Room Only Reservation vs. Package (With Tickets)

[Just Love Disney]

When booking a new resort reservation, I am confused on the Resort Only vs. the package of Room + Tickets option.

Is there any benefit to booking the package? Are the park tickets or room cheaper in general when booked as a package rather than adding the tickets at some future point? (we are not traveling for another 6 months)...

Any clarification you can provide would be appreciated Thanks!

 

[Terra Nova guy]

I can only give you feedback based on my last experience, but when I booked room + ticket package, it seemed to work out cheaper than room only and then buying tickets separately from a 3rd party. But maybe I was missing something obvious or just have bad math skills.

 

[Fantaluminishes]

When you book a package at WDW, you get the extra features like Disney Quest admission, Miniature Golf, and discounts on various activities.

 

[tinawv]

It depends on the discount being offered whether one is more advantageous than the other. Price them out to see the difference between the two. Also, with a package the balance owed must be paid in full 45 days in advance of arrival. A "room only" reservation does not have to be paid in full until arrival. Both require a deposit when the reservations are made.

 

[Sue M]

Disney puts out different promos, some are room only % off discounts, some are package discounts like the play, stay & dine promo that you have to include park tickets to get promo.

For us, we have have APs, so the room only works best for us. But before we got APs, we still used room only discount and bought tickets from Undercover Tourist. Occas. We booked with free dining if we stayed at a moderate. At a deluxe free dining wasn't the best deal for us.

You'd have to do the Disney Math and figure out which promo would be best for you. Things to consider is the #of family members, and which resort level your staying in.

To get an idea of discounts released during your time frame you can go on Mousesavers.com and look up their chart of Historical Discounts .

 

[goofy4tink]

Unless there was a really good pkg promotion discount in place, I found that room only worked best for me. I bought passes a little bit cheaper.
Only one time did we do a regular pkg.....rack rate room plus regular priced passes. But.....didn't know any better back in '99.

 

[Marionnette]

When booking a new resort reservation, I am confused on the Resort Only vs. the package of Room + Tickets option.

Is there any benefit to booking the package? Are the park tickets or room cheaper in general when booked as a package rather than adding the tickets at some future point? (we are not traveling for another 6 months)...

Any clarification you can provide would be appreciated Thanks!

As PPs have pointed out, it really does depend on any deals that Disney is offering at the time that you plan to travel.

There are other advantages to each. Room-only reservations require a deposit equal to one night's stay with the balance due when you check in. Packages require a $200 deposit regardless of the resort nightly rate but need to be paid in full 45 days prior to arrival. The cancellation terms for room-only are more lenient (you can cancel as late as 5 days before arrival with no penalty). Changes to your package less than 45 days before arrival will result in change fees or cancellation fees. If you booked airfare through Disney, the cancellation fees on those tickets are subject to the airline's rules.

 

[Wood Nymph]

We usually book a room only because of both the cancellation policy and the fact that full payment isn't due until check in. You can add tickets without making it a package. It is easier to deal with changes that way, too. .

 

[ChasingLeslie]

For us, it comes down to the dining plan. I could get a cheaper price with a room from Orbitz and tickets from UT (with MouseSavers discount), but I would save much more by adding the dining plan to a package.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

being an annual passholder I book room only reservations exclusively. it will all depend on whether you think it is more convenient to book a package, if you can apply a discount that is only applicable to packages, if you want an add on like a dining plan that is available only with a package, if you want the more lenient cancellation policy you get with a room -only reservation, or if you want to book through a reseller. I don't want the dining plan so Orbitz or other resellers have been my best bet.

 

[Ranger75062]

Maybe I missed the answer some where but Looking at current rates I can get room and tickets from 3rd party.
We have never done it this way (always a package thru Disney) with this said, can we still get a dining plan through Disney even though we got room and tickets 3rd party like Undercover Tourist?

 

[Wubar]

Way more flexibility in regards to changes (dates, rooms, FPs, etc) if you book room and tickets separately. I have learned many things from the all knowing @Robo, but that one is paramount. I could have saved more money had I booked separately instead of a package for our recent January trip.

 

[dansdad]

Can we still get a dining plan through Disney even though we got room and tickets 3rd party like Undercover Tourist?

No.