Question about Annual Pass room discounts

[MarBee]

Hello! I'm thinking of upgrading my tickets to annual passes when we go in November so that I can go again in late June/early July. I was told that annual pass holders usually get room discounts of up to 30%. Can anyone please give the lowdown on how these work?
I saw that the discounts usually come out 2-4 months in advance. Can I book a room 6 months in advance & then change to a discounted room?
Are the discount percentages tiered (ie 10% off Values, 20% off Moderates, 30% off Deluxes)?
Are there any resorts/rooms that are typically excluded?
Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[Hootch]

I haven't had an annual pass but I do see their offers when they come through. Mouseeavers.com has an historical chart of the deepest discounts offered for a period going back to 2011. You can get a feel for the timing of the AP then Visa and finally the general public offers.

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

They, and this site and Disney and allears.com, show the AP discounts. Yes there can be some areas blocked out. The number of rooms available will depend on how booked a resort is at the time of the offer. Filling all of the resorts is the goal.

http://www.mousesavers.com/walt-dis...disney-world-resort-hotel-discounts-codes/#ap

Here is the excluded list for the room only offer that is for 10/4-12/23.

Sample discounts off rack rates:

• Up to 30% off most Deluxe and Deluxe Villa resort rooms
• Up to 25% off most Moderate resort rooms
• Up to 20% off most Value resort rooms

This is a room-only offer. If you would like to add a Dining Plan with these rates, there is a special Annual Passholders package.

Offer excludes Villas at Grand Floridian, Bay Lake Tower, Polynesian Bungalows & Villas, Little Mermaid (i.e. Standard) rooms at Art of Animation Resort, Fort Wilderness campsites and 3-bedroom villas. As with all Disney promotional discounts, some resorts, room types and date combinations will not be available. It’s important to be flexible if you want to book a discounted package.

You should be able to get the lower promotional rate if they are available for that resort/room type.

 

[bksomody]

I haven't had an annual pass but I do see their offers when they come through. Mouseeavers.com has an historical chart of the deepest discounts offered for a period going back to 2011. You can get a feel for the timing of the AP then Visa and finally the general public offers.

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

They, and this site and Disney and allears.com, show the AP discounts. Yes there can be some areas blocked out. The number of rooms available will depend on how booked a resort is at the time of the offer. Filling all of the resorts is the goal.

http://www.mousesavers.com/walt-dis...disney-world-resort-hotel-discounts-codes/#ap

Here is the excluded list for the room only offer that is for 10/4-12/23.

Sample discounts off rack rates:

• Up to 30% off most Deluxe and Deluxe Villa resort rooms
• Up to 25% off most Moderate resort rooms
• Up to 20% off most Value resort rooms

This is a room-only offer. If you would like to add a Dining Plan with these rates, there is a special Annual Passholders package.

Offer excludes Villas at Grand Floridian, Bay Lake Tower, Polynesian Bungalows & Villas, Little Mermaid (i.e. Standard) rooms at Art of Animation Resort, Fort Wilderness campsites and 3-bedroom villas. As with all Disney promotional discounts, some resorts, room types and date combinations will not be available. It’s important to be flexible if you want to book a discounted package.

You should be able to get the lower promotional rate if they are available for that resort/room type.

Does Disney offer room discounts over holidays or are they blacked out? I"m looking to book over Easter week (March 2016). Rates are currently rack rate but I looked at the historical discounts & Easter 2015 did offer a discount but I was wondering if there are blackout dates?

 

[happymommy]

There's no real answer to that question! You can make a guess, but it's really up to Disney.
Yes, we got the 30% off last spring break, but we can't guarantee there will be one next year (for the first time ever, our spring break next year is over Easter, ugh). The rack rates are obscene to me.
For now, I booked the Swan with points. I'm going to keep an eye out for discounts (also just got AP's over our trip last week).
In the past, we've gotten good discounts over holidays (Easter when my kids were toddlers), even once got an AP discount Dec. 26th - Jan 2! And it was a huge one - $259/night for a club level room at AKL. Crazy, right?
I'd say if you are going to definitely go, find something reasonable to book, as long as it's something that you can cancel if a better deal comes along. That's a reasonable thing to do. If you wait, then nothing comes up, you're stuck with whatever you can find.

 

[Hootch]

Disney offers rooms at a discount to fill the resort. The number and types of rooms available at the discount is based on their projected shortfall. For example, this year POFQ, where we stayed, was excluded from the early summer discounts. You also often see the family suites ate Art of Animation not included in discounts because the demand for those rooms is so high. There can be discounted rooms during holidays. There may be fewer than you might see in mid January and the discount will be off a higher rate.

 

[Walt4ever]

The discount isn't an automatic thing like merchandise discounts either. There are a limited number at each resort. For example, mid-November has rooms available for Pop Century, but all of the passholder discount rooms are booked. It's a first come first serve type of thing. For that specific time period, there are still passholder discount rooms available at one of the All Stars, Caribbean, Coronado, and a few of the deluxes.

 

[Accident]

I personally would figure out if the AP would save you money without a room discount. It can be very limited in choices for where an AP room discount is available for and I've personally found the food and merch discounts made it worthwhile for how we visit WDW, especially if you also get tables in wonderland for a larger food discount.

everyone doesn't need one, and there's even a small discount on park tickets for ap holders. To get the discount, you do need to show your AP card and your id. In my case, my daughter and I will split up during the day so she also has an AP so she can get her own discounts without me around to prove it's me.