AP Rates!!

[Pecos Bill1201]

Has anyone else read the article on Mousesavers.com?? The operator says that there is a possability that they are phasing out room only reservation discounts in exchange for huge discounts on packages? Now I know that the mouse will not completely do this but what do you think this is spelling for the future? Any connection to "Magical Gatherings"? Since most large groups will naturaly buy packages? When are those rates coming out? I heard a rumor on another thread of 8/17? Any conformation?:veryconfu

 

[alicenwondrland]

Mary from mousesavers has a thing on her site about new packages discounted 11/03 to 2/03?
should be interesting
should be up in tuesday it says

 

[djmatthews]

Originally posted by alicenwondrland
Mary from mousesavers has a thing on her site about new packages discounted 11/03 to 2/03?
should be interesting
should be up in tuesday it says

Yeh, you beat me too it, I was reading that too, however, you mean 11/03 to 2/04. :lol:

 

[alicenwondrland]

yeah im dumb I just posted it as a new thread on the news page and did the same thing !!!
:hammer: yeah i need sleep BADLy
Sorry everyone

 

[Becky]

"Packages" and AP's don't mix well

Sept. and Oct. AP discounts please

Mickey, I said please:wave:

 

[Epcot4ME]

Sept and October discounts for sure but please release some for the remaining days in August, Mickey!!!!

 

[Epcot4ME]

IF it's true that the AP room discounts have gone away, then I believe that the thing which bothers me most is they are just letting us hang.

If you are an AP holder and make your vacations each year figuring in the various discounts you can get and then suddenly, without warning, you loose a big discount, it hurts.

If Disney was going to phase out or severely limit the AP room discounts, why couldn't they have said something like this back with Florida rates came out?? They could have been as vague as saying "no more AP rates this year" or something similar.

Leaving us vacation planners hanging for several months, sweating out the wait for the discounts is kinda rude.

I know they are under no obligation to offer them but come on, at least level with us!

For me, it makes the difference between $1200 for 4 nights and $800 at the Contemporary. That's no small amount of money. This will have a negative effect on our trip at the beginning of December. We have never been in Dec. and have already gotten Mickey's Christmas party tickets. Now we will have to stay off property since it looks like I'll have to spend most of my trip budget on our trip next week.

I'd be nice if we had some warning about these things.

Epcot4ME

 

[Buzz Lightyear]

I just read about the packages on Mousesavers for the winter, and yes, the AP holders are up the creek without a paddle, left out in the cold, at the dance without a partner,.........well, you get my drift.

I can see my PAP expiring without renewal in Oct. and I sure hope they ask me why.

 

[Becky]

Originally posted by Buzz Lightyear
I just read about the packages on Mousesavers for the winter, and yes, the AP holders are up the creek without a paddle, left out in the cold, at the dance without a partner,.........well, you get my drift.

I can see my PAP expiring without renewal in Oct. and I sure hope they ask me why.

From reading the rates on Mousesavers I don't think the package is much of a deal for most people AP holders or not

Sure you save money if you can go to the parks all four days of your 3 night 4 day package. But most of us fly down and arrive at the hotel between 2-9 p.m. By the time you get to the park all or most of that day is shot.

So realistically for most people it would be 3 nights hotel and 3 days park. Three single day tickets are $156 plus tax. So two of those and three nights at the All Stars or Pop Century would total $543 which is about $50 less than the package.

For the few who arrive very early on day one they save a few bucks.

As you said for pass holders no savings.

 

[Buzz Lightyear]

Yes, it is not good for AP holders. No discounts for us.

Short story.......

My wife and I sat down with my son (7) and daughter (13) last night and told them that we would probably NOT be renewing our APs and that our trips would probably be fewer. The crying started immediately and did not stop for 30 minutes..... I sure am proud our kids finally got my wife and me settled down. It's sad to see grown adults cry.

 

[s25843]

Originally posted by Epcot4ME
IF it's true that the AP room discounts have gone away, then I believe that the thing which bothers me most is they are just letting us hang.

If you are an AP holder and make your vacations each year figuring in the various discounts you can get and then suddenly, without warning, you loose a big discount, it hurts.

If Disney was going to phase out or severely limit the AP room discounts, why couldn't they have said something like this back with Florida rates came out?? They could have been as vague as saying "no more AP rates this year" or something similar.

Leaving us vacation planners hanging for several months, sweating out the wait for the discounts is kinda rude.

I know they are under no obligation to offer them but come on, at least level with us!

For me, it makes the difference between $1200 for 4 nights and $800 at the Contemporary. That's no small amount of money. This will have a negative effect on our trip at the beginning of December. We have never been in Dec. and have already gotten Mickey's Christmas party tickets. Now we will have to stay off property since it looks like I'll have to spend most of my trip budget on our trip next week.

I'd be nice if we had some warning about these things.

Epcot4ME

You can awalys stay in a Moderate or even value Hotel, you should think about that...

 

[pax_65]

This Will Change Things

I'm a DVC member and annual passholder. We usually visit Disneyworld twice a year. We stay in our DVC property (Old Key West) for 5-6 nights and usually stay in a Disney hotel (at AP rates) for an additional 3-4 nights.

*There's no way I'm paying full rack rate for a room in Disneyworld! If they don't offer me AP rates, I will either:

1. Go once a year and stay entirely on my DVC points
2. Go twice and shorten the duration of each stay so I'm only using my DVC points
3. Go twice, keep the length the same but stay off-property when I'm not using my DVC points.
4. Sell my DVC points and go to the beach. (Just kidding for now)

No matter which option I choose, Disney will lose money on me on this deal. As I see it, that's the only way to send a message to Disney.

I'm a bit mad... Talk about a "loyal customer"... with all the money I give that company you'd think they could give me a little "reward". Geez...

 

[wannabeBelle]

Hey S, I usually stay at the Moderate hotels on property. Now with no discounts I can probably stay at a Deluxe hotel for aabout the same price , just not on Disney property!!!!
And Pax Well said I couldnt agree with you more. Loyalty huh?? Belle

 

[kverdon]

The biggest problem I see with the current apparent policy is that it really leaves AP pass holders who are not Florida Residents in a lurch with no easy way to use their AP and stay on Disney propperty. Sure you can get into the park anytime you want year round for free once you have the AP but if you do not live within short driving distance of WDW or are a Florida resident, then you have to pay rack rate to stay on Disney property. This may be Disney's intention to limit AP holders to Florida residents. This is certainly Disney's right but I do feel they had done their passholders a disservice by not making this information available earlier. AP rates at WDW resorts was a stated selling point when we purchased our APs and they have created an implied standard by always making them available in the past. Certainly they have always maintained that AP rate may not be available for the time you wish to travel but this is a bit different from eliminating them completely. Had Disney made the information available that AP discounts to WDW resorts would be discontinued as xx/yy/zz date then people would have been able to plan accordingly. We originally were planning our trip in Sept to take advantage of our expected AP discount. We had a premonition at the end of June and booked a FTP on the last day it was offered. It worked out OK as the discount for BW concierge for the FTP worked out about the same as what we would have gotten as an AP discount. At least it looks like we will be able to use our AP's to garner extra Fast Passes. Had other AP holders known that there would likely not be AP rates for Fall they might also have been able to get in on the FTP as well. A little information sharing can go a long ways to ensuring good will. Maybe AP will show up on Friday and this will all be moot, lets hope so.

best,

Kevin

 

[RickEff]

I still think it's very premature to declare AP discounts dead. They may not be as common - but give it some time before you say that they're no longer offered.

 

[Epcot4ME]

>>>>You can always stay in a Moderate or even value Hotel, you should think about that...<<<<


We used to stay in the value resorts until we made the mistake staying at a moderate. We really loved the moderates and began to stay in them. This was with either AP rates or a discount email or postcard for around $100 a nite vs. $160 a nite full price. Yes, we got spoiled!

It can be difficult to get into a value resort at times, due to over booking.

Now I have taken a great leap of faith by booking at the Contemporary for 4 nights to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary and suddenly....no AP rates!! Neither of us has ever stayed at a deluxe resort and I've wanted to stay at the Contemporary since I was a kid.

I could move my reservation to a moderate but don't want to spoil the magic I have lined up for my wife. She thinks we are staying at Carribean Beach.

Now, there is a chance that the rates will come out this Friday and I will be the first to say "Thanks Mickey!!" and forget about the six weeks I sweated out the rates.

Let's hope I get to forget about it.

Epcot4ME

 

[Dwarful]

Well here is my .02! We just recently made the choice to go ahead w/ the ap's for our next years trip. Before we had always done the 5 day hopper and then bought a $99 ticket for the other place good for 5 days as well. Well, we decided to not go back to the other place, spend all 10 days at wdw, get the ap, take advantage of that discount since Disney took away our other discount (had the Magic Kingdom Club Card, which changed names to Disney Club Card and then it to was eliminated!) hmmm...maybe Disney doesn't want loyal customers????
We had planned on getting two trips out of this ap, but w/o good discounts we might just be back to one trip every two years...which means disney will not get as much of our money if our off years are spent vacationing elsewhere. I already don't spend as much at the Disney Stores or Catalogs now that I don't get that extra 10% off w/o having the Club Card discount. I just don't see this as being good for Disney, unless they think that people will go ahead and buy more packages, but we NEVER bought a package and never will, they just don't fit our families needs.

 

[wannabeBelle]

I cant even begin to say how well thought out these opinions are!!! Of course we only have the best people on the forums anyhow, so I suppose that should go without saying....but WOW!! Helo Disney Marketing are you listening??? Belle

 

[Buzz Lightyear]

Belle, I only hope they are listening but I will put in my 2 cents when its time to renew.

Does anyone know if the people in Marketing and the higher up offices look at these boards? I hope they are and pay attention.

 

[Stitch79]

Well I agree with what everyone has said. Disney has made a trend over the past 2-3 years to offer the AP rates and now there is nothing. If they are not going to offer them at all or for the upcoming months they ought to have the courtesy to let people know.

I for one will be bringing my business to the Swan or Dolphin since they are still offering deals.

But I still hold out hope that there will be discounts coming!!

 

[BitO'PixieDust]

I don't know if this is just wishful thinking but I remember when I needed to book my hotels for July and there were no AP rates out. Instead Disney came out with the "Fairytale Package". I booked my rooms using that package thinking I was at least saving something.

Then AP rates came out but not for the month of July. Mary on Mousesavers wrote that she didn't believe that AP rates would come out since the package was such a good deal. Shortly after that, AP rates DID come out for July and I rebooked from "Fairytale" to AP.

Perhaps I'm being just plain stupid, but I still have faith in the MOUSE :animwink:

I'm going down again Christmas week and keeping my fingers crossed for some deals. If there are none, I will still go and enjoy my vacation thinking that at least my tickets were paid for with my July trip.