1st post - annual pass discounts

[slug]

Hello,

I've just registered (although I've been reading for some time now) and had a couple of questions.

I'm going in may 07 (14 months from now) with my wife, and daughter who will be almost 3. We're also meeting up with people and together we'll have 2-3 rooms at the Contemporary. We're staying for 7 days.

My Questions are:

Should I get a 7 day hopper for my wife and an annual pass for myself? From what I can tell from my research, the annual pass has a number of discounts included and would allow me to sign up for the Disney Dining Experience.

Also, are there discounts for annual passholders at the Contemporary? If so, I'd imagine that those discounts would help offset the price differential.

It looks like the difference in price between the annual pass and the 7 day hopper is about $200. Add the Dining Experience for $60.

With a large group of us eating (and drinking) together for 7 days, I'm thinking the 20% discount on food and drink will also pay for itself. The info I read said the discount is good for parties of 10 or less and I'd be able to book up to 3 rooms under my name as an annual passholder.

Does anyone have any thoughts or corrections to my thinking? Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[mjmcca]

The AP rates sometimes do not materialize. Generally there are discounts on rooms but not always.

 

[shellybaxter]

Please only consider the Annual Pass for the park admission and think of any other discounts as "extras". Disney changes things from time to time and nothing is guarented, not even the DDE. They could discontinue the dining and/or room discounts at any time. There was a time in Oct I think, last year where no AP room discounts were available and then they changed to an internet only, six month prior, best rate program which everyone hated and didn't work for a lot of people. They've done away with that now, but you never know what or when that might change again.

 

[rcraw45425]

Yeah, we experienced that "black hole" time frame, actually had to reschedule for November, then used the general room code. One good thing about APs is it gives you the freedom to just run in a park on arrival day or departure day without feeling you are "wasting" an entire day.

 

[princessarielle]

First of all to the DIS.

I had gotten an AP for my trip this past January since we were there for 10 days. I'm not sure about room discounts since we've DVC members, but I did get the DDE card and it was well worth the money since we had 6 people in our party eating. I believe they do change the discounts once in awhile so you may want to keep an eye on them. When you order an AP you won't get the real thing until you show up at the park. They will send you a vouchure so I'm not sure how that works for booking a room since you technically don't have the pass yet. You may want to ask GR before purchasing an AP. Enjoy your trip!!


Lori

 

[slug]

Thanks to all of you. I appreciate the help.

I was actually viewing any room discounts as a bonus.

What ititially caught my eye was the 20% discount on food and alcohol at restaurants. I was thinking that the group of 6 of us would be having dinner together just about every night and 20% of the tab on those meals would offset the difference in price by itself.

From reading, I believe you can book the room with just the voucher, prior to your pass being activated. I think the only restriction is that you can't do it online.

I'm gussing that if there were any discounts, they propbably won't be released until much closer to the date. I plan on booking very soon and I'll have to have any discounts applied later, which I heard you can do?

 

[rcraw45425]

You're correct about the discounts. The 20% part helps us. We actually paid for our card in the savings of just 1 3 day trip. The next two ones were just a bonus. The way I look at it is that it pays the tip. We have saved quite a bit thanks to the room discounts but don't count on them, just enjoy knowing that our tickets are covered each trip.

 

[mmmears]

Thanks to all of you. I appreciate the help.

From reading, I believe you can book the room with just the voucher, prior to your pass being activated. I think the only restriction is that you can't do it online.

I'm gussing that if there were any discounts, they propbably won't be released until much closer to the date. I plan on booking very soon and I'll have to have any discounts applied later, which I heard you can do?

Actually, you can book the room by telephone before you order your AP voucher. That way you can see what discounts materialize closer to your trip and book accordingly. We did this, got the AP discount, and have since ordered our AP voucher and then the DDE. Good luck!

 

[slug]

So there's no reason why I shouldn't book the rooms now, right?

Then when it gets closer to the date, if they announce a discount for ap holders I can call and let them know?

 

[byoung]

Last May with family of 10 we saved over $600 with the DDE in 5 days.

 

[slug]

You guys have been very helpful.

About how long in advance do the resort discounts get announced if they have them? Is it a few weeks or a few months?

 

[n2mm]

You guys have been very helpful.

About how long in advance do the resort discounts get announced if they have them? Is it a few weeks or a few months?

Rooms discounts can be difficult for some resorts. Keep in mind that they really don't give you the discount on the reservation you have. What the CMs do is pull up an identical reservation and if there is a discount on that one, they will then apply the discount. Only a limited number of discounted room are available at some resorts, and some resorts won't have any, especially if all the rooms appear to be booked already. (There has to be empty rooms at a resort to have discounts there). I believe you mentioned that you need more than one room. Keep this in mind too, that you may be able to get a discount on one room and not the other, so you could at least get a partial discount, which would require 2 separate reservations. This seldom works well for some resorts (WL/standard room, POFQ, A/S Movies, CR/standard). Flexibility is the key to getting a room discount. If you are willing to pay rack rate at the CR, then plan to do that, and if you get a discount on one or more rooms, then that is great. But remember, you might be able to get a room at a nicer resorts (Poly/GF) for a cheaper rate, than what you are paying rack rate at the CR.

 

[slug]

Thanks n2mm.

I want to be on the monorail and the CR is the cheapest way to do that w/ rack rates. I am willing to pay the rack rates. If by some good fortune a cheaper rate became available at the GFR or Poly then I would be very flexible.

I know the AP goes into effect when you activate it. My question is, if I buy a voucher for an AP, do I get a # or code or whatever is needed to log onto the website for AP holders so that I can check to see if/when discounts become available?

Rooms discounts can be difficult for some resorts. Keep in mind that they really don't give you the discount on the reservation you have. What the CMs do is pull up an identical reservation and if there is a discount on that one, they will then apply the discount. Only a limited number of discounted room are available at some resorts, and some resorts won't have any, especially if all the rooms appear to be booked already. (There has to be empty rooms at a resort to have discounts there). I believe you mentioned that you need more than one room. Keep this in mind too, that you may be able to get a discount on one room and not the other, so you could at least get a partial discount, which would require 2 separate reservations. This seldom works well for some resorts (WL/standard room, POFQ, A/S Movies, CR/standard). Flexibility is the key to getting a room discount. If you are willing to pay rack rate at the CR, then plan to do that, and if you get a discount on one or more rooms, then that is great. But remember, you might be able to get a room at a nicer resorts (Poly/GF) for a cheaper rate, than what you are paying rack rate at the CR.

 

[n2mm]

Yes, on the voucher there is a number. Go to the disneyworld website and click on passholder. You'll see 3 examples of what you can use to register. I think one of them is a voucher. It pretty much shows you what you need to put in to register. Of course, watching the disboards will be much more helpful than the website. Watch the codes section and if there is a discount released, you will know everything you need to know. There is usually rumor anticipation right before the big release. Calling for the reservation is the best method. Sounds like you are ready. Once you get your voucher you can call and order the DDE, keeping in mind that you shouldn't call for that until your trip gets closer, because unlike the AP, once you order that, the date is established. Probably calling sometime in April to get the card.

 

[slug]

Again, thanks a lot. Very useful information.

 

[mjmcca]

I know the AP goes into effect when you activate it. My question is, if I buy a voucher for an AP, do I get a # or code or whatever is needed to log onto the website for AP holders so that I can check to see if/when discounts become available?

If you keep coming here you wont have to worry about logging into the pass holder site for that info. There are unofficial sites that often have the info on room discounts a day or 2 before they are officially posted on the Disney site. When that happens the news is all ove rhtis board with people ready to call at 6:59 am of the morning those discounts are going to go into effect to get the rooms they want at the resort of their choice. You are actually better off checking in here than logging on to the pass holder site.

 

[slug]

If you keep coming here you wont have to worry about logging into the pass holder site for that info. There are unofficial sites that often have the info on room discounts a day or 2 before they are officially posted on the Disney site. When that happens the news is all ove rhtis board with people ready to call at 6:59 am of the morning those discounts are going to go into effect to get the rooms they want at the resort of their choice. You are actually better off checking in here than logging on to the pass holder site.

Oh, I'll be glued to this site. I learn something new every time I visit. I only wish I didn't have such a long wait. This is the furthest out I've ever begun planning and the wait will be difficult I'm sure.