Got email from Disney. Offer different than expected.
It is 35% off package not just the room. Pop for 14 nights and package went from $4453 to $2890 including 10 day PH.
Still torn whether to go. Not sure we will be able to even leave Canada
Now that our package has been updated, I see that it's gone down quite a bit. That would be different from their usual 35% off offerings, as those are typically room only. And the mail we got didn't say the whole package, it sounded like it would just be off the room. I'm going to have to run the numbers though to see what it's actually working out to. I suspect the reason it went down so much has more to do with refunding our dining package upgrade to TS, than it does with a percentage off the whole package.
Oh, I know the deal is definitely not as good as free dining with a family of four at a value or moderate. I’m just saying, if there is anytime to get 35% off your room, Christmas with the price of rack rates, will give you the most bang for your buck.
And Deluxe standards range in price that week from $705 AKL - $973 Poly per night. Those are just standard rooms. And most standard rooms range in the mid $800’s at BC, Boardwalk, Contemporary........so that 35% off is pretty much equivalent to free dining for a family of four when you’re in this price range.
Agreed, 35% off is definitely better than nothing, but for some, that difference in budget can be make it or break it.
Edit: Ok, been doing the math. The original package total was 5255.39. That was for POFQ for 8 nights for 4 with an upgrade to the free dining from QS to the regular DP. Current package total is 3861.10. So the difference is 1394.29. Of that, 736.32 represents our upgrade to the DP, that we're just getting back. Subtracting that out of the difference, leaves us with a difference of 657.97. So, their 35% off offer is the equivalent of 657.97. That works out to be just perfect to be the amount off room only. 234.99 * 8 nights * 0.35% = 657.97. (Note: I don't have the actual room per night on hand, I thought it was higher than that, but working the math backwards got me to 234.99 per night, so I guess that must have been the room's rack rate at the time.)
657.97 is a long way off from the 1760 (55 per person per night) that the free dining represented. Now, in all actually, we don't really eat the full cost of the dining plan. That's why I've always tried to align our vacations with free dining offers. The DP just isn't worth it otherwise if you're paying full price. But, to be on track with the budget, we'd have to be able to eat for that 1394.29 difference, Over the 8 nights, that works out to 43.57 per person (including tax, but not including gratuity). Whereas we might not have ate the full 78.01 per person cost of the DP, we would have ate more than 43.57 per person. I figured between the 2 meals, and 2 snacks, to be closer to 55-60 each. 30ish for a TS dinner, 20ish for a QS lunch, and 5-10 for the 2 snacks.
So for us, it's not as much of an impact, maybe an extra $500 over what it would have cost us. But I've seen others really maximize those DPs, ordering the top of the line items everywhere, eating the most expensive snacks only, etc.. If those people are stretching to around 80 a day per person, (40 dinner, 25 lunch, 2 * 8 for snacks) than that could be like 1200 extra.