I'm afraid of AAA

[deedeetoo]

We have AAA and want to stay at WL and get the dining plan. I usually do things myself but we've had codes before and no codes are out for July which means if I want to reserve now and get any kind of discount, it has to be through AAA.

So, I went into AAA last week and spoke to one person who seemed kind of OK. She knew about codes and said that when they come out she tries to apply them to her existing reservations ASAP, but when I asked her for a quote instead of quoting me the dates I had given her she put in a random week in August. This struck me as odd so I left.

Today I went back and talked to different person. This person had never heard of codes. When I explained what they were she said I was mistaken and that if we booked we automatically get any new savings that come out and nothing needs to be changed. She insisted there was no such thing as codes. Needless to say, I left quickly.

Aagh! So the price of saving a few hundred dollars is adding a level of bureaucratic incompetance into the middle of my vacation. Why does Disney make people do this? We are trying to decide just how badly we want this dining plan if it means we have to put up with this.

How have others dealt with this?

 

[Puffy2]

You can book a AAA rate direct through Disney , call 407 W DISNEY and ask for the AAA rate for your dates, then if another code comes out that is better you can change it yourself. Must have AAA card at check in.

 

[plutolovr]

For a package you MUST go through a AAA agent. Find another office if you can. Give them your specific dates of travel and ask for a quote for these dates. If you're uneasy about them applying future codes, just keep checking these boards and Mousesavers. When one comes out call your agent and have her apply it ASAP. Sometimes though, like with the free dining last year, you will lose your AAA room discount on your package.

 

[Cynt]

Try getting a quote for the package w/ AAA on line. That's what I did. You're assigned a TA and they work with you. I correspond via email with my TA or I can call them.

 

[lucky978]

I feel the same way as you deedee! I've called my AAA office 3x and nobody has called me back yet. I'm going to try to call another office in the area today.

If they won't call me back before I even book, there is no way I'll get them to be quick about anything after I book.

 

[Marthasor]

deedeetoo - I think you hit upon the biggest dilemma with the AAA packages - dining. As you said, seriously consider whether you really want dining or not and if you want to go through the headache of going through AAA. What you experienced in the AAA offices, I think, is pretty typically. I'm not trying to dis AAA, the TA's just have so much on their plates, most don't have time to be Disney specialists. My suggestion, if you decide to ditch dining, get the AAA room-only discount through Disney CRO and check out ticketmania.com for good discounts on WDW tix (even subscribe to the mousesavers.com newsletter as sometimes you can get even bigger discounts on tix)

We went through AAA on our last trip as we originally wanted the dining plan and then ditched it. Although everything turned out ok, I really had to struggle with my TA to get requests in etc. (She kept insisting Fiji marina side at Poly was "waterview" when I knew it was GV - I had to call and e-mail her 3 times just to put the request in) As the dining plan doesn't really work for my family, I will never go through AAA again.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do!

 

[Servants of Evan]

You really need to find a AAA agent who knows Disney and who doesn't treat it as just another destination. There are a few AAA agents who frequent these boards and are quite helpful. Remember, you don't need to go with your "hometown" office to get the AAA deals. I will admit, I was far less than impressed with my home office (Ohio) so I looked for recommendations. I wound up booking through a great agent in the Carolinas. Her name has been put on these boards so often it should be prett easy to find!

PM me if you need help,

Keith