Package or separate? Which is cheaper now?

[Pembo]

Is it still cheaper to book separately? We are 2 adults, 2 kids. I priced out 6 day MYW with PH and 7 nights hotel with AAA discount, $1833. Then I called AAA for a price on the pkg $2050. Then I priced the same pkg on the WDW site, $2023. (I think the AAA lady messed up).

What am I getting with a pkg that I wouldn't get if I did it separate? Am I missing something? We aren't interested in dining.

 

[Letsbgoofy]

I personally think it's cheaper to do by yourself. If you get a package, you are paying rack rate for your room and full price for your tickets. You can almost always get a discounted room, and the tickets are much cheaper at ticketmania.com. They add in things like "free parking", "free transportation", etc., but you get those free if you are staying at a Disney resort anyways. The meal plan is great, but I still think it's less expensive to book yourself and pay for meals separately.

The one advantage is that it is all done for you!

 

[swilphil]

If you eat expensive sit-down meals every day and your kids are under 10, you will save a lot of money getting the MYW package with dining IF you stay at a value, or maybe moderate, resort. It does depend on what time of year you going. If you go during the off-season, rack rate is pretty low.

I didn't see a huge difference between the price of a 6 day hopper at ticketmania and through Disney in advance. There's also only about a $3 difference between the price of a 6 day ticket and the price of a 7 day ticket, no matter where you buy it.

 

[Nik's Mom]

Just wanted to mention that if you are a AAA member, and you book the package through them, you do get AAA discount off the room portion of the package. I'm getting 15% off my room portion at POFQ. They offer a couple other incentives, but nothing worth writing about. The % off depends on the season and hotel. Here's what my Magic your Way AAA brochure says:
Value season at value and moderate resort = 20% off room
Value season at Deluxe = 15% off
Regular season at value/moderate resort = 15% off room
Reg season at Deluxe = 10% off
Peak season at value/moderate resort = 15% off
Peak season at Deluxe = 10% off.

Let me know if you have other questions about the AAA rate. I'll do my best to answer.

 

[Pembo]

What is the % off for room only with AAA rate? I was quoted $140 w/tax, AAA at CBR in June.

 

[LilMamiBella]

What is the % off for room only with AAA rate? I was quoted $140 w/tax, AAA at CBR in June.

That sounds like rack rate price. You can look at allears.net and see what the different hotels rack rate price is. It would be a lot cheaper if you stayed in a value.

 

[golfgal]

Check again with AAA on their quote. For the first few days of the new package, AAA discounts were not showing up in the Disney computers that the AAA agents were using, so many of us AAA members were getting quoted the same as the online price at the Disney site. Also, double check what was included in your AAA quote. The first quote I got included more dining days then I wanted--they quoted us for 7 days dining and I wanted 5-which was a $350 difference for the 5 of us. They also had trip insurance and transfers included in their quote (although our transfers are now included in our rate with the new Disney tranportation deal). Also, if you are doing the park hopping and the magic plus it equals the same at the Premium TICKET. There is also a Premium PACKAGE that many agents were confusing with the premium tickets that gave you 3 meals/day and other add ons.

The agent I talked to said that AAA was also discounting the ticket prices by about $10. I don't know if that is on top of the advance purchace price or not. He was having difficulty with the computers, as is everyone, so I said I would call back in a few weeks to check again--we are not going until the end of May.

 

[Pembo]

I talked to AAA this morning. She quoted me the Premium price. She checked again and the price is $1851. That's 7 nts, 6 day MYW with PH at CBR. Separately I figured around $1833.

Now what to do........do I wait in hopes of a code? or book it and get the insurance, just in case. Opinions?

LilMamiBella-I agree Value would be cheaper but my boys love waterslides and we are planning a rest day at the pool.

 

[LilMamiBella]

I talked to AAA this morning. She quoted me the Premium price. She checked again and the price is $1851. That's 7 nts, 6 day MYW with PH at CBR. Separately I figured around $1833.

Now what to do........do I wait in hopes of a code? or book it and get the insurance, just in case. Opinions?

LilMamiBella-I agree Value would be cheaper but my boys love waterslides and we are planning a rest day at the pool.

This price isn't with dining is it?

 

[golfgal]

Call back and ask if it is the Premium TICKET price or the Premium PACKAGE price. The premium ticket price is just the park hopper add on and the magic plus add on (which is the entrance pluses to BB, TL, etc). If you don't want to go to the water parks or Disney Quest, just get the park hopper add on. That will save you $45/ticket. The Package is with 3 meals/day and a bunch of other add ons like prefered tee times, admission to Cirque and other shows.

 

[39CINDERELLA]

IMO-I always put my trips together sep. it comes out less expensive for us. We did the whole pkg. thing a couple of times and found we don't need all that dining has to offer. You can get discounts on tickets, rooms etc. without the pkg. you have to do some research and work for it. A little hint.. if you call the hotel direct and speak to mgr. they will sometimes give you a mgr. special or employee rate you may have to beg a little but hey it's for DISNEY!