Which way????

[Gamblers]

I have a few questions. I have read where it is cheaper to obtain each part of your WDW vacation seperately(park tickets, airline tickets, resort, etc.)
If this is true where do your go(online or other places) to purchase park tickets? Your resort? I am very partial to flying American and do not want to fly any other. I have checked Delta and they are about the same. I have tried "what-if" on some different websites such as the park tickets but did not see a big discount. I like doing the package deal so I can have it all done at once and only have to pay one person. I have gone thru my travel agent and gone online at Disney to see what packages are going for and they are about the same.
So after all the rambling and definite confussion, my question, is where do you go to purchase seperately all things you need for your WDW vacation to make it worth it?
Thanks in advance,
Gamblers

 

[aussiemouse]

For us, it was alot cheaper to book a room only than to get the package. Since we were driving I didn't need the transportation from the airport and we didn't want the meal plan. Called Disney reservations and the CM said he could give me a cheaper room rate if I purchased park tickets separately. So will get them from undercovertourist.com or other online seller.
The other thing to think about is how much your time is worth. I love to plan and was a travel agant for years (now home with the kids), so I'll shop around for weeks if I have to - I enjoy it. If you don't have the time, or just feel better about someone else taking care of the details then go for it!
Have a great trip!

 

[Perlla55]

We buy our tickets directly from Guest Relation windows located at the Disney parks main entrance, we usually buy the annual passports which is a great buy and always ready for a quick visit, then they mail us a reminder to a discounted renewal which we do and so on.
As to accomodation we go through Disney Central Reservation for a personal customized res. with one night deposite per room fully refunded if called 24 hours in advance just in case.
For car rental we usually reserve online shopping for the best rates and special offers, with a 24 hour cancellation at no charge.
Other shows, character dining and attractions, we leave it till the day we feel like going depending on weather and such, and have always found us a good place, is it due to being annual pass holders or using the Amex card
We don't pay for packages as we don't use all what it has to offer and they want you to pay in advance with a no refund unless like if one cancelled while sitll at the travel agents office as i has happened to many we knew.

 

[areno79]

We booked our room only ressie directly through Disney CRO using the AAA discount. This tickets we're buying through www.ticketmania.com (the cheapest I've seen, and includes free shipping). We'll never eat enough food to justify getting the dining plan, so a package just wasn't necessary for us. Some people really like the ease of it though. If you're not into planning and want to get everything done at once, then I'd say get a package

 

[HillPete]

We've always booked seperately. Our first trip we bought the park tix first from the Disney store. They offer an advance purchase discount and an 800 number for your room reservations. (You need to have the tix in hand before you use the 800 #, they ask all sorts of questions about numbers on the tix). We still have days on the tix so we used the 800 # to make room-only ressies for our next trip. We're still debating where to get the park tix we need. AAA doesn't offer anything but hoppers and the price seems higher than at the Disney store. I last asked AAA in January, so I'm hoping they have more info about the new MYW than they did back then. If they still are more expensive, I'll go back to the Disney store. I haven't done a huge amout of looking online, but with shipping and all, the online brokers seem higher.

--H

 

[Taja]

Do what is comfortable for you. If the package through a travel agent is a good value for you, go with it. Some people don't have time or dislike researching the possibilities, so having someone else do the work makes sense.

My second trip to WDW in August 2003 was on the Fairytale Package, which was an excellent value for us, as I had a 22-year gap between visits and my friend never had visited WDW before.

For trip #3 in December, 2003, I purchased an AP, which enabled me to obtain a very nice room only discount. I used the AP again in December, 2004, before it expired, obtaining another room only discount. Used a total of 15 days on the AP, for a cost of about $26 per day park tickets ($392.xx with tax at that time), saved about $600 on room reservations over rack rate during value season between the two trips. Estimated DIY savings $700 to $800 over two trips.

I have to book my airfare separately, as I fly Southwest. It has the best schedule, routes and prices in my area. No frills, but it's only a five-hour flight, not the entire vacation! I can live with that!

 

[HayGan]

Since you prefer American Airlines have you checked out their vacation packages? Sometimes you can get really great deals with the airlines on packages. Here is a link for the Orlando vacacations page

http://aav6.aavacations.com/specials/mp_fla050217OmniMCO.asp?ADID=AFZ