Booking Room While Hoping for Discount?

[tartemis]

I am hoping that y'all can help me with a question.

We plan to take a Disney vacation in Feb/Mar. 2011. I looked on the Feb/March 2011 Pin Code Watch threads, and it looks like a lot of folks book their room for the week that they want to go and then "hope" that a discount is offered.

How does that work? And what is the benefit? In other words, do folks do this to ensure availability for their chosen resorts? If you have a room booked and a discount comes out, can you call up and "re-book" your room at the discount rate without risking losing your reservation.

I'm really hoping for the 4/3 deal to be offered again this year, but I'm wondering if there is an advantage to going ahead and booking the resort/room type I want now to "reserve" my spot.

If anybody can explain this to me, I would be very grateful -- clearly I'm totally confused about this.

Thanks!

 

[smidgy]

when disney had a discount, they then set aside blocks of rooms for that discount. haveing an existing reservation at a specific resort does not guarantee you a room at that resort for that particular discount.
people have been under that misnomer because people have had an existing reservation and when a discount came out, were able to switch it to the discount price. they were only able to do that because there were rooms still available in the block of rooms set aside for that particular discount. (they basically were making a new reservation, even though the res. number remained the same)
it is very possible to have a reservation at, say pop century, and then a discount comes out (say, the buy 4 get 3). and if you aren't quick enough, have all the rooms at that resort FOR THAT discount booked already.

 

[smidgy]

ps. in actuality, by booking it ahead of the discount, you are limiting the amount of rooms allocated for that discount. (they look and see how many rooms they need to fill).
of course, this doesn't happen very often, becuase the poeple who do this are ususally looking day to day for that discount, and catch it right away anyway.

 

[sndral]

I think Disney allocates a certain number of rooms in each resort as available for a particular discount. If someone has a full price room and discounts are announced they can only get the discounted room/package if there are designated discounted rooms still available for booking. So it is not an automatic thing to switch from full price to the discount.
The most important thing is to book the second the discount is announced to get what you want. BTW the 4/3 deal for 11/2009 - 3/2010 became available 9/28/09. The 1/2009-6/2009 4/3 became available 11/6/08. I don't think they've ever offered free dinning in the winter before as they are for 2011, so I'm not sure we'll see 4/3 again.

 

[iwanttogoback]

I booked our WDW trip back in Feburary for November. I booked 3 rooms (12 of us) with park tickets and DDP. I booked at full price but was secretly hoping for a good fall discount to become available. I mentioned this to CM when booking and was told if and when a better discount was released to call back and it would be no problem in switching to the current promotion.
Well, I waited patiently all the while watching disboards everyday. And then it happened! Free Dining was released for my dates!! Called and CM changed all of our reservations to FD and saved our party of 12 over 3000 dollars. I called on the very first day it was released and had no problem at all changing over.

 

[tartemis]

when disney had a discount, they then set aside blocks of rooms for that discount. haveing an existing reservation at a specific resort does not guarantee you a room at that resort for that particular discount.
people have been under that misnomer because people have had an existing reservation and when a discount came out, were able to switch it to the discount price. they were only able to do that because there were rooms still available in the block of rooms set aside for that particular discount. (they basically were making a new reservation, even though the res. number remained the same)
it is very possible to have a reservation at, say pop century, and then a discount comes out (say, the buy 4 get 3). and if you aren't quick enough, have all the rooms at that resort FOR THAT discount booked already.

So it sounds like there would be no advantage to me by booking ahead of the discount that I want. Correct?

 

[tartemis]

I think Disney allocates a certain number of rooms in each resort as available for a particular discount. If someone has a full price room and discounts are announced they can only get the discounted room/package if there are designated discounted rooms still available for booking. So it is not an automatic thing to switch from full price to the discount.
The most important thing is to book the second the discount is announced to get what you want. BTW the 4/3 deal for 11/2009 - 3/2010 became available 9/28/09. The 1/2009-6/2009 4/3 became available 11/6/08. I don't think they've ever offered free dinning in the winter before as they are for 2011, so I'm not sure we'll see 4/3 again.

Interesting. Have they already extended free dining into February/March 2011? I must have missed that.

BTW, I have no interest in the dining plan or "free" dining - I think it is the direct cause in a serious decline in food choices and quality at Disney. I actually avoid all non signature TS now (except for a couple of buffets) because I think the food is so horrible. And even eating at signature restaurants it is still "cheaper" than "free" dinning because we don't eat 3 square meals a day.

 

[Diz Kids]

So it sounds like there would be no advantage to me by booking ahead of the discount that I want. Correct?

No, at this time there wouldn't really be an advantage to booking, unless you have a resort you absolutely want and would pay for even without a discount. Some people will also book early so they can get their dining reservations at the 180 days from the start of their vacation as a resort guest.

 

[Missytara]

I always go ahead and book my trip and then am pleased when I can get a discount.

Honestly, I don't base my ability/non-ability to go hoping I will get some kind of deal; I am happy when I do. Quite frankly, until I got on these boards, I didn't know what a discount was.

And I would dare say if the economy keeps slowly coming back, you will not see the 4/3 deal for a long time to come; I think that is one of those deep discounts we may never see again.

 

[clanmcculloch]

The only reason I've done it is to be able to book ADRs with the +10. Back when ADRs were still at 90 days, having that +10 was a huge deal. For my upcoming President's Day week trip, we've already passed the 180 days so it doesn't matter for ADRs. I've already started booking my ADRs but I haven't booked my hotel yet.

 

[aubriee]

The only reason I've done it is to be able to book ADRs with the +10. Back when ADRs were still at 90 days, having that +10 was a huge deal. For my upcoming President's Day week trip, we've already passed the 180 days so it doesn't matter for ADRs. I've already started booking my ADRs but I haven't booked my hotel yet.

This is also why I do it. I know I'll be going every May, Sept/Oct, and Dec, so have no problem booking ahead of time. I like being able to pay it off sooner and having the ability to book my ADRs with 180+10. Since I have an AP, I know I usually get 35%-45% off my room, so will pay all but about 40%. When discounts come out, I'll usually owe very little or may even get some back. I like knowing I have everything paid in advance. My upcoming trips for Oct and Dec have been paid off since early summer and when the AP discounts came out, I received money back on both and used it to upgrade to the DxDDP for my Dec trip. I don't have to worry about having my reservations paid off at the 45 day mark or having something happen where I might need the money at the last minute and be running short. For my May trip I'll be making ADRs Nov 1st, so need a room reservation in order to use the 180+10.