Question on paying off trip monthly!

[duckybelle]

I am planning on taking my mom in August of 2010. It's a long way off, but she was born in 1955, and that year she will turn 55, so we decided to go then.

How far in advance can I book? I need to pay this off a little every month, and I know you can, but not sure how far in advance, etc. HELP!!

 

[imthatgirl]

i would use a travel agent, you can just bring them cash or a check whenever you want. i dont think i would feel comfortable mailing a check to disney. i like to get my receipt that says i paid it.

i would probbaly go talk to a travel agent sometime in august 2009. i know people book earlier than that, but really a year is more than enough, unless you are looking for really hard to get rooms like magic kingdom view in the
GF or somehting else like that.

 

[duckybelle]

The only thing is we are hoping for free dining. It would be easier to just call and change ressies through Disney. Plus it is easier for me to pay monthly. I know free dining may not come, but I am hoping for pixie dust!!

 

[imthatgirl]

weve always booked before free dining and then had it changed through a travel agent. in fact its easier through a TA because what we do is when we book we tell her we are going to want the free dining, she notes it and then i call her the week before it comes out and tell her to just do it, and she does. of course i would call her that day, but i never have to because she calls me to tell me she did it and what the new cost is.
i would also only use a disney certified TA, that helps a lot. they know all about free ding and all the offers and arent confused when you tell them.

and again, you can pay monthly with a TA and have a receipt in hand after you pay. cant do that with disney, maybe theyll send you a receipt, but i doubt it and really if they dont get it, they wont do anything for you.

 

[duckybelle]

Great! Thanks so much!

 

[rosiejo]

I'm not sure how far in advance you can book but we are always 'paying monthly' for our next trip by paying money into a bank account we set up especially for our Disney fund. We work out how much an average trip costs and then divide that by the number of months we have before we need to pay and then put that amount into our account each month. The good thing about this method is you earn interest on your $$ which can go towards the trip too!

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

If you book directly through Disney you can pay as often as you want. You can make the payments online daily if you wanted to! If you want the DDP though, you won't be able to book an August 2010 trip until NEXT August when the 2010 prices come out.

 

[bjscheel]

Yep, we have an ING online savings account. We move money in now and then and earn interest on it. I have all the money we need for our trip. Our payment is due October 1, so I will go online and pay with the Disney Visa and get 6 months no interest. Might as well let that money sit in ING another 6 months. And then not charge anything else to the Disney Visa!

It seems like for our first trip Disney sent us payment vouchers I could use if I wanted? Must not do that anymore.

 

[Starlight792000]

the trip costs are not normally so exorbitant. A year seems like plenty of time to pay it off but if you want smaller payments maybe more

 

[DznyDreamz]

You can definately make payments online how ever often you like. You do get a receipt and a new reservation document that shows the last payment and current balance.

 

[duckybelle]

Awesome! That's what I was hoping to hear!

 

[tina_la]

I would book it online line myself (from someone who booked her first trip herself and I have used a TA). If it makes you feel better to book it now than go ahead just don't pay it off totally until you know they are offering FD so you can change to get it.

 

[SoonipiLady]

every month I would e-mail my TA and have them charge the debit card they had on file. It was the first time in years that our vacation was paid for fully in cash, and it feels SO nice!!