How good are the AP discounts on resort rooms?

[Julie Amber]

I'm debating getting my first WDW AP.... honestly I've been wanting one and planning to get one all year. But now, the pricing is bumming me out and I'm trying to see where else I would save money besides just the tickets at the gate.

So, what's the situation with discounts on the hotels? Is it significantly more than what an average person can get when resorts have some sort of special?

I just got a Universal AP, and their hotel discounts are amazing! We just visited and got 40% off of our rooms which made a huge difference for us.

We're from out of state and would have to stay somewhere on these visits. It would be great to get another perk like huge resort discounts. With my UOAP, the annual pass paid for itself in the first trip with the combined tickets being so low and the discount on the rooms.

 

[Marthasor]

I find AP discounts to be hit or miss. The resorts/room categories can be very limited. If you aren't picky about your resort, you may have some luck. It's just never a guarantee that a resort or room category you like will be in the AP discount inventory. The nice thing about AP resort discounts is you can actually book one without having an AP in-hand. You may want to wait to see if a discount is available for your upcoming trip. If there is a discount you like, you can book the room and then buy the AP to retain the discount at check-in.

 

[KristaZ]

The discounts are hit or miss - on the value resorts, they're often the same as the general public discount. The higher the resort tier, the bigger the discount, but they're generally about an additional 5% off of the general public offers. Very rarely (like when they reopened last year), they may offer a discount to APs and not the general public, but that seems fairly uncommon. The discount also may not be available for the room you're looking to book - I've often had to play the refresh game or check back constantly to see if the room I want becomes available at the AP rate. It can save you money on a room when all the stars align, but it's not a truly significant amount. Just as an example - I generally do split stays and I like to track the savings I get from the AP - for a 3 day stay at a deluxe resort, I save an average of less than $100 over whatever the general public discount is. The savings is less on lower tier resorts.

 

[Julie Amber]

The discounts are hit or miss - on the value resorts, they're often the same as the general public discount. The higher the resort tier, the bigger the discount, but they're generally about an additional 5% off of the general public offers. Very rarely (like when they reopened last year), they may offer a discount to APs and not the general public, but that seems fairly uncommon. The discount also may not be available for the room you're looking to book - I've often had to play the refresh game or check back constantly to see if the room I want becomes available at the AP rate. It can save you money on a room when all the stars align, but it's not a truly significant amount. Just as an example - I generally do split stays and I like to track the savings I get from the AP - for a 3 day stay at a deluxe resort, I save an average of less than $100 over whatever the general public discount is. The savings is less on lower tier resorts.

Great information. Thanks!

 

[Marionnette]

AP discounts are offered after Disney has exhausted other avenues for filling rooms. They are often limited as far as which resorts or what type of rooms are available with the discount. They're pretty much the rooms that Disney couldn't sell to other guests at a higher rate.

 

[grannyminnie]

My big concern is that Disney is not going to offer resort discounts at all. In reading the info coming out yesterday (or was it the day before) on AP sales, I didn't see resort discounts listed as a perk. I suppose it could be included in the line which states "dining, merchandise and other discounts included". With the big fall season coming up (the 50th celebration, EPCOT food and wine, and other holiday crowds coming, I wonder if there will be discounts for anybody the rest of the year. Not looking good for my renewing my AP....

 

[ShirikiUtundu]

My big concern is that Disney is not going to offer resort discounts at all. In reading the info coming out yesterday (or was it the day before) on AP sales, I didn't see resort discounts listed as a perk. I suppose it could be included in the line which states "dining, merchandise and other discounts included". With the big fall season coming up (the 50th celebration, EPCOT food and wine, and other holiday crowds coming, I wonder if there will be discounts for anybody the rest of the year. Not looking good for my renewing my AP....

They only offer resort discounts to entice people to book rooms. If rooms are booked at full or near to full rate, they don't need to offer anything. I wouldn't expect anything this year especially once the anniversary starts. It seems like resorts are already slim pickings for the rest of 2021.

 

[Dave006]

Just a reminder AP discounts are just like all resort discounts. They are used to fill otherwise empty rooms. Disney continually evaluates future reservations and offers different discounts to the various groups of customers.

General public, AP holders, Fla residents, and overseas travelers are a couple examples of group discounts. The rates vary by resort level and season. Right now they have a very limited inventory until they reopen more resorts. Don't expect many if any AP discounts until Jan. 2022 due to the limited availability from Oct - Jan.

Here are the current "Specials" available at WDW:

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/special-offers/

The general public 25% discount is available until Sept. 29th and the current AP discounts end on Sept. 4th at this time.

Dave

 

[Lizgistix]

Theoretically you should be able to check the special offers section to see what kind of discount AP holders can get, but it's really specific about what resorts and what rooms the discount can be applied to. In my experience, the FL resident discount is often better than the AP discount. (30% vs 20-25%)

 

[grannyminnie]

Just a reminder AP discounts are just like all resort discounts. They are used to fill otherwise empty rooms. Disney continually evaluates future reservations and offers different discounts to the various groups of customers.

General public, AP holders, Fla residents, and overseas travelers are a couple examples of group discounts. The rates vary by resort level and season. Right now they have a very limited inventory until they reopen more resorts. Don't expect many if any AP discounts until Jan. 2022 due to the limited availability from Oct - Jan.

Here are the current "Specials" available at WDW:

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/special-offers/

The general public 25% discount is available until Sept. 29th and the current AP discounts end on Sept. 4th at this time.

Dave

I often check in MDE to see if any new discounts have been posted, but am also guessing that it won't be til the new year before we might see anything (fingers crossed!). My current AP expires mid-March. And I sure hope any resort discount is more than 20%!

 

[Miffy]

As others have said, the AP discounts are hit-or-miss. I wouldn't purchase an AP based on anticipating a room discount, since sometimes there are no AP discounts for certain dates even if there are other discounts available.

My sister and I went to WDW in May and the room we booked was at the general public discount, as nowhere we were interested in staying was available with an AP discount for our dates.

If you're considering an AP for other reasons--like you're planning to stay at WDW on 2 or 3 different trips throughout the year--then it's a good deal. But if you want it solely for a room discount, wait until the room discounts appear (if they ever do) and then see if the AP is worth buying.

 

[rangerxenos]

They only offer resort discounts to entice people to book rooms. If rooms are booked at full or near to full rate, they don't need to offer anything. I wouldn't expect anything this year especially once the anniversary starts. It seems like resorts are already slim pickings for the rest of 2021.

Or they'll offer it, but it will be on such a small selection of rooms as to be useless for most people.