Just saved $781 using AAA

[mindy20]

I hope I made the right choice and no one has had a bad experience using AAA for Disney but I saved $781 on our vacation for May 2012 at the GF Main Bldg Standard Room for 8 nights.

 

[loganpaulsmom]

Congrats that is great news.. I have used them twice before.. This time I opted to use Disney.. They are good, the only thing that I don't like about them, is that you actually do not own your own reservation.. You can add and change your dining, but as far as anything else goes you can't.. you can't even call Disney if you have questions about your reservation, it has to be by your travel agent.. The problem that I found with that was I was getting tons of pins.. and if you know anything about pins they need to be applied before there are no more rooms available under the pin, and sometimes my TA was not working for 3 or 4 days and there was nothing I could do.. by booking with Disney, I have control over everything. which I like..
Enjoy though./. GF is gorgeous!

 

[mindy20]

I just got a call back from the TA and she didnt include insurance and Disney was quoting me with insurance. So my saveings for $580 with the cost of membership. I am hoping for a Pin so maybe I need to rethink using AAA.

 

[I Love Pluto]

We use AAA for every trip - insurance included. We find that it does save us money, and we also feel comfortable knowing that the reservation is backed by AAA if there is a problem of any kind.

The AAA Diamond Parking is a plus if you have a car.

 

[figment82]

Are you booking room only or a package? You can get the AAA discount (which is generally around 20% for deluxes) through Disney without having to use an AAA TA. If you're booking a package, I believe you have to go through AAA though.
As long as your agent is responsive you should be fine - but if they aren't, try to get it changed or moved to a different AAA agent in case you get a deal and want it applied!

 

[dgundry]

We have booked both ways in the past, through AAA and through Disney direct. Never had any problems either way. Like a PP said, the backing of AAA itself adds a little confidence though as another PP said, the downside is that your AAA TA has to make any substantial changes.

Without any "deals" right now for the May/June/July timeframe, I just booked through AAA and saved over $400 on a 7D/6N BC vacation with DDP for DW, DD8, DS8 and myself.

Now the fun begins if we get a dining pin.

 

[yrdlyprincess]

I just switched my ressie over to AAA to get "the diamond card" and the preferred area for fireworks...my vacation is only 12 days away (YEAH) and I got everything from Disney already but then when I switched they had to cancel my ressie and make a new one. I think it was a bad idea for me to switch (I planned and did everything so it is more like I am the travel agent) and now they dont have my paper work or anything yet because of the switch.... I wont be using them again not liking the fact that I cant contact someone about my ressie at anytime (she was away for a little while too) grrrrrrrrr

 

[francie57]

We have booked through AAA for years and have never had any trouble with them. I booked our villa for next Aug. through Disney and then when AAA got back to me with their price I transferred the reservation to them. So far we are saving over $800 on our 2 bedroom villa at the Boardwalk. If anything better comes along they will apply that discount instead - have never had a problem with that either.

 

[mb187143]

I just switched my ressie over to AAA to get "the diamond card" and the preferred area for fireworks...my vacation is only 12 days away (YEAH) and I got everything from Disney already but then when I switched they had to cancel my ressie and make a new one. I think it was a bad idea for me to switch (I planned and did everything so it is more like I am the travel agent) and now they dont have my paper work or anything yet because of the switch.... I wont be using them again not liking the fact that I cant contact someone about my ressie at anytime (she was away for a little while too) grrrrrrrrr

Just so you know, you need to reserve the fireworks, it's not an area where you can walk up and show the diamond card. If you did know that, sorry, but we got our paperwork from AAA about 2 days before we were leaving, and when we called there was no availability in the preferred area for Wishes any night we were there.

 

[Sue M]

I would keep my eye out for when May discounts from Disney are released often they beat AAA price, but you can ask your AAA agent to apply the new discount to your reservation. Many AAA agents don't watch for Disney discounts, so you'll have to.

 

[Divaofdisney]

We have booked both ways in the past, through AAA and through Disney direct. Never had any problems either way. Like a PP said, the backing of AAA itself adds a little confidence though as another PP said, the downside is that your AAA TA has to make any substantial changes.

Without any "deals" right now for the May/June/July timeframe, I just booked through AAA and saved over $400 on a 7D/6N BC vacation with DDP for DW, DD8, DS8 and myself.

Now the fun begins if we get a dining pin.

What is a "pin" as everyone is referring to? Is it like some type of discount? would be interested to know as we also are booked for June 2012

 

[dgundry]

How far out do you have to reserve the AAA fireworks? I take it this is done through our TA or is there a different method?

We've done AAA vacations before, but never taken advantage of this perk.

Thanks.

 

[mb187143]

How far out do you have to reserve the AAA fireworks? I take it this is done through our TA or is there a different method?

We've done AAA vacations before, but never taken advantage of this perk.

Thanks.

I'm pretty sure this was the number - 407-939-7946 (just looked at our paperwork from our trip in Sept. and that's what I wrote down). It's not through the travel agent, you need to call that number and have your reservation # handy. You can (and should) call before you get your paperwork because often by the time AAA gets your vouchers to you, the spots are full. You will need the voucher that comes in your paperwork when you go to the preferred viewing section.

 

[yrdlyprincess]

I had made the reservation for the fireworks a few weeks ago ( think it was like the last spot for that day)and I was also about to make reservations for the storytelling too.

 

[nkereina]

Congrats that is great news.. I have used them twice before.. This time I opted to use Disney.. They are good, the only thing that I don't like about them, is that you actually do not own your own reservation.. You can add and change your dining, but as far as anything else goes you can't.. you can't even call Disney if you have questions about your reservation, it has to be by your travel agent.. The problem that I found with that was I was getting tons of pins.. and if you know anything about pins they need to be applied before there are no more rooms available under the pin, and sometimes my TA was not working for 3 or 4 days and there was nothing I could do.. by booking with Disney, I have control over everything. which I like..
Enjoy though./. GF is gorgeous!

This applies to any travel agency. Once a TA books it, Disney cannot view the entire thing until close to your trip and they will not provide you with info because they are paying the TA commission to handle it.

I just got a call back from the TA and she didnt include insurance and Disney was quoting me with insurance. So my saveings for $580 with the cost of membership. I am hoping for a Pin so maybe I need to rethink using AAA.

If you get a pin, AAA can still handle it and apply the pin code. You can't combine the pin code and the AAA discount though so your agent will have to price out which is better for you.

For those who have had problems getting responses from AAA agents, I used to work there and since they are labeled non-profit and member-centric, any other agent on duty can assist you to answer questions and take payments. If you need a change made to your reservation, the agent will probably leave it for the agent who started your package unless it is urgent - then they will make the changes for you. Especially if your agent is on vacation - they usually have someone assigned to cover their files while they are out. This is usually pretty different than other agencies I've worked at, that just receive commission as their compensation.

 

[My2CrazyGirls]

Are you booking room only or a package? You can get the AAA discount (which is generally around 20% for deluxes) through Disney without having to use an AAA TA. If you're booking a package, I believe you have to go through AAA though.
As long as your agent is responsive you should be fine - but if they aren't, try to get it changed or moved to a different AAA agent in case you get a deal and want it applied!

It was 15% for Beach Club. Did anyone ever get 20%?

 

[WDW LifeLong Fan]

It was 15% for Beach Club. Did anyone ever get 20%?

I posted this in another thread.

We always use AAA first and then usually are able to apply an AP or Disney Special Rate. For July of 2012 we've booked with the largest AAA rate we've ever had. 25% on three 1BR's for 10 nights at SSR. The AAA rate is usually 10-15%.

SSR and OKW usually have slightly higher discounts, but never 25% with AAA before that I've gotten.

Good Luck!!!

 

[OnlyDisney]

How far out do you have to reserve the AAA fireworks? I take it this is done through our TA or is there a different method?

We've done AAA vacations before, but never taken advantage of this perk.

Thanks.

Last year we booked with our AAA TA in July for our after Thanksgiving trip Nov. 28-Dec 4. She told us about the parade seating and the storytime in Epcot and gave us a number to call to set it up. Even 5 months out there wasn't any parade seating left, but there was lots of availability for the storytime (which I highly recommend - our son still talks about it!)

 

[yrdlyprincess]

Ok, just back guilty but we had the AAA pkg. (with the fireworks) and I must say that the fireworks area really isnt that great. It's right next to the smoking area....which I dont smoke anymore so it was kinda gross and I'm sure I could have found a better place to stand for them...and the pictures that they put up on the castle I couldnt really see them. Didn't do the storybook thing because DH got kidney stones while down there so had to miss that day.