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

[SwanVT2]

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!

How about checking out the swan and dolphin?

 

[_auroraborealis_]

1. There are agencies who offer deep discounts on Disney. They're essentially wholesalers. Disney know they do this and are okay with it. To say they don't exist is not correct.

2. The oft-repeated "just rent DVC points!" suggestion is not a good one here. Renting for Christmas 2018? Sure. Renting for Christmas 2017, starting today? Much weaker. David's and other rental agencies just raised their rates because of demand. David's is not taking any additional Poly requests through year-end because they simply cannot get the home resort points to meet them. Many resorts and room types are already gone, and the agencies have long wait lists of people waiting for points for what's left. DVC rental is often presented as this easy approach, and while Christmas is still in home resort... availability is not very good.

 

[msjprincess]

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

You're wrong about that. Three years ago I paid $160 a night at the Yacht Club. This summer I'm paying under $300 a night at the GF, rack rate is over $650.

I have no idea what's possible at the Four Seasons. I'm referring to Disney resorts.

 

[deedubb]

Thanks everyone. I've decided to stay on-site due to concerns about not getting FP+ at what might be the busiest time of the year. Despite the convenience of Contemporary for MK where we will likely spend 3 days, I can't justify the cost for a small room with 2 beds. Thinking about a family suite at Art of Animation since they have 3 beds and 2 washrooms. Not cheap as they will still cost about $700 Canadian/night, but it will be a totally new experience for us. Hopefully we'll love it!

 

[AngiTN]

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

What they do at Four Seasons, Mandarin, etc have no bearing on what they do at Disney resorts. Not sure why you are comparing them.
As for deep discounts. You are just wrong. They can be had. PP have given several examples on how to find them.

 

[AngiTN]

Thanks everyone. I've decided to stay on-site due to concerns about not getting FP+ at what might be the busiest time of the year. Despite the convenience of Contemporary for MK where we will likely spend 3 days, I can't justify the cost for a small room with 2 beds. Thinking about a family suite at Art of Animation since they have 3 beds and 2 washrooms. Not cheap as they will still cost about $700 Canadian/night, but it will be a totally new experience for us. Hopefully we'll love it!

Just watch for discounts, depending on when you check in, you may still be able to get one, for at least some of the days, all if you have a package. Hard to know anything for sure till the discounts are released but don't assume you'll get nothing, yet.

 

[Farro]

Welp, we so far are booked rack rate in October at Polynesian. No discounts have been released yet - and quite frankly even when they are released, for some reason when I call they are always gone!

There was a discount at that time-frame through a travel agent, but for various reasons we decided not to use them - nothing bad, just our own preferences.

We were already prepared to pay rack rate, so if we can get a discount, it will just be a bonus. I never find actually applying a discount as easy as some say it is. Our room rate was average $474 a night I think - standard view. We added hoppers, dining plan.

WDW is expensive, flat out. Good luck OP!

 

[MMR76]

Have you checked Orbitz? We got a great rate on a garden wing room at CR in May. You can link to your MDE and get the same benefits you get if you book through WDW.

 

[Babsy]

Thanks everyone. I've decided to stay on-site due to concerns about not getting FP+ at what might be the busiest time of the year. Despite the convenience of Contemporary for MK where we will likely spend 3 days, I can't justify the cost for a small room with 2 beds. Thinking about a family suite at Art of Animation since they have 3 beds and 2 washrooms. Not cheap as they will still cost about $700 Canadian/night, but it will be a totally new experience for us. Hopefully we'll love it!

AoA has a wonderful theme and does have the two rooms and two bathrooms plus a small kitchenette, which is very nice. I believe that the suites would be about 520 sq ft total (the size of two regular value rooms). FYI: The CR rooms are not really all that small. IIRC, They are well over 400 sq ft (I forget exactly). There are two real queen beds and a comfortable daybed. The toilet is in a separate room from the tub and two sinks, which we find very convenient. Plus there is the balcony in the tower rooms or patio on the ground floor garden view rooms. Even on the garden view 2nd and 3rd floors (where there is no balcony), there is a sliding glass door and a rail so that you can open it to the fresh air and look upon the gorgeous views. The CR location alone is worth a premium price, IMO.

I would keep looking for a discount, but book AoA as a fallback in case no discounts become available. If a discount does become available for your dates, you can always call CRO to upgrade.

Mean while, you are right! The AoA suites are pretty awesome. I do believe that you will love the over the top Disney theming. The food court is a pretty good one, again IMO. Plus you can walk over to POP century (just across the generation Gap bridge) to check out that resort as well.

(I hope that the CDN $$$ improves soon!)

have a great trip!!

 

[HopperFan]

Only time in over 20 years I have paid full price was this NYE, one night, as I wanted a Designated Disney Bus Driver and express lane out of park. If there is no discount for my time, I stay offsite or change my dates.

If you are set on Christmas week, you will be probably be paying the crazy holiday rack rates.

 

[danikoski]

Make sure to log into My Disney Experience on the WDW webpage and search for your dates. Sometimes, not always, but sometimes, when dates get closer, get an email with a pin code, which can be a package deal or room only deal. Often they are 5-10% more off then what's available to the general public. My mom and I were able to stay at WL for $215/night in February.
Christmas will be difficult, though. From personal experience, Christmas season is special at MK, not just Christmas Day. And I absolutely loved Mickey's Very Merry Christmas party. If you are looking to experience the Christmas season at Magic Kingdom, you can do that anytime from mid November to Christmas. The resorts are decorated from around Thanksgiving to a bit after Christmas. So maybe that'd be an option instead of going to MK on Christmas Day when the park may very well be at capacity.

 

[thaggie1]

I booked a trip with this TA for early August and saved over $2K off booking with Disney directly. We are staying 7 nights at the POLY CL. My reservation and park hoppers show up on MDE and I received an email from DSS (formerly IPO) offering assistance in dining or show reservations. The TA is completely legit so to say they don't exist is FALSE!

However, at Christmas timeframe I think it will be very, very hard to get a great deal.

 

[MillauFr]

and what do you mean by deluxe ?

I stayed at the Poly back in August 2014. Disney was charging $442 per night for rooms. The travel agent that many of us on Disboards use was charging $189 per night. They simply can't be beat.

 

[buzznina]

I want to hear more about these TAs who offer deeply discounted rooms......I haven't done better than 35% off ever and usually it's closer to 25%...

Sorry, but we aren't allowed to name these names here. If it's any consolation, they have never worked out for us.

Talking about these particular TA's is banned on the DIS.

Do a search on Google and you will most likely be able to find them.

Plus; I can say that even their discounts have fallen over the last couple of years. 4 years ago, I was getting close to 50+%, and now each year it seems to get smaller When you add in the resort increases over those years and now with less % off, we have pretty much written off the deluxe resorts. For us, there is no way we think they are worth it, unless they are $300 or under, and then it depends on what a Mod would cost. We just got back from our spring break trip and their discount was only slightly better then WDW, but we still saved some $$

 

[marcyleecorgan]

Of course people pay the prices that Disney asks. We don't LIKE to but we do!

 

[msjprincess]

The best deal through that agency is for Deluxe resorts late August/early September. That's when you can get a room and tickets for approximately 50% off.

ETA
My sister got a quote from them for a 10 night split stay between Polynesian and BC. The quotes was $3880 for her family including tickets. Rack rate package for those dates is $6782.

 

[Farro]

So question for the people who NEVER pay rack rate- what's your secret? Anytime a discount has come out, I've called day of and I'm told my category or hotel is already sold out. Even when I get a pin - I call, same thing. Are you switching hotels or something?

 

[msjprincess]

So question for the people who NEVER pay rack rate- what's your secret? Anytime a discount has come out, I've called day of and I'm told my category or hotel is already sold out. Even when I get a pin - I call, same thing. Are you switching hotels or something?

I don't know, maybe it depends on when you are going. I only recall one time where I had to switch hotels because the discount wasn't available. We've been going regularly for 17 years and I've never gone without a discount.

 

[Farro]

October, always. I can't figure out what I'm doing wrong...

 

[msjprincess]

October, always. I can't figure out what I'm doing wrong...

I think it helps that we're pretty flexible if we have to move a trip by a few days here or there.