Book a room now and get a lower rate later?

[Wells Larsen]

Hi all!
I know that this question has been answered before, but I don't think I am searching the right keywords to find my answer.
My trip is approaching 500 days out, so I have plenty of time.
I want to book a retail room as soon as I can because the trip will be planned during December (busy) and so that I can lock in a "reasonable" rate while I can.
Then, I would just search and wait for deals to strike (likely next Summer or Fall).
My question is in regards to how updates are made to a room reservation at Disney Resorts.

Let us suppose that I have a room reservation at a resort where there is no availability for the entire duration of my stay, because one day in the middle of that duration is fully booked.
Then, a deal comes out such that I can save some money.
Which one of these statements would be true of Disney's policy?

Disney will update my reservation such that they will give me the new rate on the entire length of my stay.
OR
Disney will update my reservation such that they will give me the lower rate on the days that are not fully booked
OR
Disney will not update my reservation, but they will cancel and rebook the reservation at the lower rate. This action is able to be performed immediately ensuring that I do not lose availability of the room on the one fully-booked day.
OR
Disney will not update my reservation, but I (or they) may cancel and rebook the reservation at the lower rate as long as I am willing to take the risk that someone else will not book the room while I wait for availability to go back into the room queue (repopulation of the availability queue is undetermined)

Thanks!

 

[KrazeeK120]

Disney will not do anything to your reservation. If you want to make changes or rebook, you have to do that yourself.

ETA-this is why I use a travel agent. They take care of that for me.

 

[KristaZ]

So basically, the way it works is when a deal drops, you can go into your MDE and see if you can apply the deal to your room. This isn't really applying the discount to your room, but seeing if a room in the same category you already booked is available under a discounted rate. Disney essentially sets aside specific rooms for the discount, so you cancelling your non-discounted rate would be unlikely to send that room to the discount rate pool. Here's a few examples of how this could work out.

1. You go into MDE, click the change offer option on your reservation and it says a lower rate is available, and you're able to change it then and there. Yay! You're all set with the discount.
2. You go into MDE, click change offer option and it says no availability. This only means it's not available for all dates. This is where you might need to do some sleuthing on your own and play around with dates to see what comes up. So, for example, if your dates are 12/5 - 12/12, you might start searching around and find that you can get a discounted rate 12/5-12/9 in a standard room, but 12/9-12/12 in a water view room, or maybe not at all. In this case, you can change your dates on your reservation to match what's available, then make another booking for the remainder of the dates (make sure you search for those remaining dates to make sure something is available!). You will end up with separate reservation numbers and if there's a difference in room category, I would expect to have to move rooms. If there's no difference in room category (if say first half of your dates came up as available on the discount and the other half did not), Disney will do their best to keep you in the same room.

 

[Wells Larsen]

Disney will not do anything to your reservation. If you want to make changes or rebook, you have to do that yourself.

ETA-this is why I use a travel agent. They take care of that for me.

Really? Even if you call a reservation specialist? They won't provide any help? That seems odd.

 

[Wells Larsen]

So basically, the way it works is when a deal drops, you can go into your MDE and see if you can apply the deal to your room. This isn't really applying the discount to your room, but seeing if a room in the same category you already booked is available under a discounted rate. Disney essentially sets aside specific rooms for the discount, so you cancelling your non-discounted rate would be unlikely to send that room to the discount rate pool. Here's a few examples of how this could work out.

1. You go into MDE, click the change offer option on your reservation and it says a lower rate is available, and you're able to change it then and there. Yay! You're all set with the discount.
2. You go into MDE, click change offer option and it says no availability. This only means it's not available for all dates. This is where you might need to do some sleuthing on your own and play around with dates to see what comes up. So, for example, if your dates are 12/5 - 12/12, you might start searching around and find that you can get a discounted rate 12/5-12/9 in a standard room, but 12/9-12/12 in a water view room, or maybe not at all. In this case, you can change your dates on your reservation to match what's available, then make another booking for the remainder of the dates (make sure you search for those remaining dates to make sure something is available!). You will end up with separate reservation numbers and if there's a difference in room category, I would expect to have to move rooms. If there's no difference in room category (if say first half of your dates came up as available on the discount and the other half did not), Disney will do their best to keep you in the same room.

Thank you!! That was incredibly informative and helpful!!

 

[lanejudy]

#4:

Disney will not update my reservation, but I (or they) may cancel and rebook the reservation at the lower rate as long as I am willing to take the risk that someone else will not book the room while I wait for availability to go back into the room queue (repopulation of the availability queue is undetermined)

Discounts only have a limited number of rooms for any given discount. If the resort is booked, it is highly unlikely they will put any rooms back into the inventory for a discount.

 

[Mle8308]

Really? Even if you call a reservation specialist? They won't provide any help? That seems odd.

You could call to see if anything is available, but they see the same thing you would. So if you checked your reservation and it showed no rooms available for the discount, calling would not result in anything different. The benefit to calling would be a reservationist could see if the discounted rate is available at another resort, for a different room category, or for part of your stay. You are able to see this, too if you play around in the system. You could have a very lengthy hold time, though it may be easier for them to tell you what is available across property for your dates. If you are going anytime around Christmas and through New Years, don't expect any discounted rates. Book what you want now while there is more availability.

 

[_19disnA]

As I understand how Disney reservations work..................Disney will not AUTOMATICALLY update an existing reservation to a new lower price if some applicable discounts are released. It wasn't clear from your original question if you are asking if these things happen automatically or require some action on your part.

You can certainly call the reservation # if you have an existing reservation and now see some additional discounts being offered to determine if they may apply. Usually the discounts are only applicable to certain room categories and dates. You can also cancel your existing reservation and then add a new reservation to take advantage of a discount being offered. You can still only make reservations for your intended travel dates if there is availability.

 

[lockets]

Wells Larsen - I would not do what you recommend in red above. It very likely wouldn’t work out in your favor and you may end up paying an even higher rate than you already booked if prices went up in general.

Essentially during the sales you can stalk daily or a few times a day to see if your same dates pop up with the sale rates. Book it. And book it fast so you don’t lose it after idling too long online. Then you’ll have a double booking and can cancel your original reservation. That’s how I’ve handled in past w success.

 

[Wells Larsen]

Wells Larsen - I would not do what you recommend in red above. It very likely wouldn’t work out in your favor and you may end up paying an even higher rate than you already booked if prices went up in general.

Essentially during the sales you can stalk daily or a few times a day to see if your same dates pop up with the sale rates. Book it. And book it fast so you don’t lose it after idling too long online. Then you’ll have a double booking and can cancel your original reservation. That’s how I’ve handled in past w success.

Agreed, thanks. Yea, the laid out situations were really just to get a sense of how the Disney system works. I'm a Hilton Diamond and I know that Hilton cannot/will not make changes to existing reservations. You actually have to rebook a new room. Sounds like it's the same with Disney, except maybe with Disney they make you do it yourself even.

 

[danceintherain]

Booking as soon as reservations open up will only guarantee that you'll have a room. Your rate will not be locked in, until rates for your trip are released. Typically, this occurs approximately 6 months before the calendar year begins. So if you book now for November 2024, they will take a deposit based on current room rates, but your rate will be adjusted to whatever is released for those dates during summer 2023.
You CAN rebook if/when a discount is offered, but it may not be offered on your particular dates or room category. They only offer discounts on unfilled rooms, so if they've reached a certain level of capacity for your room category on your dates, then they will not offer a discount on it.

That said, you will be able to book something at a discount, just maybe not your first choice.

 

[Wells Larsen]

Booking as soon as reservations open up will only guarantee that you'll have a room. Your rate will not be locked in, until rates for your trip are released. Typically, this occurs approximately 6 months before the calendar year begins. So if you book now for November 2024, they will take a deposit based on current room rates, but your rate will be adjusted to whatever is released for those dates during summer 2023.
You CAN rebook if/when a discount is offered, but it may not be offered on your particular dates or room category. They only offer discounts on unfilled rooms, so if they've reached a certain level of capacity for your room category on your dates, then they will not offer a discount on it.

That said, you will be able to book something at a discount, just maybe not your first choice.

I actually didn't know you could book before the rates came out. My actual rates will be out next month. I'm going Dec '23.

 

[Eastern]

.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Agreed, thanks. Yea, the laid out situations were really just to get a sense of how the Disney system works. I'm a Hilton Diamond and I know that Hilton cannot/will not make changes to existing reservations. You actually have to rebook a new room. Sounds like it's the same with Disney, except maybe with Disney they make you do it yourself even.

The oddest part to me of booking Walt Disney World discounts is the availability. Disney is very stingy with it. For instance, they might announce 20% off at Beach Club, have rooms available on your dates BUT have 0 availability for rooms at the promo rate. In that case you cannot be rebooked at the promo rate because there are no rooms.

I would book what you’re willing to pay rack rate for, then *if* (closer you get to holidays then less likely a discount is released at all) a discount hits make a new booking.

 

[Wells Larsen]

The oddest part to me of booking Walt Disney World discounts is the availability. Disney is very stingy with it. For instance, they might announce 20% off at Beach Club, have rooms available on your dates BUT have 0 availability for rooms at the promo rate. In that case you cannot be rebooked at the promo rate because there are no rooms.

I would book what you’re willing to pay rack rate for, then *if* (closer you get to holidays then less likely a discount is released at all) a discount hits make a new booking.

I'm with you. Right now, I'm projecting a (retail) booking at Port Orleans - French Quarter (or maybe Riviera if I can find rates in that $300 - $350/night range). That will be my backup.
Then I'm actually going to try and reserve/rent a DVC Reservation for Boardwalk. We'll see how this plays out.

For me the strategy is half the fun.
My wife thinks I should be a travel agent, but I don't like doing it for anyone other than myself.

 

[focusondisney]

So if you book now for November 2024, they will take a deposit based on current room rates, but your rate will be adjusted to whatever is released for those dates during summer 2023.

The OP is looking for December 2023. Online booking started on June 8th. So 2023 rates are already released.

 

[Mle8308]

I'm with you. Right now, I'm projecting a (retail) booking at Port Orleans - French Quarter (or maybe Riviera if I can find rates in that $300 - $350/night range). That will be my backup.
Then I'm actually going to try and reserve/rent a DVC Reservation for Boardwalk. We'll see how this plays out.

For me the strategy is half the fun.
My wife thinks I should be a travel agent, but I don't like doing it for anyone other than myself.

French Quarter is great, I don't think you'll see anything close to $300 - $350 for Riviera, but you never know. It also depends on your dates in December for the likelihood of a discount, you haven't mentioned when you are planning on travelling. If looking to go the point rental route, right before 11 months out start to either look for owners willing to rent points or use a DVC rental site. December is one of the most popular months for DVC, most likely it will be more than $350 per night at BW, even renting points. You could possible get SSR, OKW, or AKL in a studio if there is availability. Won't know until you try!

 

[Wells Larsen]

French Quarter is great, I don't think you'll see anything close to $300 - $350 for Riviera, but you never know. It also depends on your dates in December for the likelihood of a discount, you haven't mentioned when you are planning on travelling. If looking to go the point rental route, right before 11 months out start to either look for owners willing to rent points or use a DVC rental site. December is one of the most popular months for DVC, most likely it will be more than $350 per night at BW, even renting points. You could possible get SSR, OKW, or AKL in a studio if there is availability. Won't know until you try!

I think $350-ish for BWV is somewhat legit.
Even according to dvcrequest.com, a Preferred View at BWV over my dates is $4140 (11 days). That's 180 points at $23/pt. If I find a owner willing to rent on here, it will likely be less.

 

[Mousetopia]

Hi all!
I know that this question has been answered before, but I don't think I am searching the right keywords to find my answer.
My trip is approaching 500 days out, so I have plenty of time.
I want to book a retail room as soon as I can because the trip will be planned during December (busy) and so that I can lock in a "reasonable" rate while I can.
Then, I would just search and wait for deals to strike (likely next Summer or Fall).
My question is in regards to how updates are made to a room reservation at Disney Resorts.

Let us suppose that I have a room reservation at a resort where there is no availability for the entire duration of my stay, because one day in the middle of that duration is fully booked.
Then, a deal comes out such that I can save some money.
Which one of these statements would be true of Disney's policy?

Disney will update my reservation such that they will give me the new rate on the entire length of my stay.
OR
Disney will update my reservation such that they will give me the lower rate on the days that are not fully booked
OR
Disney will not update my reservation, but they will cancel and rebook the reservation at the lower rate. This action is able to be performed immediately ensuring that I do not lose availability of the room on the one fully-booked day.
OR
Disney will not update my reservation, but I (or they) may cancel and rebook the reservation at the lower rate as long as I am willing to take the risk that someone else will not book the room while I wait for availability to go back into the room queue (repopulation of the availability queue is undetermined)

Thanks!

I simply call disney. Too complicated through the app. They look, see if resv. qualifies..and change accordingly. They have always moved my deposit if needed and really no hassle or anything to figure out. Ive done this for years..

 

[KrazeeK120]

Really? Even if you call a reservation specialist? They won't provide any help? That seems odd.

You could call, but they can’t do anything you can’t do yourself online. Disney’s phone wait times can get rather lengthy…in my opinion, it’s not worthwhile to call when you can take care of it on your own. They won’t automatically do anything for you.