First time staying on property in 8+ years - Help please!

[spiderann]

DH and I are planning to take his 16 year old niece in June 2019 and stay on property for the first time since Sept. 2011. (The last 3 times we have gone since we stayed off property.) I am well aware of booking ADRs 180 days out as I've done that a number of times. But here's my dilemma about when to book the resort...I'm planning to stay at Pop, but I know that traditionally they have released discounts for Pop around January 1st.

What's the best way to handle booking my trip? Do I book it now and can just pay a deposit and wait for the discounts to be released in January and update my trip? I'm afraid to book too early/too late. Unless somehow there's free dining released, I'm not planning to get the dining plan as it wouldn't be cost-effective for where we plan to eat. So I know a room-only discount would work for us and I could add in tickets later (I think I can do that?) Could someone who has done this explain it to me please. It's so confusing lol.

Side note, I'm hoping the Skyway will be open by our trip, but it's not something I'm counting on.

 

[mickeynut1]

DH and I are planning to take his 16 year old niece in June 2019 and stay on property for the first time since Sept. 2011. (The last 3 times we have gone since we stayed off property.) I am well aware of booking ADRs 180 days out as I've done that a number of times. But here's my dilemma about when to book the resort...I'm planning to stay at Pop, but I know that traditionally they have released discounts for Pop around January 1st.

What's the best way to handle booking my trip? Do I book it now and can just pay a deposit and wait for the discounts to be released in January and update my trip? I'm afraid to book too early/too late. Unless somehow there's free dining released, I'm not planning to get the dining plan as it wouldn't be cost-effective for where we plan to eat. So I know a room-only discount would work for us and I could add in tickets later (I think I can do that?) Could someone who has done this explain it to me please. It's so confusing lol.

Side note, I'm hoping the Skyway will be open by our trip, but it's not something I'm counting on.

If you will go regardless of a discount, I'd book now to make sure you get the resort/room type you want. If you will only go with a discount, I would wait to see what (if any) discounts come out for your time frame. Disney releases discounts to fill rooms, so if a resort/room type is at or near capacity, Disney will see no need to offer a discount on that particular resort/room type.

When you do book, a package requires a deposit of $200 (with balance due 30 days prior to arrival) and RO requires a deposit of 1 night's room rate + tax (with balance due at check in). If a discount does come out for your dates, you can call to check availability. If the resort/room type you have booked is available under the discount, you can have it applied to your existing reservation. With that said, sometimes you have to be flexible with your resort/room type as having a reservation already in place does guarantee a discount can be applied later. If you book RO, you can buy tickets separately and link them to your MDE account; however, you can apply a room discount to a package. The discount will apply to the room portion only, but can be applied to a package reservation. HTH

 

[Wild4Walt]

We were hoping for Free Dining but we wanted to book our resort well in advance. We picked a resort and decided we would stay there DDP or not. I booked AKL 11 months prior to our arrival and when the Free Dining was advertised, I called and was able to rebook at that offer.

 

[_19disnA]

There is no guarantee a discount will be offered in the future and for the most popular resorts, they may be sold out if you wait too long. I think it is best to make a reservation and then watch to see for any future discount offers.

 

[kappyfamily]

Agree with the above! Happy planning!