Help! Very confused about options.

[Marseeya]

I'm working with DU, but I'm still very confused, so I thought I'd post here since everyone seems to be able to explain things so well.

I got a quote for a MYW package. It's around $4300 for our family of four for a 9 night stay at AKL standard view with 7 day park hopper passes and dining option.

However, the TA said that I couldn't apply my AAA discount to a package option, just room only. So, room only w/AAA discount and park hopper passes would come to around $3100! Quite a difference!

Is dining only available with the package?

Is there a cheaper way we can do everything we want (AKL standard room, 9 days, 7 day park hopper & dining option)?

 

[WDWBetsy]

Yes, you can only add the dining to a package, and if you want the AAA discount as well, you would need to call your local AAA travel agency. They can book the package (room, tickets & dining), and you would get the AAA discount off the room portion. The savings percentage is based on the season and resort type.

Hope this helps!

 

[beattyfamily]

I'm not sure if you can get the dining plan without a package?? I believe they are tied to your room nights, not your tickets. Did you ask AAA? I just checked and you cannot do the dining plan with room only. You must have a package with resort, park tickets (of any length though) and then you can get the dining plan which is based on your number of nights.

You don't say what ages your kids are if any but the price for a 7 day hopper with NO pluses and expires after 14 days is $234 adult and $196 child. So add that to the $3100 and that is what you are paying for the food option approximately.

 

[aka-mad4themouse]

You DU agent cannot book a AAA package for you but they can book a AAA room-only rate for you. To get the price for & book a AAA package, you will need to contact a AAA travel agent.

You cannot get the dining option without booking a package. The only discounted packages (right now) are the AAA packages.

Depending on the ages of everyone on your ressie, the dining option can be pretty high. For our family of 2 adults & 2 juniors, it means paying $140/night. Over a 9-night stay, we would shell out $1260 just for dining. I think that's where you're getting the difference in cost between a room + tickets booked separately and a package that includes dining.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

I'm working this going backwards.

An adult 7-day hopper (with expiration and no pluses) is $234.00 and with tax is $249.21. Four adults comes to $996.84.

Using $2,100 as the total for a nine night stay, including tax, works out to $233.33 per night. Backing out the tax, the room rate being charged is $209.26 per night plus tax.

Current price for an adult AP is $420.68, which is about $170 over a seven day hopper. However, you would be able to buy a Disney Dining Experience Membership for $50 which would allow a 20% discount on food and beverage at almost every table-service or buffet restaurant in the arks and resorts for your whole group. Also other discounts are available with an AP, including often a rate as low as $119 per night (plus tax) at AKL.

You would need only one AP to take advantage of any of the special offers. The only real down side is APs have a tendency, when in a drawer at home, to yell "Use Me!"

 

[Marseeya]

Yikes, my brain is spinning!

I'm going to have to have my husband read all these responses because I can't decide what to do. I just want to get the best deal for us, while still getting the vacation we want.

Regarding the ages of the kids, they are 14 and 9, so we'd be looking at three adult passes and one child pass.

 

[aka-mad4themouse]

Let's try to simplify it a little because my brain is beginning to hurt, too.

The difference between the room + tickets quote ($3100) and the package with dining ($4300) is $1200.

Divide that by 9 nights.

It comes to $133/night extra to get the dining vs the discounted room + tickets.

The question becomes" Will 2 adults, 1 junior and 1 child eat at least $133 worth of food every night? If not, then you should go with the discounted room. If you will eat that much food, then get the package. Your DU agent will keep an eye open for any codes that can be applied to your package. If one comes out, she'll be on it.

 

[beattyfamily]

Yikes, my brain is spinning!

I'm going to have to have my husband read all these responses because I can't decide what to do. I just want to get the best deal for us, while still getting the vacation we want.

Regarding the ages of the kids, they are 14 and 9, so we'd be looking at three adult passes and one child pass.

It's always cheaper to do things on your own with discounts and codes etc...but if you want the dining plan, then you must do a package.

But what I suggest is check to see exactly what kind of passes they are including in your package. Does it have any pluses? Does it expire? Do you really need pluses? Do you want them to expire? I don't need pluses myself so I wouldn't pay extra for them. And I like them not expiring so that way if we get sick and can't go to a park, we can use the passes on a future trip. The tickets certainly are more confusing than they were just a couple of months ago!!

Good luck deciding!

 

[Marseeya]

akamad: Yes, it's worth it for us to get the dining. We figured it out based on some threads here and we can spend quite a bit of money eating out. We're really bad about spending money on restaurants.

beattyfamily: We're just going with the expiring park hopper passes with no plus. Honestly, I doubt we'll be able to go back in the next few years, so it just doesn't really make sense to get the ones that don't expire. We'd probably lose them.

 

[beattyfamily]

akamad: Yes, it's worth it for us to get the dining. We figured it out based on some threads here and we can spend quite a bit of money eating out. We're really bad about spending money on restaurants.

beattyfamily: We're just going with the expiring park hopper passes with no plus. Honestly, I doubt we'll be able to go back in the next few years, so it just doesn't really make sense to get the ones that don't expire. We'd probably lose them.

I just wanted to make sure you knew if you were getting pluses or not and paying for the non-expiring or not cause some people get the pluses but don't even realize it.

Sounds like you'll have to do a package. I think you should just shop around for the same package and go with the best deal. Mayeb going with AAA directly will give you the best deal.

Enjoy your planning!

 

[Cheshire Figment]

The child AP (including tax) is $357.84 and can still be used to get all the AP benefits.

 

[Marseeya]

Okay, I got the quote from AAA for the whole package deal, and including cancellation insurance, it costs $4196. That only saves us about $100, which is a bit underwhelming. Actually it saves us nothing because we paid $106 for the AAA plus for hubby and me!

I hope we get extra benefits from AAA to make it worthwhile.

It's killing me to spend this kind of money!