AP Discount Watch and FAQ 2023. 10% - 40% off select nights July 11 - Sept 28; Oct 2 - Dec 25

[emmabelle]

Even though I have the Dolphin booked for $100 less, my husband wanted to change to POR. I booked a Royal guest room. hehehe, I'm going to let him be surprised.

 

[Miffy]

We changed our AKL rez. It's still too much, but it's less too much!

Dec 13-21, savanna view = $5,447. (Down from $6,520, which was our previous rez.) Saving $1,070. Nice...although still way way more than we've ever paid to stay there. Here I won't mention that AKL, back in the day, couldn't give the rooms away. I stayed there numerous times, savanna view, for $100/night. Yes, that was Long Ago, when APs cost $400!

 

[vinotinto]

OP updated with latest offer:

Save Up to 25% on Rooms

Eligibility
Passholder must present a valid Walt Disney World Pass at check-in.

Valid Travel Dates
Stay most nights December 12 through December 24, 2021

Disney Deluxe Villas

• Disney’s Riviera Resort – 25%
• Bay Lake Tower at Disney’s Contemporary Resort – 10%
• Disney’s BoardWalk Villas – 10%
• Disney’s Old Key West Resort – 10%

Disney Deluxe Resorts

• Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge – 25%
• Disney’s BoardWalk Inn – 25%
• Disney’s Yacht Club Resort – 25%
• Disney’s Beach Club Resort – 10%
• Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa – 10%

Disney Moderate Resorts

• Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort – 20%
• Disney’s Port Orleans Resort – French Quarter (reopening October 28, 2021) – 20%
• Disney’s Port Orleans Resort – Riverside (reopening October 14, 2021) – 20%
• Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort – 10%
• The Cabins at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort – 10%

Disney Value Resorts

• Disney’s All-Star Movies Resort – 10%
• Disney’s All-Star Music Resort (reopening September 16, 2021) – 10%
• Disney’s All-Star Sports Resort (reopening December 9, 2021) – 10%
• Disney’s Pop Century Resort – 10%
• Disney’s Art of Animation Resort – Family Suites – 15%

Important Details

• Offer excludes the following room types: 3-bedroom villas, campsites and Disney’s Art of Animation Resort – Little Mermaid Standard Rooms.

 

[mickey916]

Interesting no Contemporary tower or garden wing...wonder if it's due to the renovations. No Poly either. Hoping that's not an indication of spring discounts.

 

[emmabelle]

We changed our AKL rez. It's still too much, but it's less too much!

Dec 13-21, savanna view = $5,447. (Down from $6,520, which was our previous rez.) Saving $1,070. Nice...although still way way more than we've ever paid to stay there. Here I won't mention that AKL, back in the day, couldn't give the rooms away. I stayed there numerous times, savanna view, for $100/night. Yes, that was Long Ago, when APs cost $400!

I'd rather stay at YC or BWI over POR but I couldn't bring myself to pay those prices! Plus we have a Disney Dream cruise booked for Feb 22 so I had to keep it reeled in.

 

[jemtx]

No contemporary or poly discounts?? YC and BC different discounts??

 

[grannyminnie]

Well, bummer! A discount to be sure, but sure not what I'm looking for. A tease, but not enough to lure me in...

 

[emmabelle]

YC and BC different discounts??

that happens most of the time with BC and YC. I know because I prefer BC.

 

[vinotinto]

Disney has been discounting *only* certain resorts and certain rooms and certain dates for a while. If it's selling well without a discount, it doesn't get discounted. They are just now making it more public.

 

[cakebaker]

I guess the days of good AP discounts are history. I've seen better rates for the general public.

 

[Welsh_Dragon]

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/special-offers/passholder-december-room-offer/

not sure if this link will work?

Thank you. Sadly I keep being routed to the U.K. site.

 

[Miffy]

If you're thinking of using this discount, do it sooner rather than later. I saw rooms disappearing while I was checking out prices over an hour ago.

 

[emmabelle]

If you're thinking of using this discount, do it sooner rather than later. I saw rooms disappearing while I was checking out prices over an hour ago.

I book something I could be happy with and then stalk the site every day for something better. Otherwise known as having too much time on my hands.

 

[SarahC97]

On the bright side, this makes my decision about staying offsite over Thanksgiving a whole lot easier!

 

[ArielSRL]

Disney has been discounting *only* certain resorts and certain rooms and certain dates for a while. If it's selling well without a discount, it doesn't get discounted. They are just now making it more public.

Exactly this.

 

[Runnsally]

Discount cupboard remains uncharacteristically bare. Is this because?…
a) WDW doesn’t currently need them to fill rooms
b) inventory low from continued closure/staffing issues
c) hubris
d) discounts just around the corner
e) a and b
f) other

 

[FrostyNaples]

Discount cupboard remains uncharacteristically bare. Is this because?…
a) WDW doesn’t currently need them to fill rooms
b) inventory low from continued closure/staffing issues
c) hubris
d) discounts just around the corner
e) a and b
f) other

You can throw a dart anywhere you want. It isn't public knowledge what kinds of decisions they are making these days or their reasoning.

 

[vinotinto]

Discount cupboard remains uncharacteristically bare. Is this because?…
a) WDW doesn’t currently need them to fill rooms
b) inventory low from continued closure/staffing issues
c) hubris
d) discounts just around the corner
e) a and b
f) other

I'll play I think it's a combination of a, b and f.

I'll start with f) other: weaning people off discounts as part of strategy:
Those of us who enthusiastically follow WDW discounts had noticed that over the past few years, discounts had gotten more selective. Meaning, that even if there was a discount advertised for the period, some nights (weekends/holidays) were full price. And you would only know that you were paying full price, if you clicked on the individual nights' rates, otherwise it showed that you had the promo applied, so you may incorrectly think that you had gotten a discount on your 7 night stay, when the discount only applied to 4 of those nights. Discounts were available selectively, only for specific dates, resorts and rooms that they were having difficulty filling. For example, Poly was often quietly excluded, meaning a discounted room would not show, even when there was available full price, while the CBR Pirate Rooms were discounted in abundance.

Add to this that as part of their long-term strategy of "weaning people off discounts" that they had to offer after 9-11. They've been trying to wean people since 2010; that is a decade of trying to wean people off discounts. They've been slowly eroding a bit at the discounts because suddenly not offering any "special offers" would be too drastic. It is considered a good strategy for higher-end products to limit the offers in order to maintain the appeal of the product.

Now, I don't think "F" accounts for everything we are seeing. I don't think the hotel inventory is fully back due to labor shortages. Which means they may not have as many of the rooms that they would normally have difficulty filling. The question is, once labor shortages are a thing of the past, will they continue matching the staffing to the demand, for higher profitability?

And this is where "A: WDW doesn’t currently need them to fill rooms" comes in. There are many guests that this is a one-time special vacation and they are not going to care if they have a discount or not. And many guests have gotten used to booking and assuming the discount will follow. I would love to see their projections on number of rooms kept at full price vs cancelled because of no discount (and the comparison against a higher number of discounted rooms). It's probable that it's worth it for them to lose some bookings for the sake of keeping more at full price.

I do think we'll see discounts pop-up ("D - Discounts will continue"), but they will continue the trend that we've been seeing: only very specific dates, resorts and rooms that are not going to sell well.

In the past, I planned trips when I saw a good discount, which explains why I have not been to WDW since July 2020. I'm always watching closely for new discounts.

 

[SarahC97]

I'll tell you, paying the full rack rate for a room is a hard pill to swallow. We're going this year for our fourth Thanksgiving in a row and this is the first time I am not staying on property. Disney finally did it -- they pushed me, a die-hard Disney bubble believer, off-site. To me, I understand that there is a strategy for Disney as a business to not offer room discounts, but their resort prices are crazy. I assumed all these years as the prices have crept up that they'd continue to offer discounts to make people feel like they're getting a deal when they're still paying an outrageous amount for a room. I am a bit surprised that not even a very limited, small discount was offered in October or November. I know, I know, they obviously didn't need to do that, but I find it surprising nonetheless.

 

[vinotinto]

I'll tell you, paying the full rack rate for a room is a hard pill to swallow. We're going this year for our fourth Thanksgiving in a row and this is the first time I am not staying on property. Disney finally did it -- they pushed me, a die-hard Disney bubble believer, off-site. To me, I understand that there is a strategy for Disney as a business to not offer room discounts, but their resort prices are crazy. I assumed all these years as the prices have crept up that they'd continue to offer discounts to make people feel like they're getting a deal when they're still paying an outrageous amount for a room. I am a bit surprised that not even a very limited, small discount was offered in October or November. I know, I know, they obviously didn't need to do that, but I find it surprising nonetheless.

I looked at resort prices for Thanksgiving (no discount) and December, before Christmas (with discount). The prices for deluxes were crazy absurd. I tell myself, surely people are not going to pay $800/night for a room at AKL (with taxes), that doesn't even include a third bed/sofabed, or breakfast? We're not talking luxury here!