If you were me....

[MyZoeJane]

What would you do to get the best rate in January?


I'm running in my very first half marathon and I'm so happy that it's at Disney World!!! I am running with Team in Training, and they book my room for the four nights surrounding the race, but I want to extend our stay by four nights and I'd like to try a different resort, too.

I'm looking to book a room for 1/14-1/18. I'm sort of disenchanted by the changes to the dining plan so I'm willing to go without it this trip. (It will be missed!) and I've already got tickets from previous trips so tickets are not a necessity. One pair of tickets has 3 days remaining from a no exp. Park Hopper and another pair are unused one day park hoppers.

I am willing to consider upgrading the one day tix to AP's.

I am also willing to consider package deals that include tickets and dining, and would save our existing tickets for a future trip.

Help! I've made four trips to Disney in two years and I thought I knew how to do this, but I'm sort of at a loss as to hwo to go about getting the most for my money! If anyone can help, I know it's you guys!

 

[speedyf]

Here is my routine:

I book a room only reservation. In the past, I have booked the AAA rate even though I'm not a AAA member. Some CM's ask for your number, some don't. In the past, it has always been like the AP's...as long as you are a member when you arrive, you are good to go on the discount. I figured that if the AAA rate was the best available discount, I would join AAA before my trip. You can join online and get a temporary card instantly.

Then...I wait for discounts to be released. If a general public discount is cheaper than the AAA discount (less the cost for me to join AAA), I switch my reservation to that discount. If an AP rate is released that is really good and allows me to upgrade a ticket and still save more money than the AAA rate, then I call and switch to the AP rate and plan on upgrading when I get there. If a general public code or package is the best option, I switch to that.

If you don't want to watch for discount codes every day, book your package thru a Disney vacation specialist. I think they have an agency that sponsors this message board.

I always book direct.

In 2004...I booked at AAA room only. Then, a Disney Visa room-only rate was released....I switched over to that. Then, a Disney Visa "pay for 4 stay for 7" package was released. I converted over from the room-only to the package.

In 2005...we had annual passes....so, I booked AAA room only, then switched over the the AP rate. Same in 2006 as our AP didn't expire until June 06.

For our trip in 2008...I have 4 rooms booked at AAA rate. I'm waiting for a better code or package. If nothing better comes around, I will stick with AAA and purchase my tickets seperately from a discount broker (ticketmania, undercover tourist).

The nice thing about a room only reservation is that it only requires a one night deposit and can be changed or cancelled anytime up until 6 days before arrival. Once you switch to a package, it is a $200 deposit and can only be cancelled anytime up until 45 days before arrival. I think there is also a $50 change fee if you make changes (don't cancel) within that 45 day window before your reservation begins.

If you want to give some details about which resort / level you were thinking about staying...I could probably speculate on which discount might look the best.

Speed

 

[MyZoeJane]

Wow, Speed... Bless your heart! Thank you so much for your reply. I was beginning to think that I said something wrong or something because after 31 views not a single person wanted to "talk" to me!

I'd like to do a moderate resort for the extra three days I'm looking to book. (DH said he only wants to take 5 days off for this trip, so that only leaves me with three days to add on to the reservation that TNT is making for us instead of my original four day estimate.)

I really love your "wait and see" approach... and booking at the AAA rate without actually having AAA at the time is brilliant! I guess just knowing what MIGHT happen is really what I was looking for here. I see that historically, AP rates for January are not released until the beginning on December and that the liklihood is pretty good that this year wont be any different.

It's tough for me to swallow not having the DDP this trip because we've enjoyed it so much in the past, but we have these tickets to use up and I don't wantto have to buy three base tickets to make it a package deal to qualify for the DDP,since that is what we did for free dining last October and we're still sitting on the tickets.

Where do I go to see how much it would cost me to upgrade my one day park hopper ticket to an AP? this can be done when I get to the resort, right? If I do it at the resort, would I still qualify for the AP rate at check in, if that ends up being the best deal?

I know, so many questions and so little I have to offer!