3 day/4night Land & Sea Q re: adding on a day...

[Dsnygirl]

Okay - this is my first forray into the world of DCL.... if we decide to do this, I can imagine I'll be spending a lot of time here!!

( :hi: Ellen!!:sail: )

So, my question is about adding a day onto the front end of a 3day/4night land & sea package. Obviously, I can just tack a night on at whatever resort we pick to stay at, and just pay extra for that night. But what about park passes? I'm assuming it'd be a 3-day MYW pass, as the package is for 3 days on land... but if we add on the 4th night, which I'm assuming would be separately, can I get a 4-day MYW pass, or would I have to pay the full amount for one day to whatever park we want to hit? If that was the case, I'd probably just choose for the extra day to be a non-park day, as one-day rates are so expensive...

... so, does anyone have experience with this? What might be the best way to handle it?

Thanks!

[ElenitaB]

Hi, Blythe! I'm getting that "new cruise booking feeling" around here... I'm all smiley and happy! Woo hoo!

IMHO, the best way to do a land/sea combo is not to book DCL's package but to handle each booking separately (with MJ, of course). That way you can get the passes you want, the nights you want, the dining plan you want or don't want, etc. And you can still use DCL transportation to port and DME.

Happy planning! :sail:

[DisneyDudet]

I agree with Ellen. While I have not taken advantage of WDW and DCL in one trip, I know from research that this is the easiest way to go. You will be able to be more flexible with dates, resorts (your resort is based on cabin category/cabin category is based on resort). I also think that you have to do the cruise before WDW, but I might be mistaken. Booking separately, you can choose your tickets and package. The best thing will be that you can book as nice resort, and have a less expensive cabin, while staying at WDW for 5 days if you want!

[TammiMcMan]

DCL doesn't seem to mind adding the resort nights for you, but they won't adjust the actual packages to accomodate more park days. Usually, the land/sea is a good deal and major convenience for those that don't want to stray from the advertised package. If you want to do something a bit different, then I'd recommend pricing it out both ways (ie as a package versus each component separately).

[WonderlandsMostWanted]

To clarify a bit, the land and sea packages put the Land portion of the trip first. To utilize the park tickets, you must book the extra package days through DCL. As long as you add add'l days through DCL, your park tickets are available the day you check in. What they don't do is automatically add extra days to the tickets. You can however, go to the resort concierge desk or the park customer service desk and pay the difference to add additional days to the park tickets once you get there.

(For example when we did our initial booking this way we added a few nights to the front of the package. We intended to add extra days to our park tickets when we checked in, as that's the part that DCL won't do. Booking this way and adding the days to the tickets would have meant about $12 per person to add a few extra days to the tickets. Far cheaper than buying new tickets for the first nights, then using the package tickets when the package started.)

Now, that said, we found a GREAT deal on a Cat. 12 room for a land/sea package. When we priced it out, on our own, and double checking with Magical Journeys, we found that it was considerably LESS than booking our pieces separately, and it was the resort we wanted also. I understand that this is not always the case. If you'd normally stay at a value resort, and wanted a better catagory room on the cruise, or depending on the pricing for the cruise you want, you may find a better deal booking separately. Also keep in mind, that if Disney offers a discount on resorts or non-cruise package you won't be eligible, so that could make a difference for you as well.

I'd suggest contacting a travel agent, (Magical Journeys is great of course!) and asking for their help with pricing and details if you're unsure.

Wow, sorry that's so long winded, it's late! :blush:

[Dsnygirl]

Thanks for all the info, guys!

I'm thinking of a 3night land/4night sea in October 09, and adding a 4th land night on to the start of the trip.

Most of you seemed to feel it was less expensive to book things separately, but this is what I found -- am I way off??

Although I am planning on using MJ, I wanted to get a feel for prices, and was surprised to see that I could do the package for $3K,on the DCL site, without the trip insurance & an doing an inside stateroom. Now, I'd love to do an oceanview or a verandah (:cloud9:), but that'll remain to be seen. ;)

When I priced it out individually, the 4night cruise alone was $1700 on the DCL website, and using Disney's prices, a 4 night MYW package with park passes added up to $1620, approximately, assuming some kind of fall special at a moderate resort.

So, individually seemed quite a bit higher -- I'm sure MJ will be able to price out both options for me and tell me better, more accurate options -- but do my initial numbers seem off to anybody, or is it just the luck of the draw as far as seasons, specials, etc???

Thanks!! (Ellen could've told you I'm a little OCD about trying to price things out... sorry... :blush:)

Addendum - just realized what I did... the land/sea package was for 3 nights on land, my separate package was for 4 nights... still a bit cheaper, but much closer. Still -- any thoughts?

[adoptionislove]

OMG!!!

I am so here to help!!!!!!

WARNING!!!!!!! DO NOT add days to your land and sea package before or after your trip IF you are planning to use the dining plan.

We decided to go last year for spring break this year. Then we decided to add 2 days to the Poly and it was ALOT ALOT ALOT of red tape, phone calls, calls to the DCL headquarters, calls to the VP of marketing...NIGHTMARE

The DCL took away our dining plan for the simple fact that we added room nights PRIOR to our land and sea package. So our vacation then turned into 1400.00 more for 2 nights and we had to pay cash for ALL of the land portion of the meals. I booked EVERY charachter meal that I could think of so we could take advantage of the DDP. THEN they spring on us that NONE of it is covered. WOW! For the food budget alone it was over 1500.00 for the 5 days. YIKES!!!

Please feel free to PM me if you have anymore ?'s Michelle

PS we had a blast but next time, book the land and sea portions separately, much less of a headache!!!