Who do you book through?

[whoopsiedoodle]

I am curious where most people book their trips through? Do you go straight to the hotel and then get DL passes seperately? Tripadvisor? Disney.com? I'm a complete novice at vacation bookings, we usually just go camping in the woods- no reservations needed How early do you try to book?

 

[nicolispicoli]

I am curious where most people book their trips through? Do you go straight to the hotel and then get DL passes seperately? Tripadvisor? Disney.com? I'm a complete novice at vacation bookings, we usually just go camping in the woods- no reservations needed How early do you try to book?

I think the easiest and cheapest way is to usually book hotel only through Disney and get the passes seperately. Unless you see some great rate through a booking site like Expedia, etc, Disney is usually easiest IMO.

That is what I always did before. Now that we have AP's, I still book room only through Disney.

I usually book a few months out, but since Carsland, I got a little worried. For me, I booked the DLH two weeks ago for a stay in October. The rate was pretty high, but I am hoping some deal will come out and I can adjust the rate then.

 

[Patrick in Oregon]

I like Costco because they give you a lot of extras. The most important extra, to me, is they give you a character dining ticket per person. If you read the back though, you can use this ticket as a $40 food voucher at any full service food area - kind of a $40 gift card only for food. You can easily get food for 4 since most dishes are about $8-10. In February, a group of 3 of us went. Each of us would get 1 entree, and one extra entree or a dessert to share. Even then there was a few extra dollars left over so we would each get a drink to make sure we used the full $40. We might have gone over by $5 or something but that's cheap for how much food you get.

 

[Butterfly123]

I always book our hotel myself. We stay on Harbor, and I get the AAA rate, even though I do the booking. I either get our tickets through AAA (Passport Plus, a little more expensive due to an ordering fee, but with perks) or through GAT (Getawaytoday), which is a little cheaper.

 

[JadeDarkstar]

getawaytoday this time has been easiest. They have good deals and for two more days still have 3day park hoppers and hotels at good prices.
Also the dis has its own dreams unlimited ive ehard they have good deals too

 

[hlbtimes2]

I book my airfare on my own. I like to have control over flight times and prices. Hotel and ticket package depends on what our needs are and what deals I can find. Our trip last month was booked thru costco. It was roughly the same price as booking the hotel on our own and buying park hoppers on line. But, with costco we were able to make payments, and got $160 in character meals (which we used at blue bayou instead of a character meal) and a $20 gift card.

For our trip in Dec. we will book the hotel on our own. We upgraded to annual passes, so we dont need park tickets for that trip.

 

[whoopsiedoodle]

Thanks for all the input! I don't need airline tickets as we are driving so that's one lese thing to worry about. How do you book through Costco? Do they have an online sight for travel or something? Like I said total vacation novice here!

 

[Patrick in Oregon]

Thanks for all the input! I don't need airline tickets as we are driving so that's one lese thing to worry about. How do you book through Costco? Do they have an online sight for travel or something? Like I said total vacation novice here!

http://www.costcotravel.com/?rc=7&ancillary=disney&ancillaryCategory=disneylandResort#0

 

[hlbtimes2]

Costco does have an online travel site. You will need to be a costo member to book, but you can get prices without being a member. Go to costco.com, and look for travel near the top. I also recomend taking the time to price out the options on your own so you know if you are getting a good deal or not. The price on costco and Disneyland.com should be pretty close to the same (if not exactly the same).

 

[cgh]

We do a Costco package which is slightly more expensive then AAA package but our AAA agent didn't understand booking DL (only WDW) so we went with Costco.

Costco you get a $20 gift card and premium character meal, which is nice. (also get Aladdin preferred seating and Toontown morning madness)

I'd just price everything you want through multiple places and weigh the 'bonuses' and whether you would use them. For Costco/AAA/and disney travel, you put down $200 with balance due 30 days before. Room only is one night's lodging as deposit with cancellation 5 days before. (those terms are important to note too-as some places may want payment in full at different times)

 

[hlbtimes2]

I just did a quick compare for dates we are considering in Dec. for the BWPPI.
Costco and Disneyland.com are both $ 1232.00 4 nights hotel, 2 park hoppers for 5 days.
Booking the hotel direct is $ 604, and park hoppers are $590.00- total $1184

Its $48 dollars more to book thru Costco. However, you would get $20 gift card and $80 in "character meal vouchers". So, you come out about $50 ahead booking thru costco.

Not all of the hotels are available thru Costco. For example, you can't book the candy cane inn, even though it is a good neighbor and is available thru disneyland.com

 

[milan15]

I've done a large package (hotel, flight, and tickets) all through expedia in the past and really didn't have any issues. Whenever I priced the items separately through various other means, the price was either exactly the same or more expensive on the other site/company. Expedia is something I'd suggest if you are looking more last minute.

getawaytoday also is helpful if you just need a hotel and park hoppers.
if I remember right, they don't do airfare.

 

[obias]

This time I booked the room myself and bought tickets through GAT for our July trip. I only wanted to stay at three different hotels because it fit our needs the best with little ones so I priced out the dates and went for the cheapest hotel with the most amount of room. We only get to DL every 2 yrs. Next time we go our kids will be older and I am going to book through costco. I think the extra perks is worth it .