Just got a pin code! - 30-40% off at DLR Hotels

[pigby]

The PIN offer I got for $163 per night - which is a little different than what hurleysweety got - is not a package. It's a room only reservation, and it only requires a one-night stay (but I booked 3 nights). I can book up to two rooms with this offer (but I only booked one). The CM at Reservations did not recognize my PIN offer when I first called - she thought it was another offer that is circulating around, which requires a 2-night stay. She had to actually pull up my name in the Disney database to see that the PIN I was talking about was attached to my name.

The PIN offer would only go into effect on the date it indicates. So if the dates leading up to 1/4 were not included in the PIN offer, then you wouldn't be able to use the PIN for those nights and the discount would start on January 4th or whenever.

I have a quick question which I hope someone can answer - the deal (IF I get a code) is up to April 14th - does that include the night of the 14th or do you have to check out BEFORE 14th?

We are going home on the 15th.

Thanks

 

[Sherry E]

Did the PIN offer you get specify dates? I've tried to trigger PIN codes on the WDW site but I've never received anything. Here's trying again!

Gelfling_Jen - Yes, the PIN I got (I received it back in October but it wasn't good for any dates in October) had a window of time in which I could use it in November and a window of time for December. I can look up the exact dates for you in the e-mail they sent me, but I know the cut-off date was December 16th, meaning that the last night for which the PIN would apply would be the 16th (checking out on the 17th). This makes sense, because usually the PINs and other discounts that extend into the holiday season (not really counting the AP rates which seem to have a mind of their own!) end right around the middle of December, or they extend up to the weekend before Christmas and stop.

I have a quick question which I hope someone can answer - the deal (IF I get a code) is up to April 14th - does that include the night of the 14th or do you have to check out BEFORE 14th?

We are going home on the 15th.

Thanks

pigby - It includes it, unless there is small print that specifically states otherwise, which is unlikely. If you have any kind of special PIN rate or offer and it says something like "must be used by" or anything equivalent to that, it means that the date they give as being the cut-off is the last night for which your discount will apply. Is if you have a deal that says something along those lines for April 14, it would mean April 14th (with a check-out date of April 15th) is the last night the discount will apply.

The PIN I received has an end date of December 16th (odd day, as that's a Thursday). so that means I could stay at the PPH on December 16th and still get the discount.

 

[Gelfling_Jen]

Gelfling_Jen - Yes, the PIN I got (I received it back in October but it wasn't good for any dates in October) had a window of time in which I could use it in November and a window of time for December. I can look up the exact dates for you in the e-mail they sent me, but I know the cut-off date was December 16th, meaning that the last night for which the PIN would apply would be the 16th (checking out on the 17th). This makes sense, because usually the PINs and other discounts that extend into the holiday season (not really counting the AP rates which seem to have a mind of their own!) end right around the middle of December, or they extend up to the weekend before Christmas and stop.

So I setup an account on the Disneyland website saturday night, and I got the pin code email on Tuesday afternoon! Unfortunately though I got the same pin code that you did which ends on December 16 which I can't use because I'm going in January! Funny how the beginning of the email says "we're excited you're thinking of staying" and shows my January dates on the right-hand side, then lists the special offer below that with the December dates. Oh well at least I know the trick works! I may just phone and see if there is anything else attached to my account just in case. Thanks

 

[Sherry E]

So I setup an account on the Disneyland website saturday night, and I got the pin code email on Tuesday afternoon! Unfortunately though I got the same pin code that you did which ends on December 16 which I can't use because I'm going in January! Funny how the beginning of the email says "we're excited you're thinking of staying" and shows my January dates on the right-hand side, then lists the special offer below that with the December dates. Oh well at least I know the trick works! I may just phone and see if there is anything else attached to my account just in case. Thanks

Oh wow! Well, that's good and bad news - it's bad because the offer does not cover your dates, but it's good because we've now figured out one trick to get a PIN offer! That's one of life's age-old mysteries and one of the ongoing questions on this board - how to get a PIN. Even though I think many of the PINs that are sent out are totally random and there is no rhyme or reason to the selection process, this is one way that definitely worked!!

Did you get the same rate too - the $163 per night for the PPH, or did you get an offer for the DLH? Mine only seemed to include the PPH, because that was the one I plugged in dates for on the DLR website.

It can't hurt to call and ask the Reservations people to check any offers attached to your name/contact info. The CM who booked my PPH reservation didn't even know my PIN existed until she pulled up my info and saw it attached.

 

[Inkmahm]

Check the DL website. Low rates have been announced including up to 35% off at GCH for booking at least 2 nights. Sounds a lot like the pin code talked about here only the rate is available to everyone.

 

[Sherry E]

Check the DL website. Low rates have been announced including up to 35% off at GCH for booking at least 2 nights. Sounds a lot like the pin code talked about here only the rate is available to everyone.

The real PIN code offers are always better than anything on the website - even if just by a small percent or small dollar amount. Now they may send out e-mails without PIN codes which advertise the same special offers shown on the website, and the website may show offers which are not that much more expensive than what the PIN codes offer, but the e-mails or mailings with actual PIN codes on them are better than what's advertised publicly, which is why they are randomly dispersed (so not everyone gets them) and why they are so sought after!!

The PIN code that I currently have ($163) only requires one night and it's solely for the PPH - the other 2 hotels are not included in the offer.

 

[Gelfling_Jen]

Oh wow! Well, that's good and bad news - it's bad because the offer does not cover your dates, but it's good because we've now figured out one trick to get a PIN offer! That's one of life's age-old mysteries and one of the ongoing questions on this board - how to get a PIN. Even though I think many of the PINs that are sent out are totally random and there is no rhyme or reason to the selection process, this is one way that definitely worked!!

Did you get the same rate too - the $163 per night for the PPH, or did you get an offer for the DLH? Mine only seemed to include the PPH, because that was the one I plugged in dates for on the DLR website.

It can't hurt to call and ask the Reservations people to check any offers attached to your name/contact info. The CM who booked my PPH reservation didn't even know my PIN existed until she pulled up my info and saw it attached.

I forgot to mention when I created an account on the Disneyland website I indicated that my prefered hotel is the Grand Californian but I saved offers at all three hotels. The PIN code I received was for all three! I was offered $163 for PPH, $182 for DLH, and $247 for GCH. So, it appears that you may receive PIN codes for the hotels in which you save offers for.

Comparing these rates to what is available online (thanks for the heads up Inkmahm!!! )...PPH is $180, DLH is $182, and GCH is $231. It's interesting that the PIN offer is cheaper for PPH, the same for DLH, and more for GCH! I ended up booking a 3 night stay at DLH but had to pay an extra $30 to reserve a renovated room making the total per night before tax and fees $212. Now that I'm thinking of it, it's only $19 more per night to stay at GCH but then it would be more tax and resort fees so I'm still undecided. Either way, I'll be staying at a Disney hotel so I'm happy! It's my first time there so I want it to be special. I told the CM on the phone we were celebrating our first visit and she said oh so it's a magical gathering (or something along those lines) and put me on hold to add that to the account. Anybody know what that means?

 

[Inkmahm]

I forgot to mention when I created an account on the Disneyland website I indicated that my prefered hotel is the Grand Californian but I saved offers at all three hotels. The PIN code I received was for all three! I was offered $163 for PPH, $182 for DLH, and $247 for GCH. So, it appears that you may receive PIN codes for the hotels in which you save offers for.

Comparing these rates to what is available online (thanks for the heads up Inkmahm!!! )...PPH is $180, DLH is $182, and GCH is $231. It's interesting that the PIN offer is cheaper for PPH, the same for DLH, and more for GCH! I ended up booking a 3 night stay at DLH but had to pay an extra $30 to reserve a renovated room making the total per night before tax and fees $212. Now that I'm thinking of it, it's only $19 more per night to stay at GCH but then it would be more tax and resort fees so I'm still undecided. Either way, I'll be staying at a Disney hotel so I'm happy! It's my first time there so I want it to be special. I told the CM on the phone we were celebrating our first visit and she said oh so it's a magical gathering (or something along those lines) and put me on hold to add that to the account. Anybody know what that means?

Then for sure I am glad that I didn't get a pin code afterall since we are staying at the GCH! I had booked full price at DLH but when the sale prices came out, I switched to GCH.

 

[Sherry E]

I forgot to mention when I created an account on the Disneyland website I indicated that my prefered hotel is the Grand Californian but I saved offers at all three hotels. The PIN code I received was for all three! I was offered $163 for PPH, $182 for DLH, and $247 for GCH. So, it appears that you may receive PIN codes for the hotels in which you save offers for.

Comparing these rates to what is available online (thanks for the heads up Inkmahm!!! )...PPH is $180, DLH is $182, and GCH is $231. It's interesting that the PIN offer is cheaper for PPH, the same for DLH, and more for GCH! I ended up booking a 3 night stay at DLH but had to pay an extra $30 to reserve a renovated room making the total per night before tax and fees $212. Now that I'm thinking of it, it's only $19 more per night to stay at GCH but then it would be more tax and resort fees so I'm still undecided. Either way, I'll be staying at a Disney hotel so I'm happy! It's my first time there so I want it to be special. I told the CM on the phone we were celebrating our first visit and she said oh so it's a magical gathering (or something along those lines) and put me on hold to add that to the account. Anybody know what that means?

Well, the PIN code offer would have to be cheaper for at least one of the 3 hotels, or else there would be no point in making it a PIN. The whole point of the PIN offers is the exclusivity and the randomness of them. The CM I got on the phone hadn't even heard of my PPH offer until she looked up my account. No one else had been getting that offer yet. So, perhaps they have more availability at the PPH and that's why they chose to make that one cheaper? But the discount advertised on the DLR website is most beneficial for the GCH (the most expensive hotel) so they chose to give the best GCH deal to the general public, while the PPH (the least expensive hotel) is the special offer for the people who get the PIN codes. They don't have to give all of the best offers to one segment of people or another - they may break them up, to where some folks get one good offer for one hotel and another group gets a good offer for another hotel.

As for the adding the First Visit to your account, they're just making a note of it so the CM who checks you in will know - they will probably give you First Visit buttons when you check in. Or they may not. I've had situations where the CM adds certain things (like birthdays) in the account but when I arrive, no one ever gives me a button. Other times they do. It just depends on the CM you get. Some of them are more generous than others!!

 

[aristocat65]

I think you're on to something with doing a dummy booking and saving it. I was wondering why I wasn't getting the PINs anymore as I had logged in and priced out hotels and packages. BUT, I hadn't saved them. Last night I saved them and today my PIN appeared! Finally the 40% I was looking for at GCH! I also noticed that you can go into the online booking with the PIN and use your PIN that way. In the past it always said you had to call them.

I was toying with booking a preferred room at DLH (renovated) , but unfortunately those rooms don't show up booking with the PIN. Oh, Well.

 

[Sherry E]

I think you're on to something with doing a dummy booking and saving it. I was wondering why I wasn't getting the PINs anymore as I had logged in and priced out hotels and packages. BUT, I hadn't saved them. Last night I saved them and today my PIN appeared! Finally the 40% I was looking for at GCH! I also noticed that you can go into the online booking with the PIN and use your PIN that way. In the past it always said you had to call them.

I was toying with booking a preferred room at DLH (renovated) , but unfortunately those rooms don't show up booking with the PIN. Oh, Well.

aristocat65 - You're welcome! That's wonderful!!!! I'm glad this seems to be working. It may not work forever - maybe at some point Disney will stop sending out PINs to those of us who save offers, but for now...it works!!

The funny thing is, when I plugged in my dates and saved them in the Saved Offers section, I wasn't even expecting anything out of it. It never dawned on me that it could trigger a PIN code. I just wanted to save the offer at whatever discount they were showing for the PPH (which, I think, was a piddly 20% or something). I was going to decide later if I could afford it. I didn't even plug in dates for the other two hotels. I figured I would stick with the cheapest one. I'm so glad that I didn't book my PPH room right then and there - or I probably would not have gotten a PIN. Something in their system must alert Disney Destinations to the fact that we are considering a stay but have not booked...so they dangle the bait and reel us in!!!

And from what I've been seeing on the AP hotel calendar, there are literally NO good AP rates for this month or for December. I have no idea what's happened and why they stopped putting good rates out, but there are none. Yes, there is the standard 10% AP discount that you can get all year long, but there are no good rates like what AP holders have become accustomed to in the past - meaning rates below $200 per night for the PPH and DLH. So these PIN codes really help!!

I'm so glad you got a great GCH discount - 40% is really awesome!!!

 

[Gelfling_Jen]

I was toying with booking a preferred room at DLH (renovated) , but unfortunately those rooms don't show up booking with the PIN. Oh, Well.

I booked DLH online with the 30% off two nights or more and then phoned and was able to upgrade my booking to the renovated rooms! Because the deposit for the first night had already been charged to my credit card, the CM didn't submit another charge for the first night to reflect the increased amount, she added the $30 plus tax per night to the balance that has to be paid at the hotel. You've probably already booked at GCH at this point but at least you know you have the option of booking a renovated room at DLH if you change your mind!

 

[DnA2010]

Hi there,

Just wondering how I sign up to get these emails? I a new to these boards and still finding my way around

Best, Allyson

 

[skiingfast]

Hi there,

Just wondering how I sign up to get these emails? I a new to these boards and still finding my way around

Best, Allyson

It's a bit of a mystery. Do you have an account on disneyland.com?
Have you booked a trip to DL through disneyland.com before?
Are you on thier mailing lists?
Are you an AP holder?

There isn't a clearly known way to recieve the PINS, but don't despair usually the PINS come out and a little later they make a general release of the same or a similiar deals.

 

[Sherry E]

Hi there,

Just wondering how I sign up to get these emails? I a new to these boards and still finding my way around

Best, Allyson

Allyson - Hi!

Generally, it's a mystery as to how people get the e-mails with PIN code offers. And I'm talking about the e-mails with actual PIN numbers in them, not the e-mails that show you an advertised discount that may also be on the Disneyland website. Some people who have booked Disney Cruises, who have stayed onsite in the past at any of the 3 DLR hotels, who have purchased merchandise from Disney online, etc., never get these PIN offers. There is no guarantee that signing up and getting on mailing lists will get you a PIN offer because it seems to be a very computer-randomized process as to who gets them and who does not - BUT, as I always say, if you are destined to get a PIN offer, Disney has to be able to know who you are and where to find you so they can send you one!!

So, even though there is no guarantee that getting on a mailing list will get you a PIN, you won't get a PIN if you are NOT on any mailing lists, if that makes sense. You have to get into their database somehow.

The other thing to note is that not everyone gets the same PIN offer. In the past, when there have been waves of PIN codes sent out, some people were getting, for example, $149 per night rates for the Disneyland Hotel, while others were getting $169 per night rates for the same hotel. I don't know why that is, but if you hear of someone getting a good rate, that may not necessarily be the rate you get as well, although it will probably be within $20 of it.

So my advice is, sign up with anything and everything in the Disney family. Create a "My Disneyland" account on the Disneyland website. Request info on the Disney Cruise line. Request a vacation planning CD for both DLR and WDW. Request info on Disney Vacation Club or Adventures by Disney. Buy something from the Disney Store (either online or in-store, using a credit card). Get on the mailing list of your local ABC affiliate, as ABC is part of the Disney family. Get on the mailing list for ESPN/ESPN Zone - also in the Disney family. Create accounts on the Disney Family or Family Fun (magazine) website. Enter any Disney-related contests you see. Sign up for the Chase Disney Visa (debit or credit card).

You get the idea - anywhere you can create an account with a Disney-owned company, and anywhere you can request to be on a mailing list to get news and "special offers," do it.

I received a PIN in October - the one we have been talking about in this thread - and this is the one time that I know specifically where it came from and what triggered it. I used to get lots of PIN code offers for the hotels in the past, but Disney stopped sending them to me when I didn't stay onsite for a year! I used to stay onsite for every trip, so I guess they gave up on me!

What I did was - unaware that I would get a PIN - go into my "My Disneyland" account on the Disneyland website (I order gift cards from there a lot, so it's pretty active). I then plugged in some dates for a December Disneyland trip I wanted to make, using the small discount they were advertising on the DLR site, and choosing the Paradise Pier (PPH) as my hotel of choice (just because it's the least expensive). The DLR site calculated what my total would be using the 20% discount they showed. I did NOT book it at that time. What I did was save the offer with the total for the PPH and the dates I wanted in the "Saved Offers" (or Save This Offer - whatever it's called) section of my My Disneyland account. You can save things like that so you can easily get back to it when you log in, without having the system re-calculate everything.

I left the Saved Offer in my account, and a few days later I got an e-mail that said something to the effect of, "We are delighted to see you are considering another stay at the Paradise Pier." And it had a PIN code in it for $163 per night - which is cheaper than anything currently showing on the Annual Pass hotel calendar. It was a PIN code specifically attached to my name. The CM who booked me when I called had not heard of the rate up to that point.

Since then, I've told people on the DIS about what I did to get the PIN code e-mail, and at least 2 other people have had the same thing happen. They've gotten the PIN as well. So it seems to work!! It may not work indefinitely - maybe Disney is only sending these PINs out for a limited time, when people "save" their offers on the DLR website, but it's working right now!!

 

[jemilah]

I am still on the look out for one, I saved 2 offers Wednesday ! I have accts all over and the chase card.

 

[twopeasonepod]

I'm hoping to get one soon. Saved two offers over time (didn't remember doing the first one haha) and also have APs, but nothing yet. Crossing my fingers.

 

[DnA2010]

Thank you all for your replies!