If you've booked and then applied a promo later...

[JKromer]

please talk to me.
I'm thinking about booking a stay at POFQ 1/23-1/31 2014. Right now I'm about 190 days out and I'd prefer to book now and start booking ADR's and a BBB visit ect.
Experience and the internet has told me I should expect some kind of a promotion (be it room-only or this years Play/Stay/Dine) for January.
So, those who have booked and then later attempted to apply a promotion, how'd it go? Were you able to keep your reservations exactly the same? Did you have to change resorts? Do some resorts seem to have less rooms involved in promotions? Did you call Disney yourself to make the change? Did you book with a travel agent and he/she updated your reservations for you?
I'm trying to get a feel of whether or not I should do this. Is it something that everybody does all the time and it's rare that you get "screwed", so to speak, or is it a 50/50 shot and I shouldn't count on applying a discount at a later date?
Thanks for the help.

 

[sommergirl25]

We did for our Feb 2013 stay. I booked in July. Promo came out in Oct. I called the morning that the promo was released and waited about an hour on hold. Maybe less. It was so simple. I didn't have to change any aspect of our package. We stayed at AS Movies and had already booked a dining plan. I think the call lasted about 15 minutes with most of that being the cm and I just discussing what we were celebrating and just being really excited!

 

[MichVick]

We booked our vacation in April - then added free dining later. We are staying at AOA and were originally booked at the Finding Nemo building. They told our TA that the Nemo building was not available for free dining - so we had to change to the Cars section. We were still happy with this as long as we were available to use the free dining promo

 

[purple figment]

please talk to me.
I'm thinking about booking a stay at POFQ 1/23-1/31 2014.

1. Right now I'm about 190 days out and I'd prefer to book now and start booking ADR's and a BBB visit ect.

2. Were you able to keep your reservations exactly the same?

3. Did you have to change resorts?

4. Do some resorts seem to have less rooms involved in promotions?

5. Did you call Disney yourself to make the change? Did you book with a travel agent and he/she updated your reservations for you?

6. I'm trying to get a feel of whether or not I should do this.

7. Is it something that everybody does all the time and it's rare that you get "screwed", so to speak, or is it a 50/50 shot and I shouldn't count on applying a discount at a later date?
Thanks for the help.

1. Once you book a reservation at a Disney owned resort you can start making reservations 180 days before your check in date. When you link your resort res number you will be able to take advantage of the +10 meaning you can book your check in date and up to the next 10 days of your vacation.

2. This really depends on a number of factors. Is your current resort and resort room type included in the special and is there availability? Also, if you book a room only and a room rate special comes out you'll be able to modify your res. Likewise, if you book a package and a package offer (e.g. Free dining or Stay, Play, Dine) comes out you can modify your current package.

However, if you book a room only and you want to use a package special you will have to book a package (new deposit) and cancel your room res (this deposit will be refunded). The deposit cannot be transferred to the new reservation because packages and room only are booked by separate offices.

To further confuse things - you can apply a room rate discount to a package provided you do not have any other discounts on the package because Disney doesn't stack discounts. You can't add a room rate discount to a free dining package; you would have to choose the better discount for your family.

3. It's possible that you will have to change resorts if the resort or room category isn't included or not available.

4. Yes, the number of rooms included varies. Disney offers specials to fill rooms so if the room you want/have is popular enough without a discount it might not be included (e.g. Little Mermaid rooms). Some people have said POFQ doesn't have very good discounts because it's a smaller resort and very popular.

5. If you booked the reservation yourself, you'll need to make the changes. If you are using a TA, the TA is the only one who can make the changes.

6. Many people book first and wait for a discount.

7. When a special is announced, it's best to book asap because of the limited number of rooms. If you're willing to switch if your first choice of resort/room category isn't available you have a good chance of getting something.

 

[LLCM]

I always have booked as soon as packages were available to be booked because I love taking advantage of booking dining reservations. My next trip is in November we were booked at The Art of Animation but I received a Free Dining PIN number so I had to choose another Resort...all was very easy nothing changed not even the confirmation#. I also never go through a travel agent I find it easier to just call to make changes myself and now most can be done online, I have always just booked online at the main Walt Disney World site.

 

[Brian_WDW74]

I've moved this thread to the Resorts forum.

 

[jgates]

We did have to change resorts on ours as the Mod we were at was not available for the promo they had in January. We did end up at a deluxe instead, although a few other mods were available (not ones we wanted).

 

[Joolish1313]

We've booked without a code, then called back to apply it. You may or may not get the resort you are already booked at. Disney sets aside a certain number of rooms for each booking code. We ended up having to choose to stay at resort without a discount or move. We moved but someone else might not relocate.

 

[DznyCrzy11]

Back in 2010 we booked CBR. we ended up getting a pin code for 40% off at Poly so I called and was able to change resorts and pay the additional amount. As someone mentioned, it will all depend on what rooms are available for that discount at that particular resort. If I were you, I would go ahead and book the resort and if you need to change it later or apply a discount you can.

Sent from my Galaxy SII

 

[GrandCalifornian]

For our Sept 2012 trip we booked direct through Disney ourselves over a year in advance with no discounts. This locked in the timing for us and let us start planning our ADRs. At 180 +10 days out we made our reservations. Free dining came out later, and we called and made the switch to Free dining with no other changes to our plans. Because the resort we had booked had availability for the promotion it was easy to call up and switch to it without any complications. The Cast Member was super happy to save us $1800 by just making a phone call.

 

[kmb584]

I just wanted to give you a heads up in regard to POFQ and room discounts - they typically aren't offered and if they are it's in the ~5% off range. I'd hate to see you book expecting a ~20% off promo only to be disappointed.

 

[sandyplayer]

A few years ago we booked Poly club magic kingdom view for 7 nights in July one year ahead. Sometime in Feb or March we heard about (from a July group formed on Tourguidemike) that there was a promotion. I called my travel agent that morning, and she had already called and had applied....buy 4 days, get 3 free.....WHAT a savings that was, as the room was over 700 a night!

We were lucky to get the same room and resort. I have heard of that not always happening.

I just booked BWI club deluxe for next summer. Praying for some sort of discount again.

 

[mousehunter3]

We did this for our travel for this October. I booked in April. I made dining reservations as soon as I could and got everything I wanted.

Sat and waited for MONTHS until they released free dining on 08/01.

The day before free dining was announced I heard rumor that AOA would be excluded for free dining, so I called and changed our reservations to AS Music. The day it was announced, I called and added free dining.

Everything else stayed the same- dining reservations were fine, even the ticket prices stayed at the pre-June prices since I booked in April.