How do I book accomodations, admissions, etc seperately??

[paulajane425]

Have been reading these board for about a week and must admit I am "hooked". Am planning to stay on site 2/2002 (2 adults - 2 teens) - how do I book seperately?? STaying @ 7 nights - what is the best park package?? Do I have to call different #'s for each?? What about airport transfers????

 

[ZerasPride]

Hi Paula! I'll try to answer as many of your questions as I can. It sounds like you want to book your trip yourself versus going through a travel agent and/or booking a package with Walt Disney World Travel so that is what this info is based on.

Do you or are you planning on purchasing a Disney Club membership? They have a private 800 number where you can call and book your hotel reservation and making dining priority seating. You can sometimes get discounts using the Disney Club card as well.

This particular trip we are staying at the SwanDolphin Resort in the Epcot area for about half the price of our usual deluxe Disney accommodations. If you are interested, you can find the SwanDolphin FAQ on the resort board by doing a search for more details.

As far as airport transfers, we always use Tiffany Towncar Service. They will pick you and your family up at the airport and transport you in style and privacy to your resort for about $80. As far as park tickets, we usually purchase our park hoppers at the resort and have them put on our hotel room key (this option is not available at the SwanDolphin though). You can also purchase tickets from the Disney Store if you have one near you and take advantage of the Disney Club discount.

You did not mention what type of resort you are considering - value, moderate or deluxe. You may want to start with figuring out which hotel category makes the most sense for your family. You can always call 407-W-DISNEY to make hotel reservations if you decide you don't want to purchase the Disney Club card which is around $40.

You might also want to consider purchasing one of the many Disney guidebooks available that give you a nice overview of the parks, admission prices, hotels, restaurants and other activities available to get the most out of your vacation. Oh and I almost forgot, you may want to order the Disney Planning Video. I don't have the number handy but someone else might.

Happy planning and feel free to ask any additional questions. (I hope I haven't scared you away - lol!)

Lisa

CBR - 10/98
BC - 10/98
BC - 6/00
GF - 9/00
Dolphin - 6/01

 

[Lewisc]

makes sense if you stay offsite. Tiffany is $80-$100 R/T (with tip) and if you check for car rental discounts you should be able to get a car for under $200.If you're saving money by staying off site a car rental is almost a necessity. Go to the car rental websites and check whatever discounts you are eligible for (AAA, COSTCO and Entertainment Books tend to give good discounts and/or coupons).

 

[Planogirl]

You can also get the Disney Planning Video through the Disney website. I just ordered it yesterday and I received a message that I should receive it within two weeks. I hope that I do!

The Disney website is a great tool for planning your vacation. I always check the schedule to see what's going on when and plan my trip accordingly.

wishin' on a star in Texas...

 

[paulajane425]

Thanks for your input. Zeras....I am planning on staying at a moderate resort. Can't decide between "resort magic" or booking seperate. Have found that if we arrive during "value" season out prices will be at that rate even though our week ends at "peak". Have you stayed at any of the moderate resorts?? We stayed at All Star Movies last year but I personally would like to upgrade (husband and son do not care - daughter agrees with me).

thanks again...

 

[ZerasPride]

Hi Paula! I've only stayed at a moderate once and it was the Caribbean Beach Resort. You'll get mixed reviews of this resort but we enjoyed our stay there. It was also our first trip and I had nothing to compare it to. We stayed in Jamaica (buliding 45 I believe). It was a nice stroll to Old Port Royale where the food court, gift shop and video arcade are located and we had a bus stop right outside our building. You can find some good pictures of CBR and all the resorts for that matter at www.wdwig.com.

The bus service (keep in mind this was 1998) was very good and each "country" has a quiet pool if you don't feel like going to the main pool, which was very nice by the way.

You mentioned a package. Sometimes people do packages because it is less stressful and more convenient, especially if it's their first time at Disney but be forwarned, packages are designed by Disney for convenience only (and their profit) but a package is usually not a money saver. If money is a concern (and it always is with my family), you could probably price the trip in each component separately and you may be surprised how much you can save booking things separately.

What I usually do is break the trip down into six categories: air fare, tickets, transportation to and from airport, food, miscellaneous/spending and hotel accommodations. That way I know I have all my bases covered.

If you have any more questions, just give a yell!

Lisa (139 days until I can see Mickey, but whose counting?)

CBR - 10/98
BC - 10/98
BC - 6/00
GF - 9/00
Dolphin - 6/01

 

[paulajane425]

Since last year was out first visit in 18 yrs (hate to admit that!). I booked the entire trip thru a travel agent. Since reading these boards I an getting great tips and confidence that I can do this myself!! I jsut realized that we had resort magic/length of stay passes last year and only went to MK for about 2 hrs our first day and never went on last day!! What a waste. Also thinking "is the flex feature" really such a good deal???
I think the planning is almost as much fun as the trip!! <IMG WIDTH="15" HEIGHT="15" SRC="/infopop/emoticons/icon_razz.gif" alt="razz">

 

[ZerasPride]

You read my mind! I meant to post that but felt my previous two posts were long enough (lol). I agree that planning is half the fun of a Disney trip.

This is a great site to have your questions answered and I hope you and your family have a wonderful wonderful trip!

You mentioned a flex feature that is available with the resort magic packages. If I was to do a package, I'd definitely try to take advantage of the most expensive offer. Say a character meal or something for the family.

What I do like about the unlimited magic pass is that it includes Disney Quest and our 5 day hoppers won't. But the Disney Club gives you 15% off admission to Disney Quest and 10% off hopper passes so we still come out ahead buying the hopper passes and Disney Quest admission sepaerately not to mention unused days on hopper passes never expire and that's always a plus.

If you have any other questions, just ask, we are all happy to help out!

Lisa

CBR - 10/98
BC - 10/98
BC - 6/00
GF - 9/00
Dolphin - 6/01

 

[DisneyMom]

My personal favorite is the Port Orleans. It's a little smaller than others and easier to get around. My brother's family just returned and due to the weather did not go to water parks, etc. at all. My favorite tip is make your reservations in two segments. For example a 5-day reservation w/length of stay pass and then a 1 night room only. That way if you're not going to use the parks on your first or last day, you save some money. I just booked a 10-day, full-size car rental through National on travelocity.com for $170.00--you can't beat that.

 

[WDW2001]

I've never posted before, not sure I'm doing this correctly...but just last week I rented a full size car through Priceline for $12.00 a day!! One week came to $118.79 with taxes and processing fees! I'm happy!!

 

[Thmacs]

I booked Resort Magic last year with a travel agent (she went through Disney Travel Co.) and then went ahead and priced out everything individually. I could have gotten a better rate on our room (CSR very nice btw) and hopper plus passes would have been cheaper than UMP but I could not find a better deal on airfare at that time than the package offered. In the end I saved money on the airfare. Price it both ways and see what is the cheapest. As a sidebar it was nice having unlimited admission to DQ we ended up going twice.