Packages - are they worthwhile?

That really depends. I personally enjoyed doing it all separately. I enjoyed trying to find the best deal on flights, rooms, and picking the very best ticket options. Packages often include items that you may not use, and you end up paying for something that is wasted. The packages vary in price, for the EXACT SAME THING.

To compare, I called 4 different places on January 10, 2000 and asked for the following package:

2 Adults, and 2 children flying non-stop from LAX (Los Angeles) to Orlando on May 1, 2000 for 7 nights at the Wilderness Lodge Resort, courtyard view. Unlimited Magic Passes with flex pass, intermediate car rental and travel cancellation insurance. Here are the prices I got for this package from the various places I called:

If you price the package out with full rates for the rooms, full non-discounted rates for the tickets and car, you probably will be about the same prices.

Wilderness Lodge reg. room rate for May $259

Unlimited Magic Pass for 7 nights/8 days = 348.77 per adult, 283.05 per child

Mid-size car from National = $219/week

Air - roundtrip air from Los Angeles = $226 per person  (WOW - wish I was really going - we paid more than that!)

Total is $4200

This is buying each thing just as it was in the package...

I found that you can get MKC discounts, or other promotional rates for the rooms, and save money there. Even if you just get 10% with MKC (Magic Kingdom Card) you will save $181. Your magic Kingdom card will save you $72 on the tickets. You can get internet deals on the cars, which vary greatly from company to company, or skip the car altogether and go with Tiffany Towncar or Mears or another of the airport transportation companies, for $75 round trip Tiffany Towncar will take you to your resort, and stop at a grocery store, too! That will save over $150 once you figure in all the car rental taxes and fees. So with just those 3 things - that is an additional $403 savings!

My conclusion - if you don't want to do all the research and shopping around, go with a package. Call a couple places to compare prices, however. As you see above, the exact same thing costs different things depending on who you call. If you have a travel agent you trust, go with them! If you enjoy surfing the web and trying to find deals - then I would say do it yourself! It is tons of fun hunting and searching for the best prices.

Something else to think about: Disneyzone visitors have asked me what the differences are between the Resort Magic Plan and the Discovery Magic Plan that comes with Disney packages. Here is a brief explanation/comparison of them.

But wait - that doesn't seem like much of a difference, does it? The flex features are different for each package! Way different! If you figure in the costs of all the things included in the Discovery Magic Plan, it's a great package. But if you are not interested in doing many things besides hanging out at the parks, it may be a waste! Look at what each package gets to choose from:

If you need a travel agent, check back SOON, as Disneyzone will be joining forces with a Disney World Specialist Travel Agency in the very near future to help you book your vacations, packages or not!