room discounts

[eliza61]

This is a stupid question, but how do you get one.

Here's the story. So I'm planning a quick getaway for October 23-27 for dh and I. we are dvc members and the only availablity open on short notice was SSR, which is not a big problem.

Then I saw the free dining discount and decided to play on disney website with free dining.

The prices were ridiculous (or at least to me).

Grand Floridian over 3K for 4 nights. Seriously. The poly was over 4K.

I always read about fine folks getting 40% off a room but never paid much attention because we usually use our points.

This is a last minute surprise for my dh. He's been suffering some serious health issues the last 6 months and thought this would be a nice break.

We are aarp members and aaa so I'll check with them also. any other avenue I'm missing.

 

[vicki_c]

There are no more 40% discounts. Those days are gone. They should be releasing fall room discounts soon, but I wouldn't expect more than 30% at select resorts, less at others, probably including the Poly.

There are no AARP discounts.

 

[kddisney502]

AAA should get you anywhere from 10-20% off room rates, depending on season and availability. You can book the AAA rate directly with disney by calling and having your AAA card ready.

 

[barney4liz]

There are no AARP discounts.

I just booked the Swan with a great AARP rate for a visit in August.

AARP also is offering a coupon for an extra 5% off, but travel has to be completed by September 30. The Disney hotels come up on the AARP Travel Center website. No harm in checking there, too.

 

[Moomduck1]

have you tried renting points? There are some threads talking about it and it seems to be a good deal. I have found that the free dining is only worth it if you are staying in a value or possibly a moderate hotel. Deluxe hotels are much better with a percentage off.

 

[GovieMom]

I have found that the free dining is only worth it if you are staying in a value or possibly a moderate hotel. Deluxe hotels are much better with a percentage off.

Not necessarily. It depends on how many adults would be staying in the Deluxe room; if four adults would be sharing a room, then Free Dining is almost always the better deal. Oftentimes with three adults; especially now that room discounts tend to top off at 30%.

 

[Moomduck1]

Not necessarily. It depends on how many adults would be staying in the Deluxe room; if four adults would be sharing a room, then Free Dining is almost always the better deal. Oftentimes with three adults; especially now that room discounts tend to top off at 30%.

I've priced it out with 4 adults (my kids are in their 20s). I guess we just don't eat enough to make rack rate w/free dining worth it at a deluxe. We always fare better with a room only discount.

 

[GovieMom]

The four of us (adults) are staying at the Beach Club for six nights. So, $375 per night x 6 is $2250. A 30% discount would save us $675. (Of course, this is without tax or add'l adult/room fees). Whereas Free Dining for the four of us for six nights, at $51 per person, would save us $1224. But if a family prefers to eat mainly counter service meals, then a room discount would probably be better for them.

 

[Moomduck1]

The four of us (adults) are staying at the Beach Club for six nights. So, $375 per night x 6 is $2250. A 30% discount would save us $675. (Of course, this is without tax or add'l adult/room fees). Whereas Free Dining for the four of us for six nights, at $51 per person, would save us $1224. But if a family prefers to eat mainly counter service meals, then a room discount would probably be better for them.

So you saved quite a bit of money that way. That's really good. Using your figures, that would be spending $204/day for a family of 4 adults on food. There's just no way we spend that much. Some days we spend less than $100 and other times more like $125. We do eat some table service meals, but mostly counter service. I can't rationalize spending that much on food for us, so we take the room discount.

Now, this past Feb we did take the free dining. We did a split stay where we did the free dining for a 3 night stay and stayed at POFQ. We wanted to eat at CRT. For our last TS meal, DH and I picked our fave restaurant in Epcot and DD and her BF picked theirs. Then we moved to the Boardwalk hotel for the room only discount. We used it one other trip for a family of 5 at the Yacht Club, and we ate at Le Cellier and I forget where else. That was when it first came out and you got desserts and appetizers. That was way too much food, which we ate because we didn't want to waste and gained 5 lbs each!! No one to blame but ourselves.

Every family is different. You need to do the math to see what works best for you.

I'm hoping for a room only discount for my friend for Oct. DH and I already booked with a bounceback from last Feb. But my friend and her hubby decided to come along on the trip. They don't want free dining because we plan on mostly eating at the Food & Wine Festival. I know that the snacks are covered for Food & Wine, but they don't want the other meals that are included in the free dining because they just want to eat at the festival. We are only going for 4 nights.