I've done Disney World for over 30 years and I absolutely won't go now except with a discount and preferably a
free dining deal. I'm done staying at the deluxe resorts, too. You get the same Disney parks no matter which resort you stay at; so, I won't pay the premium. The only year I paid full price was the year 2000. I don't think you could get a deal that year. I've been to Disney World too many times to mention, but without a deal I won't go there.
I love free dining with the value resorts and I'll pay an upcharge if I want a better dining package. Even with this possible deal I believe we will be staying off site this year. I have a vegan husband and a mom who is on a strict special diet and she's a picky eater; so, free dining is not even appealing to me anymore like it used to be. It's doable, but just not the same value anymore for us. We want a bigger place and we want our dog with us. The better pet suites at the kennel located onsite is $75/night; so, I don't see that being worth it even with a Disney resort or meal deal. Our dog will be happier with us anyway getting a pet friendly place somewhere else. Did you know Universal's resorts allow dogs? I've been looking at a place where we can get two BRs, 2 baths, 3 TVs, a living room and a kitchen. We would be 10 minutes away from Disney. We would get a hot breakfast everyday and 3 nights a week there's a night reception which includes a hot snack and wine and beer and soda. I will pay about the same as a Disney moderate doing it this way. Most trips we have our car. I think I'm going to try off site this year there. Disney doesn't suit our needs anymore.
Also, we have spread our wings the last couple of years and we went to Dollywood and Williamsburg. We enjoyed ourselves there, as well. We are going to try Branson in the next couple of years. There are other places and there's no need to go just to Disney. Again, without a deal for Disney I just don't see it. With our Williamsburg trip we did stay at a 2 BR place and we loved it and it was pet friendly.
Disney may feel this year they have all the aces with the Fantasyland expansion and the new value resort opening up. I think it's going to be harder to get good deals. The off months still have good deals, but it may be very hard to get a good deal any other time.