Oct. 2012...It's all about the Benjamins

[dheinz]

I have read & read and still do not have the answer.
I know this is a bit far out. However, my family of 6 is planning a Oct. 2012 trip for Fall Break (preferably the BC). My travel time is not flexible in Oct; however, we could move the trip up to May 2012. We have been numerous times in the last 6 years & have ALWAYS paid full price on the package. I have NEVER gotten any codes, ever!!
I am putting my foot down this time! I don't want to pay full price. I am not picky. I will take any discount, FD, etc. HELP!
What can I do? Should I consider an AP? Rent DVC points? Wait it out for the code that never comes? Not book a package?
I will say I go every Feb. (CBR) under a Varsity registration with my daughter's cheer squad. I even thought about trying to get an bounceback offer. Not sure if I would even be offered a bounceback offer due to the Varsity involvement. (Heavens knows I am paying crazy money for that trip. I have earned a bb offer.) If I got an AP I could use it on the trip in Feb & not have to worry about the Varsity package. Although it would cause a few other issues for my Feb trip.
Any suggestion? I think Mickey has figured I have paid rack rates for rooms so long I do not need a pin code.

 

[oboedm]

I am in the same boat. I am REALLY hoping for discounts in October 2012. I checked out the discounts for this October and looked at how they corresponded with my dates in 2012-- of course, the free dining isn't offered during the week and a half I will be there. Hopefully something comes out. I wouldn't mind a room only discount, free dining, etc. We are going witha group of 4 adults and 6 (hopefully 7) kids, so any discount would be nice.

What I am thinking about doing, if discounts don't come, is seeing what my financial situation looks like around that time and considering an annual pass. If we had enough money to where we can go again within that year time frame, DH and I would buy annual passes and get rooms for the entire family (two value suites at AoA). If I can get a room only discount for Oct 2012 and be eligible for the TIW card, we would be in better shape than paying full price for everything.

Let's say an annual pass is 550 and our regular tickets are 250. We would only be spending $500 more (250 x 2 people). Let's say value suites are $320 a night in October, we are staying for 10 nights and getting 2 suites. That is 6400. If there is a 25% AP discount, we would save $1600. Free dining would actually work out better for us, since there are so many of us (it would save a couple grand), but AP discounts would be our second option.

 

[dheinz]

I bet we are looking at the same week. The kiddos (4) are out for Fall Break. We would like to go to WDW when the weather is warm enough to to go water parks & not as crowded as May / June (when we usually go).

Where are you guys looking to stay? We are leaning towards BC. Interested in the BCV, but they are not showing available at this time.

I feel very confused about the AP, TIW, & the AP dining package. Although we are interested in the Not so scary & I would be able to get those discounted too!

When would you get the AP? Would you wait for the AP room only discounts to come out? Are you worried that they will be gone too quickly again like it seems they did this Oct.?
BTW, have you seen a Oct. 2012 code watch thread yet? This may need a new name!

 

[disneymagicgirl]

If you want to just be sure you have the trip booked and a decent room rate, I would suggest renting DVC points. That way you aren't paying rack rate and you also aren't sitting around for the next year worrying about whether you will get a decently priced trip or not.
There seem to be a good bit of black out dates and limited availability w/ this year's oct discounts.
HTH!

 

[oboedm]

I bet we are looking at the same week. The kiddos (4) are out for Fall Break. We would like to go to WDW when the weather is warm enough to to go water parks & not as crowded as May / June (when we usually go).

Where are you guys looking to stay? We are leaning towards BC. Interested in the BCV, but they are not showing available at this time.

I feel very confused about the AP, TIW, & the AP dining package. Although we are interested in the Not so scary & I would be able to get those discounted too!

When would you get the AP? Would you wait for the AP room only discounts to come out? Are you worried that they will be gone too quickly again like it seems they did this Oct.?
BTW, have you seen a Oct. 2012 code watch thread yet? This may need a new name!

We were going to stay at AoA, because we need a suite and a room. We were just going to get 2 suites so we would have 4 bathroom areas for everyone. However, I have been thinking about renting points, as the next poster suggested. We are going during the kids' fall break as well (and taking them out for a few days to do a cruise. Maybe Disney realized that some schools have Oct break as well, and so they don't need to offer as many discounts during those weeks.

I am unsure when we would consider the APs. I don't know if we would wait to book until the AP rates came out, but we may book and then add on the rates. Maybe if we called on the first day they are available we won't have an issue. I haven't seen a code watch thread-- we are planning way too early for that, LOL!

If you want to just be sure you have the trip booked and a decent room rate, I would suggest renting DVC points. That way you aren't paying rack rate and you also aren't sitting around for the next year worrying about whether you will get a decently priced trip or not.
There seem to be a good bit of black out dates and limited availability w/ this year's oct discounts.
HTH!

Renting DVC may be a good idea. We rented DVC through Dave's DVC site as I was hesitant to rent through the boards last time. =) We would need a two bedroom at AKL or BLT, since we have 9 people who are ages 3+. We will also have an 18 month old and (hopefully) a 3, 4, or 5 month old. We would need 350+ points. I don't know how possible that is, unless we met someone willing to bank or borrow for us. Anyway, I do like the thought of a washer/dryer, but we wouldn't need the full kitchen.

Even if we went through the Dave's DVC again at $13 a point, it would save us around 1200. If we got a cheaper rental rate through these boards, we would save even more. That being said, if they do the same discounts as this year for APs, we would save 30% on AoA. If we got DVC rental points for cheaper that $13, it would be around the same as the 30% AoA discount-- and we wouldn't have to wait to see what happens.

Decisions, Decisions...