Teach me about AP rates, please?

[Joyciemc]

I'm hoping to go to WDW in December (probably 6-11). I'm pretty sure I'm going to get an AP, because I've already gone twice in the past year, and I don't think I'm slowing down yet! I should've got the AP two trips ago, but live and learn.

What I'm wondering is how sure can you be that there'll be an AP discount for your trip? Are there typically discounts in early December? How far in advance are the discounts announced?
One more thing, is there a discount on renewing an AP? Ok.. I think that's it.
Thanks for any help you can give!

 

[tcfdick]

There usually are AP discounts on rooms during the value season in December. That doesn't mean that Disney will continue this, but it has happened for years.

There is a discount for renewing your AP, but it continues from the date of the first AP. For instance, let's say you activated your pass Dec. 1, 2003-2004. When you renew, your pass will go from Dec. 1, 2004-2005.

One thing you can do is book a room with an AP rate for a WDW resort even if you don't have one at the time of booking. You can wait for the rate and then buy your AP. It does need to be activated before you get to your resort though to get the AP rate, although some CM's will let you show an unactivated voucher that you must bring back activated within a time frame.

The AP rates usually come out right after the previous rates have expired. I do have a suggestion for getting the resort AP rate, because they tend to go fast. If you can use a travel agent that specializes in Disney, they will do all the work for you. There are several that are really good. I'm using one called The Magic for Less Travel Agency that I have been very pleased with, but there is a wonderful one with the DIS boards too called Dreams Unlimited Travel. They both are a free service and do a lot of the work for you. All you have to do is tell them what places you want to eat at, when, how many, what dates you want to travel, what resort you would like, and then you get to do the fun planning. If you have any changes, you just email them and they do it for you! It's been wonderful!

 

[my3princes]

You can't be sure of an AP discount this early. They typically only post them 2 -3 months out. We are still waiting for them to come out for July. They tend to be significant discounts some more than others. You do get a discount for renewing an AP, but I'm not sure of the exact amounts. I would go to www.wdwig.com and look there. Deb usually has great info and you can probably find historical discount info as well as the renewal rates.