~*~*~The Oct 2014 waiting patiently (or not so) for a discount thread ~*~*~

[jlhill4444]

Checking in for this thread! We are planning a stay at the cabins Oct 1-6. This will be our first Oct. trip for MNSSHP and F&W. Looking forward to both! FD would be a wonderful addition to our plans!

 

[wdwmaw]

Hmmmm, is this typically the case? Does anyone who is a an October regular know?? My husband and I are shocked by this October interest. I really thought we were choosing a good time to go! Lol. We discussed moving back to our typical December week. this seems like a silly question, but can you make ADRs without a reservation? Ie: can I make ADRs for December when the 180 date comes without moving my stay till dec officially????

Disney has done a great job at filling Oct with lots of fun things to do and with lots of people on fall break many take advantage of all that Disney offers.

Yes you can make ADR's without a reservation. You will have to make all reservations at exactly the 180 day for each day of your trip. Make those ADR's and cancel once you decide your dates

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[CalSea12]

Another one joining this thread! Will be there Oct 25- Nov 3

Looks like POR standard rooms are already full, yikes! I am really hoping this week wont be super busy.

 

[mommyof3princess27]

Getting ready to book my dining! This should be fun!

 

[wdwmaw]

Getting ready to book my dining! This should be fun!

Hope you got everything you wanted

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[mommyof3princess27]

Hope you got everything you wanted

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

I did! Including BOG, and prepark TH,CP and CRT!

 

[wdwmaw]

I did! Including BOG, and prepark TH,CP and CRT!

Yippie. Now bring on a discount for you

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[lancgirl]

Disney has done a great job at filling Oct with lots of fun things to do and with lots of people on fall break many take advantage of all that Disney offers. Yes you can make ADR's without a reservation. You will have to make all reservations at exactly the 180 day for each day of your trip. Make those ADR's and cancel once you decide your dates Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

Thanks for the help/tips!

 

[asmit4]

So to clarify columbus dates- we can expect NO discounts at all for the week prior to and the week of columbus? Correct?

 

[mommyof3princess27]

So to clarify columbus dates- we can expect NO discounts at all for the week prior to and the week of columbus? Correct?

Correct. Typically they start after Columbus day

 

[freckles04]

So to clarify columbus dates- we can expect NO discounts at all for the week prior to and the week of columbus? Correct?

There was a Room Only discount offered on our dates which were Oct 5-11 of 2013. I do not remember what the beginning or cut-off day was but we were definitely eligibile. Unfortunately it was only 5% for POR and by the time we called to take advantage of it, all discount rooms were booked. OH well... maybe this year.

 

[NC State]

There was a Room Only discount offered on our dates which were Oct 5-11 of 2013. I do not remember what the beginning or cut-off day was but we were definitely eligibile. Unfortunately it was only 5% for POR and by the time we called to take advantage of it, all discount rooms were booked. OH well... maybe this year.

Thank you for the information. I know we will not get FD but I'll take RO discount.

 

[lancgirl]

Ok, well I'm really making my life difficult! I just added a whole new reservation for 10/4-10/11. OMG! LOL!!!

I tried to just add to my existing but as we've been noticing all over, there are NO GV rooms left at the GF for those dates. The lagoon view is the most inexpensive one available and holy smokes that's not cheap. So, now I have a whole other trip planned 10/4-10/11 in addition to my 10/10-10/17 trip.

Made all the ADRs I could without too many issues other than BOG which I could honestly take or leave myself.

I guess now I could a) avoid Columbus chaos and b) have a chance RO or FD for that week potentially, while still only pulling my kids 4 days from school bc of the approach of the long weekend.

But any savings may be a loss anyway, bc our flight will be +$550 and of course the pricier room. Looked at CR and there's not much left there either! I have to say I'm in October shock! The CM I spoke with this AM said the rooms for Oct are filling unusually fast. I told him not to be shocked when I dump my Oct reservations and move to my normal Dec week! Hahah!! This is crazy!

 

[Queen Medors]

Ok, well I'm really making my life difficult! I just added a whole new reservation for 10/4-10/11. OMG! LOL!!!

I tried to just add to my existing but as we've been noticing all over, there are NO GV rooms left at the GF for those dates. The lagoon view is the most inexpensive one available and holy smokes that's not cheap. So, now I have a whole other trip planned 10/4-10/11 in addition to my 10/10-10/17 trip.

Made all the ADRs I could without too many issues other than BOG which I could honestly take or leave myself.

I guess now I could a) avoid Columbus chaos and b) have a chance RO or FD for that week potentially, while still only pulling my kids 4 days from school bc of the approach of the long weekend.

But any savings may be a loss anyway, bc our flight will be +$550 and of course the pricier room. Looked at CR and there's not much left there either! I have to say I'm in October shock! The CM I spoke with this AM said the rooms for Oct are filling unusually fast. I told him not to be shocked when I dump my Oct reservations and move to my normal Dec week! Hahah!! This is crazy!

Don't feel like your alone in your shock. We have been doing F&W in October for years and years now and have never seen this much enthusiam, outside of Columbus Day weekend!!! I am not sure if that many more people are going in October, or with all this pre-planning we do now, we are all just talking about it more!! Any how I hope what ever you decide- you have a great time

 

[lancgirl]

Thanks Leesa! Annnndddd... I just booked another trip for my regular December week.

Better safe than sorry, right??? My girls would miss 5 days of school if we do that again, but in comparison to the 4 days missed in Oct, it's no biggie I guess.

UGH!!!!

 

[jcemom]

Thanks Leesa! Annnndddd... I just booked another trip for my regular December week.

Better safe than sorry, right??? My girls would miss 5 days of school if we do that again, but in comparison to the 4 days missed in Oct, it's no biggie I guess.

UGH!!!!

It seems to me that if everyone books three trips when they're only going to take one, there won't be any discounts offered at all because all the resorts will be filled. No?

I don't understand why you would book three trips. Is it because you just aren't sure when you want to go and you want to be sure you have a room, even at full rack rate? If it's because you're only going if there's a discount, then being pre-booked sure won't help you any. If it's for the purpose of ADRs, you can make those without a room reservation. I'm not trying to be rude, just trying to understand why you would make three reservations. If I am coming across as rude, I apologize in advance.

 

[lancgirl]

Hi Tracey-
I completely understand what you're saying. We would really like to go in October and obviously would like to have access to some type of discount if possible, as anyone would. When we made our original plans for Columbus week, I honestly wasn't thinking about the fact we'd be blocked from FD or RO. Once I began reading all the scenarios here I decided the week before or after may be a better bet for us, however, there are now NO rooms at the GF that aren't less than $620/night for the week before. I had planned on simply extending my exisiting reservation but was told I had to have a new since the room was different. I panicked and decided to book another b/c I feared we'd even lose that lagoon view option if I didn't act now and then be left with the choice of no discount at all or a discount on a ridiculously priced room. I couldn't bring myself to just cancel our other reservation for the next week without being able to investigate a flight change, ADRs, etc. given that we have all that confirmed already. You can't blame me for that. If I'm spending this amount then I'm going to do what will ultimately work best for my family. I'm not going to wait around and hope it all works out. I completely get what you're saying about booking and not having discounts offered, but in the same vein if I had truly waited and tried to book for that alternate week in October the least expensive option at the GF wouldn't have even have been available to me anyway. (I'm noticing a lot of people having issues finding rooms that work for them at this point in the game) So as far as I'm concerned, I am quite happy to have made the alternate plan. I called once more this afternoon and finalized my week for the week after my original and cancelled everything else. I wasn't planning on sitting on my trips for months on end, just tried to give myself a little thinking time for a few days. This isn't my first time around the Disney block and not the first time I've ended up changing dates b/c of discount scenarios. Maybe I'm the only one on here dumb enough to tell people I do it? I don't know. I just can't imagine I'm the only one "scenarioizing" or planning what will be best for their family financially. I'm sorry if I've offended anyone. I was just trying to verbalize and think through my plans with fellow planners. I am curious, do people typically just wait until the discounts are released to book?? Are you just super flexible with where you stay and how much you spend? I am not trying to be snarky, I am genuinely interested how others plan. Thanks!

 

[Nancyg56]

Hi Tracey-
I completely understand what you're saying. We would really like to go in October and obviously would like to have access to some type of discount if possible, as anyone would. When we made our original plans for Columbus week, I honestly wasn't thinking about the fact we'd be blocked from FD or RO. Once I began reading all the scenarios here I decided the week before or after may be a better bet for us, however, there are now NO rooms at the GF that aren't less than $620/night for the week before. I had planned on simply extending my exisiting reservation but was told I had to have a new since the room was different. I panicked and decided to book another b/c I feared we'd even lose that lagoon view option if I didn't act now and then be left with the choice of no discount at all or a discount on a ridiculously priced room. I couldn't bring myself to just cancel our other reservation for the next week without being able to investigate a flight change, ADRs, etc. given that we have all that confirmed already. You can't blame me for that. If I'm spending this amount then I'm going to do what will ultimately work best for my family. I'm not going to wait around and hope it all works out. I completely get what you're saying about booking and not having discounts offered, but in the same vein if I had truly waited and tried to book for that alternate week in October the least expensive option at the GF wouldn't have even have been available to me anyway. (I'm noticing a lot of people having issues finding rooms that work for them at this point in the game) So as far as I'm concerned, I am quite happy to have made the alternate plan. I called once more this afternoon and finalized my week for the week after my original and cancelled everything else. I wasn't planning on sitting on my trips for months on end, just tried to give myself a little thinking time for a few days. This isn't my first time around the Disney block and not the first time I've ended up changing dates b/c of discount scenarios. Maybe I'm the only one on here dumb enough to tell people I do it? I don't know. I just can't imagine I'm the only one "scenarioizing" or planning what will be best for their family financially. I'm sorry if I've offended anyone. I was just trying to verbalize and think through my plans with fellow planners. I am curious, do people typically just wait until the discounts are released to book?? Are you just super flexible with where you stay and how much you spend? I am not trying to be snarky, I am genuinely interested how others plan. Thanks!

I can tell you how my family plans. If my dates are written in stone, I book my trip regardless of any discounts that may come up. I do not book multiple rooms on multiple dates hoping that one may fall into a discount. If codes come out and I think that they work for my family we then decide if we are going to go, and then make our plans. I understand why you are booking these rooms, but I have to say that if a lot of people do this, hoping for discount codes to be released, the practice is counter-productive. Disney's bean counters determine if discounts need to be released based on the number of rooms reserved, and if there are enough to fulfill whatever number is acceptable, there simply is no reason to offer a sale.

Right now I am considering an October trip, and I have a budget in mind. If a discount is released, and if the dates are within my timeframe, i'll book a trip. If not, I'll have to see if I can work out a trip, but I am not going to book a room JIC.

 

[jcemom]

Hi Tracey-
I completely understand what you're saying. We would really like to go in October and obviously would like to have access to some type of discount if possible, as anyone would. When we made our original plans for Columbus week, I honestly wasn't thinking about the fact we'd be blocked from FD or RO. Once I began reading all the scenarios here I decided the week before or after may be a better bet for us, however, there are now NO rooms at the GF that aren't less than $620/night for the week before. I had planned on simply extending my exisiting reservation but was told I had to have a new since the room was different. I panicked and decided to book another b/c I feared we'd even lose that lagoon view option if I didn't act now and then be left with the choice of no discount at all or a discount on a ridiculously priced room. I couldn't bring myself to just cancel our other reservation for the next week without being able to investigate a flight change, ADRs, etc. given that we have all that confirmed already. You can't blame me for that. If I'm spending this amount then I'm going to do what will ultimately work best for my family. I'm not going to wait around and hope it all works out. I completely get what you're saying about booking and not having discounts offered, but in the same vein if I had truly waited and tried to book for that alternate week in October the least expensive option at the GF wouldn't have even have been available to me anyway. (I'm noticing a lot of people having issues finding rooms that work for them at this point in the game) So as far as I'm concerned, I am quite happy to have made the alternate plan. I called once more this afternoon and finalized my week for the week after my original and cancelled everything else. I wasn't planning on sitting on my trips for months on end, just tried to give myself a little thinking time for a few days. This isn't my first time around the Disney block and not the first time I've ended up changing dates b/c of discount scenarios. Maybe I'm the only one on here dumb enough to tell people I do it? I don't know. I just can't imagine I'm the only one "scenarioizing" or planning what will be best for their family financially. I'm sorry if I've offended anyone. I was just trying to verbalize and think through my plans with fellow planners. I am curious, do people typically just wait until the discounts are released to book?? Are you just super flexible with where you stay and how much you spend? I am not trying to be snarky, I am genuinely interested how others plan. Thanks!

Okay, well this makes sense to me. I also get the 'thinking out loud' thing. I do that, probably far too often.

As for how I plan, most of the time we stay DVC so discounts don't apply anyway. When we do book through Disney, it varies. If my dates are flexible then I wait for discounts to be released and usually will have two or three resorts in mind, so I have backup choices. If my dates are not flexible and I'm going regardless, then I make a reservation at my first-choice resort. If and when discounts are released, if I can get it applied to my reservation, great, if not, then I may be willing to change resorts. It all depends. I have no set template, I guess.

This year I'm not even looking for myself, but for a friend's family and my SIL's family. They are both already booked because they're going with or without a discount. I am doing nearly all the planning for them. My friends (and my DD 12 who is going with them) are booked at POR. My SIL is booked at OKW. I'm a little concerned for my friends because POR seems to be booking up fast. I would have preferred to put them at CBR for the better pool (which is probably more likely to see free dining anyway) but for those darn double beds. It's hard to put two full-sized adults in a double bed, especially when they have a king sized bed at home.

 

[lancgirl]

Gotcha- sounds like a good plan for you.

We are resort specific and we were trying to use time over the Columbus holiday that would allow my kids to miss 4 days rather than 5. The ONLY reason I called and added was bc I decided it was feasible for us to move dates given learning (here) the complete lack of chance for FD/and possible RO and the very real chance for us to potentially save $1400 if we did move. Wouldn't anyone? Upon checking the rooms are getting really booked (as in lower level rooms are gone) and the CM I spoke with suggested just going for it to be better safe than sorry and lose out completely. I'm not interested in taking whatever resort I get and I was going by his suggestion. I panicked and made the alternate res.

That said I needed to move all ADRs and be sure my flight could be moved (most importantly) before canceling my existing. Again, wouldn't anyone? As I mentioned that extra booking was not something I was going to be sitting on. It was going to be for a day or so max. It's already been resolved with Disney and I have my one week set now that I've successfully moved flights and ADRs.

Again- sorry if this bothered anyone, just thought I was making sense for my situation.