Hotwire Club was a no brainer for me...Here's why!

[Eric Julie and Hailey]

I checked out the Hotwire deal and instantly joined. Our paying party consists of 2 adults and 1 child (and 1 infant). Here's my analysis...

1. We are booked at CRT for a character breakfast:

Normally: $50 + tip and tax = ~$60
Hotwire: $46.50 total -- save $13.50

2. We always go to Bahama Breeze for one meal. I bought three cards ($30 worth of food) and saved 20% -- $6 savings.

3. We have a (rare) good Olive Garden 2 minutes from us that we frequent almost weekly. There is a 15 card maximum ($150 in food to use whenever) -- for a savings of $30.

4. We rent from Blockbuster regularly. One $25 card saves us $5.

5. We go to Toys R Us regularly. Two $25 cards saves us $10.

And, there's a $10 rebate with any purchase.

TOTAL GUARANTEED SAVINGS: $74.50

Further, we always go to the SciFi or 50s Primetime for lunch. So, I decided to purchase one child certificate. My daughter will share her appetizer and dessert with us. And, the adults will buy entrees as per usual. I don't think we'll lose anything this way. And, we'll probably save a few bucks.

And, I bought 3 Q & Cs -- we will use one at each of three meals and share/combine it with "regular" purchases. My wife and I can easily share one complete adult meal and purchase the kid meal separately. I imagine we'll save a few dollars this way too.

Anyway, for a guaranteed $74 savings -- plus the possibility of a few dollars more -- this made going with the Hotwire offer a NO BRAINER!

Just my two cents...

 

[elfbo]

Just so you know the gift cards for olive garden can be used at red lobster and 2 other resturants, and vice versa.

So you can buy 15 gc for the other resturants and use them at olive garden!

 

[Eric Julie and Hailey]

Excellent tip - thanks!

 

[maggiew]

While I have a Connections membership, not hotwire, I too have found them to be a savings. The KEY is to have a couple gift cards in your purse or something. I sometimes kick myself when at the spur of the moment we go to Blockbuster or Red Lobster and don't have time to order a gift card.

I purchased $200 in gift cards from Toys r us to do Christmas shopping. That was a no brainer. I had also purchased $200 in Kids R Us cards to do back to school shopping. When you combine these with sales you can get your items for pretty cheap!

I also buy the cards as teacher gifts, christmas gifts for mailman, paper boy, etc.

We have gotten a lot of use out of them outside of the Disney meal vouchers. (Plus I bought a 4 day park hopper plus for my mom for the cheapest I have seen around.)

Maggie

 

[zad's mom]

Maggiew,

Can you please let me know how much you were able to get the 4 day park hopper passes through Connections? This will be my family's first trip to Disney and I'm researching ways on how to save some money. Thanks.

 

[Sarahsmom85]

Adult ticket is $197.47
child $158.17

This is for a 4-day plus hopper. Meaning you get 4 days and one at pleasure Island, or one of the two water parks.


Don't forget the movie passes. I have a college student and she really will enjoy the passes shes getting in her stocking.
at $4.50 they are great.

 

[zad's mom]

Sarahsmom85,

Thank you very much for taking the time to answer.

I did not know that there was such a difference in price between purchasing the park passes through Connections and buying it in advance from Disney.

 

[Sarahsmom85]

There are many different prices and passes and several different places to buy them. This is very helpful. Go back a ways and do some reading and research.

I am going for 14 days and I found the Fun in the Sun passes that otherwise I wouldn't have know about. this will be saving me lots of money.

 

[gary4jenn]

Sarahsmom85,

How does Connections pass prices compare with the Disney Store advance ticket prices.

With tax I have them at $231.11 for 5 day park hopper (adult) and $183.18 (child) (inc. tax).

If your prices inc. tax then it may be a better deal to purchase through them Connections and "save" the PLUS options for another time. (My children are too little for the water parks).

Thanks for your time in researching this.

Jennifer

 

[sln88]

actually end up cheaper than $4.50. I ordered 10 for my SD for $45, but I get a $9 'rebate'.

The only problem is that they don't really have any theatres in my area.

 

[kermittheturtle]

Sarahsmom85 (OOPS I meant Gary4Jenn)

The hotwire WDW passes are 5 day PHP: (2 plusses)
adult- 236.96 (w/ tax and free shipping)
child- 188.84 (w/tax and free shipping)

I didn't see the regular PH (w/o plusses) on the website so I don't think hotwire sells them. They sell 4 day PHP, 5 day PHP, 6 day PHP and 7 day PHP. If you aren't interested in the plusses then Disney advance PH prices (w/o any plusses)are:

adult 5 day PH - 231.11 (includes tax)
child 5 day PH - 183.18 (includes tax)
Plus 3.00 shipping charge per order

You can join hotwire free for 30 days plus they give you a 10.00 cash back w/ your next purchase just for trying them out. otherwise it's 7.95/month if you decide to keep it. The # to cancel your membership is 1-877-581-0266

Also I know you can get the regular PH (w/o plusses) at AAA for:
adult 5 day PH - 222.00 (includes tax)
child 5 day PH - 177.00 (includes tax)
They do charge to ship or you can pick them up for free. I'ts different prices for different states but you can check out there website for your state.

and one more place that sells PHP that you may want to try is Paramount. They don't require a membership and there prices are:
adult 5 day PHP - 239.00 (includes tax)
child 5 day PHP - 176.00 (includes tax)
They have a shipping charge but not sure how much.

Good luck. hope this helps. I've been comparing prices for a long time and the hotwire passes seemed to be the best for me! 2 plusses and only a few dollars more so I won't feel bad if we don't use them this trip because they never expire

~Kermit~

 

[kermittheturtle]

Gary4Jenn,

Just noticed you were from Minnesota! Those AAA prices will work for you!


Kermit