disney....where do you find the best deals??? is there anyway to pay it off without going to a travel agent???

please give me any tips.
we are looking to go in February of next year.

Any and all advice and money saving tips are greatly appreciated!!!!

disney....where do you find the best deals??? is there anyway to pay it off without going to a travel agent???

You can book directly though Disney. If you book a package, you put $200 down, and the balance has to be paid 45 days before your trip. If you book a room only, you pay one night deposit, and the rest is due at check in.

disney....where do you find the best deals??? is there anyway to pay it off without going to a travel agent???

thanks

Re: disney....where do you find the best deals??? is there anyway to pay it off without going to a travel agent???

We also went in February and had a fantastic time.

I would be happy to offer some advice but it would be easier with more info about your family size, ages, budget, whether or not your kids still nap, etc.

Re: disney....where do you find the best deals??? is there anyway to pay it off without going to a travel agent???

Re: disney....where do you find the best deals??? is there anyway to pay it off without going to a travel agent???

Okay, I didn’t forget, this weekend was just crazy.

Since your kids will not be school aged I am going to assume you are not going President’s week which will give you a lot more options budget wise. If you are, let me know and I can advise there too because we went President’s week just this year.

First of all I would decide how long you ideally would like to stay for. When you see the prices you might adjust this, but you need a place to start to do calculations. I would assume 5-7 nights although we only stayed 4 and felt like we accomplished everything we really wanted to do.

I would then decide whether or not you are interested in staying on site. Most Disney resorts fall into three categories – Value, Moderate, and Deluxe. The values and to a lesser extent the Moderates are more “motel” like while the Deluxes are “hotel” like and have more amenities. I’m sure they are all nice enough but frankly you will get a nicer room for the same money offsite. You are paying for the location and the Disney theming.

Many people like to stay onsite because you technically don’t need to rent a car; Magical Express will take you to and from the airport in Orlando and you can use Disney transportation once you are there. Also, many people love living among the Disney theming all the time. You feel like you are in a little cocoon and you kind of forget that there is a real world out there. Some people would not consider this an advantage - LOL

With the exception of a few Deluxe hotels that are in walking or monorail distance, most of the transportation is by bus. I would consider whether you expect your older child to need a stroller after walking the parks all day. If so, and you have two in strollers, you could potentially be in a situation where it is 9:30pm and you are leaving Epcot and you need to get on the bus but you have two sleeping children which means you are carrying two children AND two strollers. I can’t imagine. Something to keep in mind. If you anticipate that you will only have one in a stroller, the buses will be less of a hassle.

The major disadvantage to staying on site is price. Even with the cost of a rental car you could still save money by staying offsite depending on which hotels are you comparing. Many offsite hotels include continental breakfast, which can save money. The other thing is if you stay on site and don’t rent a car (which of course you still could) you are limited to Disney restaurants which are generally more expensive than many offsite options.
There are other advantages to staying on site such as the Dining plan, getting packages shipped back to your room, etc. If you have questions about the Dining plan ask because others can explain it better than me. It didn’t interest us.

Ultimately location won out for us and we stayed onsite at the Boardwalk Villas. We wanted to splurge a little, didn’t want to rent a car, and liked that we could walk to both Epcot and Hollywood Studios. However, we made it much more affordable by renting someone’s points through David’s Vacation club rentals. I highly recommend it and explained how it works on another post here.

Other thoughts for money saving: If you do stay onsite (no free breakfast) you will at least have a fridge so order from gardengrocer or pack the makings of a cold breakfast and just eat that in the room. Don’t do a ton of character meals if it’s your kid’s first trip because they are expensive and you never know how they will even react to them.

Sign up for mousesavers.com newsletter. It comes every month (I think) and it lists all the latest deals either through Disney or through decent area hotels. (When we were going to book the local Marriott we would have gone with mousesaver’s deal there.) I think she even has car rental specials. She also has a special link to undercovertourist.com, which I believe is the lowest priced legitimate non Disney ticket seller. I ordered my tickets through them and recommend them.

For airfare don’t forget that Jetblue and Southwest don’t charge for the first checked bag so if you don’t fly one of them make sure you factor that cost in.

Feel free to post or FM me if you want any more info.

Message edited 4/8/2013 6:28:34 AM.