WDW Marathon Weekend Part One: Booking The Trip
So ...
travel agent.
Marathon Weekend will be my 8th WDW trip and 3rd runDisney trip. From what I understand, my first WDW trip was planned with the help of a travel agent ... but I was 13, so I really didn't know anything other than that the boat ride in Norway was creepy. Since then, I've booked all of my trips myself, including registering for 3 runDisney races (1 in 2015 and 2 in 2016). On our first runDisney trip (February 2015) we spoke to someone who had booked through a travel agent, but I still never even considered using a TA.
But ... things are different now. Work is ... work. But I don't get the sense that things happen very far in advance, so I'm hesitant to ask for time off this far in advance. Add that to the fact that I never know when something could happen that would make me unable to make the trip. So I kinda liked the idea of booking a trip that was (at least somewhat) refundable.
I'd heard good things about Acclaim Travel, so I checked out their website, but didn't do anything for a little bit. I also checked out Park and Preston (which was recommended by
@Bree), but from what I saw on the website, they allow you to transfer your bib but not to cancel it (I might have been mistaken about that, though). The front runner at this point was Acclaim Travel, but I had a few questions, so I decided to call them and ask some questions.
I called Acclaim on Tuesday morning (after my meeting), and Pat picked up right away. She was very pleasant, and I asked her my questions.
Question: If I book multiple races, can I cancel one of the races without having to cancel all of them?
Even if I can get time off from work (which I'm hoping I can), I'm not sure how much time I will be able (/want) to take. So I may end up not wanting to do the 5K and just coming down on Thursday to do 10K and marathon, which means cancelling one race but running the other two
Answer: Yes
This was the answer I expected, but was still good to hear.
Question: Similarly, if I end up shortening the trip, can I adjust my hotel reservation and tickets accordingly?
Answer: Before a certain point, yes.
I already knew that there would be a point where I could no longer make changes, but I wasn't sure if making my reservation through a TA meant that I couldn't adjust it. I'm glad to hear that I can make changes if necessary.
Question: About the hotel - I know they have room blocks at Pop and Coronado. Am I correct in thinking that they can book any available hotel, but at rack rate?
Answer: Yes.
As some of you might be aware ... I'm going all out for this trip. I'm living the fancy life and staying at an Epcot-area Deluxe (first choice is Beach Club). There are a few reasons for this, which I may or may not go into later, but ... it was important to me that whatever TA I chose was able to book me the hotel of my choice.
Question: Pricing - when I looked a few weeks ago, it looked like a $25 deposit, but now it's full price - is that correct?
Answer: There was an early bird discount, but since it's close to registration (remember, this was before/during the rD announcement)
it's up to full price.
This wasn't really a blocker for me - I'm fine with paying full price up front (that's what I always had to do when I registered on my own), but I just wanted to confirm so that I knew it wasn't a mistake and I could make an educated decision about what credit card to use.
Question: Registration process - I put all the races and the hotel in my cart on the website, then checkout, and ...
After looking at their website, I wasn't 100% sure about the purchase procedure, so I just wanted to confirm that that's how it goes.
Answer: Yes to all that.
As for next steps, they will get a quote and reservation for the hotel and send it to me (possibly in 5 days ... I don’t remember if she said that or I saw it somewhere, but I have that number in my head). Once I get the reservation number, I should enter it into my MDE, and email them back saying that it’s all good.
In terms of payment - I can pay all at once or over time – through paypal (don't need a paypal account, that's just how they process payments). Final payment due in November.
Jim sends out emails with reminders, tips.
In terms of actual registration – about a week after general registration, I will get a link from active (again, this was before the announcement)
inviting me to register as part of Pat Stone’s group, and from there it’s normal (minus the payment part).
Pat also encouraged me to call if I had any further questions. I definitely got the sense that she was happy to speak with me and would be glad to answer any questions I may have - she was super friendly and helpful. Definitely a good phone call expereince.
After speaking with Pat, I was fairly certain taht I wanted to book through Acclaim, but I wanted to hold off for a few hours to think about it.
And then ... runDisney.
Okay, I get that registering for races 9 months in advance is a little nutty. I get that Active has its issues and it may be possible for rD to do better. But ... I'm already stressed out about other things, and I didn't want this hanging over my head for another month and a half. I decided to just go ahead and book.
Booking was relatively easy. I added the races to my cart, and then the hotel, indicating that my first choice of hotel was Beach Club (I also put a second choice of Yacht Club in case BC isn't available). I put down the dates I was thinking and the park ticket I wanted (approximate price for the park ticket was listed). Charges were $178 marathon + $125 10K + $85 5K + $200 deposit on hotel. Once it got to the actual checkout part, it could potentially get a little time consuming, because you have to put down info for each runner and each hotel guest (even if the two overlap), but it was fine. I put in my credit card number, clicked submit (or whatever the appropriate button was), and that was it. I got an email invoice almost right away. And that's where we are now.
I haven't gotten my hotel info yet, but I'm assuming I will get that soon. So far, the "booking with TA" process has been great, and while I'm not saying I'll definitely do it again, I haven't come across any reason why I wouldn't. We'll see what happens with the rest of the process.
And ... that was booking the trip. If you have any questions about the process or anything, ask away!
