January/February 2018 discounts, who else is in?

[Moomduck1]

Did you ask for any new discounts for today or were you asking for a particular discount?

 

[Moomduck1]

Finally got through. My CM had even less info. Just that the only discount released for 2018 was the military one. Try again tomorrow I guess.

 

[Mark Cameron]

I'm already booked at Pop Century in February 2018 but am really curious to see about possibly upgrading with the discounts. Watching

 

[leaf44]

Soooo stressed! I gambled and waited for a discount and now my dates 1/1-1/12 are sold out for POP. This is the third time I've gone at this time of year and it's never been an issue!! Only freaking out because I'm going to run the Dopey challenge and POp is perfect. The two food courts are a huge help and it's close to the expo. Unfortunately, I gambled for a friend too .

Is there any chance things will open up!?

 

[hllb]

Do they ever release these on weekends?

 

[Animal]

Soooo stressed! I gambled and waited for a discount and now my dates 1/1-1/12 are sold out for POP. This is the third time I've gone at this time of year and it's never been an issue!! Only freaking out because I'm going to run the Dopey challenge and POp is perfect. The two food courts are a huge help and it's close to the expo. Unfortunately, I gambled for a friend too .

Is there any chance things will open up!?

Have you tried splitting your stay into two or three reservations?

 

[scrappinginontario]

I believe there may still be hope. It could be that Disney has set aside a certain number of rooms so that it has availability when the offer is dropped.

I can understand your disappointment. My theory has been that I'd rather secure what I want and hope for a discount rather than risk losing my desired resort and/or dates. It's always a personal decision though and I know you did what was best for you and your friend at the time.

Hoping you find what you want once the offer(s) drop and as @Animal mentioned, try looking for smaller sections of dates for the time being and possibly you can piece something together for now.

 

[Madmother]

I've read alot of people rescheduled their earlier trips to Januray 'ish due to Hurricane Irma. That's probably why there isn't any availability.

 

[scrappinginontario]

I've read alot of people rescheduled their earlier trips to Januray 'ish due to Hurricane Irma. That's probably why there isn't any availability.

We are one of those families.

Less than 24 hours before we were due to fly to WDW I decided to cancel our trip and we rebooked for Jan 27 - Feb 4. I'm hoping for some sort of discount with the change we lost 2 nights, 1 day of park passes plus our water park option yet the trip is still $350 more due to losing our FD BB.

Still don't regret our decision though...and excited to have our next trip less than 4 months away!

 

[leaf44]

Thanks for the suggestions and for the hope! It looks like I could piece something together for most of my stay, exculding Marathon weekend, when of course it's the most expensive and I'd have to go up a category . I'm going to hope that more will open up when the discount comes out! Not looking forward to telling my friend .

 

[MusicalAstronaut]

Soooo stressed! I gambled and waited for a discount and now my dates 1/1-1/12 are sold out for POP. This is the third time I've gone at this time of year and it's never been an issue!! Only freaking out because I'm going to run the Dopey challenge and POp is perfect. The two food courts are a huge help and it's close to the expo. Unfortunately, I gambled for a friend too .

Is there any chance things will open up!?

Things will definitely open up! Availability is always changing. Don't book before they release the discounts, because that's what everyone did this year so Disney released hardly any discounted rooms. When they can sell them all at rack rate they have zero incentive to do things like Stay Play & Dine. Why give us a discount when people will pay $400/night anyway? Last year I called when they released SPD and had no issue booking a room for my dates. Just keep checking! Also, earlier this year when they released (I think) the AP discount, SO MANY people called immediately that they were on hold forever. I called around 1pm and got through in minutes. So don't panic.

 

[scrappinginontario]

Things will definitely open up! Availability is always changing. Don't book before they release the discounts, because that's what everyone did this year so Disney released hardly any discounted rooms. When they can sell them all at rack rate they have zero incentive to do things like Stay Play & Dine. Why give us a discount when people will pay $400/night anyway? Last year I called when they released SPD and had no issue booking a room for my dates. Just keep checking! Also, earlier this year when they released (I think) the AP discount, SO MANY people called immediately that they were on hold forever. I called around 1pm and got through in minutes. So don't panic.

What you're saying works for many but not everyone so the risk is for someone who has set dates and a desired resort that they may not get what they want. Each person needs to weigh what is best for them.

I'm of the belief that the number of rooms available for each offer was chosen a long time ago so booking within a few weeks of the anticipated offers being dropped in no way affects the number of rooms offered.

But that's only my opinion...not asking you to believe the same.

 

[MusicalAstronaut]

What you're saying works for many but not everyone so the risk is for someone who has set dates and a desired resort that they may not get what they want. Each person needs to weigh what is best for them.

I'm of the belief that the number of rooms available for each offer was chosen a long time ago so booking within a few weeks of the anticipated offers being dropped in no way affects the number of rooms offered.

But that's only my opinion...not asking you to believe the same.

That's true, if someone absolutely wants a room for certain dates regardless of price, they need to book it. But what has been happening this year is people book a room they can't afford, assuming that they can apply a discount, and that's not helping. 90% of the rooms get sold far in advance. One month before their trip, some people realize they're not getting a discount and they cancel the room because they can't pay for it. Chaos ensues because people who CAN afford it couldn't get a room, etc. Lol. That's why you can usually score the best deal right before your trip - if you're in a position where you can wait or change your dates/hotel (which like you said, just isn't an option for some people). But it's been discussed at length on these forums this year after all of the discounts have sucked, and that's what people are saying is part of the issue. Obviously we don't know for sure, but it's a fact that the day they released the AP discounts for the fall/winter, there were basically no rooms available. I tried 6 different sets of dates, and any hotel, calling and online for weeks, and couldn't book a thing. My options were things like the Contemporary for $1500/night. That was definitely outside the norm from the past 5 years. I finally managed to get a room 1 1/2 weeks ago using not my AP discount, but a UOC I got in the mail (which if you search, there are lots of threads from people who got the offer, called, and were told there was nothing available). It's in the best interest of the company to only discount rooms if they need to fill them up (like that special for PO that Disney Visa holders got a little while ago), because they will make so much more money if they sell them at rack rate. I absolutely wish that there was a set number of rooms available for AP holders but we know that's not true (if you browse the forum many people have been told this by CMs), and I think it would be even better if AP holders just got a generic discount across the board instead of this hunger games-style rush for rooms, haha. The hotel discount is one of the huge "perks" they advertise for it, and they don't mention how stinking difficult it is to actually get one.

 

[Coco36]

Thanks for the suggestions and for the hope! It looks like I could piece something together for most of my stay, exculding Marathon weekend, when of course it's the most expensive and I'd have to go up a category . I'm going to hope that more will open up when the discount comes out! Not looking forward to telling my friend .

Maybe you could make it a split stay to help cut back on costs??

 

[bryana]

Another thing to keep in mind with value availability is that once the discount is released, how many people currently booked for a value will upgrade to a moderate when they realize that they can get "more" for what they're already commited to spending anyway? This will lead to rooms opening up at the values, I'm sure.

 

[Coco36]

Finally got through. My CM had even less info. Just that the only discount released for 2018 was the military one. Try again tomorrow I guess.

Ok guys! I'm hearing from a friend who knows a travel agent that Monday is the day! I'm hoping she is a reliable source! I'm going to just relax and enjoy the weekend and get up bright and early Monday!

 

[Pdollar88]

Ok guys! I'm hearing from a friend who knows a travel agent that Monday is the day! I'm hoping she is a reliable source! I'm going to just relax and enjoy the weekend and get up bright and early Monday!

What time do they normally release the discounts? Can you book online earlier than the phones open? (rookie questions, I know)

 

[ilovetotravel1977]

We already are booked at POP for Feb 1-8. Do we just call and have the discounted rate added to our reservation?

 

[Madmother]

phones wont be available til 7 am i think

 

[jmasgat]

Soooo stressed! I gambled and waited for a discount and now my dates 1/1-1/12 are sold out for POP. This is the third time I've gone at this time of year and it's never been an issue!! Only freaking out because I'm going to run the Dopey challenge and POp is perfect. The two food courts are a huge help and it's close to the expo. Unfortunately, I gambled for a friend too .

Is there any chance things will open up!?

Possibly, remember "all you need is faith, trust....and a little pixie dust" How's that for saccharine!

I'll also be Dopey at Pop-or POR. I'm one of those people (contributing to the problem?) who booked 2 reservations, with the hope that the POR discount will be enough for me to feel that the value is there for a moderate. And if a decent discount on a Deluxe opens up (and if Orbitz comes through with a discount code) perhaps I'll upgrade further.

OTOH, Pop has grown on me over the years-- going from "I will never" to "sure-it can be a good value"