Book now for January 2022 or wait for discounts?

[zpannell]

I'm in the beginning stages of planning a 10 night stay for two in late January - early February 2022. It's looking like Pop Century is where we'll be staying. Right now, it's about $11/night cheaper on ** vs. the official Disney rack rate.

It doesn't seem like discounts or packages have been released for that timeframe so I'm trying to get an idea about whether it's worth it to wait til that happens (this summer I presume?) or go ahead and book now? My reason for booking in full on ** is to pay in full to meet credit card signup bonuses that'll likely give the two of us free airfare. If I have to cancel that to rebook at a lower price, I'll probably lose out on the credit card signup bonus.

I've never booked a hotel at Disney before so I don't know how things trend. Without knowing what the future holds, what's the best guidance on whether to hold out til later vs. booking now? Thanks for your help.

 

[EmilyGahr]

Here's my opinion - book your stay direct through Disney now. A package (with tickets) is a $200 deposit, fully refundable if you cancel within 30 days. Then when discounts are released, call Disney and apply the discounts. In terms of spending for the credit card bonus, I would buy gift cards! you can save them up and use them towards your room and tickets, food, drinks, etc. This is just what I would do

 

[zpannell]

Here's my opinion - book your stay direct through Disney now. A package (with tickets) is a $200 deposit, fully refundable if you cancel within 30 days. Then when discounts are released, call Disney and apply the discounts. In terms of spending for the credit card bonus, I would buy gift cards! you can save them up and use them towards your room and tickets, food, drinks, etc. This is just what I would do

Good point about the gift cards. I hadn't realized they could be applied to hotels. I'd anticipated I'd be getting tickets through ** as well since they're ~$40 cheaper ($80 total for two people), and I figured I'd be going for a room-only booking. If things come out cheaper through a package then so be it. I wish there was a way to know ahead of time.

 

[Jimsig]

I agree with what the other poster said about the GC's. Even if booking a room only reservation you can book now and if a room discount comes around you can call and apply the discount to the room. Or if a better package deal comes out they can change your reservation to a package For a room only they basically take the equivalent of the average of one nights stay for a deposit.

 

[tzolkin]

Then when discounts are released, call Disney and apply the discounts.

Even if booking a room only reservation you can book now and if a room discount comes around you can call and apply the discount to the room. Or if a better package deal comes out they can change your reservation to a package

Perhaps something has changed, but in my last experience of booking rooms at Disney they do not allow you to "apply a discount" to an existing reservation. Another room would have to be available with the discount for those specific dates and they would book a new reservation and cancel the first one. This could result in either having to book a different category of room, booking multiple reservations to cover the same days, or changing your flights to accommodate.

This was not always the case, but they had changed to this method several years ago. Perhaps someone else can confirm if this is still the policy.

 

[APiratesLifeForMe2]

I would also consider booking with a travel agent. Booking now at least locks you in with a backup plan. I know www.dreamsunlimitedtravel.com will contact you when promotions are released that apply to your stay and get you changed over to a new rate if available. If you also have to cancel it is much easier to have your travel agent do it then deal with the long call times Disney has. Also, if going the gift card route, make sure to save every single gift card after using (even better to register them online as backup). If you need to cancel, they refund to the original form of payment so you will need to keep those cards to be able to use the funds.

Perhaps something has changed, but in my last experience of booking rooms at Disney they do not allow you to "apply a discount" to an existing reservation. Another room would have to be available with the discount for those specific dates and they would book a new reservation and cancel the first one. This could result in either having to book a different category of room, booking multiple reservations to cover the same days, or changing your flights to accommodate.

This was not always the case, but they had changed to this method several years ago. Perhaps someone else can confirm if this is still the policy.

This is my understanding as well. If that resort is booking well, it will usually be excluded from the promotion or only certain room types eligible. This is why some people delay booking until promotions are released. I personally wouldn't chance it unless the only way you would travel is if the discount is released.