Booking without deal & waiting for one question (Aug 2016)

[oceanmarina]

Hi all,

I have never booked a Disney vacation without a deal and had Disney apply the new price afterwards once a deal come out to the general public. (Usually I book a bounceback offer but since the dates won't work for my stay for next summer, so that's out as an option).

Can anyone tell me what to expect with this process and what I need to do to get a deal once one comes out for the public. Does Disney adjust the price for you, is it a big hassle? I went on Mousesavers and looked at the past years deals and release dates. I know I want a deal for mid August 2016. Historically they release the August deals around March and since Disney deals are quarlerly, I need to go August 15th on later in order not to get stuck in the blackout days of a summer deal). I just don't know how this book & hold your breath for a deal process works.

Thanks for any feedback as I have never done this before. I want to book my airfare when it comes out in November to save $$ so i'll be pretty much tied to the dates I choose.

Thanks, Marina

 

[princesswishes]

Im following this as I am planning to book June 2016 and am deciding whether I should book before a discount.

 

[MsThumper]

When the discounts come out, whether or not you are already booked, there has to be room availability for the date, resort and room category that you desire, to get a discount. It's not an "across the board" discount. Not all resorts and room categories are included. Disney offers discounts to fill rooms. If people have the rooms booked ahead of time, they have no reason to discount the rooms. I personally don't book ahead anymore, I wait until the discounts come out because we won't go without a discount. If you know that you want a particular date, resort and room category, and you will go even without a discount, then you might want to go ahead and book before the discount comes out.

If you were already booked when the discount comes out, you used to have to call and get the discount applied, and you still can do that. However with the improvement (????) of MDE and the capability of being able to modify a reservation that you already have, you might not have to call. Recently I was able to save us $10 a night on our upcoming AKL stay when I discovered the AP discount was better than the Florida Resident discount for the same date and room category that we have reserved. I just went into MDE and changed to the lower rate. I will have to admit, I was nervous the entire time that it would get messed up, but it worked out fine.

Hope this helps.

 

[Jadyreen1282]

We did this for September. Booked in March. Waited. FD announced in May and all I had to do was "modify" the booking online. No phone calls or stress. Easy. Do it.

 

[oceanmarina]

We did this for September. Booked in March. Waited. FD announced in May and all I had to do was "modify" the booking online. No phone calls or stress. Easy. Do it.

Thanks! Glad to hear it's not that bad. How did you modify it online?

 

[Jadyreen1282]

I went to my reservation in MDE and clicked "modify". Easy.

 

[mickeynut1]

How did you modify it online?

I just wanted to mention that you might not have the option of modifying online. I know if you book through a TA you won't have the modify option as all changes have to go through the TA, but I have 2 reservations that I booked myself through Disney and I don't have that option on either one. I have read of others not being able to modify online and I don't know why some can and others can't, but I don't have that option on my reservations.

 

[princesscharming]

When you say you can modify online, what does that include? Can you change number of Nights? Dates? Change resorts? Or just adjust for discounts?

 

[Aerinha]

When you say you can modify online, what does that include? Can you change number of Nights? Dates? Change resorts? Or just adjust for discounts?

I was able to change resorts online using modify, but it said I would have to call to change dates or tickets. I only wanted the resort switch so it didn't matter.

 

[angierae]

I booked at Pop. If we get a good enough discount, I'll move up to a mod, but I didn't want to book at the mod and "fill" a room and make it less likely the mod will get a discount. If there's no discount, we'll stay at Pop.

 

[22Tink]

I had a RO reservation, and I was not able to modify online to add the FD. I had to rebook a whole new reservation and cancel the existing one. I don't think you are guaranteed to get the discount simply because you already have a room booked. There has to be availability.

 

[Momto2PrncChrmgs]

I prefer to wait to book if possible, unless I'm set on a very specific resort or room type. The more people that book, the less Disney has to offer any discounts to fill the room. If everybody books in hopes of a discount, there may be no discount given because they are booked.