The Top 3 Ways to Book a Disney Vacation

There are several ways to book your Disney vacation, but not all of them are created equal. I'll walk you through the top three ways to book your vacation and tell you which one is best and why. To me, in the end, it all boils down to what saves you the most money!

1.) Booking through a Travel Agent - Booking through a travel agent can be a handy decision, but it does come with trade-offs. Sure, you won't have to worry about doing several things by yourself, and you can count on the expertise of an agent. However, you will also likely be paying an extra fee for their services and you might not be getting the best deal. Travel agents can be really helpful though if you've never planned a vacation before and you feel lost. So if you have the extra money and want some peace of mind, go for it.

2.) Book Online - There are a handful of places where you can book a Disney vacation. Lots of websites seem to offer discount tickets or special deals. You may also choose to simply buy tickets when you arrive at the park and book the rest of your vacation on a discount travel website. Sites like Expedia.com and Hotwire.com can certainly offer you cheaper fares on hotels, rental cars and flights.

If you're looking for a cheap option and you're willing to knit all the details together yourself, this is certainly a viable option. However, when you book through these outside services, you can never really have any kind of advance guarantees about anything and you often end up with separate seats on planes and less-than-desirable hotels.

3.) Book Directly With Disney - You can book through the Disney Park websites. This is an ideal option, because you can do it all directly through Disney. So you know what you're getting and you have formed a relationship with Disney that will allow you to be able to follow through with them on your entire trip. In other words, you know who to complain to if things go wrong and you can call in advance with questions.

Speaking of calling, I would highly recommend that you book directly with Disney over the phone. Why? Well aside from the fact that Disney can handle your flights, hotels, and even your transportation to and from the airport (including luggage), talking to a phone operator at Disney could get you extra savings.

On top of that, by booking in the most all-inclusive way possible, you'll find that you can actually skip certain things altogether, such as rental cars and taxi cabs. Between that and Disney slashing rates on their hotels and offering value options, you may be surprised to find that what seems like the most luxurious option is also the most economical. If you call and ask about specials and deals, they will do their best to work with you in order to shave the price of your vacation to the bare minimum. Again, this allows you a guarantee.

By booking directly, you don't need to worry about pulling anything together at the last minute. Everything is all coming from one place and you know the number to call with questions or changes at any time before your vacation. It saves you money and it's the most practically easy solution. I highly recommend this, having booked Disney vacations all three ways, this was by far and away the easiest and surprisingly, least expensive method.