How do you book your hotel?

[minnie-mouse]

What's the difference between booking hotel on disney's website, MJ or going thru expedia or hotels.com. It always seems like expedia and hotels.com have way better rates for Disney on property hotels. Would you get just as good of a room booking with website other than Disney website?

[faline]

Personally, I would just use Magical Journeys. You can let them know what you want, sit back and let them do the work!

[ginger19]

I will never use a travel booking site again honestly. We have used several and have had nothing but issues from our room category not being guaranteed to no reservation existing at all. With Magical Journeys, Wendy not only looks for the best fit for my family, she let's me know as soon as a new deal comes out and if it's a better price or not. She is right there if there are any issues with my trip and is a huge security blanket for me. I think the benefits of booking with them outweigh any deal you think you might get with another company.

[Dragongirlx]

we book through Virgin holidays in the UK. We have never had anything but good service from them and they let you pay off by direct debit which not many other companies let you do. Makes the cost a lot easier to manage.

[gardenia]

I always book directly with Disney, either online or by phone. I'm a FL resident and a passholder, so I have good discounts available to me, and I don't need a middle man to confuse the issue.

[MississippiDisneyFreak]

I started using Magical Journeys and have nothing but good experiences with them

[Melanie]

I always book directly with Disney, either online or by phone. I'm a FL resident and a passholder, so I have good discounts available to me, and I don't need a middle man to confuse the issue.

I totally respect and understand your feelings, but just wanted to say that I'm pretty much in the same situation and wouldn't book without Wendy at MJ. She makes it all much less confusing for me! :)

[sorcerer fan]

MJ all the way. If a new discount pops up they are on it immediately and you don't hove to worry.

[minnie-mouse]

Yes, I usually do book with Magical Journeys too, but when I see that hotels.com and these other sites are charging $262 for a garden room at CR vs. $365/night on WDW's website, how are you not tempted to go with another travel site for that price?

[Mickey'sGirl]

I used to do it all myself ... direct with Disney. Then we used Magical Journeys for our first long trip with our kids. We found that our needs were understood, our wishes were noted and our budget was considered ... and we ended up with a far better deal (at the Boardwalk Inn) than I could ever have arranged by myself (at the Caribbean Beach). We have never looked back.

Terrisue at MJ does all of our travel arrangements. She knows us well, and always gets us the best deal for our family. :thumbsup:

[minnie-mouse]

Thanks Jennifer. Can MJ also book hotel rooms at Dolphin & Swan?

[Mogie]

Magical Journeys is the way to go. They are 1000 times better than the Disney Reservation Hotline. They will openly and honestly answer your questions. They have access to the say reservation system as Disney. And they will offer the absolute lowest price.
The best part is the advice they give you, and will give you all of the room options. Email responses are very quick as well, most of the time they respond in just a few hours. AND they make adjustments to your reservations no problem.

[Mickey'sGirl]

Thanks Jennifer. Can MJ also book hotel rooms at Dolphin & Swan?
You could send them a request and ask. I do not see any reason why they could not.

[joonyer]

SIMPLE. I call or email Wendy at Magical Journeys and she does all the work, including comparing different dates and resorts. PLUS, they guarantee you the lowest possible rate for the time your are staying, even if a new discount is released long after you have booked. They'll rebook the lower rate and let you know. Disney (or Expedia or hotels.com) won't do that for you, you'd have to keep checking and change your reservation yourself. I let MJ do all the research and work and I can spend my time thinking about all the fun we're going to have.

You can't beat Magical Journeys for booking WDW vacations. They are the best!

[mydisneygirls]

Does MJ's get a bigger discount than if you go directly through Disney? I enjoy doing everything myself...gets me more excited about the trip.

[faline]

Nope but they stay on top of all the discounts as they are being announced so they can apply those discounts right away to clients who have booked with them and qualify for the offered discounts.

[mudpuppysmom]

You will have no problems with Magical Journeys!! When we stay at a Disney property we use them (Melissa). When we stay at Shades of Green I book myself, but boy do I wish MJ could book with them for us too!!

As others have said -- if and when a new special comes available they price compare for you and let you know.....if you don't want this or that they already know and take that into consideration for your family.

Really, they ARE that awesome!

As for tempting me away with a better price -- it would enter my mind but this past summer we went away twice and used "other" websites to do our booking and twice we had no reservation on file when we arrived for check in! One of the hotels was wonderful and accommodating (Hyatt Place) and the other treated me like a third world refugee (independent hotel in Lancaster, PA). So I would think about using another site, but not so sure I would bite.

[AllDisney]

We use MJ all the time now:number1:

[Jeri Lynn]

Love Melissa at Magical Journey's!! I booked my own vacation for years and after reading about MJ on Intercot years ago I started using them and love it!!

[Dopey's Girl]

I'm part of Club Wendy too. Sure I could do it myself, but there are 2 main reasons I don't. 1) Wendy is awesome, and I love knowing she's helping me out because if there was ever a problem, she would be on it for me. 2) If a new discount comes up she does all the math for me and changes my ressie if there is something better. Can't beat that!

[kemps@wdw]

We usually booked everything ourselves thru Disney. But this year, we went with a WDW vaca thru Southwest and got the total package. Air fare, (no luggage fees), Magical Epress, (to and from), resort (WL) park hoppers and dining plan. And everything went perfectly! Left our luggage @ the airport in Nashville and it was ALL in our room when we got there. (even after a plane change in Baltimore-yep, Baltimore). Figure they were trying to fill a flight, and a direct flight was much more expensive. And we barely had enough time to get to the other plane, so not much of a layover. And ME was there to return us to the Orlando airport @ 4:00am. Dining plan, 1st for us, worked out great and was a definite $ saver as well. Have always heard good things about MJ but have never used their services. Had great experience with Southwest Vaca packages and would recommend them to anyone. :thumbsup:

[TexansInNY]

Direct through Disney website - and if you are a regular on Intercot - you will see the deals - I just call em back up - it is really just personal preference. The key is you do what you enjoy and have fun!

[TheVBs]

I've always booked directly through Disney because I know exactly what we're looking for. Actually, I had thought about using MJ for this last trip - the glowing reviews can't be ignored! But when I saw the free dining open up so early for the fall, I just hopped online and booked it. I couldn't help myself.