What if I book my room through third party?

[Lightning McQueen]

Are there any downsides to booking my accommodations with a third party (kayak, travelocity, etc?)

Thanks in advance!

[Mousemates]

The only third party booking we have done is through AAA...the only issue we have had has been that the reservation number we get is a AAA number and not a disney number which can complicate (perhpas make impossible) doing online checks, making dinner reservations, etc. not sure how it works with travelocity.

[TammiMcMan]

There is a separate portal that you enter for online check-in when you book through a travel agent. Not sure if that includes something like a travelocity package. Personally, I think the biggest downside is that you don't "own" the reservation until you actually arrive at the hotel. If you want to make a change or even just add a note to your reservation, you have to go through the travel company you booked with and trust that they've done everything correctly. Magical Journeys are a little different, as they're Disney experts and understand the complexity of booking a Disney vacation.

[mousetrapper]

I agree - the difficulty we found in booking through Southwest Airlines was that the reservation number was different from WDW's. We weren't officially in WDW's system, which made making ADRs difficult.

But we got a great rate so I can't really complain!