Better deal . . . AAA discount or MYW dining pkg?? - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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Hi everyone!
It's been a long time since I've posted anything here, but it's great to be back!
We just found out that we'll have a few days off from work in mid-Nov so we're heading back to WDW!!
What is a better deal, the AAA discount at the BC and then adding our park tickets and paying for meals OOP or doing the free dining pkg that is currently being offered?? My family and I are not big eaters so the dining plan was a bit much for us the first time we tried it two yrs ago.
You'll have to do the math. How much money is the AAA discount going to save you (including tax)? Add in any savings that you might get by purchasing your park tickets (if needed) from a reputable discounter like Undercover Tourist or Florida Orlando Tickets. Next, add up the cost of the dining plan for you and everyone in your party, and see which would comes out to be more. That should give you an answer.
For our upcoming trip (2 adults for 5 nights at the GF), our room discount comes to $922.50 including tax, and there's no way that free dining could touch that. Plus we're saving another $40 or so by purchasing our tickets from Undercover Tourist. If we had more in our party, then I might opt for the dining plan.
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Walt Disney World has become a touchstone for me, a constant in a world where everything changes. Again and again I have come back to this place, grounding myself, communing with all the people I've been.
I think it depends on each person individually. For us, after doing the math, the AAA discount would not be as much savings as the MYW package. It changes every year though, so maybe one year we'll go AAA instead. My friend from work always uses AAA because with her size family it always works out better for her.
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I suspect the AAA discount won't be more than 20% off.
Depending on who is in your family, (if there are four of you) the free dining plan may work better for you. You aren't obligated to eat everything offered at each meal and you can even skip some if you want, after all you aren't paying for it.
You should do the math on each option and see what works best.
I think our AAA discount was about 20 percent at CSR and when free dining was announced our AAA agent "stacked" the discount, we got both. Way worth it!
I have the booklet at home that tells the percent discount for various resorts, I could check it for yours
I Checked- the BC discount is 20% during value season as well
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Last edited by dizneymommy; 07-27-2010 at 11:34 AM..
I usually have a AAA discount applied to my res, then when WDW comes out with a discount, It's usually better so I switch. For us ( I go with my dds, in their 20's, either 1 or both of them depending on their avil.) the WDW room discount (40%deluxe resort WDW discount) & paying for DDP is always better then free dining, so that's what we do.
The DDP is worth it for us, You can go on allears.net and look at the menus to get an idea of how much food will cost you at WDW to see if it would be worth it to you. We enjoy going to a sit down dinner at night.
We don't book thru AAA, you can ask for the AAA room discount with WDW travel.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dizneymommy
I think our AAA discount was about 20 percent at CSR and when free dining was announced our AAA agent "stacked" the discount, we got both. Way worth it!
It's impossible to get two discounts stacked on a reservation at WDW. You are likely just paying for the Free Dining Package.
(Didn't want the OP to think this was a possibility when it's not).
When you talk with AAA, they will give you the better deal. So you get the perks of the AAA membership, but the deal that is cheaper. When you went this past April, I had a code for free dining and my AAA agent gave me this deal, instead of giving me the AAA discount. I know our AAA site in Buffalo, you can request a quote on-line, which is so easy.
As always, everyone is soooo helpful with their comments and suggestions. I did call Disney reservations this morning and it works out be a much better deal to go with the free dining than the AAA route. The room discount was approx 10% off the room. Once I added in the 5 day park hopper tix from Undercover tourist and $$$ for food, we were saving at least $300.
Now I'm working on incorporating one day at Universal Studios to check out Harry Potter . . . off to go do more planning!
It's impossible to get two discounts stacked on a reservation at WDW. You are likely just paying for the Free Dining Package.
(Didn't want the OP to think this was a possibility when it's not).
We booked directly through AAA, not through WDW or an agent, the agent at AAA said that if we booked directly through AAA then we could get a AAA rate and package and also the free dining. Just going by what AAA said... when free dining was announced our balance dropped by exactly the price of our dining plan and before that I compared and our price was lower than the WDW website showed, so I was able to confirm what she told me. It may not be the usual full AAA discount, but it was definitely a lower price that Disney was quoting. Don't know how, but it happened... maybe it was a mistake but it sure was a good one if that was the case :-) We have been PIF for a while, so I know the balance isn't changing now.
We booked through AAA and my TA figured it out for us.......they will give you whatever is the better deal, for us it happened to be free dining saved is $500 she was happy to switch it for us!
We just booked a ressie for OKW in Feb. Since the AAA rates are not out until next month, our TA booked a package just to reserve the dates. It was the typical deposit of $200 (room only ressies require one nights stay as deposit). Once the AAA discount rates are announced, he will apply them and we can change the ressie back to a room only res so we have until check in to pay in full.
Now, if Disney announces Free Dining for our travel dates, he said we can add that too. Since we have a full kitchen and our party consists of all adults that love to cook, we don't think we'd switch anyway. We also plan on consuming large amounts of great wine as we cook and dine. Even with free dining, we would most likely rack up some big bills!
We already purchased our park tickets thru AAA - 10 day non expiring base tickets were $2 more than undercover tourist so either would be a great savings.
It's impossible to get two discounts stacked on a reservation at WDW. You are likely just paying for the Free Dining Package.
(Didn't want the OP to think this was a possibility when it's not).
We got both! I keep checking online we def got a better deal AAA! Here's the thing asked my agent today when I was paying in full (woot woot!) AAA gets a certain # of rooms on the free dining as well..........
We just booked a ressie for OKW in Feb. Since the AAA rates are not out until next month, our TA booked a package just to reserve the dates. It was the typical deposit of $200 (room only ressies require one nights stay as deposit). Once the AAA discount rates are announced, he will apply them and we can change the ressie back to a room only res so we have until check in to pay in full.
Now, if Disney announces Free Dining for our travel dates, he said we can add that too. Since we have a full kitchen and our party consists of all adults that love to cook, we don't think we'd switch anyway. We also plan on consuming large amounts of great wine as we cook and dine. Even with free dining, we would most likely rack up some big bills!
We already purchased our park tickets thru AAA - 10 day non expiring base tickets were $2 more than undercover tourist so either would be a great savings.
what i don't understand is why he booked you a pkg when he could have just booked you a room only (which is what you wanted anyway) and when the AAA rates come out, he could have just as easily applied it to the room only res. He didn't have to book a pkg to hold the res.
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for a while, so I know the balance isn't changing now.
what i don't understand is why he booked you a pkg when he could have just booked you a room only (which is what you wanted anyway) and when the AAA rates come out, he could have just as easily applied it to the room only res. He didn't have to book a pkg to hold the res.
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