Need help in planning how to book, please!

[Mama22Girls]

We are planning in going in Sept. 09 and I'm hoping we can get the Free Dining if and when it becomes available. Can some experienced WDW fans help me in answering some questions?

1. Should we book now even though it'll be awhile until "free dining" becomes available? Would we just switch to that then?

2. We are AAA members and have a retired military person in the group. Does any of this matter since won't we have to book a package to get the free dining?

3. We want to stay at the Polynesian. Is there any way we'd save more money if we booked it all separately and did not get the free dining, if AAA and the miltary tickets would be cheaper?

4. Do you recommend using AAA to book everything through?

Any help in any form is appreciated. My mind is boggled by all this!

 

[Singinglizzie]

We are planning in going in Sept. 09 and I'm hoping we can get the Free Dining if and when it becomes available. Can some experienced WDW fans help me in answering some questions?

1. Should we book now even though it'll be awhile until "free dining" becomes available? Would we just switch to that then?

2. We are AAA members and have a retired military person in the group. Does any of this matter since won't we have to book a package to get the free dining?

3. We want to stay at the Polynesian. Is there any way we'd save more money if we booked it all separately and did not get the free dining, if AAA and the miltary tickets would be cheaper?

4. Do you recommend using AAA to book everything through?

Any help in any form is appreciated. My mind is boggled by all this!

Welcome to the Dis boards! I'm sort of a newbie too, but have been doing my "travel research" for the past 2 months so I will try to see If I can offer any help. BTW, you might get more replies if you post this on the "strategy" page. Anyhow, I would recommend you go ahead and secure your room. You should call Disney's Central Reservation Office (CRO). I am not an AAA member, so I don't know if you need to book that directly through AAA or if you can get an AAA discount with Disney but you can always ask. I have read on these boards about folks who have waited to book then find that the dates they want are already sold out. Once you have paid your first night's deposit, you have until 6 days prior to your stay to make any changes to your reservations - including adding tickets and the DDP, however if you switch to a package, you have until 45 days prior to make changes. If you secure a room and the free dining comes out, you can make the switch, but Disney limits the number of free dining packages so it might not be available at the resort you want, but we can keep our fingers crossed. I read that Disney has already starting offering the free dining in 2009 to those in Australia and the free dining includes the counter service plan, so most people expect that the US program will be similiar. Regarding getting the best discount for the Poly, I think part of that will be luck. I don't know what kind of Military discount you can get, so you will have to add it all up to see what is the better deal. I believe I read on Mousesavers (they post a listing of historical discounts) and last year discounts went out to Annual Plan holders and Visa Card holders, so I went ahead and applied for a free Visa Card. Depending on how many days you want to vacation - you might see if getting an Annual pass makes sense for you. Check out Disney's website. www.waltdisneyworld.com and you can pull up prices for tickets to compare. Well have fun with all the planning, it does seem mind boggling at first because there are so many choices!!!!! Good luck.

 

[Singinglizzie]

BTW, you might get more replies if you post this on the "strategy" page.

Disregard that, maybe post on the resort page.

 

[PrincessTiffany]

We are planning in going in Sept. 09 and I'm hoping we can get the Free Dining if and when it becomes available. Can some experienced WDW fans help me in answering some questions?

1. Should we book now even though it'll be awhile until "free dining" becomes available? Would we just switch to that then?

2. We are AAA members and have a retired military person in the group. Does any of this matter since won't we have to book a package to get the free dining?

3. We want to stay at the Polynesian. Is there any way we'd save more money if we booked it all separately and did not get the free dining, if AAA and the miltary tickets would be cheaper?

4. Do you recommend using AAA to book everything through?

Any help in any form is appreciated. My mind is boggled by all this!

1. You can book now and in April, when the FD codes come out, you can call and add the FD code to your exisiting reservation. FYI the offer will be only be open to Disney Visa holders for the first 3 days and then it will open up to the general public. So, if you are booking with the general public code, it is always best to have a second choice resort in case your resort is sold out, as each resort is only allotted so many Free Dining rooms.

2. To qualify for the Free Dining promo you have to stay at a Disney owned property (Swan and Dolphin and Shades of Green do not qualify) and minimum 3 night/maximum 14 Magic Your Way package. Also, if you do book through AAA, you can not get the AAA discount and the Free Dining discount. It is one or the other as you can never combine any other discounts or codes with the Free Dining promo, not even military.

3. As far as what is the cheapest way to stay at the Poly, it just depends on your family and you are going to have to price it out both ways. Go to the WDW site and get a price quote for the Poly, including your park tickets (do not add on the DP). That's approximately how much your trip will cost with the Free Dining promo. Then call AAA and see what their room only rates are for your dates at the Poly and combine that with your discount military ticket price and see which scenario is cheaper. We have 4 kids and have to get two rooms because of the size of our family. We went last year during Free Dining and it saved us about $1,300.00. Disney, nor AAA, will ever offer a dicount or a code that will save our family more money than the Free Dining code. But, if it's just you and your spouse and you only have one child, then the room and ticket discount may work out better for you.

4. I would only use AAA if you need their discount. If the FD promo is cheaper for you than the AAA promo, I would just book directly with WDW.

 

[Mama22Girls]

Thanks for your help! I will contact AAA for a room quote with their discount and then try to price it out both ways. We only have 1 child who would get the dining plan, so it might be cheaper to use the AAA discount, and pay for the dining ourselves.