Why do some British people not book direct through Disney?

samcrawford01

Mouseketeer
Joined
Aug 19, 2013
Hi Guys,

I'm British and have done 3 Disney World trips since 2014, and have trips booked for this year and next.

I have always booked through Disney direct, during the free dining slots, and simply booked flights separately - BA the first 2 trips, Norwegian last time and this year, and whoever works out best next year.

When pricing up, I have never found anyone cheaper for on property rooms, even if we looked at going without the dining plan.

Having seen posts where people have been booking with Virgin and other high street travel agents, I just wondered why? We have only ever needed to book flights in addition to the 'Disney bit' (room, tickets, dining) and the flights could be booked through Disney too.

Just intrigued!

:)
 
I always book through Disney but my best friend and her family always book through a travel agent who always undercuts Disney by 5%. For me, I would rather have the security of booking direct (really slim chance of Disney going bust, unlike small travel agents) , but for them - as they have a larger family - the discount means more, which I understand.
 
Flying to New York then down to Disney World. Travel agent co-ordinated flights (including seat requests), hotel, Disney Dining and park tickets etc to tailor the trip to near enough exactly what we wanted (POFQ was sold out when they tried to book so was offered P.O. riverside in a pool view room for the same price). Also get the $200 gift voucher so just made life easier.

If it had just been Disney then would have probably booked direct though.
 
I've booked direct, through Expedia (who were cheaper than WDW for the same room), booked a package and also used a USA travel agent who booked all our ADR's.
 


Virgin could in theory reduce the price of their flights in the package to make it more competitive and appear cheaper than Disney+flights overall, even though the Disney element may be the same price, but as it’s a package you wouldn’t know.
 
I've booked every which way! When we first started going I always used a travel agent and booked a package as I didn't know any different. I then got a little more confident and did separate flights and hotel direct through Disney. I was really happy with this as they were the cheapest I could find. Fast forward a good few years and I now book through the USA Disney site, often through a USA TA who has now become a friend (I've used her that often)

There are many reasons for this - we've been AP holders for a good few years so the discounts make it far cheaper for us to book room only, there's no penalty when changing reservations which I frequently do depending on the offers available, we're not fans of the dining plan even though we'll take it if there are no other offers available and I find the USA site far more user friendly especially when selecting different room choices.

We also have the Tables in Wonderland card which has saved us a great deal of money on our dining.
 
I book what is cheapest and had my dates or room type.

Virgin can undercut Disney during their sales, especially in conjunction with Virgin Atlantic Sales.

I've booked direct, through a TA, through booking.com.
 


Thanks for your experiences guys. We have never found Virgin, Booking.com or any UK travel agent cheaper - may be due to the time of year we travel? We have been in March, April, May and this year in September. Perhaps as we are travelling outside of peak times the UK companies don't discount over Disney?

For those who have booked through Disney USA - (especially those who didn't use USA travel agents) - how did you do this? When I try it always spits me back onto the UK website!
 
Thanks for your experiences guys. We have never found Virgin, Booking.com or any UK travel agent cheaper - may be due to the time of year we travel? We have been in March, April, May and this year in September. Perhaps as we are travelling outside of peak times the UK companies don't discount over Disney?

For those who have booked through Disney USA - (especially those who didn't use USA travel agents) - how did you do this? When I try it always spits me back onto the UK website!

It likely due to the time of year you've booked :) Also remember when using someone like Virgin, it's the total package cost comparison too.

You have to go onto the site and and change your country in the top menu. Do this on a laptop or pc, as it'll revert you on a mobile device to the UK site :)
 
Yes, even with virgin flights added onto a Disney UK room/ticket/meals it is still more when I am booking. Sometimes the flights are bit not always available due to being sometimes 18 months in advance!

Sorry to be really dense, but I still can't figure how to get to USA site as from http://www.disneyholidays.co.uk/walt-disney-world/ in the top right I only get options of UK, Ireland and Europe!
 
Ah ha!! Thank you! Wow that site seems very slow. We tend to go for 12 nights (13 days) so would either need 2 sets of tickets (e.g. 10 and 2), have resort only days at the end or buy a UK 14 day ticket. Even without park hopper and for only 10 days tickets, UK site is still looking much better for next year (plus we know how much we will pay as we will be paying in GBP and not USD which could fluctuate between now and paying final bill)
 
It likely due to the time of year you've booked :) Also remember when using someone like Virgin, it's the total package cost comparison too.

You have to go onto the site and and change your country in the top menu. Do this on a laptop or pc, as it'll revert you on a mobile device to the UK site :)
My friends who I mentioned above go in February which isn't peak time, and always get a discount. It doesn't come up on the company's website thought - they email for a quote.
 
Ah ha!! Thank you! Wow that site seems very slow. We tend to go for 12 nights (13 days) so would either need 2 sets of tickets (e.g. 10 and 2), have resort only days at the end or buy a UK 14 day ticket. Even without park hopper and for only 10 days tickets, UK site is still looking much better for next year (plus we know how much we will pay as we will be paying in GBP and not USD which could fluctuate between now and paying final bill)

The price you'll be seeing on the USA site will probably be the rack rate for the room (the most expensive) At various times through the year they have offers which can vastly reduce the price but it'd be a case of wait and see. It can work out really cheap if you only buy your park tickets for the days when you will actually visit - restrictive I know -but it does cut the costs. We've never done this as we have annual passes but have friends who split their trip between WDW and Universal and it works for them.
 
I very often find a better price with Virgin rather than Disney, especially during their sales. Also if you’re a flying club member you’ll get 7% off your holiday.
 
Also booked both through Disney, Virgin and once Thomas Cook (whatever their luxury was but flying Virgin).
Have generally booked based on price and if going half term week just for the week we have found that the best way to get the flight when tied to one date out and one date back direct was to choose Virgin holidays.
The year that we did a multi stop of 3 Florida destinations virgin made life very easy.
For flexible dates I do find Disney direct to be less expensive.
 
First couple of trips were booked through virgin then i realised direct with Disney worked out cheaper for us and then all DIY Flights, hotel etc now we use charter travel as they are always cheaper.
 
Not British but neighbouring country and we book through a TA for security. We feel like we have a bit of a back up going all that way if we've booked through them as we've someone at home to sort out any problems that might occur
 
We always book TUI now and fly out of Edinburgh/Glasgow on the Dreamliner.

I’ve found Virgin to be far to expensive. We always book more than a year in advance so you can’t book the full package with Disney anyway.

I was considering booking a split vacation in October 19 (we only returned yesterday) and I was looking on the Disney Holiday sites but find it way way too expensive, £1000 per night for a deluxe on the Monorail loop (7nights) and looking for 7 off-site somewhere.

Are the Deluxes that expensive or is it just that bad when traveling from U.K.?
 
We always book TUI now and fly out of Edinburgh/Glasgow on the Dreamliner.

I’ve found Virgin to be far to expensive. We always book more than a year in advance so you can’t book the full package with Disney anyway.

I was considering booking a split vacation in October 19 (we only returned yesterday) and I was looking on the Disney Holiday sites but find it way way too expensive, £1000 per night for a deluxe on the Monorail loop (7nights) and looking for 7 off-site somewhere.

Are the Deluxes that expensive or is it just that bad when traveling from U.K.?

There are ways and means of getting them cheaper. Unfortunately most of the UK sites will charge the rack rate for the hotel and will entice customers with the 'free' dining plan (which of course isn't free due to the high cost of the room) You will probably find that the hotels will be cheaper on the USA Disney site as there will be a greater choice of rooms plus they often have room offers throughout the year. We have annual passes so take advantage of the good discounts and also the bouncebacks which give the option to book the next trip before checking out.
 

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