Discussions

Never been, looking for tips and tricks. Travel Agent or Self Book? Airbnb vs Hotel?

Its been a few years since we have been. Disboards.com was very goo  
d for tips and tricks if its still going. Mousesavers.coxm also good. If you can still buy your tickets locally (CAA or Disney store?) in Canadian dollars usually less expensive. Also like Undercovertourist.com for tickets (it may not seem cheaper, but do your research as I it includes taxes in prices, others don't).  
 
We prefer to stay off site in a condo (have always used VRBO but lots others out there now). Then we make breakfast, sometimes carry in lunch (keeping in mind you do have to carry it, unless you are using a stroller), and eat out dinner elsewhere. We found we needed to get away from Disney by suppertime, but many others prefer to stay onsite. Keep in mind staying off site you need to rent a car, pay parking each day, etc.  
 
If first time may want to ask a travel agent for help.

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Budget on a minimum of 100 dollars a day per person, including children, in addition to the accommodation, car rental etc. We were there a couple of years ago and every meal was 22-30 dollars each, tips extra. Bottled water very expensive but there are taps available so take your own.  
We also ate mostly off site in the evening or at our rental.

There last November. For a family of 8 it cost me $22,000.00 for 14 days....this i:ncluded airfare with travel insurance, 4 bedroom rental home with pool close to Disney, all the Disney theme parks (5 day pass) Universal Studios (3 day pass), Kennedy Space Center (NASA), food (mostly eating out) grocery for the rental home, parking at all the theme parks per day including Universal. I used all my airmiles for a rental car....also be prepared to have allot of coins for tolls...if renting a car ask about the tolls....I believe you can get some sort of payment card with the rentals which sadly we didn’t know about at that time. Buy your rental car insurance at autopac at least 7 days before you leave. Also all my shopping & souvenirs are i:ncluded in my trip cost as well. Have fun!

We booked our house rental through HomeAway & booked our airfare through Visions here in Brandon & we flew out of Winnipeg...we also booked a hotel close to the airport the night before as our flight was at 5:00 am the next day...the hotel cost is also i:ncluded in my total trip cost in previous post.

take a backpack and make your lunches before going and take a water bottle, you can fill it anywhere and they don't care if you bring in outside food. if you are wanting to do more than one park a day than you can park in one of the parking lots and take the monorail to a different park. buy a fast pass, this will save you waiting in line for half the day it will give you a time to come back and you walk onto the ride or wait 2 mins.

We bought our Disney tickets through WestJet when we booked our flights under a promotion. We did one park per day, four parks in total. 30 days before you go you can book your fast pass rides and use the shorter lineup. Definitely pack lunches. A hot dog is $14usd. If you find a good Disney forum you’ll get good advice.

We really enjoyed our Caribbean Beach Resort. Disney transportation (bus) will take you from the airport and back and to whatever Disney Park you want to go to. No worry about driving, paying for parking, remembering where you parked etc.  
All our purchases at the parks were sent to the resort so we didn't have to carry stuff around.  
We got to enter the parks an hour earlier or an hour later than regular guests.  
We bought the dining package and it made a huge difference! Great restaurants, snacks i:ncluded. Didn't have to worry about dishing money out all the time for food!  
 
Whatever way you decide to go GET FAST PASSES for the attractions!  
Enjoy!

Thanks for all the suggestions. We did find some awesome pricing through Costco Vacations. Usually came in cheaper by almost a $1000 from other options.

Disney is a beast to book and if you don’t know the ins and outs hard to do on your own. I’d advise you to use a travel agent. There are no extra costs to use one and why give the big companies the commission when you can give it to a local. The prices you see online for things is what they will give you as well. Staying at Disney Resort hotels are a bit more expensive but give you extra perks: free airport transfers, extra magic hours, fast pass, magic bands, in resort shuttles and access to a dining plan if you’d like. Also right now park pass tickets are 20% off for Canadian residents for 4 days or longer. My friend is an agent and is fabulous let me know and I can forward you her information!

We do have a local agent looking for us. I am big proponent of shopping locally as I am a local business owner myself. We did a trip last year that we booked ourselves. It was a huge hassle that I do not want to go through again. What agency does your friend work for?

She’s a home based agent outside of Brandon, the company that she works for is called Fareconnect. Her website is www.fareconnect.com/winnipeg/tracy-tyschinski or she’s on Facebook, Take Me Away Travel. Good luck with your travel plans.