Should I book with AAA discount or AP?

[radrn]

Trying to book our rooms for our first WDW trip. We have both AAA and a AP. We are looking at a trip in May 2012. Since AP discounts aren't available for those dates yet should I gamble and book a room expecting a discount with my AP, or should I book using the already available AAA rate?

 

[nrpofp]

Trying to book our rooms for our first WDW trip. We have both AAA and a AP. We are looking at a trip in May 2012. Since AP discounts aren't available for those dates yet should I gamble and book a room expecting a discount with my AP, or should I book using the already available AAA rate?

You can book with the AAA and then switch to whatever discounts become available down the road. Thats what I did this year. I started out with AAA. then switched to the public offer, and then finally got an AP discount. If your not a gambler and it gives you some peace of mind I would do it. BTW your reservation number will stay the same. The cm will just apply the new discount to your reservation. If you want to switch to a package then you will have to cancel your existing reservation and rebook it as a package. I did that also. I made a lot of changes. It was a pain in the you know what, but it all worked out in the end.

 

[radrn]

Great information nrpofp. What is the typical AP discount and how far in advance of your stay do they usually release those discounts?

 

[nrpofp]

Great information nrpofp. What is the typical AP discount and how far in advance of your stay do they usually release those discounts?

Not very far in advance unfortunately. Or res was May 15. The Ap discounts came out the middle of March. I had no trouble applying the Ap discount. I kept checking the site to what was available even in the middle of April there was still a lot of availability for May 15. The discount was around 30% for the poly. It may have been a little more for other deluxes. Curently they are offering 30% off deluxe and 35% off deluxe villas. I think mods are 25%. We are returning May 2012. I can book a ticketless package room and dining and just wait for the ap discounts to be released. If I use another discount I will have to add a 1 day ticket to get the dining plan. Disney doesn't make things easy sometimes.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

Looking back at current and previous Annual Pass discounts they have been 25% - 35% off, where as the AAA rates are always 10% - 20% off. So no matter what the Annual Pass rates will always be better.

 

[Sue M]

Discounts depend on what resort category you're booking, and in which season. Disney has different pricing depending on what season you're booking, Value, Summer, Regular, Holiday, etc.

Moderate resort AP discounts can be 30 - 35%, Deluxe can be 40 - 42%, depends on your dates. Value Season generally gets the higher % discounts.

You can book an AAA room discount,now, then when other discounts come out, switch. Some discounts require you to book as a package, which is room + tickets (can include dining plan too). Some discounts can be booked as room only. So depends on what you plan on.
If you intend in the end to have a package, you could book as a package now. Saves the hassle of cancelling and refunding room only reservation & re-booking as a package.

Currently I'm booked with a general public discount package, for August, just waiting for the AP discounts to come out. Booking WDW vacays isn't for the feint of heart

 

[kjgy]

I have trip booked with AAA. At the time of booking I did not get discount for my room. I received a promo code for the room
rate Can I call Disney directly to apply code? When I called AAA and they told
me that they could not apply the code since there are not rooms available
at the resort I am staying (Beach Club Villas).

Thanks for your help

 

[snykymom]

I have trip booked with AAA. At the time of booking I did not get discount for my room. I received a promo code for the room
rate Can I call Disney directly to apply code? When I called AAA and they told
me that they could not apply the code since there are not rooms available
at the resort I am staying (Beach Club Villas).

Thanks for your help

AAA "owns" your reservation. Disney doesn't see it in their system until about 10 days before your arrival. So Disney's CMs won't be able to help you.

There are only a certain number of rooms available at each resort under each promo code. It is not unusual that a particular resort is sold out under an individual promotion.

The best you could do is call Disney to apply the code to a new reservation if BCV is available, then cancel AAA. Or, if you are flexible, change your resort to take advantage of the discount code.