May 18, 2013 MAGIC EBTA - Who is with us?

[Tink1987]

Had a rough few weeks. Dh's entire department at work is closing-- so we had a scramble for any available job and fortunately it worked out, but a very painful pay cut. So this will mean way more saving to make this trip happen.

And I'm also interested in hearing tips for low fares. When dd and I did the TA in 2010, I think we paid about $500 (US) from Amsterdam to Philadelphia-- but it was a horrible flight on Iceland Air with two connections, slow deplaning, lost baggage, etc.

Sorry to hear about your rough few weeks Skoi. Tammy has already pointed this out, Aer Lingus always has very good flight deals to the US from Europe, may be worth checking out?

 

[skoi]

Thanks all for the head's up on Aer Lingus and the good wishes. Will look at them when the time comes. I did see a few decent prices on Air Canada, though with a change of planes in Toronto.

 

[heatherb819]

Someone from last year flew Air Lingus. Skoi are you on last year's group FB page? Kelly maybe few Air Lingus and said it was cheaper. We booked DCL air last year as well and this time. May not be the cheapest but saves me the work of searching for flights. I tried last time and about went crazy. I think Disney did a great job with our flights and honestly form our home city we couldn't find anything cheaper without having several layovers and I'd rather be more direct.

Good luck on your search!

 

[kris3kid]

Someone from last year flew Air Lingus. Skoi are you on last year's group FB page? Kelly maybe few Air Lingus and said it was cheaper. We booked DCL air last year as well and this time. May not be the cheapest but saves me the work of searching for flights. I tried last time and about went crazy. I think Disney did a great job with our flights and honestly form our home city we couldn't find anything cheaper without having several layovers and I'd rather be more direct.

Good luck on your search!

What was the cost of the air withDisney? We are thinking of doing this.
?

 

[surf2di4]

What was the cost of the air withDisney? We are thinking of doing this.
?

From LAX quote was 1100. pp

Karl

 

[heatherb819]

It was around $1100 also from St. Louis and that includes tranfers which are $70 I believe. You don't have to pay a deposit on the air and you can cancel the air up to a certain point with no penalties. Call DCL and they will give you the quote and details. They will tell you that you can add the air on and if you find a cheaper price then cancel it within a certain time frame.

 

[Minnie328]

I love that last line! DH & I will both be there marathon weekend. He's running the full (maybe the Goofy) and I'll be doing the half.

See you during the half!! My dad and I will be running the Goofy, my sister running the half, and my mom the 5k!!

2013 is going to be epic. So excited and it's not even March yet!

 

[kris3kid]

Is this the price for this year? I called and could not get a quote yet. Were you happy with what Disney was able.to put together for you?
Has anyone done added a stay longer after the cruise with Disney? What was offered by Disney for those?

 

[Kewz1]

I love that last line! DH & I will both be there marathon weekend. He's running the full (maybe the Goofy) and I'll be doing the half.

See you during the half!! My dad and I will be running the Goofy, my sister running the half, and my mom the 5k!!

2013 is going to be epic. So excited and it's not even March yet!

That's great! My kids usually do the 5k but thanks to college they won't be joining us this year.

I'm pretty excited about 2013 myself.

 

[heatherb819]

Is this the price for this year? I called and could not get a quote yet. Were you happy with what Disney was able.to put together for you?
Has anyone done added a stay longer after the cruise with Disney? What was offered by Disney for those?

Yes, that is this year's price. Our air is booked. In the past, we've only added a day prior to the cruise at MCO Hyatt but I know they offered packages last year post cruise, they may not have those options set up yet. We were extremely happy with DCL air, they gave us wonderful flight times and only one short layover coming home thru Atlanta which is a given since we can't fly direct to St. Louis. they should be able to quote you air and transfers.

 

[kris3kid]

Yes, that is this year's price. Our air is booked. In the past, we've only added a day prior to the cruise at MCO Hyatt but I know they offered packages last year post cruise, they may not have those options set up yet. We were extremely happy with DCL air, they gave us wonderful flight times and only one short layover coming home thru Atlanta which is a given since we can't fly direct to St. Louis. they should be able to quote you air and transfers.

thanks for the info. I will call.

 

[kris3kid]

So I called Disney last night and spoke with someone who told me that the air prices are not out yet for our cruise, go figure. I know when I did the Alaska cruise there were many times that some people on the boards would get one answer and then I would get another. I will try again next week, the price looks like it would be a good deal not having to worry about anything.

 

[valbob89]

Our rollcall posting should be uptodate now.

I have been busy with the 150 Hawaiian shirts order for our DISboards April cruise. Once that is taken care of I'll have more time to plan this exciting cruise.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Val

 

[valbob89]

Best wishes and prayers go out to those affected by the storms throughout the U.S.

We are blessed with a beautiful morning.

 

[surf2di4]

Our rollcall posting should be uptodate now.

I have been busy with the 150 Hawaiian shirts order for our DISboards April cruise. Once that is taken care of I'll have more time to plan this exciting cruise.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Val

are you doing the champagne girls tasting? with Ella.

Karl

 

[bobbiwoz]

The WBTA is our preference, but we're asking for a quote for this one. I've heard lots of good things about transatlantic cruises, I love days at sea, and I'm not getting any younger.

I'm glad people have had good things to say about the European ports, we've not been to them. We've done the Greek Isles, Baltic, Norway and British Isles cruises.

Bobbi

 

[valbob89]

are you doing the champagne girls tasting? with Ella.

Karl

Yep - Have I ever seen you in a pink wig?

 

[TammyAlphabet]

The WBTA is our preference, but we're asking for a quote for this one. I've heard lots of good things about transatlantic cruises, I love days at sea, and I'm not getting any younger.

I'm glad people have had good things to say about the European ports, we've not been to them. We've done the Greek Isles, Baltic, Norway and British Isles cruises.

Bobbi

I want to do the Greek Isles, Norway and the British Isles too. I love the transatlantic. Hope you join us!

 

[bobbiwoz]

I want to do the Greek Isles, Norway and the British Isles too. I love the transatlantic. Hope you join us!

I hope you get to do them! You sound like you love cruising!

We are looking at options right now, probably doing Disney's cruise out of Barcelona after the EBTA. We have lots to think about.

 

[MissAndrea]

I think we are going to do this!!! I'm kinda freaking out with excitement right now so I apologize if this post is all over the place. This morning I went to do a little planing for a WDW MNSSHP trip in Sept, and some how found myself searching cruises (DH and I are going on our first cruise in April through NCL). Going on a Disney cruise has been on my to do list for a few years and I'm not getting any younger. We have a daughter (she would be 12 at the time of this cruise) and have talked about having another baby...but I keep putting it off because of vacations! I'm afraid if I have a baby, my Disney cruise will be put off for 3 or more years. Anyway, I found a Disney cruise for the first week of January (DD would be out of school still for the holidays), 4 day cruise for $2400. We decided we'd do it. Knowing the transatlantic cruises are a much better deal, I decided to check them out just for fun and found this one (inside room) for a little over $3,000...and we'd get 10 more days!! For this TA cruise, the ship leaves on 5/18...I checked DD's school schedule for 2013 and their last day of school (half day) is 5/17!!!! So she wouldn't miss any school! We live in Branson MO (Hello STL cruisers!!!) and can easily drive to Galveston when she gets out of school (or maybe just have her skip the half day). My biggest concern was going to be flying back ($$$). However, we decided to just rent a car to drive to Galveston, that way we have several airports to fly into (probably out of London...it looks cheaper) to come back home. We can fly to KC, STL, Tulsa, or Little Rock with only a 3-4 hour drive (rent a car) to come back to Branson. With that in mind, messing around with prices for this June just to check them out, it looks like it won't be near as expensive as I thought! We have more flexibility with the day and airport we'd fly into so that helps alot! The plan is to take a train after the cruise to Paris to go to the Eiffel Tower and Disneyland Paris for a couple days, then head to London for a quick day of sites before flying home.

I have a couple of questions. I'm not going to lie, I haven't read this entire thread but I'm so excited, I wanted to write this now. Is booking through Disney the best way to go? What is the 10% I've seen a few times on here? What about OBC? And finally, anyone have a favorite website to monitor flights? We travel a lot but we always drive (since it's cheaper) so I never deal with checking or booking flights. So any help with that would be appreciated. Oh, one more thing, I haven't booked it yet....should I hurry and do it this week? I saw everyone talking about booking theirs the day it opened so I don't want to miss out on this by waiting! Did I mention I'm freaking out with excitement???


Edit- I have now read through the thread and it looks like the 10% was a military deal. I found Dreams Unlimited has $150 OBC plus I'd get $50 OBC for using my Disney Visa. Should I book with Disney, then transfer it to Dreams?