Booking a resort, changing later. HELP!

[Katty4WDW]

Lurked here for a couple of years now (off and on) but was never the one solely in “charge” of making the plans so I never made an account. That being said I’m not new to WDW in the slightest in terms of parks, resorts, etc, just the actual planning and execution.
-Backstory-
My wonderful boyfriend of almost 4 years won at a silent auction 2 one-day park hopper passes.(Don’t know if anyone cares but we only paid $130, I think we got a deal.) This prompted me to begin thinking about the best time to go and to go just for a day (north fla residents) or to make a trip out of it.
I decided a trip was best as I will most likely(read hopefully) be entering nursing school in Spring 2013 and it will be fairly impossible for me to travel during the next two years. Since my bday is in Nov I thought it would be the best time. 
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I want to go down on November 1st(Thursday) and stay until the following Sunday or maybe Monday. I have been a life long fan of the LM and the idea of staying at the new AoA is very enticing. My one small problem is cost. I want everything, the room, 1 more day of park tickets, and the dinning plan. As my mother says I have Champagne taste and a water budget. I don’t mind paying, but I just *need* to get the best deal. If I was to book now and pay the $200 deposit, would that but me out of the running for any deals or discounts like free dinning plan? Or would I be able to cancel the res and re-book with the deal??
I guess I’m just trying to figure out if its possible to change the way you book(perks or promos) without being charged more.

I love planning, but I’m so confused and over whelmed with all the Disney policies. I’m a genius on Carnival Cruises lines, hope to get to that level with WDW.

 

[minnie mum]

If you book a package (room, tickets, dining plan) now and another package discount comes along later that would apply to your resort and room category then you could just phone and ask that the discount be applied to your reservation. They will do this, providing there is still availability. Note that only a certain number of resort rooms will be available for any discount. Once they're booked then that's all she wrote. But you would not have to cancel and rebook in order to apply a package discount.

HOWEVER: if a room only discount comes out that you want to take advantage of, and you already have a package booked, you would have to cancel your current reservation and book a new one. You would not be charged a cancellation fee if you were more than 45 days from checkin.

If you are on a strict budget, then I'd take a second really close look to see if the dining plan would be worth it to you. Many people fine that it is cheaper to pay out of pocket instead. Take a look at some sample menus and figure out what it would cost to eat for a day (cash) and then compare to the cost of the DDP. Maybe it will save you money. Maybe it won't. Depends on your dining preferences.

 

[Katty4WDW]

Thanks Minnie Mum.
Thats great to hear. What if I booked say a 3 night stay but in order to do the free meal plan it has to be a 4 night stay. Can I add another night to an exsisting resi to meet this requirement?

I have considered OOP but I honestly, my BF eats ALOT(3,000+ calories a day) and to try and pay out of pocket with him would be crazy. He also needs to eat frequently. I know even with the sDP we will have out of pocket food cost, even if I "give" him my QS points(take a bite or two of what he gets).

 

[Sue M]

I'm thinking you would be booking room-only now, which requires 1 night deposit, since you already have park tickets for both of you?
If a package with free dining comes out- you can phone and they would have to cancel your room only, refund you the deposit, then re-book you with free dining and you'd have to put down a new $200 deposit. The free dining also requires you to buy park tickets, and sometimes also has a minimum stay involved.

If you have booked a package, and a new package discount comes out, you can just have the new discount applied to your existing Package.

If you want to add on days to your existing park ticket, it's easy to do. I would use it first then maybe on your way out of the park stop by the Customer service and ask to have a day added on. Easy. As long as the ticket you got isn't a special promotional ticket.

Your right! Booking WDW can be very confusing.

 

[Sue M]

yes, you can add 1 day to your existing res, as long as there is availibility.
Same with Promos. You won't be guaranteed being able to get Free Dining at AoL When WDW puts out promos- they only have a certain # of rooms they relegate for promos, and sometimes some resorts are excluded. I think because AoA is so new, and there is a lot of interest in it, WDW excluded it from the latest promo.
When the rooms at your resort are gone for that promo- that's it. You may have to be flexible on your resort.

 

[mickeynut1]

HOWEVER: if a room only discount comes out that you want to take advantage of, and you already have a package booked, you would have to cancel your current reservation and book a new one. You would not be charged a cancellation fee if you were more than 45 days from checkin.

When room only discounts come out, you can add tickets (and DDP, if you want) to that discounted room (making it a package). If you have a package already booked and a room discount is offered, you can have the discount applied to your existing reservation (as long as there is availability for your resort/room type) without having to cancel the package and rebook it as a room only reservation. Keep in mind that the discount will apply to just the room portion and not the tickets (or DDP, if added). Also wanted to add that if a promo is released for your dates, it is up to you to call and check availability and have it applied, as Disney does not automatically apply discounts. Sometimes you have to be flexible with your resort in order to take advantage of a discount as not all resorts/room types are always available.