To book or not to book - that is the question....

[PirateFrank]

So I'm sure plenty of others are in this predicament....so I figured I'd voice my feelings on this, if for no other reason than voicing my feelings on it.


So we're visiting Uncle Walt's place in early January (with a quick 2-day stop over first, to see Harry Potter and Dumbledore down the road). I've got my ADR's lined up. I've got my DD's Bibbidi reservation set. DD & DS's trip on the pirate cruise is booked. The one thing that I have not booked is my resort reservation. The plan is to stay at the Poly between the 6th and the 13th.

The Agent Coleson half of me is desperate to book it, "just to have something on the books"....yes, it doesn't feel real unless I have a confirmation number for the stay. Plus, my DW is concerned that if we hold out, we might get shut out of the resort and that it might be filled in a few months. I keep trying to tell her that she's nuts -- that the poly would never fill up or even come close and heck, that's the reason why the discounts come flowing starting in august. But regardless, even if I do book, I could stay on top of things and call Disney Travel when the discounts come and have them apply the discounts. But, oh what a pain in the keister that is....

Then there's the general question of when do the 'best' discounts come. Is it usually the first discount they offer? or is it the later ones. Historically speaking, Disney seems to release a free dining offer first, then a 30-40% off discount later. Personally, the free dining doesn't hold nearly as much of an allure to me as the 30-40% off. The current DDP is barely a deal. You almost lose money.

The other half of me is content to wait...reason being? I *know* discounts are coming. I mean, heck, we're planning to go there in January. Who the heck goes to WDW in January except marathon runners? WDW is going to want to fill up those rooms, especially in the deluxe resorts, and they are going to release discounts to make that happen. Moreover, by booking, I'm actually contributing to the resort filling up hence WDW finding less of an incentive to release the discounts.

Oh the war going on inside my head!!

What to do.....

 

[*Fantasia*]

If you book now and you wait for the package discount to come out, Disney will have to book you a different reservation, that is if the room is available with the discount package attached to it.

If you were only doing room only, and the discount comes out, Disney will add the discount to your existing reservation.

If you want to feel "real" about your trip, then go ahead and book a room, this way they got your one night's deposit.

 

[TigrLvsPooh]

I would book immediately. That is the disney marathon weekend and all the resorts will be sold out.

 

[TigrLvsPooh]

and the reason I know they all book up is that I've had friends running who had to sleep on people's floors because they couldn't get a room anywhere on property. and yes runners do stay at deluxe resorts, especially the epcot resorts because they are close to the race end and the monorail resorts because you can take the monorail.

 

[mickeynut1]

From what I've been reading, the Poly is going to be going through a refurb starting the end of this year, so depending on the details, there may be rooms taken out of inventory (thus limiting availability). If it were me and I knew I wanted to stay at the Poly, I would book now to make sure I got what I wanted. I do understand about discounts and Disney releasing them to fill rooms, but if I was stuck on a particular resort, I would want to be guaranteed to get it (but that's just me). As far as discounts go, I think 40% is a thing of the past as the most I've seen lately has been up to 30-35% (with the Poly only being around 20-25%). Also, as much as everyone has gotten used to discounts, Disney releasing a discount is not guaranteed, so I would plan according to what I wanted/could afford without any type of discount. Good luck.

 

[TigrLvsPooh]

we were at the GF for the marathon this year and we had family who tried to get a room on the monorail, there was nothing left.

 

[PirateFrank]

Mickeynut, the possible renovations at the poly has me a little concerned...I got rolled at the Beach Club back in April with their pool renovations to SAB...I don't want to find out 2 weeks out that renovations to the GCH at the poly is going into renovations in January....

 

[mickeynut1]

Mickeynut, the possible renovations at the poly has me a little concerned...I got rolled at the Beach Club back in April with their pool renovations to SAB...I don't want to find out 2 weeks out that renovations to the GCH at the poly is going into renovations in January....

I read about SAB at the BC and I wouldn't have been too happy either. I don't know how much (if any) details are out yet, but I recently read that the Poly renovations were supposed to start toward the end this year (although I don't know what is first on the list), but the Hawaii CL building is supposed to be done in January and February. I also remember reading that when the 2013 rates came out that people wanting CL in Jan/Feb couldn't get it, so that might be what's going on for those 2 months, but I haven't read any rumors as to when the GCH was to be done.