Looks like Disney thinks there will be light crowds this summer

[kylenne]

Crazy cheap rates for August right now. I saw an Animal Kingdom Standard view for 249 for AP! Plus the new DP deal for Disney Visa holders. If we weren’t booked DVC for September I would move our dates.

I’m seriously considering a short solo trip in early August now with the Disney Visa promo. GF and I are planning another Poly trip in the spring next year around Flower and Garden and I was planning on upgrading to an AP then, but I might just do it if I book the free dining. Never stayed at a Value before, had the dining plan or gone solo but the price is right for Pop and I’m curious.

 

[wendow]

I already had two nights room only at the Polynesian in July. Do you think they will add the gift card deal?

IIRC, the GC offer is only on rooms through the end of June? However, the discount could still change your rate. Definitely check it out!

 

[wendow]

The free QS meal did not add any extra cost to what the room only deal was two weeks ago and since my boys eat QS it was a win for me. The upgrade options on the other hand were not a good investment.

I have clients who booked Pop a couple of weeks ago. There was no promo on their room. With this newest offer, they are saving almost $100 on their room rate PLUS getting the free QS meal per person, per night. They are thrilled that I let them know and rebooked them.

 

[Nancyg56]

Could it be Disney is expecting a slight hit because a very large number of families have been hit by a shrinking or disappearing tax return. I'm sure a large number of families in this country use their tax return to vacation. Whether it is at WDW or elsewhere.

I expect Disney has already been hit with cancelations. I work for an accounting firm and we had a lot of clients who expecting a refund and ended up owing. Many had come to us at the last minute and were blindsided. I knwo a lot of families use thier refunds for extras and if that extra was a vacation that needed to be paid in full in June or July, I imagine those are already cancelled.

 

[Tiggerlover91]

I expect Disney has already been hit with cancelations. I work for an accounting firm and we had a lot of clients who expecting a refund and ended up owing. Many had come to us at the last minute and were blindsided. I know a lot of families use their refunds for extras and if that extra was a vacation that needed to be paid in full in June or July, I imagine those are already cancelled.

But why would they book a trip before seeing if there was a refund?? I knew I wanted to go this year, but didn't book till after I saw the refund and the amount. I'm not judging,just trying to understand.

 

[Nancyg56]

But why would they book a trip before seeing if there was a refund?? I knew I wanted to go this year, but didn't book till after I saw the refund and the amount. I'm not judging,just trying to understand.

There are people who are used to getting a largish refund every year. They use that money to make larger purchases such as vacations, and a WDW is one that is costly, but generally gets booked in advance becuase of that pesky 180 day thing. Anyway, the federal withholding tables changed this year, but a lot of people did not adjust their withholding status, so They were blindsided at tax time. If they had that trip booked and either wanted to use their refund to pay for it, or if they were using money in a savings account but needed to use their savings to pay the tax due, there goes their trip.

I do not prepare taxes, however because I run payroll for many of our clients, my phone has been ringing off the hook. I guess the whole "more money in your paycheck" was all a lot of people heard, and they did not realize their tax obligation was still their tax obligation.

 

[Tiggerlover91]

There are people who are used to getting a largish refund every year. They use that money to make larger purchases such as vacations, and a WDW is one that is costly, but generally gets booked in advance becuase of that pesky 180 day thing. Anyway, the federal withholding tables changed this year, but a lot of people did not adjust their withholding status, so They were blindsided at tax time. If they had that trip booked and either wanted to use their refund to pay for it, or if they were using money in a savings account but needed to use their savings to pay the tax due, there goes their trip.

I do not prepare taxes, however because I run payroll for many of our clients, my phone has been ringing off the hook. I guess the whole "more money in your paycheck" was all a lot of people heard, and they did not realize their tax obligation was still their tax obligation.

Okay @Nancyg56 thanks for explaining. Hubby nor myself never made any changes to our pay. We have additional withheld from every paycheck. I believe my hubby does $15 because he gets paid twice a month and I do $20 or $25 because I get paid once a month. Surprisingly, we made MORE this past year and got back about $1000 more in taxes on our refund. Yes Uncle Sam took about $177 of it, but we knew it was coming. It was a VA debt that occurred when they changed the co-pays in the base hospital for the vets. I had a friend who went into an absolute panic...said he owed well over $4000 and had no clue how he was going to pay that. I am very thankful my family came out okay and I was able to use our refund for our trip.

 

[Nancyg56]

Okay @Nancyg56 thanks for explaining. Hubby nor myself never made any changes to our pay. We have additional withheld from every paycheck. I believe my hubby does $15 because he gets paid twice a month and I do $20 or $25 because I get paid once a month. Surprisingly, we made MORE this past year and got back about $1000 more in taxes on our refund. Yes Uncle Sam took about $177 of it, but we knew it was coming. It was a VA debt that occurred when they changed the co-pays in the base hospital for the vets. I had a friend who went into an absolute panic...said he owed well over $4000 and had no clue how he was going to pay that. I am very thankful my family came out okay and I was able to use our refund for our trip.

I have had to make changes for a lot of employees. It was a bit stresssful because we are not the accountants for all of the employees so there was no way to help other than explain how withholding worked, and suggest that these folks make adjustments based on how much their liability actually was for 2018.

 

[Love Tink]

But why would they book a trip before seeing if there was a refund?? I knew I wanted to go this year, but didn't book till after I saw the refund and the amount. I'm not judging,just trying to understand.

Because it costs nothing to book a trip, but it can cost a lot (in money or in convenience) if you wait too long.

 

[slatterie]

We added a summer trip July 16-23 using the AP discounted rooms. Looking at the Touring Plans crowd calendars, they have crowds at a 5 or 6 most days we are there. Even with a trip we decided to add just yesterday, we were also able to get all of the ADRs we wanted except for Chef Mickey's. We are used to Spring Break and Fall crowds so these crowds should be pretty manageable, I think.

We are going about the same time period with no free dining - we always take the hotel discounts. Just a note that Touring Plans announced they are updating the crowd calendars at the end of the week so who knows if it will stay at 5/6/7 levels - I hope so.

 

[goofy4prez]

I remember sometime around 2009-2010 when the economy was a mess that Disney offered a promo I did if I remember correctly, called 4/3 deal with a $200 gift card. You purchased 4 days get 3 free and the gift card. I could be wrong, but that is how I remember it. What I do remember clearly, whatever it was, it was the best promo I ever took advantage of.

As for our upcoming stay in June, I expect it to be slammed. I haven't experienced low crowds in a long, long time.

 

[AngiTN]

Okay @Nancyg56 thanks for explaining. Hubby nor myself never made any changes to our pay. We have additional withheld from every paycheck. I believe my hubby does $15 because he gets paid twice a month and I do $20 or $25 because I get paid once a month. Surprisingly, we made MORE this past year and got back about $1000 more in taxes on our refund. Yes Uncle Sam took about $177 of it, but we knew it was coming. It was a VA debt that occurred when they changed the co-pays in the base hospital for the vets. I had a friend who went into an absolute panic...said he owed well over $4000 and had no clue how he was going to pay that. I am very thankful my family came out okay and I was able to use our refund for our trip.

Same here, we made more than ever this year, thanks to DH's promotion and we got back more than past years.
I thought most got bigger refunds due to the change in base withholding. I know that's what got us and I didn't have to worry about all those pesky charitable contributions which really took time when filing our return.

 

[Nancyg56]

Same here, we made more than ever this year, thanks to DH's promotion and we got back more than past years.
I thought most got bigger refunds due to the change in base withholding. I know that's what got us and I didn't have to worry about all those pesky charitable contributions which really took time when filing our return.

Everyone's personal circumstances are different, so if you already had enough deducted you were fine, but there were people who did not understand that changes to the withholding tables did not automatically mean they were going to have more moeny every week, and still have a refund. Things change for some during the year. My employer met wit a lot of our clients mid year to see where they stood and to help them make any adjustments necessary, however we still had some folks who ended up owing. I got the calls from employees of those employers whose payrolls I run. I refered them back to their accountants if they wanted tax advice, and helped them adjust their alllowances by calculating their net for them. SOme folks got hot hard, others did not, but this may explain some of the openings Disney still has.

 

[MsOnceUponATime]

Hi guys,

I guess that I'm missing it somewhere in the T's and C's? Where does the website state how much the gift card will be with the 25% off rooms promo?

NEVERMIND! I found it! lol

But - have we deduced that the summer promos are a good deal? I can't keep up with the boards while I'm at work...

 

[Stigsmom]

IIRC, the GC offer is only on rooms through the end of June? However, the discount could still change your rate. Definitely check it out!

I plugged it in for the same dates and the offer is valid... the room cost goes up $20 from my prior offer though so I’m just going to keep my booking as is. I hope it helps someone else though.

Edit: never mind, I read this closely and the gift card offer is only through June, although discounts continue through the summer. The offer is tricky though, with different percentages off for different resorts in the same category. Read carefully for sure!

 

[cmwade77]

The dining discounts are only for a couple of weeks in August, right before SWGE opens. Makes sense there as it may convince some people to bump their trips up a couple of weeks vs. waiting for it to open.

There are dining discounts in June as well, just not quite as good.

 

[Magalex]

We visit every other year in June since 2005. There are crowds at certain spots. Early mornings and late nights are good. We are celebrating son's high school graduation. I upgraded in Feb to AKL with 30% discount.

 

[Ben E N]

There are dining discounts in June as well, just not quite as good.

Right. Essentially $15ish a day in a quick service meal. Not bad if you were able to rebook and get that added in, but not exactly crying out in desperation that they need new visitors.
That's actually a pretty smart add on. It comes across as a good value, say $15-20 per person who book in that room, but only actually costs Disney $4 or so per person, and they then get people to pay close to full price for their rooms.

 

[MainMom]

I remember sometime around 2009-2010 when the economy was a mess that Disney offered a promo I did if I remember correctly, called 4/3 deal with a $200 gift card. You purchased 4 days get 3 free and the gift card. I could be wrong, but that is how I remember it. What I do remember clearly, whatever it was, it was the best promo I ever took advantage of.

As for our upcoming stay in June, I expect it to be slammed. I haven't experienced low crowds in a long, long time.

I booked that deal too to stay at the Poly. Wish I could get it again.

 

[hereforthechurros]

Lesson learned to hold off as long as possible on summer bookings. We booked three Poly rooms through DVC points the week before free dining was announced.