Still no 2016 discounts!?!?

[LadyLaLa]

This is the newest Disney resort and still very popular, There is a limited quantity of Little Mermaid standard rooms and Disney seems to have no issue booking them full. An option to see it (without paying the price) would be to stay at POP and walk across the bridge. You can eat, take pictures, look around...basically everything but swim.

That's a great idea! My son would go bananas over the Cars decor they have and that was my main reason for wanting to stay there. However, I was under the impression that you could swim at any of the resorts. I haven't done it but I have heard others say that. Is that not true?

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Oh you would be better to keep the free dining discount. We just went in September on the free dining and it was such a great deal. SPD won't be as great but it's better than full price.

Yes - this was discussed in last years Stay Play Dine calculation thread (see post below). Free Dining beats SPD everytime with the exception of very specific travel parties at specific resorts.

Unfortunately for most family sizes the SPD deal isn't as good as FD. For a solo traveler at some deluxe resorts (and possibly 2 adults staying at select Deluxe resorts at the right time) the SPD could save them more money than FD but that is extremely rare.

However, for most Jan-Mar travelers we're used to this SPD deal now since they haven't done free dining for those dates for a few years now. For some travel parties (especially those with lots of Adults or "Disney adults") the SPD just can't compare to FD. This is most apparent at the value resorts where the room component of the discount is virtually nothing.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

That's a great idea! However, I was under the impression that you could swim at any of the resorts. I haven't done it but I have heard others say that. Is that not true?

Some have done it but it is officially not allowed...I believe All pools will have a sign stating something like "This pool is for the exclusive use of "insert resort" guests." Even if there isn't a sign it isn't allowed. Some pools have started installing fences with gates that require a magic band to gain access.

I do believe there's some provision for DVC members to hop but I'm not familiar with those rules as I'm not a DVC member.

 

[LadyLaLa]

Some have done it but it is officially not allowed...I believe All pools will have a sign stating something like "This pool is for the exclusive use of "insert resort" guests." Even if there isn't a sign it isn't allowed. Some pools have started installing fences with gates that require a magic band to gain access.

I'm glad you cleared that up! It just goes to show that you should believe everything people see on Disboards! I never really saw the fun in going to another pool to swim just to drag your wet self back to your own hotel. Even though I know some of the pools are better than others.

 

[LadyLaLa]

Well the discount hasn't posted! Bummer. I guess I'll check again in the morning. I have to leave my house at 7 am to go to school. Gotta love Atlanta traffic!

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Well the discount hasn't posted! Bummer. I guess I'll check again in the morning. I have to leave my house at 7 am to go to school. Gotta love Atlanta traffic!

Yes...Midnight comes and midnight goes. No discounts

I even tried to create a package online to see if they were live but not on the special offers page yet. Well...hopefully sometime overnight right??

 

[LadyLaLa]

I even tried to create a package online to see if they were live but not on the special offers page yet. Well...hopefully sometime overnight right??

I'm glad I wasn't the only one trying! I'm happy my husband tolerates my obsession!

 

[smidgy]

only DVC member can pool hop. and so many pool sare being exempted from that privilege anyway. almost all the pools (except the "quiet" pool sat the moderate resorts) are now gated. we stayed in a Little mermaid room not long after it opened . you needed a room card (at the time) or now magic band to open the gate at the pool.
pop century has 3 pools and you can still walk over to look around and use their food court and the buses. th eLM rooms are really a long walk from the buses and food court anyway.

 

[marinejjh]

No discounts, will call at 7am, maybe they aren't going to start today. Disney might wait until next monday.

 

[amdaigle]

Yay! Got discount and booked!

 

[duckyshortcake]

Anyone else having trouble booking SPD even though it's listed as an offer? Like I select it and it says,
"
Sorry, we could not find the offer you were looking for.

• Another offer can be viewed below. "

then when I look at the offer details it lists through March 7, 2016 as the dates it's available do I don't know why this isn't working out for me. Any advice?

 

[marinejjh]

Saved $522 for our stay at AKL, probably could've saved more but we're only wanting the queen room with bunks.

 

[duckyshortcake]

Anyone else having trouble booking SPD even though it's listed as an offer? Like I select it and it says,
"
Sorry, we could not find the offer you were looking for.

• Another offer can be viewed below. "

then when I look at the offer details it lists through March 7, 2016 as the dates it's available do I don't know why this isn't working out for me. Any advice?

Update: the best I can figure is the hotel we booked ( Pop century) isn't included. The cheapest hotel included in SPD is Coronado springs, which makes it no savings over Pop Century with no discount.

 

[LadyLaLa]

I have been calculating and looking through the deals on and off since 5 am this morning. I'm trying to decide what is the best deal for my family. We have chosen the Deluxe Dining plan in the past, while a lot of people say its a lot of food, we feel its the best to satisfy our love of table service restaurants, character meals and feed our hungry toddler (who doesn't really get a meal plan)... plus we stretch it over the extra day we won't receive a meal plan...

That being said, I'm trying to calculate if I'll get better savings with the SPD or the room only discount. I have a spreadsheet... its getting serious here! hahaha.

Let me know if you want to know my calculations for Deluxe and DDP plans for 2 or 3 nights for 2 adults and one 2 year old for the first of January. I'm pricing out AKL, All-Stars, POR French, Contemporary, Grand Floridian, Caribbean Beach, CSprings, and Pop Century. I'm comparing mostly standard rooms, if available, or the cheapest room option left for the resort. My comparison will include RETAIL price against SPD and ROOM ONLY discount. I am looking for the best deal to include hotel, tickets with park hopper and dining.
I think thats all ... woo!

So glad the deals have been posted! Happy booking everyone!

PS: I'm interested to know what SouthFayetteFan has been up to today with all these newly posted deals Have you started a new thread yet?

 

[duckyshortcake]

LadyLala, I would love to see those numbers! we were looking at upgrading to deluxe but were kind of counting on SPD to make up the difference and now it looks like we won't be getting that...

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

PS: I'm interested to know what SouthFayetteFan has been up to today with all these newly posted deals Have you started a new thread yet?

Haha - I've been called out. Commercial Lending in Pittsburgh is a little busy today so I haven't been able to check them out too much yet

Hopefully tonight I'll be able to run a whole bunch (i.e. 20-30) configurations and start to figure out how this is all working!

 

[LadyLaLa]

LadyLala, I would love to see those numbers! we were looking at upgrading to deluxe but were kind of counting on SPD to make up the difference and now it looks like we won't be getting that...

Absolutely! I've taken away the 2 day comparisons because it doesn't really fit the requirements for using some of the discounts... Are you looking for specifically deluxe only? Because I'll post what I have when I'm finished.

Hopefully tonight I'll be able to run a whole bunch (i.e. 20-30) configurations and start to figure out how this is all working!

Well I would love to see what you come up with! Do you do this all by hand or I missing a credible comparison tool that would make my life easier?

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Well I would love to see what you come up with! Do you do this all by hand or I missing a credible comparison tool that would make my life easier?

Basically I start a spreadsheet and just put it all in there.

I'll pick a configuration - say...2 adults at CBR preferred room for 3 weekday nights w/ 4 day park hoppers. Then I'll add a weekday night and see what that does to the rate. Then I'll a day of tickets and see what that does. Then I'll add a weekend night. Then I may upgrade to deluxe dining. Then I'll do various combinations of the options I just listed and more. Basically I take the same number of people going the same week and tweak it to come up with 10+ variations of the same basic vacation. Then you look at how the price changes when you move one variable. That's how I was able to determine last year that the Dining was always discounted 50%; The tickets were always at full price; and the room discount varied based on resort level, dates, weekday vs. weekend, etc. Since I already know that's how the discount worked last year that will be my starting point for trying to figure it out this year. I'm assuming that the deal is structured in a similar fashion.

 

[duckyshortcake]

Absolutely! I've taken away the 2 day comparisons because it doesn't really fit the requirements for using some of the discounts... Are you looking for specifically deluxe only? Because I'll post what I have when I'm finished.

Well what we have is 3 adults on the regular dining plan but we were hoping to upgrade to deluxe after the discount. But there is no SPD for Pop Century where we are booked. I'm trying to find out how to save enough money, whether by switching hotels or what, to try to afford deluxe as opposed to the regular dining plan.

 

[LadyLaLa]

Well what we have is 3 adults on the regular dining plan but we were hoping to upgrade to deluxe after the discount. But there is no SPD for Pop Century where we are booked. I'm trying to find out how to save enough money, whether by switching hotels or what, to try to afford deluxe as opposed to the regular dining plan.

I'm going to send you a private message!