Getting a discount on the phone?

[Volcanon]

Greetings!

Has anyone had any luck haggling for a discount on their WDW resort room on the phone?

I am going to WDW in the fall and missed the boat on the 30% fall discount offer. There are virtually no rooms left at that price for my vacation date 11/12/14 - 11/17/14. I ended up booking All-Star Music at standard full price - about $106 a night.

I've never been to WDW and this trip is going to be my honeymoon. The more I learn, I think All-Star Music was a mistake. I would love to upgrade to a better hotel, but all the standard rates are all pretty much north of $300.

Do I have a chance and getting cut a discount on the phone if I try and upgrade? I've already bought the deluxe meal plan and 5 day ticket with park hopper as part of the All-Star music booking.

 

[Marionnette]

Greetings!

Has anyone had any luck haggling for a discount on their WDW resort room on the phone?

I am going to WDW in the fall and missed the boat on the 30% fall discount offer. There are virtually no rooms left at that price for my vacation date 11/12/14 - 11/17/14. I ended up booking All-Star Music at standard full price - about $106 a night.

I've never been to WDW and this trip is going to be my honeymoon. The more I learn, I think All-Star Music was a mistake. I would love to upgrade to a better hotel, but all the standard rates are all pretty much north of $300.

Do I have a chance and getting cut a discount on the phone if I try and upgrade? I've already bought the deluxe meal plan and 5 day ticket with park hopper as part of the All-Star music booking.

You can't get a discount if they don't have one to offer to you. Calling and trying to negotiate a discount won't help. The CMs can't give you a discount if there isn't an active code for them to enter into the computer.

If it's any consolation, the 30% discount wasn't on Value or Moderate Resorts. It was on select Deluxe Resorts and Deluxe Villas. Value Resorts were a 15% discount.

FWIW, Orbitz has a discount code (GOODTIMES) which is good for 15% off the listed rate at eligible hotels. The Disney Resort hotels are among the eligible hotels and there is some availability during your stay. You could get a room at CBR for $175/night plus taxes. That doesn't include your tickets, which you could add on Orbitz, nor the DxDP, which you would not be able to add. You would also need to pay for this reservation entirely at the time of booking.

 

[Volcanon]

Wow! That Orbitz tip is very helpful. They have hotels I would love to switch my reservation to.

I know you addressed the meal plan, but - is there really not a way to cancel the All-Star Music room, and swap in an Orbitz WDW resort booking without losing the meal plan, tickets, Fastpass+ bookings, that I already purchased/arranged online directly through Walt Disney World?

 

[POOHsie]

Wow! That Orbitz tip is very helpful. They have hotels I would love to switch my reservation to.

I know you addressed the meal plan, but - is there really not a way to cancel the All-Star Music room, and swap in an Orbitz WDW resort booking without losing the meal plan, tickets, Fastpass+ bookings, that I already purchased/arranged online directly through Walt Disney World?

No. Orbitz is a private travel company not connected to Disney. For a Disneymoon trip, it would be nicer to stay at a moderate resort. My DD and her DH stayed at POFQ for their Disneymoon. I wanted to express to you that the expense of Deluxe Dining for 2 people is high compared to regular Dining Plan. You'll be busy Disneymooning and visiting the parks. I can't see how you'll have time for so much dining. It might be money better spent putting the Deluxe $$ toward a nicer resort.

Also wanted to mention that the Food Court at All Star Music is closed until December 20th. Here's the blurb from wdwinfo .com http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/rehab.htm

All Star Music Resort - Intermission Food court closed 8/1/2014 - 12/20/2014. There will be transportation to the food court at All Star Sports or All Star Movies. Note'able Games Arcade closed 7/27/2014 - 12/20/2014.​

ASMusic guests have reported that there has been a Disney Food Truck at the resort in the morning with breakfast selections. Also, depending on where guests were staying in the resort, it was an easy walk to ASMovies or ASSports food courts.

 

[Marionnette]

Wow! That Orbitz tip is very helpful. They have hotels I would love to switch my reservation to.

I know you addressed the meal plan, but - is there really not a way to cancel the All-Star Music room, and swap in an Orbitz WDW resort booking without losing the meal plan, tickets, Fastpass+ bookings, that I already purchased/arranged online directly through Walt Disney World?

As I stated previously, you cannot add the DxDP to an Orbitz reservation. If you cancel your Disney Package, you will lose the room, tickets and the DxDP. You will not lose your ADRs (your dining reservations). You WILL lose your FP+ reservations unless you have other tickets tied to your MDE account. You have to have tickets and a room reservation tied to your MDE account and assigned to the people traveling in order to hold FP+ reservations with more than 30 days to go before you arrive. So, you would need to book the room and add tickets to your MDE account before you cancel the Disney Package. That could get tricky because the Disney computers would know that you can't occupy two rooms at the same time. (Well, you could, but it wouldn't make sense to do it.)

And you would want to cancel the Disney Package prior to 45 days remaining before your arrival date. If you cancel inside of that window, you will pay a cancellation penalty fee.

 

[Volcanon]

As I stated previously, you cannot add the DxDP to an Orbitz reservation. If you cancel your Disney Package, you will lose the room, tickets and the DxDP. You will not lose your ADRs (your dining reservations). You WILL lose your FP+ reservations unless you have other tickets tied to your MDE account. You have to have tickets and a room reservation tied to your MDE account and assigned to the people traveling in order to hold FP+ reservations with more than 30 days to go before you arrive. So, you would need to book the room and add tickets to your MDE account before you cancel the Disney Package. That could get tricky because the Disney computers would know that you can't occupy two rooms at the same time. (Well, you could, but it wouldn't make sense to do it.)

And you would want to cancel the Disney Package prior to 45 days remaining before your arrival date. If you cancel inside of that window, you will pay a cancellation penalty fee.

Thank you. Boy, I lucked out you guys saw my question.

So - I went ahead and reserved 5 days at Fort Wilderness Cabins through Oribtz with your discount code. (only $228 a night vs the $336 through Disney!). I linked that to MDE. - so looks like I have to buy another set of 5 day tickets through Disney, before calling to cancel the original booking.

Hopefully then all the restaurant bookings and Fastpass+ stays in place! I suppose I don't mind charging all the food when I get there. Maybe its a blessing in disguise.

 

[cel_disney]

Thank you. Boy, I lucked out you guys saw my question. So - I went ahead and reserved 5 days at Fort Wilderness Cabins through Oribtz with your discount code. (only $228 a night vs the $336 through Disney!). I linked that to MDE. - so looks like I have to buy another set of 5 day tickets through Disney, before calling to cancel the original booking. Hopefully then all the restaurant bookings and Fastpass+ stays in place! I suppose I don't mind charging all the food when I get there. Maybe its a blessing in disguise.

You can order from places other than disney for tickets. undercover tourist is popular - and if you find the mouse savers thread and ask someone to forward you the latest newsletter you can save even more. I just don't know when your 45 day mark is to know if you will have the numbers by then - you should call them about that.

 

[julluvsdisney]

I just wanted add you could most likely get the same FP+ at this point if you do lose them for some reason. You are still just under 60 days. Most of the headliners are gone once 30 days hits and the offsite people can book FP+. Have a great time! My DH and I spent 10 amazing days at port orleans french quarter for our disneymoon! Have a great time! Congrats!!

 

[kaytieeldr]

You can order from places other than disney for tickets. undercover tourist is popular - and if you find the mouse savers thread and ask someone to forward you the latest newsletter you can save even more. I just don't know when your 45 day mark is to know if you will have the numbers by then - you should call them about that.

She can just GO to mousesavers.com and register for her OWN newsletter, or even just use the discount link provided on the site. The different in savings between those two options is about a dollar per ticket. Not per day - per ticket.

 

[Volcanon]

Just to put a book-end and final thank you on this thread,

I can confirm that if you have a pre-existing reservation at a WDW resort linked to MDE, and link a new Orbitz WDW hotel reservation, both reservations show up at the same time in your itinerary.

I then bought an additional 5-day ticket package, and made sure it was linked.

This morning I called to cancel the original booking (the MYW package). I asked the Disney rep on the phone if cancelling would cancel my FP+ reservations. He asked, "Did you make the FP+ reservations before or after buying the second set of tickets?". I replied, "before". He said, "Then yes your FP+ reservations will disappear." I mentioned that's not the end of the world, and yes let's go ahead and cancel.

The original All-Star Music reservation and tickets cancelled.... BUT the FP+ reservations are intact! The disney rep was incorrect, Marionnette was correct!! Major Kudos!!! Linking the new WDW resort and tickets in MDE was enough to preserve the FP+ bookings. (I logged in an hour later and they were still there.)

I'm thrilled now. The All-Star Music reservation was the only part of the vacation I was "meh" about. Since it's our Honeymoon, I feel much better about the whole trip getting a Cabin at Fort Wilderness.

 

[Marionnette]

Just to put a book-end and final thank you on this thread,

I can confirm that if you have a pre-existing reservation at a WDW resort linked to MDE, and link a new Orbitz WDW hotel reservation, both reservations show up at the same time in your itinerary.

I then bought an additional 5-day ticket package, and made sure it was linked.

This morning I called to cancel the original booking (the MYW package). I asked the Disney rep on the phone if cancelling would cancel my FP+ reservations. He asked, "Did you make the FP+ reservations before or after buying the second set of tickets?". I replied, "before". He said, "Then yes your FP+ reservations will disappear." I mentioned that's not the end of the world, and yes let's go ahead and cancel.

The original All-Star Music reservation and tickets cancelled.... BUT the FP+ reservations are intact! The disney rep was incorrect, Marionnette was correct!! Major Kudos!!! Linking the new WDW resort and tickets in MDE was enough to preserve the FP+ bookings. (I logged in an hour later and they were still there.)

I'm thrilled now. The All-Star Music reservation was the only part of the vacation I was "meh" about. Since it's our Honeymoon, I feel much better about the whole trip getting a Cabin at Fort Wilderness.

Glad that it worked out for you. I think you will like the Cabins. Very private as compared to the Value Resorts where the walls are a little thin.