Hey Ranger!
I hope you found this thread,,,I couldn't PM you, so I figured I'd start a new thread...maybe other people have Disney as their goal too! one warning,, this might be a LONG post!

ok, first of all, I don't always trust travel agents! They get a percentage and don't always put together the most cost effective itineraries. And whatever you do, don't buy a package,..you're actually bettter off to buy the pieces separately....

I have found time and time again that if you spend a little time on the internet, you can do the research and reservations yourself and come out ahead.
For airfares, go to travel.yahoo.com to compare airfares. orbitz.com is good too. If you book now youre booking pretty far in advance which means you'll get the seats you want, but won't neccessarily get the cheapest airfare...they tend to offer specials a few months before the travel date....I think your ID said you were from Mass..are you flying out of Boston? If so you should be able to get airfare for $100-$180 a person. My parents live just below cape cod and my mom has gone out of boston and providence. she usually pays around $140...

As for the hotel...what are your travel dates exactly? Value season at Disney starts a few days into November. Before then its Regular season. The All-Stars are the way to go for the best prices and all the Disney perks...There are 3 to choose from and I definately suggest ALL-STAR MOVIES>>>it's the newest, only built a few years ago, and I think the cutest...It also has a much better, newer food court...You can request an "area" of the hotel to stay in by calling Disney reservations directly. I LOVE the TOY STORY area. It good also cause its close to the main building with the food court and buses to the parks...they can't promise that you will get the area that you request, but I've never not gotten what I requested so I think they're pretty good about it...

Disney Tickets...if you told your travel agent that you wanted to stay for 10 days, there's a good chance that the ticket she (or he!) priced for you was the Ultimate Park Hopper Ticket...also known as the length of stay pass...these are the worst way to go! They charge you for admission for EVERYTHING for every second that you are at disney from the start of the day you check in, to the end of the day you check out...even if you arrive in the afternoon or evening, you've paid for a day at the parks that you didn't even use! At that point it's better to just get an annual pass! BUT here's what I would recommend...get a PARK HOPPER PLUS ticket...they come in 5, 6, and 7 days. Depending on which ticket you get, you a certain number of "pluses." 5 comes with 2, 6 with 3, 7 with 4 (if I remember correctly). The pluses are good for admission to any of the 3 water parks, or pleasure island, or wide world of sports...So say you get the 5 day...what that means is that you can spend 5 days in the theme parks (can hop between parks for all of the 5 days, days don't need to be used consecutively and never expire) and 2 in the water parks. That gives you seven days and then you can spend time at the pool, downtown disney (free to get into, except pleasure island, which has a covercharge after 7pm), and visiting some of the other hotels...the different themes are fun to see...

Just to get an idea of the difference in ticket prices...these are 2001 prices (2002 are a bit higher but I can't find my price sheet for 2002)... 10 day length of stay per adult=401.77, child=314.85......5 day park hopper plus per adult=250.18, child=177.02.....that's a pretty big difference!
Also: A theme park annual pass (lets you in to all the theme parks every day of the year) is 343.44 adult, 291.50 child....and the annual pass comes with discounts so the room could be cheaper too! www.disneyworld.com will have some ticket prices listed...are you a memeber of AAA? They offer ticket discounts on the 5 and 6 day park hopper plus I believe. Buy them at your local triple A office and it's about 5% or 10% cheaper than through disney, but they don't sell all the tickets..

Ok, so that's a start for hotel, air, and tickets...do a bit of research on the internet and just compare it with what your travel agent has to make sure you are getting the best deal...one more thing I forgot to say about airfare...if you book online through the airline's website, you get between 1000 and 5000 bonus frequent flier miles!!

Also, how old is your daughter?

You'll also need reservations for the Halloween Party,and some restaurants if you want to eat at anything besides the food courts and fast food. You should book at least 1 character meal (CHEF MICKEYS is the best! don't miss it!) but we can get into restaurants later if you want!!

Oh and if you give me the travel dates you're working with I can help you price stuff cause I know it can be a bit overwhelming...Disney has gotten so big, it's hard to know where to start!

Ok so that covers the basics. I hope it's a help. Let me know if anything I said needs clarification... I know I kind of babbled on!

Have a great day!
Suzy

Gee Suzy,

I guess you know everything there is to know about Disney!

We are planning to go October 23rd and wanted to stay for 10 days, but after the price we got from the travel agent was (or seemed so high) I asked her to check how much it would be for for 7 days with a 4 or 5 day hopper pass.....I stopped into the office today to speak with her, and she really was not that interested in helping me, so I think I might try to do it myself.....We generally fly out of Hartford, Ct. since it is only about an hour and a half from us, and the "Big Dig" in Boston, makes getting to Logan a nightmare....

This might sound like a stupid question, but when they say room rates at the All Star Hotels are from 77 to 109 per night, is that for the room or is that for each person?

The tips you gave about the Toy Story area is a great one, as they say the All Star complexes are enormous, and being near the buses sounds like a good idea.

My daughter will be three in April, and I understand that kids under three are free to get into the parks....oh well....

Someone said if you have a Disney Club Card or something, that you can save on rates....do you think it is something that is worth getting? I guess they are about $40. We are not AAA members.

I tried to go to the Disney website last night and spent several hours, but didn't get very far. But after hearing what you said, I feel a little more educated, so at least I know what to ask for.....Thanks again for all the information!
Carol

PS: I hope I can find lo carb food when I am there!

Hi Suzy,

The travel agent just called back with a price of 2059, which includes air, hotel (all star sports) and five day park hopper passes for the three of us...the only thing it doesn't include is the transfers to and from the airport....which I wonder if it would just be easy to take a cab?

What do you think? It sounds a lot more realistic than over 3000 for 3 more days......I think I will try to call Disney today and see what I can find out....thanks again for all your help!
Carol

hey Carol,
About the room rates...that price is per room per night. The range is based on the season--value, regular, peak, and holiday...the end of october is regular season, and value season starts in november...

Let's just do a quick price breakdown...
how many nights are you staying? 7? so that's about $700

park tickets, for a 5 day hopper-$250x2=$500
(ok, you can buy a ticket for your daughter, but honestly, most people with 3 year olds just say that they are under 3...it's not like they ask to see ID!!!) But if you want to pay for your daughter, then that will be about 180 more...

Airfare...hmm..this can vary...let's say it's $200 a person, just to round up...do children get a discount on airfare? that's one thing I don't know, cause I dont have any kids yet! So I am going to say $600 for airfare (but it would probably be lower than that)

So that works out (the rounded up version) to about $1800 to $2000...

Call Disney about the room to get exact pricing for the dates you want and (well, at least I would) ask for all-star movies....It's the same price as all-star sports but much newer and nicer! I think you're daughter would like it better too cause she will recognize the characters and that seems much more appealing than a big football!!!...call them directly (1-407-W-DISNEY) and they'll give you the scoop...

To get to and from the airport, Mears motor shuttles are the most popular way to go...its about 25 bucks (actually i think it is 27 now) for adults roundtrip to any of the Disney hotels and 14 or something like that for kids...A 3 dollar per person Mears coupon comes inside of the reservation confirmation if you book the room directly through disney (1-407-w- disney),,,which is nice! you dont have to make reservations in advance for mears (you do for the return pickup, but they will tell you about that when you buy your mears ticket). you will find a mears window near baggage pickup in each of the terminals...it usually is about a 10 minute wait and then youre off to your hotel!

oh geez,,i just realized the time! I gotta run...I'll finish this later! I still think you can do better than what the travel agent quoted, so don't agree to it yet!

Be back in a bit,
Suzy

Hi Suzy,

Thanks for all your great info, I called Disney today and they gave me even a better deal than the travel agent. I actually figured out that I had given the TA the wrong dates and my husband and I were not on the same page....oops...it worked out better though, we are ending up going in Sept. on the 25th until Oct.2 which is the very tail end of the value season I guess.

We took your advice and asked for the Toy Story section, since it is close to the busses and food courts....I also joined the Disney club, since we can get between 10 and 20% off the hotel price and a savings on the hopper passes. The reservationist said I can call once I get my card and they will apply the discounts at that time....it was actually much easier to go right through Disney.

Of course, now that I am slightly more educated, I knew better what to ask for.....

The whole thing, airfare, 7 nights hotel, airport transfers, taxes, insurance, and hopper passes will be right around $2000. I thought that was great....We are actually going to purchase the hopper passes at our local Disney store, and we will decide on the 4 or 5 day ones later. We have friends that live in the Orlando area, so we will probably connect with them for a day or two...

Now I guess we just have to start renting Disney movies, (especially Toy Story) to get in the mood for the trip....I can't wait!
(My husband is the avid sports fan, so I thought the sports hotel would be good, but he said either one is fine with him....I think he is kind of excited too!)

So now I have to start losing more weight so I can find that perfect bathing suit! I have a few months, but the more that is gone the better!

I asked the reservationist about the Charachter breakfasts, and he said it was only 15.95 for adults and 8.95 for kids, so that is really doable.....you said Chef Mickey is the best? We will have to look into that a little more.

Thanks again for all your help, I really appreciate all your advice...I'm sure we will be talking more on this subject....hopefully some other locarbers will join us.....
Take Care,
Carol