Should you book an All-Inclusive package ?

[Disney Vacation Planner]

One of the first decisions to take after deciding to visit WDW, is whether to simply buy a basic flight or fly-drive, and book accommodation separately, or whether to book a complete package through the travel agent. There's no simple answer to this, in the end it comes down to how adventurous you are when booking, how much you're likely to save, and what soft benefits the agent is adding into the package..

Remember, that the bulk of the first day in Florida will be spent clearing customs in the airport, collecting the hire car, and making your way to your hotel. Don't under-estimate the amount of time this is going to take. From landing you're going to need between 2 and 3 hours to get from the airport to the hotel. Also since you're going to have just had a long flight from the UK, you're going to be pretty tired, and will most likely just want to collapse in the privacy of your room. Your last day in Florida is going to be pretty similar, last minute packing in order to return the hire car and check-in at the airport. Either way, your first and list days in Florida are going to be pretty hectic. If you're planning to stay on-property in one of the more expensive Disney hotels, it maybe best to consider staying in a cheaper Motel closer to the airport for the first night, where you can just crash out for the night.

All inclusive holidays definitely have a number of advantages, not least in that you know up front exactly how much the bulk of your holiday is going to cost, since most packages will include not only the flight, car rental, accommodation, and possibly some meals, but many also include "free" tickets to local attractions, particularly the Disney theme parks, and will undoubtedly include some discounts.

As an example, for my own Disneyworld vacation in both 1995 and 1996 I booked everything separately, and as a result, saved quite a bit of money that I was able to use in the parks while I was there. When I looked into booking for 1998 however, I found that for the time period I wanted to go for there was very little difference in the overall cost of a fully inclusing package, to the cost of booking everything separately, but a complete package booked through Virgin had the benefit of a "free" unlimited Disneyworld passport, and there was also a day-cruise to the Bahamas in as part of the package.

The cost of the passport swung the balance in favour of the all inclusive package, but had it not been for that, there would have been very little in it.

The down-side of booking a fully inclusive holiday however, is that you'll be paying the brochure price (less any agency discount), but there's a very good chance that you'll be able to get a better discount yourself particularly on accommodation if you book direct. Also some fully inclusive holidays include the maximum possible car insurance, often doubling up on insurance that is already covered through the normal travel insurance.

However, in my experience if you are willing to book accommodation direct, or on the fly when you arrive in Florida, it is often far cheaper to just book a basic fly-drive, with a couple of nights accommodation before leaving the UK, however this depends on the time of year. During the low season accommodation is plentiful and cheap, so it's easy to walk into a nice looking hotel and book a room, but during peak season, consider booking well in advance, and maybe booking accommodation for the duration of your stay to avoid disapointment.

My own experience in Dec'96 was that I couldn't get the accommodation I wanted through the local travel agencies 8 weeks before departing), so I just booked a basic fly-drive, and booked two nights in a Motel on International Drive through the agent. I then contacted the Disney Web Site and booked the Disney accommodation I wanted through the web site. However, next time I won't bother with pre-booking any accommodation through the travel agent, I'll go direct to Disney and book the rooms separately.

Ultimitely if you're willing to book a basic fly-drive, and do some of the hard work yourself, maybe ringing the hotel you want to book into directly, or booking through the Internet, you'll probably save a considerable amount of money. However if you just want an easy life with everything done for you, book an all inclusive package.