May 2018 AP Rates

But at the same time you DONT book the room and you wait for the discount you have the chance of losing that room while waiting.

They hook you in. They know what they are doing.
Booking a room at a rate you don't really want just to keep from loosing it makes no sense to me. I never do it. So what if I loose it? I never wanted it in the first place. How can I loose a room I don't want? There's always something in the rooms available in the promo to pick from. I always wait, or I am willing to pay what I book without hoping for more promo.
 
But at the same time you DONT book the room and you wait for the discount you have the chance of losing that room while waiting.

They hook you in. They know what they are doing.

Absolutely you do risk not getting that room if you wait. But if you book it, expect to pay what you booked it for. Don't expect Disney to let you apply a discount just because you already have the room booked.

You have to decide what is more important to you, the resort & room category or getting the discount. The reality is you might have to choose.
 
This is about what I expected given the recent uptick in occupancy rates. Unless things change, booking through TA these days is the way to go I think.

Disney does not offer discounts to save guests money or reward pass holders. They offer them to fill rooms.

Exactly.

They hook you in. They know what they are doing.

It's known as "dynamic pricing" in the industry. They don't have to rely on discounts as much right now, so fewer rooms are being offered at a lower discount rate.
 


If you are depending on what shows up on the website as Available you may be misled.
I'm checking for our April dates, we have a Bounceback booked at BWI now.
The Bounceback rate at BWI is about $20/night less than the AP rate, close to the same but, I was checking over other resorts to see what rates are. One thing I hate about booking on the phone is I can't see each different resort and click back and forth and compare.
So I was looking and the page that shows All Resorts shows that POR is unavailable for my dates. However, I clicked on it anyway. Well, sure enough, it is available and it's available at the AP discounted rate. No idea why it's not showing on the list when you click All Resorts, this happens a lot I've found. I never assume that is correct any more, I always click on each resort and check the page that shows all the rooms for each resort individually. At least half the time I find rooms that don't show up on the All Resorts list. If you can follow what I'm talking about. It's rather hard to explain

Yes, I've noticed what you described with the resort lists for at least the last couple of years. You can always find more with discounts if you click on the resort. And, of course, mentioning that to a phone agent is useless!
 
didn't work out for my family's girls trip in late april. Glad we updated original ressie with the fun and sun package.
 
Absolutely you do risk not getting that room if you wait. But if you book it, expect to pay what you booked it for. Don't expect Disney to let you apply a discount just because you already have the room booked.

You have to decide what is more important to you, the resort & room category or getting the discount. The reality is you might have to choose.


Whenever I book its always for the resort and room category but I guess everyone is different and have their own preferences.
 


Whenever I book its always for the resort and room category but I guess everyone is different and have their own preferences.
Of course. It's all about flexibility. If you have only 1 resort, 1 room category (or very few) that you will accept then naturally it makes sense to book as soon as you can. You absolutely need to lock it in. If you are willing to book any number of room categories and/or resorts it is only to your advantage to wait. You do nothing but hurt yourself to book early.
 
Whenever I book its always for the resort and room category but I guess everyone is different and have their own preferences.

Me too. I was just pointing out that you should expect to pay the rate you booked it at. And not expect Disney to give you a discount just because you already have a room booked. That is what the earlier poster was complaining about -- that Disney would not apply the new discount to their already booked room.
 
That Visa offer that was out for late last year/early this year was a first of it's kind. It's not something they do regularly. I hope they do it again. It was a great promo
Are visa offers better than AP discounts? What was the promo last year? .....I don't have a Visa, thinking about it but was wondering if it's worth it or same discounts as AP?
 
Are visa offers better than AP discounts? What was the promo last year? .....I don't have a Visa, thinking about it but was wondering if it's worth it or same discounts as AP?

Yes, I would like to know this as well as I just got the Disney Visa.
 
Are visa offers better than AP discounts? What was the promo last year? .....I don't have a Visa, thinking about it but was wondering if it's worth it or same discounts as AP?
No, the one that is just ending was not better than AP rates but it was better than any GP rates.
You can find a link to the Promo here on this board, just search for the thread that mentions the Visa discount and there is a link to the promo in that thread. It is probably on page 2 or 3
 
I was able to improve my reservation by picking up a standard room at WL from a higher grade one. But, disappointed that the discount on original Spring offer was only 10% and AP discount for this resort is only 15%. I'll keep a watch for VISA as well. The days of 30-35% are gone for sure!
 
I was able to improve my reservation by picking up a standard room at WL from a higher grade one. But, disappointed that the discount on original Spring offer was only 10% and AP discount for this resort is only 15%. I'll keep a watch for VISA as well. The days of 30-35% are gone for sure!
I don't think so. The Fall promo was 30/35% on some Deluxe (we got it on BWI and YC). They still do them but they aren't ALL promos. Just some.
 
I was able to improve my reservation by picking up a standard room at WL from a higher grade one. But, disappointed that the discount on original Spring offer was only 10% and AP discount for this resort is only 15%. I'll keep a watch for VISA as well. The days of 30-35% are gone for sure!

It would only be applicable to those that have a trip coming up soon, but the current bounceback rates are pretty decent. 20-30%. Just in case that might help anyone with a upcoming trip that might want to book another one later in the year....
 
Was there a time when AP rates were really good? Like way better than other offers? I thought I read about people taking advantage of some pretty sweet AP deals a few years back.
 
I was comparing to last years AP discounts- April through June were 25-30% and June through August were 30-35%. Thats as far back as I have experience though. Beats 10-15%! Data from Mousesavers.
 
I was comparing to last years AP discounts- April through June were 25-30% and June through August were 30-35%. Thats as far back as I have experience though. Beats 10-15%! Data from Mousesavers.

Maybe Disney reduced the AP rates after their research showed that their APs were undervalued (thus, the pretty big increase in price a few days ago). They didn't want AP holders stealing more money from their discounted hotel stays! :crazy:

10-15% does sound pretty miniscule though.
 
Maybe Disney reduced the AP rates after their research showed that their APs were undervalued (thus, the pretty big increase in price a few days ago). They didn't want AP holders stealing more money from their discounted hotel stays! :crazy:

10-15% does sound pretty miniscule though.
So true, it's approximately half the discount compared to same time a year ago. Probably why they said "up to 20%" on Spring offer and no stated amount on the current one. I mistakenly assumed 20% when I originally booked with Sun & Fun, but my head was screaming that's not 20%?!? It wasn't, it was just under 10% Fingers crossed for a VISA discount. Still thankful for any amount though.:tink:
 
No standard room availability for my dates at Pop. We could upgrade to a preferred room for a very slight increase over our current pin code booking or switch over to a standard All Stars and save $60 but not worth it for our short trip. All 3 of us love Pop and for our short 4 night stay don't feel switching to a higher category is really all that beneficial so we are staying put.

Now I'm playing the waiting game again for my August dates. Since they released the late Spring AP discount a month later than last year I'm expecting the same for summer discount release but will definitely be watching closely. If nothing else, I'll be booking a Bounce Back for our August stay during my May trip.
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!





Latest posts

Top