Annual Passholder Room Discount Question

[duketennisgal]

I'm new to having an annual pass. I plan to go back to Disney the last week of November, specifically I'm looking to book November 30th through December 3rd as I already have lodging for the first part of the week.

How far in advance to passholder discounts typically come out? Is it pretty standard to get a 35% discount on deluxe? I've never stayed at one of the deluxe resorts and figure since the first few days of my lodging are free and I only need to book a few days I would give it a try.

If I booked without an AP discount and then one becomes available can I update my reservation to reflect the discount?

Thanks in advance for any help you all can give me!

 

[Epcot82Guy]

I've been a passholder for a few years, and it does vary. But, they *loosely* come out about a quarter in advance. So, you should start seeing rates for your time period in late summer (sometimes middle summer). It really depends on how their bookings are looking.

With that, you can switch. The easiest way is to simply book the room directly with Disney via the website, then change it to the new room using the MDE function on disneyworld.com. You can also call the reservation line. Note, this works for room-only reservations without a non-refundable requirement.

One exception - I think the system restricts changing to the same room. So, if you wanted to book the same room at the discounted rate (i.e. a CSR Water View to a CSR Water View), you would simply book the new room at the AP rate and then cancel the old one as soon as you finished.

I've done both of these before with no issue. Sometime the CM at the reservation line will streamline it so it looks like you are simply getting the discount. But, I've heard that can be hit or miss. So, I typically take one of these two approaches.

 

[bcarey2k]

I'm new to having an annual pass. I plan to go back to Disney the last week of November, specifically I'm looking to book November 30th through December 3rd as I already have lodging for the first part of the week.

How far in advance to passholder discounts typically come out? Is it pretty standard to get a 35% discount on deluxe? I've never stayed at one of the deluxe resorts and figure since the first few days of my lodging are free and I only need to book a few days I would give it a try.

If I booked without an AP discount and then one becomes available can I update my reservation to reflect the discount?

Thanks in advance for any help you all can give me!

You can always 'update' a reservation with an AP discount. If the room isn't available, you can still call and depending on the CM, they can change your existing reservation into an AP discounted one. (Results vary)

Easier would be to book a new reservation with the discount and then simply cancel the old one.

I don't recall the link to discount rollout timing, but I'd bet someone will post it here soon.

 

[BuckeyeBama]

It should also be noted that you should apply public offers when they become available as they are often better than the AP discounts and released before AP discounts. Don't wait for the AP discount believing that it will be better or include your dates or hotel preference. Grab what you can when you can and hope for better.

 

[duketennisgal]

Good info, thanks everybody. I'll definitely keep in mind public offers, I had thought that Disney might offer some really good discounts to passholders, better than general public offers to reward those that have invested in an annual pass but it sounds like that's not necessarily the case!

 

[Lynne M]

Moving this to the Discount Codes & Rates board.

 

[lorenni]

Good info, thanks everybody. I'll definitely keep in mind public offers, I had thought that Disney might offer some really good discounts to passholders, better than general public offers to reward those that have invested in an annual pass but it sounds like that's not necessarily the case!

For my upcoming trip in early August the AP rate was better than any of the public rates. We're doing a value (we are DVC but I am hoarding up points for next year, so doing this weekend trip on the cheap!) so I did not compare the difference for moderate or deluxe resorts.

 

[HopperFan]

Good info, thanks everybody. I'll definitely keep in mind public offers, I had thought that Disney might offer some really good discounts to passholders, better than general public offers to reward those that have invested in an annual pass but it sounds like that's not necessarily the case!

My AP rates have generally been better than General Public rates both in advertisement and actuality. It is very strange that sometimes when they advertise say 20% off, when I book it actually comes out to 22% off, as an example. But I'm always prepared there just isn't the availability and it may not be easily available at resort I wanted. These are released to fill rooms, so just because you have a room booked, doesn't mean you will be able to stay in that room/resort ... so be prepared to change if you want the discount. So sometimes I take the General Public in order to stay where I want.

This will show you went discounts have historically come out. November rates last year came out in August.

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