Booking Before an Offer is Available

[cariann77]

We are doing a cruise the second week of May 2017. We want to visit the parks for a few days prior. We have traveled to WDW in May twice and it is always within the spring discount offer. I am pretty sure that I read, if I book now I can get the offer applied later when it becomes available. Can anyone confirm this or have you successfully done this? I want to make sure that I am able to book our dining at the 180-day mark and don't think this will be an option if I wait for the offer to be announced.

 

[Hopefully]

If you book a room before the offer is available you limit the likelihood of the discount being offered at your chosen resort. The discounts are offered to fill rooms. If the rooms are adequately booked, the offer will not be extended to that resort.
That said, if you want to book ahead, you will be able to call and have the discount applied, if available, to your room if there is an opening for you dates, resort, and room type. If there is no availability when you call, you will not be able to apply the discount, even if you have a room booked. It is not a guarantee

 

[Mousemommy1]

I personally do not book a resort until I have a price that I am fine with paying.

We are planning on staying at the Poly next summer, but I haven't booked yet, because there is no way in Hades I'm paying the full price.

Once a rate comes out that I'm happy with, I will book.

Plus, as the PP stated, if the resorts are booked at full price, there is ZERO incentive to offer discounts to fill those rooms. I really wish people under stood this concept better.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

My advice, if you know you are going regardless of a discount, book a resort and room category you are happy and is within your budget now so you can start your planning. When the discounts are released, check online to see what is available under the discount for your dates and re-book or modify from there. As others have said, you cannot simply apply a discount to a reservation when the discounts are released. Only a certain amount of rooms are released into the discount inventory and it fluctuates depending on dates. Only the rooms in that discount inventory are eligible for the discount and there is no guarantee your resort and room category will be included.

 

[cariann77]

Thanks, that helped a lot! I have read bits and pieces about doing this, but never fully understood if this was a good idea or not. I think I'll wait until the deal is released.

 

[KrazeeK120]

I personally do not book a resort until I have a price that I am fine with paying.

We are planning on staying at the Poly next summer, but I haven't booked yet, because there is no way in Hades I'm paying the full price.

Once a rate comes out that I'm happy with, I will book.

Plus, as the PP stated, if the resorts are booked at full price, there is ZERO incentive to offer discounts to fill those rooms. I really wish people under stood this concept better.

One issue is that the discounts are often announced less than 180 days out, which affects ADR booking.

I went ahead and booked a May 2017 trip because standard rooms at CSR ended up being unavailable the week I wanted to go, and I was nervous I'd miss an opportunity to book a standard room altogether, so I booked for the following week. I've checked several times since I booked, and availability for standard rooms has come and gone for both weeks, so I'm not sure what's going on. I'm comfortable with the rack rate price, but if a discount can be applied later, I'll consider it a bonus. And, I'll get to make my ADRs at 180+5 (the length of my trip).

 

[georgina]

We are doing a cruise the second week of May 2017. We want to visit the parks for a few days prior. We have traveled to WDW in May twice and it is always within the spring discount offer. I am pretty sure that I read, if I book now I can get the offer applied later when it becomes available. Can anyone confirm this or have you successfully done this? I want to make sure that I am able to book our dining at the 180-day mark and don't think this will be an option if I wait for the offer to be announced.

I just modified my reservation online for November to incorporate the discount that was released yesterday, so yes, you can, only IF the discount is available for the room and dates you want. There are lots of unhappy people on the Nov/Dec discount code thread.

You do know that you can book your ADRs at 180 days out even without a reservation? If you have a cruise date and know what days you will be there, go ahead and make ADRs. You will have to book each day separately at 180 days though.

I always book my room at a place and rate I am comfortable with while I wait for discounts. I am not willing to not book a room just so there might be availability for discounts later, there is a chance that things will get booked up (as in this latest late fall discount) and what I want won't be available. So while I 'understand the concept' that empty resorts lead to discounts, I am not willing to risk my vacation on that.

 

[BabyFu18]

I don't book a room until a price that I'm actually willing to pay is available, I won't book rack rate if I know in my heart I'll never pay that price and I'm holding out for a discount. If a rate is available and I'm okay paying (and will still pay it even if a discount never comes) then I'll book it, if a discount comes out later that can be applied to my booking that's icing on the cake. So basically I suggest booking now if you are willing to pay the current price of the reservation, if not, then wait closer and see if some discounts come out then book your reservation.

 

[Jadyreen1282]

We book our ADR's 180 days out when we think we are going if we don't have a BB booked.

 

[EagleG17]

If you book a room before the offer is available you limit the likelihood of the discount being offered at your chosen resort. The discounts are offered to fill rooms. If the rooms are adequately booked, the offer will not be extended to that resort.
That said, if you want to book ahead, you will be able to call and have the discount applied, if available, to your room if there is an opening for you dates, resort, and room type. If there is no availability when you call, you will not be able to apply the discount, even if you have a room booked. It is not a guarantee

I am not so sure I agree with this. I believe this is simple business practices. The upper levels of Disney are smart enough to realize that people do this exact thing (people book in advance hoping for discount). If discounts aren't applied, people will simply just cancel their reservations and Disney fully realizes this. Supply & Demand will determine discounts allowed, and I'm sure they attempted this before even with rooms "booked near capacity" only to find cancellations if discounts weren't given out. This goes beyond early bookings and existing reservations.

 

[dansdad]

I am not so sure I agree with this. I believe this is simple business practices. The upper levels of Disney are smart enough to realize that people do this exact thing (people book in advance hoping for discount). If discounts aren't applied, people will simply just cancel their reservations and Disney fully realizes this. Supply & Demand will determine discounts allowed, and I'm sure they attempted this before even with rooms "booked near capacity" only to find cancellations if discounts weren't given out. This goes beyond early bookings and existing reservations.

Each resort runs the numbers as to how many rooms are already booked then decides how many rooms, if any, to add to a discount. If they are already booked at their target number, that resort will not add any rooms to the discount when it's released. If people start cancelling in huge numbers, the resort might add rooms to the discount later or add more rooms. But it is a fact that having a room booked at rack rate does lessen the chances of that room being eligible for a discount.

 

[EagleG17]

Each resort runs the numbers as to how many rooms are already booked then decides how many rooms, if any, to add to a discount. If they are already booked at their target number, that resort will not add any rooms to the discount when it's released. If people start cancelling in huge numbers, the resort might add rooms to the discount later or add more rooms. But it is a fact that having a room booked at rack rate does lessen the chances of that room being eligible for a discount.

I don't see the relevance with rooms booked in advance at rack rate with the actual end result of stays.