How Do You Book Your Disney Vacation?

[kmiller15211]

Hello all,
I'm planning a trip to WDW at the end of September/early October, and I was looking to see if anyone had some help/hints on the cheapest and best way to book my trip. There's the magic for less, AAA, and straight through Disney itself, etc. I've typically just booked everything manually with my AAA discount.

I'm going to get air miles through my credit card, and I don't really care where I stay inside the parks (unless it's not a pricey upgrade), so I guess it's strictly the cheapest deal for room and park tix.

I haven't booked a trip since 2004, so the meal/pricing changes are new to me. If anyone has any definite do's or don'ts, please share them as well.

Also, if anyone out there has a suggestion for any of the tours/activities that aren't standard park rides and such (utiladors, etc), I'd love to hear them as well. For instance, I've always been a park person; I've never been to the Wide World of Sports. Is that worth doing? I know about the Not-So-Scary Party, so I'm going to book that along with my reservations.

Phew, that's a lot...Thanks in advance!

[daveypoo]

I, too, always book my own trips. I've used a local travel agency and even Mouse Ear Vacations (who has now changed their names). What I've found is that I'm much more on top of discounts and the such, but Mouse Ear Vacation did do a lot of other things for us, but I found it frustrating that I could find the deals faster (and sometimes cheaper).

So to eliminate SOME hassle, you could go it via another agency. When searching flights, use one of the big ones (Travelocity, Expedia, etc) as a starting point, then check with the airline directly for (typically) a better deal. Jet Blue and Southwest and not usually found in the search engines so you can check them directly.

www.mousesavers.com has a good list of deals and discounts. Also remember that if you book one deal and something better comes along, you can change your reservation for the better deal.

We always stay on property and if money is tight, All Stars or Pop Century are nice places to stay. If you can go a little better, just about any of the moderates are nice. If you do prefer to stay off-site, just keep in mind that you get what you pay for. We've stayed in places that had a great price, but it was not such a great room/hotel.

And one other thing, remember that PLANNING the trip is sometimes as much fun as TAKING the trip!
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When you're curious, you find lots of interesting things to do.
--Walt Disney

[kmiller15211]

DP, thanks for the tips. I'll check them out. Unfortunately, living in Pittsburgh, I have a US Airways credit card (they're tight with our Intl airport) and I've amassed enough air miles for two free flights. I say unfortunately because they're trying to stick me with crappy flights (two connections en route to Orlando, bad flight time selection, etc.). It's almost not worth the hassle and just paying the money outright.

In case anyone reading this is also booking one of their first trips, I STRONGLY recommend staying in the park. I've had many experiences with both approaches, and staying in the park is the only way to go, IMHO. Something about taking the Disney bus straight to your hotel and having the magic not stop is well worth it. I've done both the moderate and value resorts, and I usually spend so little time at the hotel, that the extra dough for the moderate is not worth it. I'm not saying it's not nice, but it's not worth the few hundred bucks

Thanks again!

[GrumpyDaddy]

I have the best way to book a trip to Disney.
I tell my DW lets go to Disney and she makes all the calls,
reservation and arrangmnets and I just sit back and wait
until it's time to leave and carry the luggage.

It's good to be the king!!

[theEpiphany]

wait a minute...YOU....tell...ksDisneyFan??? I didnt realize she had to be told....


Back on topic...

Half the fun is booking it yourself. It's actually not as crazy and confusing as many would have you believe. It's like any other trip:
Getting time off from work/school:

Plane Fare.
Hotel Room
Food
Parks

I tend to book the Hotel room first and then the plane fare. So that they match up correctly, I'll go online for flight info and coordinate the room that way. When I see a Room/Flight match I just go ahead and book it. 90 Days from checkin you can start making your priority seatings.

If you go at the right time you may get an All Stars room for about 50 a night. That's one of those times when the moon is in proper alignment and everything is in your favor .

Food doesnt have to be expensive, but half the fun is eating at some of the classic dining locations throughout the Resort. San Angel Inn, Calfornia Grille, Citricos, Cinderella's Royal Table, Ohana (not to be missed) etc.

Some people would seem to stress about it...Me personally booking is half the fun .
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[GrumpyDaddy]

Ok, your right tE!!
ksdisneyfan doesn't need to be told she say she has a
plan and I say "Yes Dear" and next thing you know I'm on
a plane to WDW.

[theEpiphany]

heh...Even so..I dont think you'll need to do much convincing if you get the urge .

-tE
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[kmiller15211]

I'm glad my wife of two weeks doesn't have a log in...

Thank you for the tips.

[DisneyFanatic001]

Coincidentally, I am also in the process of planning a vacation to WDW for Sept 26th-Oct 2nd. I find it easiest to do all of the planning myself through the Disney World website. I don't usually scrounge around looking for discounts because I find most of them to be worthless to me. Also, I prefer driving to flying so I don't have to shop around for airfare.

This will be the first time I've ever seen Epcot's Food & Wine Festival and Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party. Any suggestions on what not to miss?

[theEpiphany]

[DisneyFanatic001]

[kmiller15211]

Well, Mickey's Not-So-Scary is kinda neat - they change the music around in parts of the park, they really decorate the entrance, they hand out candy, extend the nighttime show, have a Halloween parade, and they have special photo stations and other small stuff. They have a lot of stuff for kids (face painting, the candy), so it's nothing really all that special for adults. Additionally, it's really packed during that night.

Thinking about it, I'd probably rather just do a normal E-Ride night when the park is mostly empty.

[daguru]

They setup food booths for each country and other regions/countries not in the WS. They also have wine booths setup all over, plus a lot of wine testing and cooking exhibits through the festival.

The portions are the same as Hors D'oeuvres and range from $2-6, depeding on what they are. My wife and I usually end up spending approx $75 for a trip around (more if we are going to drink heavily).

Don't miss the Sa Cha Chicken in China or the Crab Cakes at AA. Oh, also, don't forget a glass of Rose Regalia, which the last few years has been at Innoventions as a free taste test....to die for....

[Politzania]

I like to do my own research & planning, using sources such as AllEarsNet, PassPorter (both the book and the website) and Intercot. (and now UAB!)
I've got an Excel spreadsheet where I put together a budget & saving plan, as well as a basic schedule - park hours & EMH get put here as soon as they are released.

Once we're fairly sure about our plans, we work with Your Magical Journeys travel agency to book the resort & do the plane trip planning on our own. YMJ does a great job of searching out discounts (tho we're not having much luck with POFQ for early December... no AP or AAA rates ) and is quite knowledgable and personable.

[Figmentathm]

We book flights and get passes on line. Then we call the Mouse for rooms since we use AAA discount. We book dinning on the phone as well. We don't get a car, but use ME. If we want a car for 1 day for some side trips, we book that on line as well.
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