AP Hotel Price Vent

[pfishgirl]

Hi all... I needed to Vent a little.. I hope you don't mind..

We have had AP's for several years and we have Never been able to use the special "AP" rate on a Hotel yet because of Scheduling at AP Dates..

WELL... I was soooooooooo excited because our trip This year Falls on Disney's AP's Rates.. We have 5 rooms booked at Pop Cent. soooo here I am all excited my Hotel price would go from $99 to $79 per room..

Ok so My Travel Agent friend called Disney and she told them we have APs and want to apply them to our 5 reserved rooms... Well Guess What???

NO DISCOUNTS!!!!!! Why?? I'm glad you asked...
Apparently since we all have the Dining Plan we are NOT entitled to an AP discount on the Hotel.....


Well.. isn't THAT just a Slap in the Face..

 

[hlbtimes2]

Sorry, but it makes sense to me. The dinning plan is part of a package deal. Typically a/p rates are for room only reservations, not packages.

 

[Beth76]

Yep. When I went to book our trip last year (we didn't end up going), I had to decide between the free dining and the AAA rate. I even checked the price for AP rates. You only get one discount. Sorry you were disappointed.

 

[agnes!]

I think there are some possibilities for this situation.

1) drop the Dining Plan, but buy DDE(Disney Dining Experience) membership instead. Use your APs to get the reduced room rate. you might end up actually spending less! Run some figures per MouseSavers, do what works best for your group. We like the flexibility of the DDE(20% off food & drink) and having APs.

2) Keep the DDP(Disney Dining Plan) but only get one-day/non-expiring park admission tickets per person, not MYW only good for your stay. Save these tickets for later use, use your APs for park admission. I haven't used this method yet(like the DDE too much), but I know other DIS'ers have. I think MouseSavers mentions it?...

agnes!

 

[pfishgirl]

oh yea... AND.... what else just Gets Me.... is ...
EVEN Though we HAVE APs already... we are STILL Required to EACH pay for a 1 Day Pass into the Parks.... they can NOT be used for other guests AND they expire!!!!!!


grrrrrrrrrrr


if I wasn't going with 20 other people... I would of canceled the whole trip and started over....

 

[DisneyMommyMichelle]

Why don't you lose the dining as someone else reccomended.

It makes sense. You can only get one discount. It's either Dining or AP discount. Many people with APs are doing it. If you want to keep the dining plan then get the non-expiring put on the ticket so you don't lose it.

 

[DVCLiz]

Are you going during Free Dining? If so, you knew in advance what the rules were, rack rate on rooms and at least one day's admission. I am sorry you can't use your other discounts, but Free Dining was designed to get people to come to WDW and pay rack rate for rooms and buy admission during a hurricane-prone season. Otherwise it wouldn't make sense.

Hope you have a nice trip anyway!!!

 

[pfishgirl]

Are you going during Free Dining? If so, you knew in advance what the rules were, rack rate on rooms and at least one day's admission. I am sorry you can't use your other discounts, but Free Dining was designed to get people to come to WDW and pay rack rate for rooms and buy admission during a hurricane-prone season. Otherwise it wouldn't make sense.

Hope you have a nice trip anyway!!!

no.. we have the disney dinning plan.. 2 meals and 1 snack per day.. so No we were not told in advance of rules like that with other discounts.. i had never even heard of the Free Dining plan til just now..

 

[pfishgirl]

Why don't you lose the dining as someone else reccomended.

It makes sense. You can only get one discount. It's either Dining or AP discount. Many people with APs are doing it. If you want to keep the dining plan then get the non-expiring put on the ticket so you don't lose it.

Can we make the passes Non expiring???


oh and the whole reason we got the dining plan was because we were trying to save a Family of 8 (mom, dad, 2-12, 10, 9, 6, 5 .. year olds ) save some money on their meals..

plus... we have several character meals planned.. which would be more expensive to pay individually then with the plan..

 

[Topper]

no.. we have the disney dinning plan.. 2 meals and 1 snack per day.. so No we were not told in advance of rules...

i have never even heard of the Free Dining plan..

Sounds like your TA friend isn't very well versed in Disney Travel. Had you done a modicum of research here on the DIS Boards you could have been better informed before you booked/purchased anything.

 

[plutolovr]

The one-day passes won't expire unless you activate them. Just don't use them, and they won't expire. You can also have them applied to the future cost of an AP renewal.

 

[Topper]

Disney will want to put the one-day tickets on your room key. You can have them give you a paper ticket instead which you can then use yourself or give away, and as the PP mentioned, the countdown clock on expiring begins once the ticket has been run thru a turnstile.

 

[cherylp3]

You could add the no expiration to your passes and then when your AP runs out upgrade the pass to an AP

 

[pfishgirl]

Disney will want to put the one-day tickets on your room key. You can have them give you a paper ticket instead which you can then use yourself or give away, and as the PP mentioned, the countdown clock on expiring begins once the ticket has been run thru a turnstile.

well i was told by a Disney World CM that they are Non Transferable.. our names are going to be on them and you need to show ID to use them..

 

[pfishgirl]

The one-day passes won't expire unless you activate them. Just don't use them, and they won't expire. You can also have them applied to the future cost of an AP renewal.

My TA did tell us that they could be used towards a purchase of our AP renewal.. however not this year.. we need to wait til next August (the AP anniversary date) to apply the 1 day ticket to the AP purchase..

have you done this before? what do i need to do to apply it??

 

[Topper]

From the Restaurant Forum:

Disney Dining Plan FAQ

Important Information Regarding the Disney Dining Plan

 

[Topper]

well i was told by a Disney World CM that they are Non Transferable.. our names are going to be on them and you need to show ID to use them..

The CM would be correct as they would be on your room key card which would have your name on it, hence my telling you to have the tickets taken off the room key. Once they are off the room key, they will be issued on paper/mylar stock with no names on them.

 

[pfishgirl]

Sounds like your TA friend isn't very well versed in Disney Travel. Had you done a modicum of research here on the DIS Boards you could have been better informed before you booked/purchased anything.

umm actually This IS where I found out about the Dining Plan.. so I did do Research here.. People here on Dis were the ones that told me it would work out to an advantage since we have a large group.. I did the math and it was cheaper to do the dining plan...

our package isn't a complete full package it is just Room and Dining.. no airfare and no 9 day admission tickets (since we have APs) well except for the 1 day required purchase of a admission ticket if we are going to use the dining plan..

 

[GoodFairies]

umm actually This IS where I found out about the Dining Plan.. so I did do Research here.. People here on Dis were the ones that told me it would work out to an advantage since we have a large group.. I did the math and it was cheaper to do the dining plan...

our package isn't a full package it is just Room and Dining.. no plane.. no WDW tickets.. well except for the 1 day required purchase of a admission ticket if we are going to use the dining plan..

Room, dining, and minimum one day ticket for everyone in room IS a package. Unless one is a DVC member staying at a DVC resort on points, the only way the dining plan is available is by booking a package, no exceptions. AP discounts have always been for room-only. As others have said, do not activate your one day ticket and it will be good to use at a later date or towards the purchase of your next AP.

The dining plan should not really have anything to do with the number of people you have. You need to factor in normal eating habits and costs to determine if the dining plan is right for your group.

 

[pfishgirl]

Room, dining, and minimum one day ticket for everyone in room IS a package. Unless one is a DVC member staying at a DVC resort on points, the only way the dining plan is available is by booking a package, no exceptions. AP discounts have always been for room-only. As others have said, do not activate your one day ticket and it will be good to use at a later date or towards the purchase of your next AP.

The dining plan should not really have anything to do with the number of people you have. You need to factor in normal eating habits and costs to determine if the dining plan is right for your group.

sooo a Package does Not include airfare??? hmm I always thought a Full Package was Airfare/Room/WDWTickets.. well looks like I learned something new today...

as far as the 1 day Tickets.. Yes.. I Get It .. thanks.. I know what I need to ask for when we get there.. I never asked the CM or my TA if we could do that because I have never heard of it before until the previous posters told me..

for dining.. like i said previously.. i did the math for our group and the dining plan would be saving the party of 8 in our group the most money.. so we all went with it.. we are groups of 8, 4, 4, 3.. the 2 others are with us but have done their own thing..