New with first question

[Miss Charlotte]

I am so happy I found these boards. My best friend and I are planning for a trip in Oct. 2013 for our two families. They've never been to DW and neither has my family. I've not been since 1992 - forever!

My biggest question - if we book now and later find a discount, can this be applied to lower our cost? Or is the price we book in at the price we are locked into paying?

We really want to reserve now but I have read people talk about discounts and that makes me unsure if it's best to reserve and commit?

Thank you -

 

[ErinsMommy]

Welcome -- the people here are great and super helpful so you'll find answers to many questions!!

You can book now and if a discount comes out later, you can call back and they'll apply the discount. However, at least how I understand it, if you book a vacation package and a room only discount comes out, you won't be able to take advantage of that discount.

 

[Maggie'sMom]

I am so happy I found these boards. My best friend and I are planning for a trip in Oct. 2013 for our two families. They've never been to DW and neither has my family. I've not been since 1992 - forever!

My biggest question - if we book now and later find a discount, can this be applied to lower our cost? Or is the price we book in at the price we are locked into paying?

We really want to reserve now but I have read people talk about discounts and that makes me unsure if it's best to reserve and commit?

Thank you -

First of all

Yes, if there is availability for your dates and your selected resort, you can have your reservation modified to include the discount. If you call and change your reservation as soon as the discount is released, you have a pretty good chance of having availability. But not every resort offers every room at the discounts available. Each resort will make a certain number of rooms available under a promotion. When those rooms are booked, no more rooms can be booked under that promotion. Keep an eye on the Discounts forum here on the Disboards. Also, check out mousesavers.com for info. They have a list of when discounts have been released historically and it's a pretty good guide for when to expect new promotions to be released.

 

[Maggie'sMom]

However, at least how I understand it, if you book a vacation package and a room only discount comes out, you won't be able to take advantage of that discount.

"Room-only" discounts can be applied to packages. The discount only comes off the room portion of the package. If you get a CM that says it can't be done, call back for another CM. I had a CM tell me this once when I was still a relative newbie when it comes to Disney. I hung up without booking because I wanted to consider my options. I called back later that night and got a super helpful CM that told me "room-only" discounts could be used with packages but not every CM knows how to do it. He was able to get me booked in my desired resort for the dates I wanted and saved me about $1,000.

 

[MMS1125]

Welcome -- the people here are great and super helpful so you'll find answers to many questions!!

You can book now and if a discount comes out later, you can call back and they'll apply the discount. However, at least how I understand it, if you book a vacation package and a room only discount comes out, you won't be able to take advantage of that discount.

sure you can They will just apply the room discount to the room portion of the pkg. I've done that before

If you book a room only and a pkg discount comes out (free dining, etc) then you can call and rebook a pkg that will require a different deposit and cancel the room only and that deposit will be refunded. They can't just use that deposit from the room on the pkg. Hope that makes sense!!

Welcome to the boards! Have a great visit

 

[ErinsMommy]

See I'm still learning myself. Thank you, didn't know that!!

 

[Miss Charlotte]

Lovely! Thank you all so much. We really want to book and now the hard part - deciding where to stay. Actually, it won't be hard. We're from Arizona and all the photos of POR I've seen just are amazing - we want to be near that water.

Thank you again -

 

[Maggie'sMom]

Lovely! Thank you all so much. We really want to book and now the hard part - deciding where to stay. Actually, it won't be hard. We're from Arizona and all the photos of POR I've seen just are amazing - we want to be near that water.

Thank you again -

POR is a lovely resort. They have the boat to Downtown Disney that is really relaxing. I've only stayed there once but would stay there again without hesitation.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

One more tidbit- yes- so long as you understand that Disney doesn't offer a discount on all of it's available rooms- they are only willing to book a certain number of rooms with any given discount.

Translation - keep your eye out for discounts and call right away when one comes out - discounted rooms can sell out in hours. I've had it happen to me any number of times. (esp after the current discount offer ends on Aug 14)

Your best bet is to check every morning. It only takes a second.
Also, your best bet is if you are a little flexible with dates and room preferences. Discounts are less likely to happen during holiday weeks.

Also, look ahead to see now what the Disney pricing seasons are. If you can avoid Columbus day (example, adds $45 per night at Beach CLub), good. A quick look, and I see there is a pricing season increase Sept 28. If you were able to go the tail end of September- you might save a bit (depending which resort, example $75 per night at the BeachClub). Otherwise the fall price season runs Sept 28 to November 16. Weekend days also cost slightly more than weekday nights.

You also pay more for food during peak seasons!

 

[ElizabethBowman]

Lovely! Thank you all so much. We really want to book and now the hard part - deciding where to stay. Actually, it won't be hard. We're from Arizona and all the photos of POR I've seen just are amazing - we want to be near that water.

Thank you again -

The water there is very beautiful. I liked taking the boat to Downtown Disney. It's kind of a neat feature of Port Orleans hotels. I would recommend: with younger kids - look at French Quarter. The pool is alot of fun and it seems that everything is so close together - minimal walking to food and busses, and amazing donuts (beignettes) - and also has boat service. I also like Riverside - it's a little more elegant, but found the walk to busses a little longer. However, the pool had a better slide for older kids (and amazing cinammon buns!). Either way, you won't be disappointed!

 

[POOHsie]

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