Help: Cheapest way to Disney World - First Time

[disneyma08]

What's the cheapest way (flight, ticket, hotel) to get to DisneyWorld? We're a family of 4 (2 adults, 2 kids - 4 and 2). We don't think we'll be spending a lot of time in the hotel so we'll probably go with value hotels to save money.

As I was researching, it seems that the price you ge from Disney's site is not much different from getting it through AAA or online.

Do you know of cheaper (but credible) source?

We're hoping to book on Monday 12/31 so any feedback would be great.

Thanks.

[Cheshire Figment]

Where are you traveling from? How long do you intend to stay? When are you thinking of going? How do you want to handle meals?

Obviously you can fit in one hotel room. You will need two adult tickets and one child ticket. The child who has not turned three (as of date of the beginning of the trip) will not need a ticket for the parks and will be free at any buffet or all-you-can-eat location or where he eats from another person's plate.

[stan4d_steph]

Sign up for the Mousesavers.com newsletter to get information on discounts, and check out the rest of the sight for great info. on how to save money.

Check out fares for JetBlue or Southwest.

[FigmentFigment]

I book directly through Disney. AAA can book a package for you and you save a small percentage off of the room portion, but we did that once, and the AAA agent messed things up so much it ended up costing us more than directly through Disney (she cancelled our flights, incurring us a cancellation fee, and rebooked. Why? Even she couldn't explain that, lol). I read here that others use another agency and had good results, but I am pretty sure they'd charge the same as Disney, so that'd be a good option if you don't want to handle the actual planning yourself.

If you are flying, if you book through Disney directly, ask if they have any "negotiated fares". A Cm told me about them once when I called, and they were a big savings. She explained that Disney at times has an amount of "negotiated" fares for flights, and when they are sold, they charge the same as you'd pay on the airline websites.

Mousesavers, as stan4d_steph mentioned, is great to check out for codes/rates. Depending on when you go you can save a lot of money :)

[GusMan]

Personally, I book through Disney directly. I usually look online to get a "planning estimate" of sorts then call directly to talk things out and make the ressie. We tend to call back once in a while to see if there are discounts available. Our experience has been that while you may not have "personalized" service, every CM we talked to has treated our reservation as if it were their own. Been very happy with them.

We did get some quotes from other non-AAA TA's and prices were comparable. If you do some comparison shopping, make sure you are comparing "apples-to-apples" including any fees and/or taxes.

As for flights, the best thing to do is to shop around. Take things into consideration such as non-stop vs layovers, the time of the flights, and all costs including taxes. I mention the time of the flights because sometimes you can get some real good fares but the time of day of those flights cut into your vaca time. So, in a case like that, lowest fare may not mean best value. Also investigate flights in/out of different airports in your area, if you have a choice. As an example, I usually fly out of Chicago-O'Hare. For my next trip, I am going out of Indy since the cost per ticket was $100 less. The implicit cost for the savings? About 30 mins extra of a drive.

Let us know if you have any other specific questions.

[disneyma08]

Where are you traveling from? How long do you intend to stay? When are you thinking of going? How do you want to handle meals?

Obviously you can fit in one hotel room. You will need two adult tickets and one child ticket. The child who has not turned three (as of date of the beginning of the trip) will not need a ticket for the parks and will be free at any buffet or all-you-can-eat location or where he eats from another person's plate.

We're flying out of Dallas. At first, we're thinking of leaving on 2/13 and coming back on 2/17 but I found out that peak season starts on the 14th. So now, we're exploring 2/9-2/13 or therabouts depending on how big the savings are.

We're planning on staying at least 5 days..we can stretch it to longer that than if there's reallly a good deal. We're thinking of skipping dining options because our kids are probably not goign to eat much.

Do you think there'll be a significant savings on leaving before the 13th? When you talk about CM...you mean thae Customer service at DisneyWOrld? I called today and was not too impressed. I guess, I was hoping he'd be able to give me more specific information.

[GusMan]

I called today and was not too impressed. I guess, I was hoping he'd be able to give me more specific information.
When you called Disney, what kind of information were you looking for? (Read: Is there something that we can give you some info on beforehand?) Like with any TA, the more info you provide, the better info they can provide in return. Im not sticking up for them, mind you, (As sometimes you do get a not so helpful CM (cast member)) but it is still a "help them help you" type of thing.

[Cheshire Figment]

You are better off going earlier. Until 2008, Disney locked in resort pricing depending on when you arrived, so it you arrived on the last day of value season and stayed a week (into peak season) you would pay the value season rate for the entire stay. Effective with arrivals tomorrow, your room rate can fluctuate on a daily basis, with with Friday and Saturday nights (and some Sundays) higher generally than Sunday to Thursday; also if the season changes in mid-stay the prices will change. If you are quoted a total price you will not realize what is happening, but if you ask for day by day pricing you will see the effects.

When you call Walt Disney World, unless you really know a direct number, you will get one of two offices.

The Disney Reservations Center (DRC) includes Walt Disney Travel Company (WDTC), Central Reservations Office (CRO), Disney Dining, and some other lesser known information lines. To the best of my knowledge the DRC locations are in the International Drive area, Tampa, Kansas City and somewhere in Texas or even Utah. There may be more. Some of the people working at the DRC call centers may never have been to either WDW or DL (or both).

The Main Switchboard (407-824-2222) is also where all calls to Disney Resorts go if you are dialing the phone number on the back of your reservations form. Also that is where calls go if you dial the Operator from your room, and possibly even calls to the Front Desk. The Main Switchboard people will, if asked, also identify themselves as Guest Services. They can put you through to any number on WDW.

At both DRC and MS they have access to a computer which has lots of Guest Information and it is very well organized. Actually, all CMs who have access to a terminal, or who even can access the "Cast Portal" from off-site, have access to this Guest Services information. I will often open an extra window when I am responding to people and go into the Portal for the latest official information.

The people at DRC and MS do not deal with upgrades, partially used tickets, or problems related to tickets. They do not know all the rules. The people at DRC can sell unused tickets; the people at MS don't deal with tickets at all.

The people who work in the ticket booths at the Parks or in Guest Relations at the Parks (and this includes TTC, the Water Parks, and GRO in DTD) deal with ticket upgrades and unusual problems on a daily basis. I would not say that someone you talked to on the phone lied to you, but just they were attempting to answer a question when they really did not have an answer.

What you might want to do is, rather than initially deal with people at the Reservations Center, go to wdw.disneyworld.com and play with the dates in the reservations area.

[danyoung]

We're flying out of Dallas.

Check out Airtran.com. They have pretty great prices, usually around $99 one way from Dallas to Orlando (occasionally they get as low as $79 each way!). They fly 737's, and they have XM satellite radio in all of the seats.

[disneyma08]

Check out Airtran.com. They have pretty great prices, usually around $99 one way from Dallas to Orlando (occasionally they get as low as $79 each way!). They fly 737's, and they have XM satellite radio in all of the seats.

so is it acutally cheaper to get hoteland tickets firectly on disney's web site then airline tickets elsewhere or overall is it cheaper to get everything thru disney?

[danyoung]

The only thing I can say is look at both. I personally don't buy airfare through Disney, as I can usually get it cheaper elsewhere. Plus with a combination of frequent flier miles and points transferred from my American Express card, quite often my flight is free! When you add that to having an annual pass, all I have to pay for is lodging and food, which makes a springtime trip much more of a possibility this year!

[Drince88]

so is it acutally cheaper to get hoteland tickets firectly on disney's web site then airline tickets elsewhere or overall is it cheaper to get everything thru disney?

The last time I checked (which was a few years ago) I'd done my research on the flight costs before hand, and Disney was able to match it with the same flights, so I went ahead and let Disney book it for simplicity. In the last 2.5 years, though, Southwest is the only airline that has flight times/non-stops that I want to fly, and Disney doesn't book Southwest, so it's not worth it for me to check with them.

[mzloolue]

We're flying out of Dallas. At first, we're thinking of leaving on 2/13 and coming back on 2/17 but I found out that peak season starts on the 14th. So now, we're exploring 2/9-2/13 or therabouts depending on how big the savings are.


I'm not sure, are you trying to save on hotel rates or avoid crowds by changing your dates?

I believe, and would verify it, but if your stay starts at a lower rate, that lower rate applies to your entire stay.

Have fun and research is your friend.

[GusMan]

so is it acutally cheaper to get hoteland tickets firectly on disney's web site then airline tickets elsewhere or overall is it cheaper to get everything thru disney?
Disney does not offer hotel/airfare combo discounts, as far as I know.

Shopping around is always the best thing to do to verify that you are getting exactly what you want at the price you are willing to pay. Sometimes Disney can match airfares, much like mentioned above, and sometimes that cant come close.

[Cheshire Figment]

I believe, and would verify it, but if your stay starts at a lower rate, that lower rate applies to your entire stay.
Effective with people who check in tomorrow that policy is dead. From now on if a season changes while you are in one of the Disney Resorts, the rate will change. Also, there are now separates rates for at least Friday and Saturday nights; this is all factored into the reservation.

[mzloolue]

Effective with people who check in tomorrow that policy is dead. From now on if a season changes while you are in one of the Disney Resorts, the rate will change. Also, there are now separates rates for at least Friday and Saturday nights; this is all factored into the reservation.

That really stinks.
They are taking away all the perks of doing your homework aren't they?

[danyoung]

I'm guessing it's a loophole that just too many people were taking advantage of. I don't blame Disney for controlling their own rates. But I did enjoy many vacations where with just an adjustment of a day or two I was able to hook in to a low rate for the entire visit.

[houseofmouse]

If you are looking for a discount on park hoppers look at www.undercovertourist.com. We are using them in March and it saves us quite a bit of cash on hoppers. Hopefully it is okay to insert their link.:)

[emmsmama]

If you get tickets through undercovertourist but then book a resort stay can you still get the dining plan? They say you have to have at least a 1 day ticket to get the dining plan along with a resort stay, so does that mean you have to get the ticket with disney too?

You don't save a tonne by going with Undercover Tourist, but the main reason I was thinking of doing it that way is so then I can buy my tickets now in case there is a price increase anytime in the next few months before I decide for sure which dates I want to be at disney for. I know I'm going for sure so I don't mind buying the tickets now, but I'm not positive on the dates I'm going so I don't want to book my resort stay yet.

[Drince88]

If you get tickets through undercovertourist but then book a resort stay can you still get the dining plan? They say you have to have at least a 1 day ticket to get the dining plan along with a resort stay, so does that mean you have to get the ticket with disney too?
Yes, to get the dining plan you have to book a package with Disney. A package is a room reservation and at least a one day one park ticket. So if you're seriously considering doing the dining plan, I'd hold off on getting the tickets from a broker.

You COULD get the number of days you want through undercover tourist (or one less) and get the 1 day ticket with your package, but the way the tickets are so much more expensiver for the 1st day than the 9th day, you'd probably be eating any savings you gained by buying before a ticket increase (which may or may not come before your trip).

[GusMan]

Going off of what Drince said... this is a good example of making sure you do some real good comparison shopping. In other words, If you know that the dining plan is a must, you might consider some of the places where you want to eat. The savings using the DDP may outweigh any benefits of getting tickets from a broker and paying out of pocket for meals.

Dont get me wrong - Undercover Tourist has some of the best prices around with great service to boot. (Bought from them a few months ago.) Its just that it is hard to combine different components for a trip in order to gain the most savings. Some people do it, so it can be done, but it also depends on what you are willing to coordinate in order to get the most savings. Sometimes the time needed to do so outweighs the savings.