Mods please delete thread.

[crazymomof4]

Pls remove thread. Going to rent DVC points instead. Thx

 

[rstevens333]

A strategy I've used in the past is to have a reservation I'm happy with, but then start tweaking it right at the end of the cancellation window. Other people who have changed their minds will be canceling and you might be able to pick up their rates. (Especially if it's passholder deals.)

I had a trip a couple years ago that my wife had to skip at the last minute - wound up doing the whole thing for just barely more than the deposit. (Found better rates and did a slight downgrade.)

Last minute can work if you're willing to bang on the buttons for a bit.

 

[SaintsManiac]

Rise doesn’t have FPs yet, so no secret trick there.

 

[Searc]

My friend is currently in a Club Entry Suite in the Tower at CSR. She got it for $245/night.

My friend and I are both seasoned WDW travelers but with very different planning strategies.

I plan waaaay ahead. She is super last-minute but she always gets great resort rates! She is never tied to any one resort... just keeps searching and hops on whatever is the best deal for the money.
One thing that has held me back is theFP+ issue. Our family is online picking our FP's the second they open up. We have them all lined up 30 mins later! And that's it. We're done!
My friend doesn't care about FPs. She books what she can get the day of and she usually gets them! Even the hard to get ones. Like she got on Rise of Resistance this week! (Granted, she is looking for only 2 FPs and our party for our upcoming early Sept trip is 4.) She always seems to grab last min dining ressies too! ... even CRT!!!!

Sooo maybe I want to give her way a whirl (?) (if you have any experience/tips on this.... my ears are open!)

Before I decide, here's what I need to know:
What if I booked a Disney hotel and picked all of our FPs at 60 days out. Then a better deal shows up for another onsite resort,... lets say a week before our travel date.... and I want to switch to the better deal and cancel the previously held ressies. Will my FPs carry over as long as I make the new ressie and it hits MDE before I cancel the old one?

Rise of the Resistance doesn't have fastpass.

 

[focusondisney]

Will my FPs carry over as long as I make the new ressie and it hits MDE before I cancel the old one?

i personally have not done it... but all reports I read say yes. As long as your new reservation is in MDE before you cancel, your FPs will stay intact. Or tey to just change your current reservation instead of making a new booking.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

My friend is currently in a Club Entry Suite in the Tower at CSR. She got it for $245/night.

My friend and I are both seasoned WDW travelers but with very different planning strategies.
re
I plan waaaay ahead. She is super last-minute but she always gets great resort rates! She is never tied to any one resort... just keeps searching and hops on whatever is the best deal for the money.
One thing that has held me back is theFP+ issue. Our family is online picking our FP's the second they open up. We have them all lined up 30 mins later! And that's it. We're done!
My friend doesn't care about FPs. She books what she can get the day of and she usually gets them! Even the hard to get ones. Like she got on Rise of Resistance this week! (Granted, she is looking for only 2 FPs and our party for our upcoming early Sept trip is 4.) She always seems to grab last min dining ressies too! ... even CRT!!!!

Sooo maybe I want to give her way a whirl (?) (if you have any experience/tips on this.... my ears are open!)

Before I decide, here's what I need to know:
What if I booked a Disney hotel and picked all of our FPs at 60 days out. Then a better deal shows up for another onsite resort,... lets say a week before our travel date.... and I want to switch to the better deal and cancel the previously held ressies. Will my FPs carry over as long as I make the new ressie and it hits MDE before I cancel the old one?

Yes, you can modify your WDW resort reservation and all FP+ will remain intact (as long as you have valid ticket media attached to your MDE). You can even book a new resort, link it to MDE, then cancel the old one and the FP+ will still be there.

As others have said, there are no FP+ for RoTR - you should probably go on the RoTR BG thread to learn how to snag a BG for that ride.

Your friend's strategy works fine for those who don't care where they stay, where they eat or what rides they go on (even then, there is always the standby line, except for RoTR). We also don't book prior to 180 days as it's very rare I'm looking to book hard-to-get restaurants. Even if I do want one, I'll set up a dining reservation finder to try to snag one and I'm usually successful. I have also snagged hard-to-get dining reservations the day before or day-of dining (funny what that $10 no-show policy did - people DO cancel those reservations!)

My only word of caution is, the longer you wait, the less hotel availability you will find, particularly if you are looking at discount inventory. We go about 3 - 5 times a year and I am always (like, on a daily basis), looking to see what else is available or what pops into discount inventory. As time goes on, that inventory becomes very slim.

If your planning style works for you, I would stick with it. If you are willing to throw caution to the wind, wing it and maybe not have everything secured before you get onsite, sure, give her style a try!

 

[lorenae]

I’ve done it both ways- planned 7 or 8 months in advance and then just decided with one day notice. It’s fine with me to get FP+ day of (I won’t die if I don’t ride SDD), and be flexible. The last time I did a spur of the moment visit was early December. I got All-star sports for something like $78 the day before, and got up at about 6 AM to hit AK when it opened for EMH at 7. I had a blast, with FOP and a walk on at Na’Vi, a cup of coffee, then on to Safari before the Lion King show. I was heading home by about 2 PM, because I had ridden everything in the park except for Kali River Rapids (maybe have been closed, not sure).
In January, I had planned our trip starting in July.

Both trips were awesome. The thing is, with the super short planning I was alone. I’m taking my grandsons in May, and haven’t yet made a ton of plans (no dining plans or tickets yet) but not risking hotel choices for getting a full week either.

To me, that’s the only thing that can be problematic- not getting the same hotel (or really any in your price ranges!) for your dates.