Coronado, AKL, or Cast Discount????

boscoast

Earning My Ears
Joined
Aug 10, 2018
Hi all!

I am visiting Feb 8-12 and have two possible reservations

AKL standard view w/ gift of magic discount
Coronado Springs preferred king w/ gift o magic discount

I am going with my girlfriend, we have stayed at AKL and completely love it and are looking forward to eating at Boma, Saana, and Jiko (all 10% off with Disney Visa, which we have). If we did not stay at AKL, we would probably still have dinner at Jiko our first night.

That said, while we aren't in a money crunch here it would be nice to save a bit by staying at a moderate but are uncertain about the construction situation (I know only the tower is under construction at this point but is the vibe of the resort affected) and whether there would be enough to do at Coronado Springs. We are only planning on going to the parks 3/5 days, with a Disney Springs day and a resort day. If the weather were bad, would there be anything to do for the day other than hang out in our room?

Another variable here is that a family friend is doing DCP and hasn't gotten access to discounts yet (just started, should have access this week) but does anyone know if those discounts are good enough to wait for for the room reservation? Is there usually availability on short notice? We can cancel our existing room reservation at AKL until Feb 3rd, so we have at least a little time to figure this out once she gets access.

There are a lot of variables here, so I'd love advice in any area that will help sway us.

Thanks for any thoughts / insight on any of these areas!
 
The Cast member discount is 50% when the cm is staying in the room and a 40% discount for friends and family when the cm is not staying in the room. My daughter is in the dcp and we visited 3 times during her program and never had any problem with finding availability. For our last visit she made the reservation just 3 days before our arrival and we still had numerous resorts to choose from.
 
That's super helpful - I have been looking at availability periodically and it's really been fluctuating, I am hoping they hold back rooms and release options as we get a bit closer which seems to be happening.

Sounds like we should wait and see what we can choose because the discount is so significant.
 
My friend’s daughter did DCP. They wanted to use her discount over Columbus Day when they visited. They limit the number of discounted CM rooms (so even though my friend saw availability there actually were none available for CM discount). They ended up staying offsite. Has friend been able to check availability at least?
 


Yes, I am aware there may not be discount availability at all. We’re there Friday-Tuesday and it’s not a holiday/marathon/school vacation so I’m hoping that allows for a resort we’d like through our friend’s cast discount.

That’s part of why I have been investigating other options though - but having done the math on 40-50% off on the rack rates for the same hotels it is a pretty big improvement on the cost even with Gift of Magic!
 
CM discount will be the most cost-effective choice. If that doesn't work, AKL is our favorite resort! Have a great time.
 
Just wanted to give an update since I had a hard time finding info on Cast member discounts here when I was trying to research this before

Availability was limited, with nothing available for the entire time BUT we were able to get Club Level at Boardwalk for 50% off since our friend will stay with us, and there is a F&F special during the other two nights that is actually 60% off - we're staying across the lake at Beach Club those nights for less than the 30% off Coronado price we considered!

Obviously neither of those were on our list, we would never choose to stay at either on our own (love AKL and WL, and the moderate we typically stay at is CBR) so that's definitely something to look forward to, especially with the proximity to HS and Epcot. We're from Boston so the Beach Club theme is a little funny to us, but still looking forward to it, especially with such a good rate!
 


I stayed at BC this past summer and loved it! The walk to Epcot and DHS can’t be beat and the pool will be great for your resort day! I loved the whole area and there is so much to do. Have a great trip!
 

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