Question about Annual Pass website - hotel availability

[gethane]

Trying to plan our September vacation and was wondering about the hotel availability site on the AP section of the website. Do they post the next month on the 1st? (like will Sept be posted on June 1) or is it just when then have it ready?

 

[Sherry E]

Trying to plan our September vacation and was wondering about the hotel availability site on the AP section of the website. Do they post the next month on the 1st? (like will Sept be posted on June 1) or is it just when then have it ready?

I think that they used to have rates posted 2 or 3 months in advance, but I remember last year many of us on the DIS were waiting for the AP rates for October to be released, and they didn't put them up on the AP calendar until mid-September!!!! If it's a season where they are expecting it to be very busy at DLR, I have a sneaking suspicion that they wait a while to see how many folks will book at the regular rack rates first before they release the lower AP rates. I don't know for a fact that this is what they do, but they seemed to wait an awfully long time last year before giving us those October rates. If it's a season that is traditionally off-peak and doesn't really have a chance of increasing in business too much, they probably release the AP rates much earlier.

 

[gethane]

Ok, that makes sense! Thank you! I might just get a non-Disney cancellable reservation to ease my mind that we have SOMETHING and then if I like the AP rates for our days, switch.

 

[sonnyjane]

Ok, that makes sense! Thank you! I might just get a non-Disney cancellable reservation to ease my mind that we have SOMETHING and then if I like the AP rates for our days, switch.

This is what I have done in the past. I book a place on Harbor that requires no deposit and can be cancelled with no penalty up to 48 hours prior to check-in, and then just wait until the AP rates come out.

I think I agree with Sherry E regarding them waiting longer to release peak-season rates. I know for my trip in April, it seemed to take FOREVER for them to post the AP rates, and naturally Easter/Spring Break is a busy time, so Sherry's explanation would make sense.

 

[Sherry E]

Ok, that makes sense! Thank you! I might just get a non-Disney cancellable reservation to ease my mind that we have SOMETHING and then if I like the AP rates for our days, switch.

That sounds like a good, safe idea. I mean, for all we know, maybe they will put the September rates out next week. But they were so slow and sneaky last year that it makes me wonder what's in store for this year, given that World of Color is coming and Disney may expect tons of folks for that, as well as the increasingly popular Halloween and Christmas seasons.

You know what's funny? I remember in November/December 2008, there were all kinds of openings at all 3 DLR hotels, all through the holiday season, but especially right up to Christmas day. This, I think, was directly because of the economy. There was no shortage of people in the parks, that's for sure, but the Disney hotels were way down in bookings at what would normally be a hugely busy time of year. I think that threw them for a loop. Suddenly in 2009, there were PIN code offers galore floating around (I was getting one every couple of months, it seemed), as well as the ever-popular 'get 5 nights for the price of 3 deal.' That helped to get the hotels full again.

 

[gethane]

Well they have posted their September AP rates but I am very disappointed. I can get better rates buying from a travel site.

 

[Sherry E]

Well they have posted their September AP rates but I am very disappointed. I can get better rates buying from a travel site.

Without looking at the rates that you saw for myself (my AP expired in October, so I am not sure if I can even still access the AP portion of the DLR site), I suspect that what they are doing is what they did last year - they are waiting to see how many people book at the higher rates before they release the really good AP rates.

Are the rates you see for, say, PPH and DLH well over $220 per night right now? If so, then I think that what they did was just post what the lowest available rates for AP holders would be if you were to book at this time...but not the actual 'AP rate' yet, if that makes sense! In other words, the rates I am guessing are the ones you saw for September are most likely merely the regular rack rate minus the regular AP discount (is it 10%?) that you could get 365 days a year. But, when it gets closer to September - like probably sometime in July or August - they will suddenly change some of the rates currently shown for September to the famous 'AP rates,' like AP9 or AP10 or whatever it would be by now. Those rates will be the ones that are under $200 per night for PPH and DLH (though they may try to hike up the DLH rates a tad because of all the stuff they are remodeling and overhauling there). I would guess that PPH would ultimately be in the range of $129 - $159, and DLH would be about $50 higher than that, and, of course, GCH will be much higher, somewhere well over $200+ range for the AP rate.

So I would still go ahead and book somewhere where you don't have to pay anything up front - just to have a reservation in place. Keep checking the AP calendar all the way until August and see if you can catch some lower rates, and if you do, jump on it right away and cancel the other reservation. Remember, the really good AP rates for October last year did not come out until mid-September! They wanted to wait as long as possible.

Plus, this year they have the get 5 nights for the price of 3 again, and that ends in September, I think, so they will probably wait a bit before offering other highly discounted rooms. Just a guess...I could be totally wrong...