What is the best way to find Disneyworld vacation deals? We are a young couple looking to travel to Disney in January 2009. We want to pay for hotel and air together and definitely want to stay on Disney property. How can we find the best deals ?
www.mousesavers.com for some great money saving tips.
We used Dreamsunlimited.com which specializes in Disney vacations. Everything was done on line and they were great.
Having been to WDW many times, experience tells me you'll usually save money if you arrange your hotel & air separately. As noted above, check mousesavers & dreams. Also, check the disney website for hotels.
Disney currently has a deal for the first six months of 2009. Stay four days and get three free. I believe this deal must be booked by December 20, 2008. As others have said, you can check mousesavers.com for current offers. You can also go to disneyworld.com. Click on "Tickets & Reservations." Click on "Special Offers" and you can get a price there.
I also recommend disboards.com for tons of information on Disney.
AIR: No-brainer. Do a quickie search on an aggregate site (my favorite is Yahoo Travel) to see which airline generally offers the cheapest fares from your airport.
HOTEL: Stay in a "budget" or "moderate" hotel on-site. Book through the Disney site, which will tell you which weeks in January have the cheapest rates. Staying on-site also means free transportation to and from the airport and between parks.
Where are you flying from, and why do you want to get air and hotel together? Do you feel you'll get the best deal that way? What is your budget?
If you're planning to eat in the park (i.e. you don't want to bring in your own food) I think the Disney Dining Plan is a good deal. We used snack credits for breakfast (cereal or a bagel = a snack), counter service for lunch and table service for dinner. If you're planning on eating mostly outside of the park (breakfast at your hotel and dinner off property) it isn't a good deal for you.
You should consider Disneyland instead. In 2009, you can get free admission to Disneyland on your birthday. Also Southwest airlines are offering $239 off a Disneyland vacation if you stay at a Disneyland resort.
The free birthday admission is also valid at Walt Disney World! <http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...&tid=35157287>.
Aside from that, the two are hardly equivalent. Disney LAND is roughly comparable to WDW's Magic Kingdom alone. Disney WORLD is comprised of multiple parks (Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney Hollywood Studios & Animal Kingdom) and two water parks (Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon), not to mention Disney's Boardwalk and Downtown Disney.