need advice... please

[LTNLISA]

If I am in the wrong place to ask this.. I am sooo sorry... but here is my situation...

I used a local travel agency to book our vacation to WDW this December 10-17... we got the dining plan and all that and our total is 5800.00... ok so today I find out there is free dining when we are going to be there but it is only from the 10th to the 17th so they said i have to shorten my trip by a day and by doing that my airline tickets go up.. so I would only save 400.00.. and my flight time would be afternoon flights which in my opinion suck cuz then I lose a whole day.

So I am depressed that I cant save money on that plan.. then she calls me back and tells me we could try taking away another day so then I would only be going 5 days instead of 7 and it would save me 700.00 but it is a lot of trouble to cancel and rebook.. blah blah blah..

So I guess my question is.. would any of you look into another travel agency to see what they can offer.. or do u think its just to late in the game and just keep the situation I have... I cant go at a different time cuz I bought MVMCP tickets for that tuesday night.. and its for my sons b day...

sorry Im just frustrated... I just cant seem to find anything to help save money on this trip.. I only have 1900.00 left to pay on this...

so what would u guys do? thanks for listening! (its a southwest vacation package I have now)

 

[djblu883]

let the agent book you for those days to keep your free dining and for the other day just do a split stay out of pocket. You would still save some oney and maybe see another resort for a day???

 

[cd&kids]

Hard to answer. I will say we've done 8 trips and it always seems like somewhere, some how, I find something that would've made each trip a little cheaper -- an offer here, a discount here, a promotion, etc.
If your itinerary is all set and you felt the initial price was fair, I might just let it go. Disney planning is a lot of fun, but also a lot of frustration and agony. Saving a little money may cause even more heartache.
Good luck and just know that no matter what, you'll have a terrific time.

 

[ancestry]

Honestly I would cancel with the travel agency and would book everything myself. I never use a TA for Disney trips and feel that in most cases I can do better myself.

 

[snykymom]

Free Dining is actually from the 11th to the 17th, and that's where your problem lies. If you check in during free dining, you get it for your entire stay even if you stay past the 17th, but you're checking in before free dining.

The way to get free dining in your case is to book a room-only reservation for the 10th and a free dining package for the 11th to the 17th. You can pick up your tickets the day before, so you don't have to buy additional tickets. If you can get the room-only at the same resort in the same room category as your package, they will likely let you stay in the same room. Then you'd just go down to the desk, check out and check back in again and your package starts. If you can't stay in the same resort/room, go check out, give your bags to Bell Services, go to the new resort & check in, and your package starts. Bell Services will deliver your bags to your new resort, and once you're in your room, the new resort services will bring them up to you.

Your TA apparently doesn't understand how this would work, so I'd call Disney directly and book with them (if you can afford another deposit). They'll know how to do it. But don't cancel with your TA until you have a new booking! Rooms with free dining are limited and the ones you want may be gone already. Make sure you're happy with what you get with FD before you give away your current reservation.

 

[snykymom]

OK, just noticed it's a SW vacation package and I don't know the cancellation policies for that.

Explain to SW that you want to do what I outlined above. If the TA can't do it, then have the TA keep your flights the way they are, but just start the hotel piece on Dec. 11. Then book the room-only directly with Disney.