Need help with a better rate...

[LordAthens]

We're planning a trip for Feb. of 06 and still kicking around some options. We thought about renting DVC points, but i'm not happy with the risk involved and the lack of a meal plan.

We've booked with AAA in the past and have been quite happy with the rates. Unfortunately this year, it seems that i'm not getting a very good rate through them.

I can book directly through Disney (online), Feb 8-15 (7 nights) @ CRS King bed, w\ 8 day passes (w\ Park Hopping and Water) for $1789 for the both of us. AAA's price for the same thing is $1667. That's only a $122 discount over booking direct. Does something seem way off, or is it just me? I've read that AAA discounts on rooms are typically 15-20% off in the non-peak season and $122 is obviously no where close to that. Subtract $542 for the cost of the 8day passes and that comes down to $1125 or $160\night for CRS. It just seems awfully steep to me, especially when I see some of the deals that people are getting through BRP.

I was thinking about getting an AP for myself and taking advantage of the BRP program. I've done the math and figured that I would need to see a discount of ~$250 over 7 nights to make the AP\BRP a worthwhile thing for me. Of course, we're also kicking around the idea of just going all out and doing 9 nights \ 10 days.

I guess what i'm getting at is, can I myself call Disney to get the BRP prices without currently being a AP holder and then decide if it's worth it for me to get the AP, or can only AP holders get the prices through Disney?

I'm still a bit confused about Disney's discount's and such at the moment.

Thanks guys

 

[mrsmagic]

I went through all of the same thoughts that you have! I also thought about renting points but it seemed complicated to me. The discounts offered as part of these recent package discounts just seemed small. Yesterday I called the 407-pass number between 2-5 and they told me what was available for my dates at the BRP, and I booked 2 rooms at AKL for $109 each per night for Jan 25-Feb 1. Then they helped me to purchase the AP over the phone. I called the ticket number today, and they gave me my AP voucher number so that I could access the Passholder information online. I don't think that every CM will book your BRP rooms over the phone (the first one I talked to said no, so I called again), but if you buy your AP, you can call the next day and get that voucher number so that you don't have to wait 7-10 days for it to arrive.
I checked your dates and Coronado Springs king room would be $897.66 including tax for 7 nights arriving 2/8.
Hope that helps!

 

[LordAthens]

Thanks mrsmagic, I really appreciate it!

What boggles my mind a bit is, CRS is a moderate resort and at the price you got through BRP comes out to $128 per night. Meanwhile, you got $109\night at AKL, which is a deluxe. That confuses me a bit.

It looks like the BRP would actually cost me a bit more since I would need to buy a AP. 897 for the rooms + 515 for the AP + 277 for Tiffs passes would come out to 1689 where booking through AAA would get me a rate of ~1670.

Of course on the other hand, that pass is good for a full year and I could plan next years vacation around that (before the pass expires) and save a good bit of coin for the next vacation.

Then the fact that I really did want to stay at OKW.... Gah, I hate these decisions!

Thanks again!

 

[bullpup12564]

A few weeks ago I won a one bedroom at OKW for 999 for 7 nights.This was a lot less then the points we were going to use (160) so it was a good buy. Just make sure the seller is paypal protected. This takes away a lot of the risk. Just type in disnney vacation and check often.

 

[mrsmagic]

For whatever reason, BRP discounts are deeper from 1/16 - 2/4/06. Our trip happened to fall during that time period. A week at Coronado during that stretch would drop to $741.58 for a king room. Another difference in the price gap is that you are paying extra for a king room, and we have a standard room (although I think ours was available as a king at the same price.)

 

[bicker]

Last time I checked AAA (which was before we joined the DVC seven years ago) their discount was closer to 5%.

Also, keep in mind that the value season for deluxe resorts is different for the value season for moderate resorts, so that could be the reason for some of the disparity. As more folks learn about that, and start taking advantage of it, we should see the rates come back into better alignment with each other.