order to catch a jet to MCO. I could have driven to BWI faster than it took to go from my house to PHL, thru check-in and boarding! Not to mention that the plane was so small that you could not carry anything on! And don't even ask how uncomfortable it was to sit just a few feet from the engines! Had I known ahead of time, I would have booked it on my own. I have never purchased a package with airfare since.

My only other advise would be to sign up for the newsletter at MouseSavers.com. It comes out around the 15th of every month and always has offers for reduced prices on tickets and offsite resorts. I live by the DIS and MouseSavers when it comes to planning my WDW trips now.

 

[jeankeri]

The 30 day Fun in the Sun passes end May 31st and the trip is in July, correct?