Chatter on other sites - no travel agency discounts for next year?

If you find a TA though that is up at 4am has an email/call to you by 5am before a discount even drops at 7am/8am then I can see why you would be pro-TA.

Totally agree! Most of the time (with exceptions of course) discounts are loaded online well before 7am. Last January, I believe that it was close to 3:30am?? I was actually at WDW then chatting with a TA who was finished with her nearly 4 dozen reservations before heading to the parks by 10am.
 
I wouldn't count on that. Many folks who booked last year for Fall 2019 actually are paying LESS with their original "Standard Price" package than they would be paying with the current discounts (due to significant rate increases since time of booking).
I believe this. Disney used to didn't do this once the rates were released. But now they do it when ever they choose. Say they want to release a 25% discount, well they can very well raise the prices of those rooms 8% before they do that, thus reducing their 25% discount. No telling how much they raised the rates of the rooms before Free Dining was announced.
 
I believe this. Disney used to didn't do this once the rates were released. But now they do it when ever they choose. Say they want to release a 25% discount, well they can very well raise the prices of those rooms 8% before they do that, thus reducing their 25% discount. No telling how much they raised the rates of the rooms before Free Dining was announced.

Yes! And this year was especially weird because date-based ticketing took effect last October. SO if someone booked a trip for 2019 sometime between June and mid-October of last year, they paid the old (and in many cases cheaper) price for their tickets. Between this and an increase in room rates, there are people paying significantly less with their "rack rate" booked last year than they would be to apply this new "discount".
 
I just don't buy that the normal TA is going to be up at 4am running numbers. I also just always point to TAs having a bunch of other trips they are planning as the reason I expect delays in analysis.

If you find a TA though that is up at 4am has an email/call to you by 5am before a discount even drops at 7am/8am then I can see why you would be pro-TA.

I can attest to being up at 4:00 a.m. checking for availability and booking reservations for others and being back in bed by the time the phone lines opened. I was also up at 5:00 a.m. three mornings in a row making both dining and Fastpass reservations. It's the nature of the game for me.
 


I can attest to being up at 4:00 a.m. checking for availability and booking reservations for others and being back in bed by the time the phone lines opened. I was also up at 5:00 a.m. three mornings in a row making both dining and Fastpass reservations. It's the nature of the game for me.

Totally agree!
 
Well I will tell you that the discount on my one night stay at POR this past Spring was only like 15-16%. A joke. But the discount on the tickets I got with it more than made up for it. It didn't used to be like this. The discounts used to be far greater on the rooms, so there might just be something to this. I am wondering if the discounts on the tickets will subside as well.

When i emailed my TA about adding our tickets I was disappointed to find out Disney raised the prices on them...it’s about $35 more per person and only only about $30 less than what I could get from another authorized seller. Such a bummer and then to top it off, apparently Disney IT is doing a “magical enhancement” (ie fixing a glitch) that they can’t even currently add the tickets to the room unless we buy them separately 🤷🏼‍♀️
 
When i emailed my TA about adding our tickets I was disappointed to find out Disney raised the prices on them...it’s about $35 more per person and only only about $30 less than what I could get from another authorized seller. Such a bummer and then to top it off, apparently Disney IT is doing a “magical enhancement” (ie fixing a glitch) that they can’t even currently add the tickets to the room unless we buy them separately 🤷🏼‍♀️
Ya the convention tickets went up about 10-11%. Mine I bought this past April were like 292.00, now the same exact ones are around 330.00. Not sure what you mean about buying them separate, but I am sure you know what you are talking about. I got a one night stay at POR in April with a 3 day base ticket/with the water park day on it for us. We stayed one night at POR and then moved over to SSR for four more nights. Used the tickets no problem with the SSR stay.
 


Ya the convention tickets went up about 10-11%. Mine I bought this past April were like 292.00, now the same exact ones are around 330.00. Not sure what you mean about buying them separate, but I am sure you know what you are talking about. I got a one night stay at POR in April with a 3 day base ticket/with the water park day on it for us. We stayed one night at POR and then moved over to SSR for four more nights. Used the tickets no problem with the SSR stay.
Do the convention tickets still include a waterpark ticket?
 
Ya the convention tickets went up about 10-11%. Mine I bought this past April were like 292.00, now the same exact ones are around 330.00. Not sure what you mean about buying them separate, but I am sure you know what you are talking about. I got a one night stay at POR in April with a 3 day base ticket/with the water park day on it for us. We stayed one night at POR and then moved over to SSR for four more nights. Used the tickets no problem with the SSR stay.
I am so kicking myself for not adding the tickets when I first reserved the room. I just wasn’t sure how many park days we would be able to do.

I mean that I can buy non refundable tickets through them, but until some computer glitch is fixed they can’t add the tickets to a room reservation where they could still be changed or refunded if needed.
 
I am so kicking myself for not adding the tickets when I first reserved the room. I just wasn’t sure how many park days we would be able to do.

I mean that I can buy non refundable tickets through them, but until some computer glitch is fixed they can’t add the tickets to a room reservation where they could still be changed or refunded if needed.
Oh, ok. With the TA I used I could not buy the convention tickets stand alone but there was no glitch at the time that I knew about either so that is probably it. Weird, sounds like Disney's IT though. Good luck though.
 
Oh, ok. With the TA I used I could not buy the convention tickets stand alone but there was no glitch at the time that I knew about either so that is probably it. Weird, sounds like Disney's IT though. Good luck though.
Normally I can’t get them stand alone either. Didn’t even think about that when she mentioned it. Must be Disney’s work around until their issue is fixed.
 
Just to add another data point: this week I got a quote from my TA from an exclusives agency. I asked for quotes for both room only and package for October 2020. Both were full rack rate for the room (which I expected), and full Disney price for the tickets. At least $60 more than current Undercover Tourist prices. The only exclusives offer they had was for Pop, which I did not want, and it did not include our dates. I did book the room only - this is a family trip that needs 3 rooms, and I know she will apply discounts/alert me to exclusives if they come out.
 
If anyone wants to look at the pricing of these tickets all you have to do is google Disney Convention Tickets and nose around for a bit. You will find them. It might take a bit of going to a few different sites but they are on the web. Now I would never have the balls to by them outright like this, because I would be afraid something would happen and I would get caught and such. But it does appear as though someone could do it and add them to their MDE.
 
Just to add another data point: this week I got a quote from my TA from an exclusives agency. I asked for quotes for both room only and package for October 2020. Both were full rack rate for the room (which I expected), and full Disney price for the tickets. At least $60 more than current Undercover Tourist prices. The only exclusives offer they had was for Pop, which I did not want, and it did not include our dates. I did book the room only - this is a family trip that needs 3 rooms, and I know she will apply discounts/alert me to exclusives if they come out.
Do you know if it’s normal for them to list some exclusives before others? Or add more dates at a later time? This is only my second year using them and both times I reserved when they appeared to have all of their exclusives available. Currently 2020 looks pretty limited in dates and resort choices.
 
Do you know if it’s normal for them to list some exclusives before others? Or add more dates at a later time? This is only my second year using them and both times I reserved when they appeared to have all of their exclusives available. Currently 2020 looks pretty limited in dates and resort choices.
2020 is a year that is different than any years I have seen with this since I have been going since 2005. I don't ever remember this happening before, so I would say this is not the norm and would expect it to return to normal at some point maybe.
 
Do you know if it’s normal for them to list some exclusives before others? Or add more dates at a later time? This is only my second year using them and both times I reserved when they appeared to have all of their exclusives available. Currently 2020 looks pretty limited in dates and resort choices.
Yeah, 2020 is not normal. The exclusives would come out at the same time, sometimes in 2 batches (one year the January through March came out a little earlier than the rest of the year and last year, Labor Day deals came out a little later), but you would pretty much see multiple resorts and dates being offered by this point.
 
But I will add, the discount I got on my one night at POR back in March was a joke, like 15% maybe. But this discount I got on the tickets was good. This too didn't use to be the case. The discounts on the rooms used to be impressive.
 
But I will add, the discount I got on my one night at POR back in March was a joke, like 15% maybe. But this discount I got on the tickets was good. This too didn't use to be the case. The discounts on the rooms used to be impressive.

I had booked a room for last week with them on their agency rate. When the Disney Summer Sun discount came out last spring, their prices were less! My agent said sorry - it’s the best we could do. I cancelled and rebooked a higher category room for less on my own. I didn’t need the tickets as I had Canadian tickets for less.

So the discounts were already slimming in 2019.
 
2020 is a year that is different than any years I have seen with this since I have been going since 2005. I don't ever remember this happening before, so I would say this is not the norm and would expect it to return to normal at some point maybe.
Yeah, 2020 is not normal. The exclusives would come out at the same time, sometimes in 2 batches (one year the January through March came out a little earlier than the rest of the year and last year, Labor Day deals came out a little later), but you would pretty much see multiple resorts and dates being offered by this point.

Here’s to hoping 2020 is just a strange off year and not the beginning of a change in great savings opportunities... 😬
 

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