I should point out that last year the December AP discounts did
not even show up on the calendar 3 months in advance...or 2 months in advance...or one month in advance. The '3 months in advance thing' seems to still apply to certain months but not others, and maybe some years DLR will release some good rates for December and other years they won't. I checked for an AP rate for my December PPH room last year all the way up until the end of November and nothing was showing other than the usual 10% off AP discounted rooms. There was no special 'rate' like there had been in previous years. So if DLR released any, it was
in December. I ended up getting my $163 per night PPH rate through an e-mail PIN code thingy, but not with my AP. The $163 was actually a little bit cheaper than what I had paid for a December room with an AP a couple of years prior.
Also, a couple of years ago there were many of us who were waiting for October AP rates...which did not get released until mid-September!!
I
think (and I could be wrong) that what's happening is that, as DLR grows and becomes much busier during times when it was not previously
as busy, the powers that be are setting more hotel rooms aside for the regular rack rates or for the smaller discounts they advertise on the DLR website.
There seem to be fewer
really great discounts available at the times they used to be available, so my guess is that DLR is holding onto many of those rooms as long as possible to see if people book at the regular rates, and, thus, waiting until the last minute to release AP rates in some cases. The holiday season has gotten more popular than ever before (I suppose I am not helping that issue since I am singlehandedly the main instigator and proponent of holiday trips to DLR on this forum!!
), and therefore, DLR must view more people/larger crowds as more opportunities to book rooms at higher rates.
That time frame that you want to go, emacat,
may have fallen under the 'really great' AP rate time frame in the past - at least some of the days may have been available. I have seen good rates that extended until mid-December-ish, or until the weekend right before Christmas. But now, with all the changes that are happening at the Resort, the increased general hotel rates and the fact that the holidays are so popular it may mean that there are fewer great rates available this year - or if there are, they may not come out until 2 weeks before your trip date!
I've got a special PPH rate of $99 per night that I am using this coming December for my annual DLR Christmas time trip (because the PPH messed up something on my billing last year and they are 'making it up to me'). My friends from Idaho wanted to stay onsite but were not going to do it at the usual, crazy DLR rates. When I told them I had the $99 per night rate, I said, "You'd better come out now and take advantage of my offer to stay with me - the hotel rates ain't never gonna get any cheaper than that from now on!" And they are taking my advice and coming out!
