Special Offer Email

[kcisco71]

I got an email today to call for a special offer and an so glad I called. We were booked at Caribbean Beach Resort for a week this July. There were several special offers available, including Boardwalk, Yacht Club, Contemporary, etc. so I had her go through pricing for several. The cheapest was for the Grand Floridian! Total upgrade cost was only $1,500. I took that offer! So excited!

 

[focusondisney]

I got an email today to call for a special offer and an so glad I called. We were booked at Caribbean Beach Resort for a week this July. There were several special offers available, including Boardwalk, Yacht Club, Contemporary, etc. so I had her go through pricing for several. The cheapest was for the Grand Floridian! Total upgrade cost was only $1,500. I took that offer! So excited!

Congrats! Can I ask what week you’re booked for? I read some speculation that the nighttime parade might debut in July. Wondering if they’re planning for increased bookings for that timeframe.

 

[gottalovepluto]

That’s awesome! How much did you save over the general public discount on your dates?

 

[kcisco71]

Congrats! Can I ask what week you’re booked for? I read some speculation that the nighttime parade might debut in July. Wondering if they’re planning for increased bookings for that timeframe.

July 5-11, 2025

 

[kcisco71]

That’s awesome! How much did you save over the general public discount on your dates?

We saved just under $2k!

 

[gottalovepluto]

We saved just under $2k!

Sorry, that doesn’t math. i was asking in reference to the current summer promo. I priced out those dates in a resort view room of GF at the general public discount for summer (Stay Longer Save More) and it’s $3.6k including taxes and fees, no way you got a week at GF for $1.6k. (Rack rate $5.2k including taxes and fees)

I only ask because we like to keep tabs on Disney’s upsell offers to gauge them vs the current public discounts for our own reference points. (Sometimes Disney offers special upsells that are literally just the general public discount rate but sometimes they actually are higher.)

 

[kcisco71]

Sorry, I think you misunderstood my post. I said the upgrade cost was $1500 - meaning I paid that much more than what I paid for Caribbean Beach Resort. I priced it out online and with 4 day park hopper and memory maker, the cost at Grand Floridian for my same days is $6,900.

 

[kcisco71]

Sorry, that doesn’t math. i was asking in reference to the current summer promo. I priced out those dates in a resort view room of GF at the general public discount for summer (Stay Longer Save More) and it’s $3.6k including taxes and fees, no way you got a week at GF for $1.6k. (Rack rate $5.2k including taxes and fees)

I only ask because we like to keep tabs on Disney’s upsell offers to gauge them vs the current public discounts for our own reference points. (Sometimes Disney offers special upsells that are literally just the general public discount rate but sometimes they actually are higher.)

Sorry, I think you misunderstood my post. I said the upgrade cost was $1500 - meaning I paid that much more than what I paid for Caribbean Beach Resort. I priced it out online and with 4 day park hopper and memory maker, the cost at Grand Floridian for my same days is $6,900.

 

[Mle8308]

I think with all the constriction going on at the GF, especially in the lobby, the discount may be better.

 

[CarolynFH]

There were several special offers available, including Boardwalk, Yacht Club, Contemporary, etc. so I had her go through pricing for several. The cheapest was for the Grand Floridian!

Bookings at the Deluxe resorts must be really light this summer.

 

[SwanVT2]

I got an email today to call for a special offer and an so glad I called. We were booked at Caribbean Beach Resort for a week this July. There were several special offers available, including Boardwalk, Yacht Club, Contemporary, etc. so I had her go through pricing for several. The cheapest was for the Grand Floridian! Total upgrade cost was only $1,500. I took that offer! So excited!

What did the special offer email look like? We are booked July 6-11 at SSR and I would love to get an offer. Thanks!

 

[kcisco71]

It was an email from Disney Destinations and the subject line had my last name and “here’s a special Resort offer for your WALT DISNEY WORLD® stay.”

 

[SkyGuy]

What did the special offer email look like? We are booked July 6-11 at SSR and I would love to get an offer. Thanks!

You are already in a deluxe resort, so it would be pretty rare for you to get an upgrade offer. Not saying it couldn’t happen, but generally these offers are to move people to a different resort level.

 

[brockash]

It was an email from Disney Destinations and the subject line had my last name and “here’s a special Resort offer for your WALT DISNEY WORLD® stay.”

If you don't want to that's fine, but I am curious as to what the new total is that you paid for GF. Just trying to get an idea as to how good of a deal it is. I know in rhe past we've gotten these types of emails, but after looking at the numbers it wasn't really much of a deal, but it sounds like it was in your case which is good to hear.

 

[SwanVT2]

You are already in a deluxe resort, so it would be pretty rare for you to get an upgrade offer. Not saying it couldn’t happen, but generally these offers are to move people to a different resort level.

Oh, ok. Thanks!

 

[Genie+]

I’ve noticed CBR and POP are common for these type of offers. POP tries to upsell to POR, CSR, AKV, etc. I think it stems from high demand due to the skyliner, so they try to open more inventory by offering upgrades to elsewhere. If they know CBR and POP are easier to fill than some of the other resorts? It’s a win-win if they can open some slots back up while guests are happy to go with one of the upgrade choices.

 

[iwannabdduck]

I got the very same email last month after we booked a stay at the moderate resort, POR, which we like. The same "Special Offer" was even listed under My Plans when I signed on to MDE. But it turned out to be nothing more than a listing for more deluxe resort offers that were already showing as available under the Special Offers link for the very same dates. They were all the same, & nothing new.
But here is the really odd part, and maybe something useful for others to know.

The only more deluxe (& expensive) place we personally wanted to stay was GF, but there was absolutely no availability showing at the GF for the 5 days we already planned to go regardless of how much I searched. But then I opened the Special Offers "check availability" link on Disney's web site one last time. It auto loaded for 6 days after I put in our start date. So for reasons I can't explain, I let it search that way. And surprisingly availability was now showing up for GF. When I repeated that search with the 1-day earlier departure date for a 5 day stay, all GF availability disappeared. So I figured oh what the heck, and called Disney's reservations phone number. After explaining what I experienced online, I asked if they were showing the GF being available for 6 days with our same start date, could I still get that resort there even though we would be leaving a day sooner. After putting me on hold for a moment to see if that was possible, they came back and said "Yes." I've never had anything like this ever happen before. And yes, we are now staying at the GF for the very same dates we originally planned to be at the POR .... thanks to some of Mickey's magic.

 

[Mle8308]

I got the very same email last month after we booked a stay at the moderate resort, POR, which we like. The same "Special Offer" was even listed under My Plans when I signed on to MDE. But it turned out to be nothing more than a listing for more deluxe resort offers that were already showing as available under the Special Offers link for the very same dates. They were all the same, & nothing new.
But here is the really odd part, and maybe something useful for others to know.

The only more deluxe (& expensive) place we personally wanted to stay was GF, but there was absolutely no availability showing at the GF for the 5 days we already planned to go regardless of how much I searched. But then I opened the Special Offers "check availability" link on Disney's web site one last time. It auto loaded for 6 days after I put in our start date. So for reasons I can't explain, I let it search that way. And surprisingly availability was now showing up for GF. When I repeated that search with the 1-day earlier departure date for a 5 day stay, all GF availability disappeared. So I figured oh what the heck, and called Disney's reservations phone number. After explaining what I experienced online, I asked if they were showing the GF being available for 6 days with our same start date, could I still get that resort there even though we would be leaving a day sooner. After putting me on hold for a moment to see if that was possible, they came back and said "Yes." I've never had anything like this ever happen before. And yes, we are now staying at the GF for the very same dates we originally planned to be at the POR .... thanks to some of Mickey's magic.

That's great! What was the additional charge per night for the upgrade?

 

[iwannabdduck]

That's great! What was the additional charge per night for the upgrade?

As I recall, about $300 per night.

 

[PrincesCJM]

When I got this offer 2 years ago, we were booked at All Star Movies and moved to Coronado Springs for $30-ish more per night. My kids wanted a pool slide so it was an easy upgrade. Ended up in the way far side at CSR and now would never stay there again without doing preferred or the tower.