Need Help

[gordonokc24]

I am in need of help because the quote my friend and I have gotten through Magical Journey's is over $5,000 for a 6 day trip and that is before airfare. This will be my first vacation in almost 20 years and my friend's first time ever to go to Walt Disney World. We want to stay on property and are wondering if it is better to call disney direct and if the park hopper tickets are really necessary. Please anyone help me out here.:mickey:

[Strmchsr]

:welcome: to Intercot!!

Calling Disney directly won't help you one bit. Magical Journeys is hands down the best place to do your reservations through. Disney gives the same prices to everyone and the MJ rep will give you personal service and watch for any discounts.

Related to your dilemma - it sounds like with that price for 2 people over 6 days I would guess you're staying at a deluxe resort with park hoppers and dining plan? If so, there's lots of ways to save money - drop down to a moderate resort, which will still give a great experience for a lot less money. Or even a value resort. For 2 people, they're just fine, especially if you don't spend a lot of time using the amenities at the resort. Second, don't do the dining plan. It's really not worth the money unless you're very heavy eaters. My family saves a lot of money eating by paying out of pocket. We eat what we want, not what we "have" to eat to make the DDP "worth it." As for the park hoppers - it's worth it to us as we tend to go from park to park but if you like to go to a park and stay all day, drop the park hopper. That's only $50/person, though so not a big money saver in the scheme of things.

Also, it depends on when you're going, but if your vacation is a ways off then you're looking at "rack rates" right now and discounts should come out closer to time that could save you $1000 or more.

[faline]

Welcome to Intercot! :mickey:

I'm sure your agent at Magical Journeys would be happy to work with you to help pare down that price tag. The agent will quote you what you ask for but can also offer suggestions on how you can save money on your trip. Magical Journeys will quote you the same thing you get quoted from Disney World if all else is equal.

Are you planning to stay in a deluxe resort? If so, I'd suggest looking at a moderate. Coronado Springs is a lovely moderate resort with many of the amenities typically found in the deluxe resorts.

Did you select the deluxe dining plan? Personally, I wouldn't go with a dining plan at all. I find it less expensive to pay out of pocket for what I want to eat and where I want to eat it - whether it be a sit-down table-service restaurant or a quick service meal.

I like having the ability to park hop. However, park hopping is not absolutely necessary. If you haven't been to Disney in a very long time, you will find so much to entertain you in one park, you might not even think about jumping over to another park. Plus, the new fastpass+ system only allows you to select fastpasses in one park anyone. That's certainly an expense you could cut. You would just need to plan your dining a little more carefully so that if you are doing an in-park dining, it coincides with the park you are already planning to visit that day. Keep in mind, you can't use an additional park ticket to visit a different park on the same day - absent the park-hopping feature.

Again, I'm sure your agent at Magical Journeys could make even more suggestions on how you could reduce your trip costs. Keep in mind that Maigcal Journeys will also continue to assess your reservation and will apply any discounts you might qualify for to your existing reservation. If you book through Disney, they will not do this for you.

[1DisneyNut]

I agree with dropping the dining plan if you have it. We always come out better paying out of pocket. We had free dining a couple of years ago and threw away so much food it wasn't even funny. I don't see how people eat all of that.....it was seriously enough food, deserts and snacks for twice as many people.

I would also drop to a moderate resort. The deluxes are overpriced. Port Orleans resort is nice and usually has decent rates, especially if a promotion comes along.

Here is where I differ in opinion from the previous posts, we never get the park hopper option. We do one park per day and the days we wrap one up early are when we go do the other things like downtown disney or the boardwalk. Typically we wrap up Animal Kingdom early in the afternoon and then go do one of the other things. Back when park hopper was included at no extra charge, we still never changed parks. You lose so much time leaving one park, catching transportation and then going into another park.

[Ms. Mode]

Welcome to Intercot!

As pervious posts tell you a Deluxe resort is great, but even a Disney Value resort is better that most other resorts you could stay in. POP is a wonderful resort, or if you want Moderate I would suggest Coronado Springs. But, you can bring that price down considerably...happy planning.

As far as dining goes, either is ok...but it's sweet when they offer DDP free! :thumbsup:

[cer]

Also, I don't know if you are flexible in the time of year when you go, but that can also make a big difference in price.

I agree that Magical Journey's is your best bet for getting the best possible rate, you may just need to make some adjustments to your package.

[KylesMom]

Also, I don't know if you are flexible in the time of year when you go, but that can also make a big difference in price.
I would say that this could be one of the biggest factors involved. For example, summer value season pricing is a huge difference from peak holiday season pricing.

I would agree on one thing that has been repeated several times above . . . since I began booking annual trips beginning in 2000, I have found that Magical Journeys' agents are the best. I used to think that I could do it all myself, but over the years I've learned that they will go above and beyond to find any deals out there and apply it to your trip wherever available. :mickey:

[Tink1]

As everyone has said, We get our pricing directly from Disney. If you give your agent a budget to work with she can see what will get you the best bang for the buck.

If you are looking for Christmas/New Years week, Easter or a time period that has few to no discounts, changing dates may help.

Ask your agent for suggestions on how to lower the cost. Your initial quote from us will be exactly what you ask for (or as close to as we can get), but we all know that sometimes that just doesn't work for the wallet.

Nanc

[Lindsey310]

I am in need of help because the quote my friend and I have gotten through Magical Journey's is over $5,000 for a 6 day trip and that is before airfare. This will be my first vacation in almost 20 years and my friend's first time ever to go to Walt Disney World. We want to stay on property and are wondering if it is better to call disney direct and if the park hopper tickets are really necessary. Please anyone help me out here.:mickey:
:welcome: to intercot!!!! We are here to help!
That sounds like an awful lot. Where were you staying??? For 6 days, staying at port orleans riverside with a 4 day non hopper, my husband and I paid $1600 without airfare.
I personally don't like the hoppers. It really forces you to stay and savor the park you are in all day.
If you want to lower the cost, nix the hopper, stay in a moderate or value and don't do the dining plan. When were you planning on going? They have some room discounts for early 2014. Also, I personally like booking direct through WDW. Let us know how you make out and what you decide!!! :mickey:


82 days!!!! :cloud9:

[gottaluvtink]

Sounds like waaay too much to me! We are going in January, 7 nights, 8 days, park tickets, no hoppers, Disney dining plan, in a value resort. Four people, three adults, one child, $2,529. I'm sure Magical Journeys does an excellent job, but I am a do it your selfer. I book all my trips on Disney.com. I check constantly for new offers. I enjoy doing it.

[1DisneyNut]

Sounds like waaay too much to me! We are going in January, 7 nights, 8 days, park tickets, no hoppers, Disney dining plan, in a value resort. Four people, three adults, one child, $2,529. I'm sure Magical Journeys does an excellent job, but I am a do it your selfer. I book all my trips on Disney.com. I check constantly for new offers. I enjoy doing it.

It depends on the type of accommodations the OP prefers. We prefer deluxe but deal with the moderates sometimes. I was just killing some time about a month ago thinking about a possible future trip and check for a week at the Polynesian. The room alone was over $4200. With tickets for the four of us it was something like $5800 if I remember correctly. That still didn't include dining. Of course that was rack rate, no discounts which is probably what the OP has been quoted.