Originally posted by Timmie Boy
Lets see what you saved?
My preference is not to go for the absolute cheapest holiday I can find (although for us DIY has been cheaper), but to get the best value-for-money holiday we can afford. Each time we have compared prices across DIY and package options, for the same amount of money the DIY option gives us a much better holiday.
For example, in 2001 we paid £1,429 per person (I still have the spreadsheet) for our DIY holiday, travelling with my sister and brother-in-law during August (all our holidays take place in August). For this we got a Virgin fly-drive (with a complimentary car upgrade because they didn't have the economy grade available at the time we collected), all car insurances paid for using Amex travel insurance, a luxury 3 bed/2 bath pool villa 10 minutes drive from Animal Kingdom, Premium Annual Passes to Walt Disney World, and Annual Passes to IoA/US. These annual passes gave us unlimited access plus many discounts across the resorts. Believe me, the freedom of being able to come and go to the parks when you want (ie annual pass v. hopper pass) makes for a much better holiday. There is no sense of 'clock-watching' to make sure you get the most of of each precious day you have available. At the same time as planning the holiday in 2001 we also planned our WDW holiday in 2002. So last year's annual passes will still be valid when we return in August. This time we are splitting our stay between two Disney hotels (All Stars and AKL), which is not impossible to book with a package tour, but by the time you have done battle with the
travel agent it would probably be less complicated to book direct with CRO.
As another example just the two of us went in 1998 and again in 1999 using the annual pass scenario. For those holidays we were on a tight budget, but nevertheless wanted to get the most bang for our buck. I spent 18 months researching on the internet and decided that staying on-site at a Disney hotel, booking direct with CRO using Magic Kingdom Club and possibly annual pass discounts would give us the best value-for-money. I can't give you the exact figures (maybe £900? per person, travelling in August) but for pretty much the same price we paid the package option would have bought us a 'free' car and 10-day passes while staying at one of Disney's All Star resorts. In the end what we got was a fortnight at Dixie Landings in a river-view room, with annual passes and all the discounts that brings. As you can imagine, our holiday in 1999 (when we had already paid for our annual passes) was even cheaper. I was able to achieve this higher value-for-money holiday by monitoring when Disney offered heavy discounts on room-only bookings (which they almost always do at certain times of year) and making sure that we were eligible for these discounts (Magic Kingdom Club/Disney Club/annual passholder/code-user). If you book a package tour you simply cannot take advantage of these special offers. This year, for example, the discount that we are getting off the rack rate for our week at the All Stars and a week at AKL totals £857! We have also changed our booking three times (at no cost) to take advantage of special offers and upgrade our hotels; this is not possible with a package option.
I will accept that if look in isoloation at the price we paid for our holidays in 1998 and in 2001 then cost savings were marginal, and you may even have been able to get broadly similar holidays for less money. I would argue that booking DIY gave us far more value-for-money because of higher quality hotels and the complete freedom of annual passes. However, when you look at the prices we've paid across our 'holiday pairs' (in 1998/99 and in 2001/02) we have saved literally hundreds of pounds booking DIY. Of course, not everyone would consider going to WDW in succesive years, so the approach we took would not be right for everybody (although how many people here have saved for that 'trip of a lifetime' and are now on visit number 15!). What I always advise, and did in my reply to you, is that you must do the price comparisions. I'm sure that on some occasions packages will be cheaper, but on other occasions DIY will be cheaper. It will depend on so many different circumstances that it is simply impossible to say which option is always the cheapest. However, I continue to argue that DIY gives better value-for-money, and more than likely leads to a better holiday (it certainly does for us).
I should point out that my main motivation for replying was not because I think DIY holidays are cheaper, but because I disagreed with your advice that first-timers should go with a package because it is better to "play safe". For other destinations this may well be sound advice, indeed I have done the same to some places. But for holidays to Orlando I would not agree that first-timers need to be that cautious. There is no language barrier, the destinatin is incredibly well set up from the tourist's point of view and there is more unbiased advice available than you can shake a stick at. If first-timers work out that DIY will lead to a better holiday they should have no hesitation is opting for this; there are plenty of people here to hold your hand as you navigate these calm waters!
Regards
Rob