Tell me the cheapest way to book

[ctnurse]

DH, me and DS age 20 months will be going either in Dec or Jan. what is the cheapest way to book. Want to be on property and get the dining your way package. Any ideas or tips would be great. tia
Melissa

 

[EthansMom]

The cheapest way to get the dining package would be to get a AAA membership (if you don't already have one) and book the package directly through AAA to get the dining package with a AAA discount on the room. You'll want to know the costs ahead of time to make sure that the discount is applied correctly -- some people have reported problems with AAA travel agents not applying the discount code properly.

You will want to make Advanced Dining Reservations for your Table Service meals at 407-WDW-DINE. Once you have your package booked, you can make all of your reservations for up to a 10 day stay 90 days from your check-in date.

 

[aka-mad4themouse]

I just wanted to add to Ethansmom's comments:
Dec 20 -31 is Holiday Season. If your stay begins at any point within that period, your whole stay will be charged at the most expensive rate Disney has.

If your stay begins on or before Dec. 19 OR on or after Jan. 1, you will be in Value Season and your entire stay will be billed at the cheapest rate that Disney offers.

Knowing when the seasons begin and end can make a BIG difference in what you end up paying for your room!

 

[keishashadow]

All of December will be much busier than January (one of the slowest months w/exception of MLK day).

The MYW dining option is increasing in price in January (probably along w/all the other tickets too.)

In the past, when we were unsure of when we would be traveling, we just booked a room @ the AS for a tentative stay (room only) @ AAA rate. They will charge you 1 night's deposit. You can cancel this room anytime up to 5 days prior w/o penalty. Who knows, you might get lucky & another free dining pkg will be announced for Jan.

When you finalize your plans, you can convert the plan to a MYW tix/dining option. At that time the much larger down payment comes into play and the more restrictive cancellation period. I believe that you can covert as late as a week or two out; your tix would be on your room key when you check in. CRO would be able to confirm the details.

 

[It's A Happy Day]

DH, me and DS age 20 months will be going either in Dec or Jan. what is the cheapest way to book. Want to be on property and get the dining your way package. Any ideas or tips would be great. tia
Melissa

It really depends on how much time you want to devote to booking this vacation. The dates are not that far out and people are already booking ADR's for Christmas week so your under the 90 mark depending on when you want to go. At this point if you were to choose a package plan in December you would be required to pay in full and January is only a week or two behind that for full payment being required. So look at your budget as well. If you cannot afford to pay for the trip in full right now you may be limited to booking a room only reservation and then upgrading it or if you want to lock in the dining plan for the length of your stay do a 1 day base pass per family member only and upgrade once you get to the hotel.

The cheapest way to book would be to book a room only and upgrade later to get all the things you are looking for. You are not required to put down the $200.00 deposit on a room only reservation. The way to get the cheapest package price is 1st of all run the dates through WDW on line to get a base figure - hotel, passess, MYW + dining. Call Disney and ask if they are running any promotions that could be applied to your dates. Then call AAA and ask them what it would cost to book through them. The AAA discount will only apply to the room portion of your package. You do not need a AAA card to get a quote so if you don't belong to AAA then at least you can see how much it would save you prior to paying for membership. Then I would also check into pricing of buying 1 AP for yourself or SO and check into pricing for people with AP's - sometimes the rates AP holders get is much better than buying into the packages - esp. if you might go 2x in 1 year - then you could apply those rates again - you might not end up with dining package this way but it could still end up saving money. Also if you end up going the AP route then you could also purchase the DDE card and save money on your meals that way instead - % off of meals at participating restaurants.

Best of luck in planning and have a great trip!!!

 

[ctnurse]

Thanks for all the tips. We would be going either right after Thanksgiving or the end or Jan. Im all about value season. Im glad to know that you can get a quote from AAA and not be a member. We use to have a membership but I dont think DH renewed it. It might be worth it.
Melissa