spring break at WDW - any good discounts?

[HeyMickey]

Three friends and I are making Disney World plans for our spring break - March 6-14, 2004. We want to stay onsite (oh, darn ) because none of us are old enough to rent a car and we don't feel comfortable at the mercy of Joe Hotel's occasional theme park shuttle service.

So what onsite hotel would be the best value for our dollar for a 7 night stay? We'll be splitting the cost 4 ways, which helps, and we'll definitely bring our own breakfast and share meals and everything... but we're still spending $40 grand a year on college so we don't have tons to spend on a room.

Any chance of discounts that time of year? I'm a newbie here, so when somebody says "AP Code" or "email code" I don't get it. My mom has AAA so we could use that, but if you have any tips how we could do better we would be most grateful.

Please let me know any tips you have! I haven't been to WDW in 4 years and I can't wait to go back!

 

[EthansMom]

Welcome HeyMickey,

For price, the best WDW hotel would be one of the All-Stars or maybe the Pop Century, which opens this winter. The All-Stars get three stars from AAA and are the lowest cost of the Disney-owned hotels, but are pretty small for 4 people at 260 sq ft./room.

Because spring break is very busy, you may not be able to find prices as cheap as the off-season. However, there may be some rooms available with the AAA discount. Also, other discounts are generally listed at www.mousesavers.com as they become available. (AP refers to "annual passholders")

The best savings for WDW seems to be had by booking the room and buying your tickets separately, rather than purchasing a package. Some reputable discount ticket sites include: www.orlandotickets.com, www.ticketmania.com & www.officialticketcenter.com.

Also, you may want to look into the hotels at Downtown Disney, which are on WDW property, but not owned by Disney. They share their own buses rather than use the WDW bus system and their buses are supposed to be fairly reliable, running every 30 minutes instead of every 20 at WDW resorts. If you have Disney tickets, you can still use WDW buses to get from one park to another. I stayed on-site in the past, but for our upcoming trip managed to snag a good price on the Courtyard by Marriott and saved $110 over the AAA rate at All-Star Movies.

Another bonus with staying at Downtown Disney might be proximity to the Downtown Disney clubs which are only a few blocks away (5-10 minute walk). I believe the clubs admit 18 and over -- so if you're in college and like the nightlife, might be a consideration.

Best of luck with the planning!

EthansMom

 

[MouseLover]

We are going over spring break as well, March 19-27. For 2 adults and 1 child, we have a rate at the Best Western @ Downtown Disney for $59 per night. This is called a "weekly rate" we obtained by calling the hotel direct. I am not sure what charges would be for extra adults, but if they have a similar rate available for your dates, split 4 ways would be pretty cheap. We have not stayed here before so I can not offer any other information, just what I've read on these boards. The price I am being quoted at All-Stars for our dates is $119/night.