Tips on how to get discounts for Disney Resorts?

[Luildinha]

Hello,
I´ll be going to Disney in the first week of September 2020 with my husband and 2 kids.
We´ve been before, but have never stayed on site, and we would like to try it this time.
I keep seeing it mentioned here that "nobody pays rack rates, etc.." but I have no clue on how to guarantee a room with a discount.
Can anyone help a newbie? We plan on either staying at Pop or Coronado.

Thanks so much in advance!

 

[hes122]

We booked in March for our November trip (staying at Pop) before the price increase. When the discounts came out over the summer for our dates, we were not able to utilize any of them because the discounted rates were still more expensive than what we were already paying. Generally speaking that might be an anomaly though.

 

[MsThumper]

Start by going to Mousesavers.com.

 

[scard192]

Hello,
I´ll be going to Disney in the first week of September 2020 with my husband and 2 kids.
We´ve been before, but have never stayed on site, and we would like to try it this time.
I keep seeing it mentioned here that "nobody pays rack rates, etc.." but I have no clue on how to guarantee a room with a discount.
Can anyone help a newbie? We plan on either staying at Pop or Coronado.

Thanks so much in advance!

hang out on the Discounts section here on the DIS. when discounts drop the Board goes crazy with posts, you can't miss it! follow the September 2020 thread if there is
one or start one. there is one already https://www.disboards.com/threads/september-2020-discounts.3761862/
No way to know what kind of discounts there will be now that SWGE is open/opening. Free Dining has been something that has historically been offered in September and used to drop in April, this year it dropped in early January.

 

[karen4546]

Rent points from a DVC owner. It is usually much less than a discount code. Sometimes the Annual Pass discount is pretty good.

Renting points for a Deluxe resort is great-especially if you can get an EPCOT resort.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

Nobody can ever guarantee a room with a discount, but discounts are generally offered almost year round. You just have to book your vacation (or rebook it) wile the promo is available.

Perhaps the easiest way to secure a discount is to use a travel agent that specializes in WDW. Look for a TA who promises to modify your trip when/if a discount comes out. If you have AAA, try talking to them.

If you prefer the DIY approach, then you kinda gotta watch for discounts, but WDW tends to release discounts in batches.

If WDW is currently offering a discount that runs through end of April2020, the next batch will not be January2021 dates The next batch will likely be a better/less good offer for Jan-April dates, or an offer that covers a few months beyond April.

As soon as you search the WDW website with your dates, any discount offers that apply to your dates should appear.

You can also just search Walt Disney World + discount to see current offers.

Mind, WDW offers discounts to fill rooms that aren't already booked. To get a discount, you might have to be a bit flexible about which hotel, type of room view, and dates. Try not to book your airfare too early.

if you have already held a room, you can call yourself, and usually modify your reservation so the new discount applies. ALWAYS make sure you understand the full details of cancellation policies of anything you book. WDW "room only" rates offer more cancellation flexibility than "WDW packages."

A common September offer is the free dining package, and it is decent.

OH- do know that September is hurricane season. That is part of why it is a lower cost season.

 

[chalee94]

Rent points from a DVC owner. It is usually much less than a discount code. Sometimes the Annual Pass discount is pretty good.

Renting points for a Deluxe resort is great-especially if you can get an EPCOT resort.

Be aware:

-DVC rentals are typically non refundable.
-Studios (except OKW) have 1 queen bed plus 1 pullout sofabed - works fine for some but not all.
-No daily mouse keeping.
-Owners can book at 11 months out - and for Epcot resorts during Food and Wine, they typically do. So options for September 2020 may already be getting limited.

 

[_19disnA]

Even when Disney offers discounts, it is not necessarily for EVERY type of room at a particular resort. There is no guarantee a discount will ever be offered for popular rooms and travel dates. If you plan to travel on a certain week and also need to book airline tickets to get their best price, you just never know if an applicable discount will be available.

 

[Lynne M]

Moving this to the Discount Codes and Rates board.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

If you plan to travel on a certain week and also need to book airline tickets to get their best price, you just never know if an applicable discount will be available.

I despise airline pricing, but there are easy (easy-ish?) ways to save on air, too.

1. Price your flights well before you plan to buy, so you get a good sense of going rates.
2. Generally, flight prices go up on weekends. I don't mean a weekend flight - though that is also true- I mean the day you buy your tickets. Price a flight every day this week, and you might see the price for the same flight go up and down each day. Ugh!

3. If possible, play with both your WDW hotel and airline dates a bit. Sometimes it pays to fly 12 hours earlier or later. WDW offers also vary by dates sometimes. Weekends cost more at WDW.

4. Maybe around June, you should see some good deals for September airfare.

5. You also don't have to stay at just ONE hotel. One budget trick we use is to find a less expensive room for that 1st (or last) night.

If you are already staying at a WDW value, that's usually as low as WDW prices go, and probably not worth the hassle of changing rooms.


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A common WDW September discount is their "free dining' package.


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Conversely, we've also used the one night option to book a fancier hotel for just one night.

WDW will transfer luggage between WDW hotels for free. It just takes until late afternoon to get it Drop bags w/bell services, go to park...call for bags about 4pm at your 2nd hotel. you also get airport transportation. WDW doesn't' typically offer free transportation between WDW hotels, though, If you want to transfer from say - Animal Kingdom Lodge to Pop, you either have to go to a park (free), or pay for transportation.

 

[karen4546]

Be aware:

-DVC rentals are typically non refundable.
-Studios (except OKW) have 1 queen bed plus 1 pullout sofabed - works fine for some but not all.
-No daily mouse keeping.
-Owners can book at 11 months out - and for Epcot resorts during Food and Wine, they typically do. So options for September 2020 may already be getting limited.

All true. OP you could also check out facebook for confirmed reservations. You can add housekeeping for a daily charge. You can also add the dining plan.

We rented twice a year form the last several years until we purchased our contract in May of this year. (Just added 25 more points last week)

I own at AKV but stayed September in a studio at BCV (got one for my daughter also) and the walk from our room to Epcot was 10 minutes. It was great.

 

[cutigerlady]

Places to look for discounts:
1. Mousesavers to find when discounts for December were released in past years (April-May I think) and what types of discounts (usually free dining and a room only %). Mousesavers also can give you the rack rates for hotels, so you can get an idea of what resorts may fit with your budget.
2. Research travel agents that may have access to discounted rooms (although this has been much harder to find a deal this year)
3. Look at Priceline/Hotwire and figure out how to identify opaque listings that are Disney resorts. Some of these won’t show up until a few weeks in advance of your trip. You may find regular room listings for Disney hotels that are cheaper than the same room directly from Disney.
4. Research travel agents that will do the work for you to update your reservation if a discount is released.
5. Research renting DVC points and the pros/cons of doing this and know you need to book farther out if you are picky on which resort you want.

I would determine what type of room you want (value, moderate, deluxe, or villa) and rank your resorts. I would book something that meets your budget now and look at any savings as a bonus.

September is not necessarily a slow time because many GA schools have a Fall Break then. It’s hurricane season, so make sure you have trip insurance!!

 

[cakebaker]

The best tip I have us to be flexible on which resort you’ll stay at. We always book our resort of choice before discounts come out, but once they do, we will change if there’s nothing available there. It happens often that we don’t end up staying where we originally booked.

I check here for releases of discounts. There’s always a thread that is for my time frame and when they’re released, it’s posted here within minutes.