Need advice on annual pass/room discounts

[jecon]

I'm contemplating getting an annual pass to gain access to additional room discounts for late fall. When they do come out with the AP room discounts, do they hold some rooms back for this discount? We want to stay at the GF and currently there are no rooms available for our dates under the general public offer.

PS - I will likely return to WDW next summer to ensure I get my value out of the pass!!

 

[vicki_c]

You don't need to have an AP to book an AP discounted room, so just wait to see if they release any offers for AP holders. If they do, book it and then buy the pass on arrival.

 

[MsThumper]

Here is historical information on the discounts:

http://www.mousesavers.com/historical-information-on-walt-disney-world-resort-discounts/#codetrends

 

[thisismyusername]

Likely, if there are no rooms under the general public promotion, there will be no rooms offered under an AP discount. There are always more rooms released for the general public than there are for AP. That doesn't mean, however, that there won't be some in the future--it just depends on demand and inventory.

Have you checked Orbitz? Prior to the $150 cap, stacking a GP and an Orbitz discount was always better than an AP discount, and, sometimes, room inventory was better, too.

 

[jtowntoflorida]

We have an AP and the discounts are disappointing. I wouldn't buy one just for that.

 

[MsThumper]

Likely, if there are no rooms under the general public promotion, there will be no rooms offered under an AP discount. There are always more rooms released for the general public than there are for AP.

Sorry, but I respectfully disagree with this. I am eligible for AP, Florida Resident and of course the General Public discounts. Right now, if I go look at the dates that we are staying at AKL in August, I can select 4 different special offers on the screen and the room availability and room rate changes for each offer. For example, for the same date, there are Arusha view rooms available for Late Summer Florida Residents, but no Arusha view rooms available under the Late Summer Room Offer or the other 2 special offers.

I truly believe that if Disney didn't offer some type of room discounts to AP holders and Florida Residents, they would be swamped with some very nasty emails. That wouldn't be a very good public relations move.

 

[dkrauss]

We have an AP and the discounts are disappointing. I wouldn't buy one just for that.

I completely agree with the statement above...........to be getting the AP for room discounts only isn't really (IMHO ) a good enough reason to get an AP.............however there are so many other advantages of an AP (again IMHO )....you can surely find other reasons to justify it..............if not.............don't

Doug

 

[MakiraMarlena]

The only reason to get an annual pass is if you are going to use it enough days to enter the park to make the purchase worthwhile...if you're not, there are discounts but they probably won't justify the purchase, and discounts can be offered or removed at any time.

 

[jecon]

Thank you for all of your advice! There's a very good chance we will be headed back next year so I will plan to maximize. Plus the way we eat and drink I would love to have access to TIW too! I will wait and see how it all works out when they release the AP room discounts.

 

[thisismyusername]

Sorry, but I respectfully disagree with this. I am eligible for AP, Florida Resident and of course the General Public discounts. Right now, if I go look at the dates that we are staying at AKL in August, I can select 4 different special offers on the screen and the room availability and room rate changes for each offer. For example, for the same date, there are Arusha view rooms available for Late Summer Florida Residents, but no Arusha view rooms available under the Late Summer Room Offer or the other 2 special offers.

I truly believe that if Disney didn't offer some type of room discounts to AP holders and Florida Residents, they would be swamped with some very nasty emails. That wouldn't be a very good public relations move.

Speaking of my own personal experience traveling to Disney 5-6x a year, and staying in multiple hotels during each stay, almost always, if I am booking something under an AP discount when the general public promotion discount is ALSO out, if there are no rooms available under the GP promotion, there are no rooms available under the AP discount--which is exactly exactly what you pointed out as the only additional inventory of discounted rooms you were able to open were under the Florida resident promotion. Sometimes, AP-discounted rooms do pop up closer to the travel dates once the GP promotion has expired, but getting a discounted room that close to your travel dates is a bonus. In the case of the OP, I would never buy an AP JUST to get access to additional discounts as the inventory for rooms available at an AP rate is much less than the inventory of rooms available under a GP discount. If she's unhappy with the discounts offered under the GP promotion, she's certainly going to be really disappointed with the discounts offered under the AP promotion. An AP is not going to open up a whole other cache of discounted rooms for her to choose from.

 

[MsThumper]

Speaking of my own personal experience traveling to Disney 5-6x a year, and staying in multiple hotels during each stay, almost always, if I am booking something under an AP discount when the general public promotion discount is ALSO out, if there are no rooms available under the GP promotion, there are no rooms available under the AP discount--which is exactly exactly what you pointed out as the only additional inventory of discounted rooms you were able to open were under the Florida resident promotion. Sometimes, AP-discounted rooms do pop up closer to the travel dates once the GP promotion has expired, but getting a discounted room that close to your travel dates is a bonus. In the case of the OP, I would never buy an AP JUST to get access to additional discounts as the inventory for rooms available at an AP rate is much less than the inventory of rooms available under a GP discount. If she's unhappy with the discounts offered under the GP promotion, she's certainly going to be really disappointed with the discounts offered under the AP promotion. An AP is not going to open up a whole other cache of discounted rooms for her to choose from.

Never did I advise the OP whether or not to purchase an AP. They clearly stated in their original post that they planned on a subsequent trip to get the value out of their AP, if purchased. Nor did I imply, by my example that an AP is going to "open up a whole other cache of discounted rooms for her to choose from". Those are your words and your interpretation of my post. My example showed that there are cases, where while there may be no rooms available under the General discount, there certainly can be rooms available and possibly at a deeper discounted rate, under other promotions, including those promotions that are opened after the GP promotion. I simply used the Florida Resident Discount as an example. I did not address the AP discount, because there was none available for comparison for the dates I choose.

I was speaking from my own personal experience also, but don't feel the need to mention how many trips I make per year to make a point.