Southwest packages and Disney

[wedindis'00]

Has anyone done one of these? If Dining plan is available during travel dates can I add it, even though the hotel is not booked through Disney.

 

[rwdavis2]

Any reason you would want to involve SW in your Disney reservation? Is it that much less expensive? We booked a cruise package through SW a few years ago and although it went fine we never got the paperwork, brochures, etc that the people that booked through the cruise line did. It just added a bit of confusion and some anxiety that was unnecessary.

IMHO, using third parties that are not experts in the field is asking for trouble. I would book through a WDW-expert travel agent.

 

[wedindis'00]

Those are the types of things I'd be worried about if it wasn't Disney. I can use reward points for signing up for the credit card so no OOP.

 

[tinka-belle]

SW Vacations is an authorized Disney package seller. Dining plans are listed as an add-on for your package. All documents are E-docs, so other than ME tags you don't get any Mickey Mail, vouchers, etc.

If your question is about FREE dining, then changes are handled very differently from the way Disney CM's handle it. SWV does offer the FD programs when they come out for the general public, but they are a different inventory and package code. Would entail a cancel/rebook of your land portion which could result in penalties if you had to change your reservation to FD or another promo discount after you originally book your package. All changes would be thru SWV, you could not call Disney to add DDP or make any changes.

If you had a booking directly with Disney then the CMs just go in and change your res if FD inventory is available, no cancel/rebook, no penalties other than a small change fee if you are doing this after your final payment date.

So the answer is, yes SWV is a reliable place to book IF you are not going to change your reservation in any way, including changing for promotions. But booking directly with Disney gives you much better flexability for any changes.

 

[cmhguy]

I always price the SW travel prices, and they always come out higher than the current Disney offer and buying SW airfare separately.

In addition to the PP's comments, the cancellation clauses are very different. I much prefer Disney's.