Cdn Resident promos Feb 2020

[Mollygirl21]

We're going to WDW in Feb 2020 and hoping for a great Cdn resident promo - am I correct that they have offered free dining during that time period in previous years?

Thanks!

 

[dis_guy]

There is no way of knowing what Disney may or may not offer in the future. So just going from memory, discounts for Feb typically come out in late Sept-Oct and the Can Ticket offer has been offered in mid-Nov in the past. You can combine a room discount with the Can ticket offer. Don't recall free dining at that time but there has been the Stay, Play, Dine offer that includes the QSDP, upgradable to the regular DDP. Have a look here for way more detail than can be included in a single post:

https://www.mousesavers.com/historical-information-on-walt-disney-world-resort-discounts/#rack

 

[momof2gr8kids]

They haven't had Free Dining during that time frame for quite a few years. We got it in 2013 with a PIN code, but haven't seen it since then.

As the previous poster mentioned they have the stay play and dine promo then. But, the last stay play and dine included the regular dining plan with moderates and I believe you didn't have to purchase the hopper with the ticket, so it made the price almost the same as the Free Dining promo. (At least for our family of 4 for a moderate resort anyways).

 

[AdamsMum]

We're going to WDW in Feb 2020 and hoping for a great Cdn resident promo - am I correct that they have offered free dining during that time period in previous years?

Thanks!

Me too, Feb 8 -15/20, but I'm not holding my breath with SWGE opening this year. Hoping for some pixie dust though.

 

[dis_guy]

After writing my previous response, I was wondering why we didn't go with the Stay, Play, Dine offer when we went last January. I reviewed our reservation from that trip and it reminded me that the 25% room discount combined with the Canadian Ticket Offer was a better deal for us.

We had also done an exercise where each of us went through the online menus and selected what we would want to eat for a couple of sample days emulating the credits on the dining plan. For the four of us (two adults and our two adult kids) we would not have gotten anything close to the value of the dining plan so we chose not have it. In the end we probably ate less than our sample days, anyway. Having said that, DW and I have had the dining plan in the past and have come out ahead by almost $200, so it's possible. There are plenty of resources online that describe how to get the most out of the DDP. Oh, and remember that all those DDP table service meals require tips that are not included in the plan, that add up rather quickly.

Interestingly enough, after our last trip I did an online survey for Disney that was exclusively about the Canadian Ticket Offer. One of the questions asked was whether the availability of the offer would make the difference between us going or not going on a Disney World trip in the future. Of course, I said it would be a determining factor. I think this shows they are at least thinking about continuing the offer going forward.

 

[CanadianEmily]

Oh boy. I'm a big newbie, planning on a Feb 2020 trip as well. I was planning on getting my room only booking on the 18th when they become available. Should I do this, or should I wait to see if any of these offers come out? If I book a room, and something better becomes available, then I guess I have to cancel and rebook? I've been on some pretty complicated, planning-intensive vacations before, but Disney takes the cake, for sure. I'm almost not excited because it seems so stressful!

 

[momof2gr8kids]

Oh boy. I'm a big newbie, planning on a Feb 2020 trip as well. I was planning on getting my room only booking on the 18th when they become available. Should I do this, or should I wait to see if any of these offers come out? If I book a room, and something better becomes available, then I guess I have to cancel and rebook? I've been on some pretty complicated, planning-intensive vacations before, but Disney takes the cake, for sure. I'm almost not excited because it seems so stressful!

That depends. If you want a certain room type and are willing to pay rack rate, and your dates are set in stone, then go ahead and secure your room. If the only way you are willing to take that room is with a discount then you should probably wait. Yes, you can cancel and rebook when a promo comes out. But Disney releases promos to fill rooms and the promo is only for a limited amount of rooms. So if they see a certain room category or resort is all booked up, there's no need to release a deal for that room. I'm not too picky so I tend to go where the discount is and I'd never pay rack rate just to have a certain resort. But everyone's different. I just think there's a misconception sometimes that if you have a room booked and a discount comes out that you'll automatically get it because you already reserved your room, but that's not the case.

 

[CanadianEmily]

That depends. If you want a certain room type and are willing to pay rack rate, and your dates are set in stone, then go ahead and secure your room. If the only way you are willing to take that room is with a discount then you should probably wait. Yes, you can cancel and rebook when a promo comes out. But Disney releases promos to fill rooms and the promo is only for a limited amount of rooms. So if they see a certain room category or resort is all booked up, there's no need to release a deal for that room. I'm not too picky so I tend to go where the discount is and I'd never pay rack rate just to have a certain resort. But everyone's different. I just think there's a misconception sometimes that if you have a room booked and a discount comes out that you'll automatically get it because you already reserved your room, but that's not the case.

I guess from my point of view, I don't even know whether to be picky because we've never been there. I'm pretty set on staying at Pop Century, but I don't particularly care about what room, though I have some ideas about what we'd prefer in terms of getting a quieter room because my son has trouble sleeping in hotels as it is. Having said that, if a major discount became available at the same resort but for a different room, I wouldn't mind switching. I just don't know how difficult switching would be on my own or if I should be booking through a travel agent and let them handle that. There's also the issue of these discounts not coming out until after the initial dining reservations. I don't know that we'll do any table restaurant dining, but I still want the option to think about it over the next couple months.

 

[momof2gr8kids]

Unless you've got an agent that will be at the computer at 6 or 7 am when the deal comes out to change your reservation, you might be better off booking your own before certain categories get sold out. I'm a bit of a control freak that way. LOL.

Switching on your own is easy. I think you can do it through your disney account now (someone who has done it might chime in) but last time I booked I just booked another room online with the discount, then called a couple of days later when the wait times died down and cancelled my other room and got the deposit back for that.

 

[Starwind]

Oh boy. I'm a big newbie, planning on a Feb 2020 trip as well. I was planning on getting my room only booking on the 18th when they become available. Should I do this, or should I wait to see if any of these offers come out? If I book a room, and something better becomes available, then I guess I have to cancel and rebook? I've been on some pretty complicated, planning-intensive vacations before, but Disney takes the cake, for sure. I'm almost not excited because it seems so stressful!

FYI, room only reservations can be booked 499 days out by phone, and then once they release the actual rates for that year, online. You don't need to wait.

What they do before the new year's rates are released is the reservation is done and deposit taken at the current year's rates and then adjusted up or down once the actual rates are released.

We booked our fall 2019 trip by phone as soon as we were able to at the 499 day mark as we wanted to ensure we had the room type we wanted. While it would be nice not to have to pay rack rate, we booked a resort and room type we would be ok with paying rack rate for if no discounts become available [which we figure is likely with SWGE].

If a room only discount later becomes available and MDE will let you, and there is availability, you can change your reservation to it online [by doing a change/modify reservation NOT//NOT a cancel] or by calling Disney.

Note that just because your resort is included in those with the discount, doesnt mean there will be availability for the dates or room type you want -- they are often very very limited in # of rooms that the discount can apply to. And it is not automatically applied, you have to actively have it applied to your reservation.

If the discount is for a package, then you need to make a new reservation and would then cancel the room only. I recommend making the new reservation first so you know you have it and then cancel the one you no longer need -- you don't want to cancel first and then find there is no availability left at all !

SW

 

[CanadianEmily]

FYI, room only reservations can be booked 499 days out by phone, and then once they release the actual rates for that year, online. You don't need to wait.

What they do before the new year's rates are released is the reservation is done and deposit taken at the current year's rates and then adjusted up or down once the actual rates are released.

We booked our fall 2019 trip by phone as soon as we were able to at the 499 day mark as we wanted to ensure we had the room type we wanted. While it would be nice not to have to pay rack rate, we booked a resort and room type we would be ok with paying rack rate for if no discounts become available [which we figure is likely with SWGE].

If a room only discount later becomes available and MDE will let you, and there is availability, you can change your reservation to it online [by doing a change/modify reservation NOT//NOT a cancel] or by calling Disney.

Note that just because your resort is included in those with the discount, doesnt mean there will be availability for the dates or room type you want -- they are often very very limited in # of rooms that the discount can apply to. And it is not automatically applied, you have to actively have it applied to your reservation.

If the discount is for a package, then you need to make a new reservation and would then cancel the room only. I recommend making the new reservation first so you know you have it and then cancel the one you no longer need -- you don't want to cancel first and then find there is no availability left at all !

SW

Thanks for all this info. I was aware that you could call to make a room reservation. I thought I'd just wait until it was available online, but maybe that's not such a good idea because the rooms might go quickly. Maybe I will call tomorrow. One day before haha. Do you need to already have a Disney account or how do you access it online afterward?

Yes, since I'm getting a value resort regardless, I don't really mind paying rack rate if there are no discounts later. But I had been contemplating booking through one of the third party sites to try to get a bit of a discount. Maybe that's not the best plan though. So complicated!