I'm a Dis OG and booking last minute is confusing! Help off site...

[miss missy]

Hi all!

I seriously could book a trip to Disney in my sleep 3 years ago!! Now I am confused as heck! Help please please

Booking for myself and my daughter - last minute trip to Disney for us, we used to go 2 times a year but it has been 3 years since our last trip and so much HAS CHANGED!

DETAILS:
I am in Fl now (visiting not a resident) and have my car and she is coming May 23, I am 2 hrs from Disney so I plan to book the room starting the night before I pick her up... long short is no flights or car rental involved - all set there. We are trying to save money since we are squeezing it in like this.

So we need a room for May 22-27 (5 nights)

We are going with 4 nights and 6 single park tickets ( we are using 6th ticket on the 29th before her flight at night, since I am driving her to Orlando anyway and the price is low to add a day)
summary: Best Western 4 nights , 5 tickets. I am getting 1561.50. (Food - we are not looking for Dining plan.)

Booking on Disney's site (which is funny that IT hasn't changed in the sense of ease lol drops, slow and such) so I see:

Best Western Lake Buena Vista is the cheapest left right now... and I just thought to look at resort fees which I almost missed!! and I see this DIS shows:

Best Western Lake Buena Vista
Resort Fee $13.99
Parking Fee $8 Self, $12 Valet

but the on Disney booking site has a little blurb in the rate details :

"Mandatory hotel fees, if applicable, are included in the package price."

then on the payment page under terms and conditions:

"cost for parking at certain locations ... and other items not specifically listed as part of the package are not included..."

question 1 - soooo am I paying hotel parking and or paying the hotel resort fee?

question 2 - do we have to pay parking at theme parks? I am not sure what changes have been made to that.

question 3 - does this sound like a best deal in our case? any ideas pleeeeaaasseeee

Thanks!!

 

[hiroMYhero]

Hi all!

I seriously could book a trip to Disney in my sleep 3 years ago!! Now I am confused as heck! Help please please

Booking for myself and my daughter - last minute trip to Disney for us, we used to go 2 times a year but it has been 3 years since our last trip and so much HAS CHANGED!

DETAILS:
I am in Fl now (visiting not a resident) and have my car and she is coming May 23, I am 2 hrs from Disney so I plan to book the room starting the night before I pick her up... long short is no flights or car rental involved - all set there. We are trying to save money since we are squeezing it in like this.

So we need a room for May 22-27 (5 nights)

We are going with 4 nights and 6 single park tickets ( we are using 6th ticket on the 29th before her flight at night, since I am driving her to Orlando anyway and the price is low to add a day)
summary: Best Western 4 nights , 5 tickets. I am getting 1561.50. (Food - we are not looking for Dining plan.)

Booking on Disney's site (which is funny that IT hasn't changed in the sense of ease lol drops, slow and such) so I see:

Best Western Lake Buena Vista is the cheapest left right now... and I just thought to look at resort fees which I almost missed!! and I see this DIS shows:

Best Western Lake Buena Vista
Resort Fee $13.99
Parking Fee $8 Self, $12 Valet

but the on Disney booking site has a little blurb in the rate details :

"Mandatory hotel fees, if applicable, are included in the package price."

then on the payment page under terms and conditions:

"cost for parking at certain locations ... and other items not specifically listed as part of the package are not included..."

question 1 - soooo am I paying hotel parking and or paying the hotel resort fee?

question 2 - do we have to pay parking at theme parks? I am not sure what changes have been made to that.

question 3 - does this sound like a best deal in our case? any ideas pleeeeaaasseeee

Thanks!!

For question #2: You’ll have to pay for parking at the 4 Theme Parks or use the DSprings area bus system.

Question#3: You don’t have to book a package through Disney. You can book room-only through the hotel or any of the discounted hotel sites. Your tickets can be purchased through discount ticket sellers such as Undercover Tourist, ParkSavers, BW Ticketing.

 

[writerguyfl]

question 1 - soooo am I paying hotel parking and or paying the hotel resort fee?

If you book a package from Disney, all mandatory fees should be included. Since the resort fee is mandatory, it's park of the quoted price. Since only some guests have cars, the parking fee wouldn't be mandatory. As such, you'd have to pay that directly to the hotel.

question 2 - do we have to pay parking at theme parks? I am not sure what changes have been made to that.

As hiroMyhero notes, you will have to pay for parking at the theme parks. But, she's also correct in pointing out that you can use the Disney Springs Hotels buses. The shuttles are similar to Disney Resorts transportation in that they run all day long. They are different in the fact that each route goes to two theme parks.

Disney Springs Hotels bus info: https://www.disboards.com/threads/disney-springs-hotels-bus-information.3653605/

question 3 - does this sound like a best deal in our case?

Based on a quick comparison, there doesn't seem to be any savings provided by booking through Disney. As noted, you could book the hotel directly and buy tickets through one of the services that hiroMyhero provided.

any ideas pleeeeaaasseeee

How are you planning on getting to the theme parks? Are Extra Magic Hours critical to this trip?

If your plan is to drive to/from the theme parks and you're willing to give up Extra Magic Hours, you might do much better by staying at a hotel just off Disney property. Looking at the options, I'd consider the Hyatt Place Lake Buena Vista. That hotel is located near Disney Springs and includes both free parking and free breakfast. Although I haven't stayed there, it is rated higher on Trip Advisor than the Best Western Lake Buena Vista.

Price Comparison (both rooms with two queen beds, four nights arriving May 22, 2018):

• Best Western Lake Buena Vista: $553.11 (room, tax, resort fee) + $34.08 (parking, tax) = $587.19
• Hyatt Place Lake Buena Vista: $541.13 (room, tax, [no resort fee]) + $0.00 (no parking fee) = $541.13

Considering you'd get free breakfast at the Hyatt, it's a clear winner here. But, that only matters if you don't care about Extra Magic Hours.

According to Bing Maps, the distance between the Hyatt Place Lake Buena Vista and the Best Western Lake Buena Vista is 0.9 miles.

Link to Map: https://binged.it/2rNjsE3

 

[miss missy]

Thanks everyone!! I am looking at it all and going to book today!