Any deals on resorts or do people actually pay full price?

[deedubb]

Please bear with me as I am a resort newbie. We have gone almost yearly for several years now but always stay offsite about 1 mile away where we can get a 3 bedroom with full kitchen, washer/dryer etc for about $170/night. Love being able to pack lightly and do laundry every night.

We just got back a couple of weeks ago and are now looking to book a trip over Xmas. It will be our first Xmas trip and I would like it to be different, so I'm looking at a resort, but the prices are nuts for a tiny little room. Would love to stay at the Contemporary so we can walk to MK, but $600+ a night (which means >800 Canadian) seems crazy to me. Do people actually pay these prices or is there some way to get better deals that I don't know about. Please help!

 

[2forMe]

Look at the discount and codes forum for deals... Sometimes 25% off, free dining etc. However not many deals will be available during xmas

 

[tweedletwin]

Have you looked into renting DVC points?

My husband and I just did this (we have a trip coming up in January). While I would NEVER pay rack rate for the Polynesian, we found that renting DVC points was MUCH more affordable!

 

[GADisneyDad14]

When you say over Christmas, do you mean actual Christmas Day? I believe 12/24-1/1 usually have no general public discounts available. It's a super expensive time to go to WDW.

 

[NYCANC]

In October 2015- we did pay full price when we stayed in the CR with a TPV. We tried to get FD but there was no discounts that we could get for the CR. We were going anyway, so it did not matter.
Our last stay in January, we did get in on the Play, Stay and Dine so it was nice since we did not get it the last trip. We stayed at the Poly.

 

[AngiTN]

There are discounts available for about 360 days of the year (close to that at least). The days without a discount are very few.
If you book a package you can actually apply the package rate to an entire stay, even if only check in day is included in the promo dates.
If you book a room only stay the rate will change based on what's available for dates within the promo and not for the days outside the promo.
So, if a package expire on 12/24 but you check in on 12/24 you can get it for the entire length of stay
If a room only promo ends on 12/24 and you check in on 12/24 you only get the promo on 12/24, the rest will be full price.
All that to say, no, we never pay rack rate. We always get a promo, because they are so plentiful.
We do room only but that package deal is a good one, if you like the packages (which is room and at least 1 other item like tickets or dining)

 

[AdamEfimoff]

Hotels do not usually charge rates they do not get.

 

[Babsy]

Please bear with me as I am a resort newbie. We have gone almost yearly for several years now but always stay offsite about 1 mile away where we can get a 3 bedroom with full kitchen, washer/dryer etc for about $170/night. Love being able to pack lightly and do laundry every night.

We just got back a couple of weeks ago and are now looking to book a trip over Xmas. It will be our first Xmas trip and I would like it to be different, so I'm looking at a resort, but the prices are nuts for a tiny little room. Would love to stay at the Contemporary so we can walk to MK, but $600+ a night (which means >800 Canadian) seems crazy to me. Do people actually pay these prices or is there some way to get better deals that I don't know about. Please help!

There are often deals to be had, but they are getting fewer and less all the time. Yes, the prices are crazy, and, yes, some people pay rack rate. We are from Canada as well and the exchange rate is awful right now! I have seen worse (63 cents on the dollar) but not for a long time.

Try the Mousesavers website to get an idea of historical discounts and when they are released. Also, keep watch here on the Dis where people post when discounts are released. (sticky at the top of the resorts forum)

You can also look at Swan and Dolphin discounts to see if you can get a better rate there. they offer a variety of discounts that may be better than the WDW resorts offer. they do not have DME, dining plans, magic bands, charging back to the room or 180 + 10 ADR's however. They do have Disney transportation, EMH and 60 day FP+ selection.

Good luck!

ETA: If you want to stay at the CR, check out the garden wing rooms. they are sometimes quite a bit less expensive than the tower,

 

[deedubb]

Thanks everyone. I knew about the codes but as you mentioned, I figured there wouldn't be much around Xmas, and yes, we are planning to be there on the 25th. I really want to see MK on Xmas day. Had not thought about DVC points but I don't see much available at the moment. I'm getting anxious and want to book something soon. The problem is we've been spoiled by having so much room in our off site hotel that it would be really tough to go to a small room with 2 beds and 1 washroom for the 4 of us. In fact, I don't think we'll be able to do it, even though the amount of time spent in the hotel is minimal. As for booking a package with tickets, there is a promo for Canadians right now that gives us a 25% discount on tickets so it's cheaper to buy them separately. Might have to stay off site again this time and leave the resort for another time, perhaps during the off season, or maybe when our dollar is a little stronger!

Addendum: Forgot about the extra 30 days to book FP+ though. I wonder with all the extra people whether I'll even be able to get the rides I want. Might have to reconsider.

 

[AdamEfimoff]

It sounds about right for luxury hotel. Being close to everything and having many perks of a hotel does not help either

 

[MillauFr]

I stay in Deluxe and only go when I can get 50%+ discount on rooms.

 

[FelisLachesis]

Addendum: Forgot about the extra 30 days to book FP+ though. I wonder with all the extra people whether I'll even be able to get the rides I want. Might have to reconsider.

This is the one major argument for staying on property, especially during Christmas Week. It's busy busy busy! Fast Passes were probably the only way we got on a few rides. If you didn't have a FP, expect at least a 2 hour wait on most E-Ticket rides. According to EasyWDW, New Year's Eve this past year was insane. Space Mountain hit a 3 hour wait, 7DMT hit 3.5 hours at one point. Dumbo reached an hour and a half, and even Stitch's Great Escape (yes, THAT ride!) hit a 45 minute wait.

Besides your clothes, shoes and hair dryer and your toiletries, please be sure to pack a lot of patience into a Christmas trip.

 

[AdamEfimoff]

I stay in Deluxe and only go when I can get 50%+ discount on rooms.

How ??? I have done everything from emailing managers to talking to presidents to no avail. Anyway I simply don't believe you.

 

[AdamEfimoff]

and what do you mean by deluxe ?

 

[AdamEfimoff]

I stay in Deluxe and only go when I can get 50%+ discount on rooms.

I am just going to say something. Unless I am missing something BIG. There are no travel agents that offer deep discounts nor are there. And there is no way of obtaining those discounts. I have talked to the president of the Four Seasons Chain etc. And there is no way of obtaining those discounts. And I have tried via multiple ways . So either the chains like Mandarin , Four Seasons are telling me fibs. Or there is something going on? And yes that question was rhetorical

 

[Westcoastwild]

and what do you mean by deluxe ?

Deluxe is a class of WDW hotel. Grand Floridian, contemporary, etc. usually the big differences are access to parks (monorail, walking) and onsite amenities (like the pools). And likely the discount she was talking about was some kind of combined discount. Like say you get 15% off for some weird reason plus 35% room discount. That's 50%. That 35% shows up as an offer during low season, usually- you just aren't going to see it at Christmas. And the more expensive the property, the steeper the discount. Like value hotels are going to get 10% off on the same dates the GF might offer 30% off. Campsites won't offer any discount at all (yes, I'm bitter). Maybe millaufra's married to active military, maybe he/she is an annual pass owner, maybe some sort of employee.

And then some returnees get pin offers- discount codes that are better than the norm. That just seems to be pure luck. Anyway- the whole point is- the steepest discounts are just luck and happenstance. Unless you know these managers personally, I don't think you're going to get any kind of break there.

 

[AdamEfimoff]

Deluxe is a class of WDW hotel. Grand Floridian, contemporary, etc. usually the big differences are access to parks (monorail, walking) and onsite amenities (like the pools). And likely the discount she was talking about was some kind of combined discount. Like say you get 15% off for some weird reason plus 35% room discount. That's 50%. That 35% shows up as an offer during low season, usually- you just aren't going to see it at Christmas. And the more expensive the property, the steeper the discount. Like value hotels are going to get 10% off on the same dates the GF might offer 30% off. Campsites won't offer any discount at all (yes, I'm bitter). Maybe millaufra's married to active military, maybe he/she is an annual pass owner, maybe some sort of employee.

And then some returnees get pin offers- discount codes that are better than the norm. That just seems to be pure luck. Anyway- the whole point is- the steepest discounts are just luck and happenstance. Unless you know these managers personally, I don't think you're going to get any kind of break there.

I understood what deluxe means was wondering if she meant Disney or outside? Also I did get an upgrade once ! but rare by the manager

 

[AdamEfimoff]

But she mention travel agent? so am very confused to who these agents are?

 

[Westcoastwild]

I understood what deluxe means was wondering if she meant Disney or outside? Also I did get an upgrade once ! but rare by the manager

Well, your thread is about staying onsite so I would assume they are talking about a Disney Deluxe. And it's not upgrades you're talking about- it's a discount off the room price.

I'm not sure why you keep mentioning 4 seasons or why you want to stay onsite if you're attached to the offsite lifestyle. You just aren't going to find onsite suite lodging for the same price of off site suite lodging. You're literally paying for the location at the on property hotels. I mean the whole Disney theme thing too, but mostly all the onsite amenities.

Ah, editing to say I got the two posters confused. Sorry!

Adam- they are talking about seasonal discount codes that Disney offers to both Annual Pass holders AND the general public. No travel agents involved. But generally, these discounts are bigger than what you'd get from a travel agent anyway. It's just that you'll see the highest discounts during low seasons because logically those discounts are used to fill the resorts. On the holidays, the resort will fill without incentives so Disney really doesn't need to offer any incentive.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

OP - Aside from all of this other discussion, you should be prepared to pay rack rate during Christmas-New Years. It's one of the most crowded times of year (perhaps THE most crowded) and resort demand is high. You may luck out and they have some sort of general public discount (not likely from historical standards), you find a TA deal, you find a third-party discount like Orbitz, etc, but at the end of the day I'd budget for rack rate and anything else is just a bonus.

Yes, rack rate at a place like CR over Christmas is very, very high relatively speaking. You're paying a high premium for convenience, views, etc.

That being said, I love CR! That location over Christmas would be great!

Good luck with your planning. Don't hesitate to ask questions!