seems weird that most everyone plans on discounts?

[MicRac]

Our first year we wanted CSR and that is where we stayed. We paid full price and everything deluxe dining, water park and more and, park hopper. This year we wanted to stay at POR so we booked it and paid it in full. Then about a month before we were to arrive I called to make sure everything was in order and there was a free dining pin attached to my reservation. All we had to do was upgrade from a standard view to a garden view and it saved us $500. It was a bonus and Disney refunded us that money since we had already paid. Next year we want AoA Cars Family Suite so that is what we will book and any discount is just a little pixie dust.

 

[LittleStinkerbelle]

Before DD started elementary school two years ago we were more flexible with our travel dates so we generally waited until a discount came out and booked.

Now that we're bound by school vacation weeks, I like to snap up airfares before they go through the roof, as is often the case with break weeks, and that generally means booking before discounts come out.

We went for April break this year and booked it the August prior when we got our airfare. I planned on rack rate so we only booked 5 nights because any more than that was out of our budget comfort zone (we were staying deluxe). Turns out a 30% off code came out which I was very happy about but unfortunately by then it was too expensive to change the airfare (between the change fee and increase in fare) so we stuck to the 5 nights even though we now could've afforded more with the discount.

Our April airfares for next year are coming out shortly so we're again in the position of booking rack rate so we'll again determine or max budget and work around that and if a discount comes out that'll be gravy.

 

[TaraBara]

We do not book until we get a discount. We WILL NOT stay on property at rack rate prices. They are just ridiculous!!! Yes, I do like to stay on property, but if I could not get a discount for my dates,then I would stay off property for sure.

This actually just happened to us. We wanted to go the middle of October, but the more we looked around, it seemed that a discount may never come out for those dates. So, we switched our dates to get free dining. I never booked ahead of time......I just waited!

 

[asmit4]

We wouldn't book at rack rate prices either and it has nothing to do with not being able to afford it. I simply just don't think even the deluxes are 'deluxe' enough to spend that kind of $ on. I also don't spend a lot of time in the room anyway so a value is fine by us. If DW actually built a truly DELUXE hotel we'd consider paying rack rates. I just can't justify throwing away 400 or more a night for a disney resort.
It's the same with the food for us. People RAVE about the DW restaurants- I don't mean to flame people but if people honestly think DW food is 'top quality' they don't get out much. It's nothing more than resort food aside from a couple onsite places. I'd much rather spend $50 on a steak at a true 5 star restaurant in Chicago, NY or Las Vegas. If we don't get free FD, we don't bother eating onsite. It's not high enough quality in any way shape or form to spend that kind of $ on.
With DW- we are there for the parks. It's not the place we go for a 'vacation'. We go commando. For a vacation we do trips to other true 4-5 star places and expect high end rooms and food. I simply can't imagine spending 5K or more on a DW trip. That kind of $ is better spent at the Grand Wailea in Hawaii or LeBlanc in Mexico.

 

[mefordis]

I have ALWAYS received a discount. For both WDW and DLR. I would not go without one.

 

[bedogged]

I refuse to pay rack rate! One year I booked AKL with a AAA rate and hoped for a better rate. It never happened so I canceled my reservation and stayed off property. If I can't get a decent rate, I will do so again. It's not about not being able to afford something, it's about not being willing to pay through the nose. If paying rack rate doesn't bother you, then go for it.

 

[asmit4]

They inflate the rack rates so that they can turn around and discount them and still make a profit. People always want to think they got a good deal.

 

[scdufek]

We've always stayed Deluxe without discount and paid for regular dining plan, but this year we could only afford a moderate, so we booked 10 days for mid-Oct.....but we did recieved a QS dining pin after our original planning began, which I will happily take!:0)

 

[Sue M]

We book what we can afford. I'd never book a deluxe without a good discount.
We go twice a year, I have to be in Florida anyway for family reasons.
I don't book without a discount. For our Jan 2013 trip I booked FQ with an AAA discount. If WDW comes out with a better discount great.
If discounts totally dry up, there's always the DTD hotels.

 

[Micca]

I go back to a time with WDW when it was pretty cut & dried--options were few and far between. Now planning a WDW trip is akin to working with the IRS on your taxes. Loopholes, fine print, limitations, etc. are enough to give anyone a headache(which is not what vacations are supposed to be about).

We bought DVC and annual passes. This solves a lot of issues (though DVC has plenty of fine print).

I sure can understand wanting a discount and hope they continue to offer them to those who utilize them.

 

[Lumiere Lover]

I booked POFQ for when I wanted to take my trip, and I had already purchased the dining plan. I had also ordered my plane tickets. The free dining to me was just the icing on the cake. I only had to upgrade to a garden view room at POFQ to get the free dining. I was very excited for this promotion, but I didn't count on it.

 

[lazydays]

We've been lucky enough to get discounts for all of our trips.

And I think it is better if people plan to only go if they get a discount rather than go into debt if they can't afford it otherwise.

 

[ChipnDalebowl]

I'm sure I'm not the only one who will say (or has said this), if it wasn't for various discounts at the parks I would not visit, period. Even the value resorts can push a budget into the stratosphere. Disney is starting to become out of reach for a lot of families in worse dire circumstances than myself.

 

[bdoyledimou]

Keep in mind that the folks who frequent the Dis Boards are AWARE of the discounts, FD, etc even though they are advertised on the website.

At work, everyone knows I am a Disney freak, and go there once or twice a year -- i try to share tips, point out discounts for folks, but they insist on using catalog prices at travel agents -- cause it's "safer".

On our last trip in Sept, few people we talked to had free dining -- it was all OOP. i suspect less than 30% of folks probably utilize the discounts!!

 

[Nancyg56]

They inflate the rack rates so that they can turn around and discount them and still make a profit. People always want to think they got a good deal.

I understand how it works. My "good deal" really is what I perceive to be a good value. I never pay "full price" for anything, I know that if I am patient the price will come down to what I feel is within my comfort level.

We always have had a discount. I have booked what I want and then applied the discount. I also have seen the discount and then decided I would travel during that time.

Honestly, I would never pay $500 per night for a room. Not in Disney, not anywhere. If there were no "discount codes" I would stay elsewhere.

 

[autismgoesdisney]

Unfortunately for us if there is no discount, we just can't afford to go. We already go during value season but we need free dining to go as well. We haven't gone without free dining in a really long time, BUT if we had to, I'm guessing a room discount would benefit us as well.

So unfortunately to answer your question, we'd have to cancel alltogether without a nice discount.

 

[reiella]

I plan around the prices that are available at the time. If it's rack, that's what I do, if I have discounts, that's what I look towards.

That said, I suspect that we're going to see a pattern of discounting for a few more years, even coupled with increased rack rates [I see 30% off, and I'm more likely to entertain the cost, never minding it might be the same final price as 20% off a few years ago].

 

[TyTysMommy]

I'm on a very tight budget. Without free dining I won't be able to afford to go. So yes, I rely on discounts. I don't get stressed out about it. I just crunch the numbers and see if we can afford to go or not. We used to go every year but now its every 2 or 3 years now. I get Disney gift cards each time I get a little extra cash and I keep saving until I have enough to fund a trip. If I can get a discount and go this year, I'll do it. If I can't get a discount that fits the budget then we wait another year to go.

 

[Bell30012]

Free dining would save us quite a bit on our trip. However, since free dining isn't being offered to those with AP and it isn't being offered on the Little Mermaid rooms at AoA resort, I made the decision that seeing my daughter and her two sisters faces as they finally get to stay in a resort with real Disney theming was more important to me.

 

[TyTysMommy]

Keep in mind that the folks who frequent the Dis Boards are AWARE of the discounts, FD, etc even though they are advertised on the website.

At work, everyone knows I am a Disney freak, and go there once or twice a year -- i try to share tips, point out discounts for folks, but they insist on using catalog prices at travel agents -- cause it's "safer".

On our last trip in Sept, few people we talked to had free dining -- it was all OOP. i suspect less than 30% of folks probably utilize the discounts!!

I helped a lady at work plan a first trip for their family. She took very little of my advice and booked through AAA. She got very little for her money and they did not have a nice time at WDW and would probably never return again. She didn't understand, after their bad experience, why I went there so much and wasted my money. When she told me all the problems they had on their trip I was able to show her where she could have taken my advice and had a better time. (didn't use FastPass, paid extra for Dining Plan but didn't make ADR's in advance, went during a very hot and crowded time, paid for a package full of extras they didn't use, etc)

After helping out several first-timer families, I see that very few people actually research the discounts.

I think that Dis-folks see use of more discounts because we're all here researching it. But the majority of the public, in my opinion, doesn't have a clue about free dining and the other discounts Disney offers.