Online or on the phone

[gryphonm]

Hi, I'm planning a trip for the 13th - 21st of May. We already have our airfare and need to book room, tickets & DDP.

Is it better to call WDW Reservations or to go through the website? The reason I'm asking is that I have a 3 year old who usually sleeps w/one of her sisters or us so sharing 2 queen beds will work. The only problem is if I put all 5 of us on the website, it says we exceed the number of guests for a room at many of the resorts.

Thanks!

 

[kaylajr]

Hi and welcome to the DIS

Not sure what everyone else will recomend here
but I find I have better luck calling.

Have fun planning your trip.

 

[wilde_oscar]

i've done well booking online.

 

[Aliceacc]

If there are 5 of you, including a child who is 3, you will need to book a room that can accomodate 5. The rooms that aren't available on the website won't be available on the phone either.

Your choices include:
-2 rooms at a value
- a Family Suite at All Star Music
- a room with a trundle at POR

and from there the prices jump a bit. Many of the Deluxes also sleep 5, including all 3 on the monorail line.

Putting 5 people in a room meant for 4 brings on a whole host of problems, from no park tickets to no DDP to, worst case scenario, being asked to leave because you're in violation of the fire codes.

 

[nascar-j]

I've always had great luck booking online. We are leaving in 9 days (Easter week) and I was able to get the whole thing online back in November.

Others that have had trouble arranging all their days where they wanted have said they had luck on the phone.

For me, if I can do it online and not wait on hold, I'm there.

j

 

[Pimpi96]

Hi there! First time poster, long time lurker...

I'm headed down to Disney later this month (Mar 29-Apr2) and we are a party of 5 as well (3 adults/2 kids aged 7 & 4). We'll be staying in a 2-Bedroom Villa at Saratoga Springs. We found our options online but then called to actually book it, primarily because only 1 out of the 5 is flying in to MCO (thus taking advantage of DME), while the other 4 are flying into SFB. We wanted to see if there was something equivalent to get from SFB to the Resorts.

Just thought I'd share my experience

 

[Leleluvsdis]

This is good info to know. We've always stayed at SOG with my parents, and seeing as how our next trip will be on our own, we will be booking through disney. After reading this I am asssuming that disney is not the same as other hotels, as how you can get a better rate if you call direct.

 

[Aliceacc]

No, the rates should be the same online as on the phone.

Are you AAA members? The AAA discount ranges from 10-20% depending on resort and dates.

 

[Leleluvsdis]

No, the rates should be the same online as on the phone.

Are you AAA members? The AAA discount ranges from 10-20% depending on resort and dates.

I am a AAA member, would this change things? TIA

 

[Aliceacc]

I am a AAA member, would this change things? TIA

YES! (At least in terms of finances, not the number of people in a room )

Taken from www.mousesavers.com:

"American Automobile Association (AAA) and Canadian Automobile Association (CAA) members qualify for "room only" discounts almost year-round, though there are a limited number of rooms available for each date. You can generally save about 10-20% at the Disney resort hotels, depending on the season.

In general, the discounts run as follows:

During Value Season you can get up to 15% off at the Disney Deluxe and Disney Vacation Club resorts, or 20% off at the Value and Moderate resorts and the Ft. Wilderness campsites.

During Regular Season you can usually get up to 10% off at the Disney Deluxe and Disney Vacation Club resorts, or 15% off at the Value and Moderate resorts and the Ft. Wilderness campsites.

During Peak Season and Summer Season you can usually get up to 10% off at the Disney Deluxe and Disney Vacation Club resorts, or 15% off at the Value and Moderate resorts.

The only time AAA/CAA discounts don't usually apply is Holiday Season (around Christmas) at the Value and Moderate resorts.

You don't have to book AAA/CAA rates through the Auto Club. Room-only reservations with an AAA discount can be booked directly through the Disney Reservation Center at (407) W-DISNEY or a travel agent who specializes in Disney travel. Just ask if there is an AAA or CAA discount for your dates and resort.

AAA/CAA rates for all of the following year are usually released in the summer. 2008 AAA/CAA "room only" discounts were released on August 5, 2007."

 

[RNtheRN]

We've had very good luck booking our Disney vacations online.

 

[pepe of ohio]

We're internet savy but would never book on line, we just prefer to use CRO and talk, compare and confirm by phone. We've done 40 trips this way and never any problems, getting a friendly CM on the phone is the best, they offer alot, dining reservations and things going on, if you get a bad CM, hang up and call back, our luck with the CM's has been super. I might check prices and such on-line with Disney but prefer booking on the phone, we use AAA discount, no problem, CM asks our number, its on our confirmation and we have a paper trail if anything goes awry, but hasn't. Too each their own though.

 

[Unregistered]

I've booked online and in person. If it was just a 'regular' stay, I do it online. But when I have something I need to ask, I just call. For example, I need a suite for our next stay, so I asked about the suites at different hotels before picking one. It was just as easy either way for me.

 

[kmvand1]

Every year, we book online. They make it so simple on the Disney website.

 

[Aliceacc]

I think the reason the OP was having difficulty was because she was hoping to book a standard room for 5 people, and the website wasn't allowing it.

 

[MissMichelle]

If you were to "sneak" your 3 year old into a room then she wouldn't have tickets for the park and she wouldn't be added to DME and if you are on the DDP she wouldn't have credits either so to not list her wouldn't work. Unfortunately you must book a room that sleeps 5 or book 2 rooms. Wish there was a way around it (2 adults and 3 children is a norm I think when staying at hotels---we always had 1 room for my family growing up) but Disney doesn't allow it in a handful of their resorts due to fire codes for the room sizes.

 

[gryphonm]

Thanks for all the great replies everyone. We did get rooms a Pop Century (and saved a ton on our trip as well). We didn't go for the Dining Plan but did get the free park hoppers and water parks and more upgrade for the tickets.

Since our plane tickets were free (and we ended up getting some money back on them), I managed the whole trip for under $2000!

I appreciate everyone's suggestions and I am so excited for our trip.

I have more questions but I think I'll try and figure out the appropriate places to ask them.