Confused about AP's and rates..

[IlluminationsUK]

Getting myself all confused now, can one of you knowledgable people kindly answer these for me???!!!???

I want to book two rooms at WL for 1st to 10th December this year, my DP and I are planning on buying AP's for our admission as we intend to come back next year. Obviously we are really hoping for an AP discount for our stay and that's where I am getting confused.

Do I need the AP to book the rooms now or can I book now and then ring and get the discount applied when/if any AP rates come out? Will I need the actual AP to get the discount applied or a voucher? Or, can I get the discount applied and then buy our passes before we check in?

If I ring Disney and buy the two AP's over the phone will they send me vouchers to activate when we get there or will they send me the actual AP?

Basically, Best Rate has me all confused, I realise this has ended now but I'm not sure what the current procedure is! Help!

 

[thunderbug548]

saving- I have all the same questions except I'm already an AP holder.

Karlise

 

[bzzelady]

I can answer a couple of your questions. Best Rate does not exist anymore, so no need to be confused by it ever again!

I called about the AP rates when I first heard about it on one of the other DIS threads in February. I was able to get a courtyard view at the Wilderness Lodge for
June 2-10 for $210/night...a $100 savings per night off the rack rate. At that point, I had the CM put through the purchase request for my AP exchange certificate and booked the room at the AP rate. I was informed by the CM that I will need to have my voucher/pass when I check in. Sometime in the next two months, I will do my husband and daughter's AP certifcate purchases but I only needed the one to reserve the room. AP rates are advertised on the passholder section of the WDW website but the specials appear just as quickly on the AP section of the DIS board.

You can purchase your AP at any time between now and your planned stay. It will become active when you redeem your exchange certificate at the ticket booth and get your permanent pass. For example, I purchased my exchange certificate in February, but I will activate it in June 2006 and it will be good until the end of June 2007.

The safest thing for you to do if you have your heart set on the Wilderness Lodge for those dates is to call WDTC and book it-all you will need to put down is a one night's room rate deposit (being that you want two rooms, you may need to put down a one night's deposit for each room but that I am not certain about). Rooms booked directly with WDTC can be canceled or changed up to five days before the stay with a full refund. Then what you will need to do is watch the DIS or the WDW AP page for announcement of AP discounts, which you can then call WDTC and modify your reservation.

I wish you lots of luck...my mother, daughter, and I will be at WDW December 3-9th (haven't decided which resort yet, but my six year old is leaning towards the Beach Club!).

 

[kathy carleton]

that is correct. You only need one adult AP to get your discount. You can book AP rate as soon as it comes out, and only need the AP upon check-in (in other words, you could purchase the voucher the day you got there and just need to activate the day of check in). CRO does not ask for your AP #, etc at the time of the ressie- simply verifies that you must present a valid AP at time of check in.

I would suggest booking the 2 rooms now, and as soon as AP rates come out for your time frame- call and re-book asap. Understand that it is not just a simple "change", it is a new reservation based upon availability of the AP rate that is available for the time you are travelling... So, watch the boards as time approaches for them to release codes for your time of travel. I would venture to guess it will be mid Fall. You will need to put 1 night deposit per room upon making your ressie. When you re-book, they will simply transfer that deposit to the new reservation.

When you purchase AP, you are buying a voucher that you activate the 1st time you use it. Either via phone, at Disney store, etc... this way it begins when you 1st use it. In other words, i bought mine in Oct, and did not activate until Dec.

Have I answered your questions? I would be surprised if there is not a code for the time of travel that you have stated.

 

[n2mm]

Just remember, you may have to decide what is more important, staying at WL at rack rate, or getting a discount elsewhere. Holding a reservation in no way guarantees you a discount on that room(s). It is luck only. Keeping that in mind you have choosen a busy weekend in December to go, which could determine if you even see a discount at WL. The first weekend of DEcember is the CHristmas parade taping and is very busy with the press and VIPs. Discounts at the WL are one of the hardest to get as that resort fills quickly even at rack rate. I would research a back up resort just in case you need to be flexible. To make things worse during the weekends is that the cast are given their holiday resort discounts (Dec & Jan) at the great rate of 60% off, so often availability becomes even harder (esp. weekends). Good Luck!

 

[IlluminationsUK]

Wow, thanks for all the information, I think I have it straight now!

Just remember, you may have to decide what is more important, staying at WL at rack rate, or getting a discount elsewhere.

Seeing as this is our first trip in 5 years the most important thing is to get to stay at the WL, even if we have to pay rack rate so I will go ahead and book it now and then hope we can get an AP discount and save some money.

Thankyou again for your help!