Best deal strategy

[UPbeekeeper]

Can anyone shed some light on how to get the best package deal? Are there any specific techniques or planning? For example, what I want is the entire package (hotel, park tickets, & dining plan). Do I have a better chance at a discount or promo offer if I just book the hotel, so Disney will try to get me to upgrade to the entire package? Do I just go ahead & book the entire package and then keep *hoping* I find a special offer to apply to my package?

I keep hearing people say that they NEVER pay rack rate for Disney hotels. What I don't understand is that it seems to me that discounts and promos are just luck of the draw. How can so many people get "so lucky"?

Any thoughts?

Also, if I book an entire package and then get a PIN or special offer, am I charged a fee to apply that offer to my existing package if it more than 45 days before the trip?

 

[bamillerpa]

If you go to the Disney World web page there is always specials listed on it. Sometimes you just need to wait for the dates you want. Right now we are planning a trip for the fall but the deals aren't posted yet. I think the farthest I've seen them out is summertime right now but give it a few more weeks and they will start having deals for fall.

We booked a trip early before and found a better deal a few months later and it didn't cost us anything to change to it. This included a resort change and adding the dining plan. I don't know if there's a cut off date for free changes but I've never had any problems.

There's always a AAA discount too but the Disney promotions are almost always better. You should also sign up on the web site, request a planning CD, anything to get you name, email, and mailing address out there with them. You might be lucky and get a pin code.

 

[DisneyJoe]

Read MouseSavers.com

 

[Nemo14]

Check with Kingdom Konsultants. :animwink:

 

[dreamfinder]

Keep in mind that Disney sells its packages at full price. Outside of maybe some freebies like arcade credits or a game of mini golf, there is no benefit to buying a package. Any thing like "free dining" means you are paying full price for the room. Someone who didn't do free dining may have saved more with a room only discount than you did with free dining. And you can usually save some money on buying your tickets yourself through someone like Undercover Tourist. And I'm going to assume that you already ran the numbers to make sure that paying for the dining plan works out in your favor.

Beyond that, the already posted options are your best bets. AAA members should be eligible for a 10-15% discount pretty much year round. And most of the Disney exclusive travel agents will do their best to rebook your trip if any applicable discounts come out. Now things such as being an AP holder, or a Disney Visa holder help to increase the odds of you being eligible for a discount. The discounts are now pretty close across the board, but they get released at different times, and one may have availability that another doesn't.

You can book a room only reservation and then add dining/tickets at a later date. Making those changes do convert it to a package, meaning you will be subject to the different cancellation and deposit associate with a package. One of the major caveats with a package is that if you make changes to your reservation less than 50 days out, that lower the cost of the package, you will have to pay a fee. This can be a problem if you are truly trying to save money. Often people will switch from say to POFQ to POR is POR has a discount that POFQ does not, but if the codes come out within that time period, you get hit with a change fee. If its just a room only reservation, you don't get any such fee.

 

[ddbowdoin]

Keep in mind that Disney sells its packages at full price. Outside of maybe some freebies like arcade credits or a game of mini golf, there is no benefit to buying a package. Any thing like "free dining" means you are paying full price for the room. Someone who didn't do free dining may have saved more with a room only discount than you did with free dining. And you can usually save some money on buying your tickets yourself through someone like Undercover Tourist. And I'm going to assume that you already ran the numbers to make sure that paying for the dining plan works out in your favor.

Beyond that, the already posted options are your best bets. AAA members should be eligible for a 10-15% discount pretty much year round. And most of the Disney exclusive travel agents will do their best to rebook your trip if any applicable discounts come out. Now things such as being an AP holder, or a Disney Visa holder help to increase the odds of you being eligible for a discount. The discounts are now pretty close across the board, but they get released at different times, and one may have availability that another doesn't.

You can book a room only reservation and then add dining/tickets at a later date. Making those changes do convert it to a package, meaning you will be subject to the different cancellation and deposit associate with a package. One of the major caveats with a package is that if you make changes to your reservation less than 50 days out, that lower the cost of the package, you will have to pay a fee. This can be a problem if you are truly trying to save money. Often people will switch from say to POFQ to POR is POR has a discount that POFQ does not, but if the codes come out within that time period, you get hit with a change fee. If its just a room only reservation, you don't get any such fee.

I always thought room only plans were the cheapest, especially in this down economy where they keep dropping 35% off discounts on the public. I personally feel that 35% off a deluxe room makes a Disney hotel room into an average hotel in a major city. Right now I took a gamble, I booked a room only deal for 10 nights in dates that are outside of the latest discounts released. I am a betting man, and I am bullish on the discount coming at a later point this winter. Right now, my rack rate at the beach club is 375 a night (35% discount is 131.25 a night) times 10 nights is 1,312.50 off the tail price. I can tell you this, that my fiance and I WILL NOT eat 1312.50 in food, hence why I feel the DDP is a top heavy sell on their end that makes them money in the long run.

1.) DDP is worth it for a family, but for 2 people... it's hard to realize savings.

2.) you have to eat FULL meals 3 times a day and snack, for a lot of people this exceeds their typical daily eating routine. Example: the night before you make a late ADR at Ohana and eat your butt off. The next morning you are up early and are still feeling full. You just want a banana, and since you selected the ADR instead of the 35% off Disney just made money of your decision. Their analysts certainly account for this, they take a gamble on their end and often win since meals are certainly wasted.

3.) whereas 35% off rooms is guaranteed savings in your pocket every day regardless of your decisions.

 

[UPbeekeeper]

Dreamfinder & ddbowdoin, you both bring up very interesting and useful points.

In my particular case, what I am looking at is a 9 night trip in a moderate resort, probably CBR with a family of 4 in the Fall. The Plus Meal Plan, would cost me about $1650(?). The best discount I've seen for moderates since I've been planning was 25% off, which only comes to a few hundred bucks. Deluxe resorts have better discounts, but they are still out of my price range.

If I can get free dining, I will get the plan. In the event I can't get free dining, I am including this same cost into my budget for food. By paying out of pocket, I feel that I have more freedom to possibly spend less because I'm not being "forced" into eating a certain way. Maybe some days I will spend more, maybe some days less. I think it will even out.

So I guess all I can do is sit around and hope for free dining.

I didn't realize that packages are not a savings. I thought there was a savings built in there somewhere, which I am sure is exactly what they wanted me to believe. :ROFLOL: I will do some more research to see if I can get cheaper park tickets and go back and re-crunch my numbers for the millionth time.

Also, we are spending 2 days at Universal, so I wouldn't be able to use my meal credits on those days anyway, and spending more money out of pocket.