Never stayed on-site need help going about booking..

[bibliophile]

Hello! My husband, daughter (4 years old), and I are planning a trip to WDW in October. We've been twice and usually stay off-site. This time I thought we'd stay on-site at one of the nicer resorts (hoping for Grand Floridian) but I'm not sure how to go about booking our stay with the max amount of savings. Can someone explain to me how it works? Do I book directly through the Disney site? Should I call? Is there a discount on tickets if we stay on-site?

Any help would be appreciated! Thanks!

 

[kenny]

You can book directly through disney. Don't think there are many discounts that disney doesn't offer itself but only to travel agency

If you go on disney site you should see available discounts and deals listed when you search for rooms

However if you are planning on Oct of this year it may be slim pickings as discounts for fall have all been announced for several weeks. Usually the better ones go quickly but definitely look in to it

Also depending on how long you are going you could consider an annual pass. You can get a good discount on the room which could offset the price of the pass

 

[Sue M]

I'd check out the WDW web site under Special Offers link on bottom left of page and see what offers are available for your dates. I saw room discount that ends Oct 3, but free dining was out. However, with just 2 adults & a child that prob isn't going to be the best discount staying at GF or any deluxe. It may be good if staying at a moderate.
You may have to keep monitoring site to see when next discounts are released.

Tickets are rarely discounted by Disney. Haven't been in awhile. You could book a room only discount with WDW, then buy tickets from Undercover Tourist. They're a valid ticket broker, and depending on what tickets they have, savings vary between $3.00 to $20.00 savings per ticket. Sometimes they have get a day free. So you pay price of a 4 day and get a 5 day. The price you see up front is what you pay. Tax is incl. and no shipping fee.
Some sites, incl WDW don't include tax untill check out, and some add shipping. So just compare apples to apples.

 

[FofMM]

When you get to page for WDW, before putting in your dates, scroll down and look for something like "Special Offers" or "Promotions" as a link towards bottom. That should lead you to current offers review those. You can select a promo and price out several resort hotel rates. Take time to become familiar with the site navigation it can be confusing. Once you know the offers and rules, you can call Disney Reservations (if you get a good rep they can be very helpful) and confirm rates you saw online. We have seen that sometimes only better view rooms are offered or the discount may be different in a standard view than a preferred view. Have fun! Beware, once we stayed on property 20 years ago, we were never able to stay off again!