Need advice in planning a Disney vacation

[Mary Diehl]

We are planning a vacation to Disney next June and aren't sure how to go about it. Should we do it on our own and book everything separately using codes on the mousesavers website or do we book through a travel agent etc... The only problem in our area is that none of the travel agents seem to be very knowledgable on Disney. I end up telling them things that they don't know. We would like to spend 5 nights at the AKL and 5 nights at the BCR. Other than codes, how else could we save on the rooms for these resorts. I don't want to spend rack rate for these are very expensive resorts. Also, do they sell an 8 day ticket? Two days we would spend doing DQ and BB. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

 

[suevee]

For me planning is half the fun! One way to save money if you can't get any room discounts is to start your vacation during value season. You will be charged the same rate for your entire visit. However if you change rooms the new room will be rack rate. You may want to get an AP for one of you to try to get an AP discount on your rooms. You can reserve your room with the AP discount and pick up the pass once you get there. You just need to have the AP when you check in. With an AP you can also get a Dining Discount card for $50. This will give 20% at most not all restaurants for up to 10 people. But there is no guarantee there will be AP discounts. I heard this year they booked quickly. Here is a site to find the current Ap discounts

http://www.mousesavers.com

Also you need to decide if you are going to one park one day or if you want to park hop. For instance if you do one park one day the AK park closes pretty early. But if that is your down day to go to bed early that is okay. Using the MYW ticket the difference between an 8 day and 10 day pass is minimal.

So next you should decide if you want a no expiration option or not. If you do not get the no expiration option you must use all your passes within 15 days of first entry. Also with the ten day pass you can purchase the extra plus passes for DQ and the water parks for $45.

What is interesting is no matter the length of the pass you buy, 2 day, 5 day or 10 day, the plus option cost is the same - $45. BUT the number of plus passes you recieve change depending on what length pass you buy. Example a 2 day pass with plus will cost an extra $45 but you will only have one plus pass. A 10 day pass with plus options will cost the same $45 BUT you will have 3 or 4 passes (I can't remember exactly) Basically the more days you purchase the cheaper each day becomes and the more options you have. Does this make sense?

So first determine how long you will be there. Then the cost of the passes that will best fit your needs. Then start looking at the where and what you think you will like to go to eat. If you want some character meals, if you want to eat in your room, if you will do mostly counter service, or if you will go offsite.

Also if you are going to fly down start looking at air fares about 6 months out to get the best deal.

I hope this helps and have lots of fun planning!!!

 

[BigOnDis]

Suevee has given a lot of good advice there.

One question I would have is do you plan on returning again the year after? If you do then an AP is really the way to go. If you can get two trips out of an AP then you are really saving some money. Not to mention there are usually codes for discounts, but not guaranteed.

They do seel the 8 day and you can customize to suit your needs.

Are far as do it yourself vs. a travel agent, I would say go for it and do it yourself. You know you have a huge support group here to help answer any questions or just to bounce ideas off of. Have fun and enjoy the planning, it's almost as fun as the trip, almost.

 

[dawgfan]

Suevee is correct and ditto to that comment. Planning is at least half the fun. It is not as monumental a task as it seems. The new ticket options can seem confusing but once you break them down as to what you need they make more sense. You just need to know core details of your trip prior to buying them. Get a good book (Passporter is great) and refer to this site often. This will give you all the info you need to plan a perfect vacation. You can also try Dreams Unlimited. I did this last year just to make PS planning and code searching easier. They did great and I will use them again for next years trip in July.

 

[ILoveWDW2003]

If you do go with a travel agent, be sure to use one who specializes in nothing but Disney - Dream Come True Vacations, Dreams Unlimited, Small World Travel, etc.

They will do all of the difficult work, and can give you great advice - at no charge to you.

 

[wdwgoofeeee]

I totally agree with IloveWDW2003 about using a Disney specialist. Most travel agents know less about Disney than the people here on these great boards! We used Small World Vacations (WDWVacations.com) that we found on mousesaver.com last year. After an original AAA discount they made two more changes as better deals came out and we ended up saving $800.00. Great service and wonderful people. They also made all our priority seatings for us. Saved us a lot of money, time spent looking for discounts, and time spent on the phone with Disney. I will always go through them in the future for our WDW vacations.

 

[Mary Diehl]

Thank you everyone for all this great advice. How would I go about finding a travel agent near me that's a Disney specialist? Like I said before, the travel agents in my area seem to know very little and I end up telling them things. We would not plan on returning that next year, however, I would love to but it's just too expensive to go every year. I guess I'm leary about getting airline tickets so early(6mths. in advance) We all know how plans can change. Is it better to go through a travel agent to get them or order them on line? I appreciate all your help!!

 

[ILoveWDW2003]

Most of the Disney specialist agencies that I am familiar with operate almost completely on the internet via email and sometimes phone. This keeps their overhead costs down, and it lets their agents work from all over the country - even from Canada!

My personal recommendation is for Dream Come True Vacations - my neighbor Joe is the owner. I also highly recommend Dreams Unlimited Travel, they sponsor these boards.

Others will recommend Small World Vacations and others.

I believe that Dream Come True Vacations, Dreams Unlimited Travel, and Small World all have their corporate headquarters in New Jersey.

 

[wdwgoofeeee]

The chances of finding a local travel agent that is a Disney specialist is close to zero. Try some of the sites mentioned here and look over on mousesaver.com.
For airline tickets it is really easy to go online and purchase them. Just find out what airlines serve your area and go over to their websites. You can always use something like Expedia.com to check fares, but some of the lower priced airlines won't come up on these sites. A lot of airlines (like AirTran) have specials on their site all the time.