Booking Annual Pass Rates

[swordsman_24]

I am in the process of planning a trip to Disney for October 2003. I am using this year's rates to do some comparisons on hotel cost. I am considering getting an Annual Pass and use that to get the good discounts on hotel, however I don't know how easy it is to get the Annual Pass holder rates. My wife and I are planning on staying at Animal Kingdom a couple of nights (concierge level so we can do the sunrise safari) and then either the Wilderness Lodge or Boardwalk Inn for the rest of our stay (a total trip of about 7 nights). So here are my primary questions.

1. How easy / hard is it to get the Annual Pass rates for a given season?

2. Does anyone know the AP rates for Boardwalk Inn this year? I have the other hotel rates, just need Boardwalk.

3. Any warnings or really great experiences with the AP that anyone wants to share.

 

[KarenP]

It is usually not difficult to get an AP rate for a given season as long as they are offered and if the resort and room category you want to book are included in the discount. If you are purchasing the AP just for the room discount, I would wait and see if it becomes available before actually purchasing the annual pass. You only need to have the voucher anyway at check in. You can also book the resort earlier and then have it converted if the discount is offered.

This October the AP rate for BI standard view was $189 plus tax.

I hope this helps!

Karen

 

[Bobcat]

The ease of AP rates.....

KarenP is roght on the money with her comments.

Also, it'd be to your advantage if your travel dates were flexible. I just recently tried booked the Polynesian at an AP rate for late Novemeber and the room category was only availbale for 2 of the 4 nights that we were travelling. After doing a quick little date adjustment, we got the 4 nights for mid-November without a problem.

Keep this little tid bit in mind also, in SOME instances, you can get rates similar to AP rates by using a standard "rate code" that can be found at : www.mousesavers.com (or other sites) In some instances, you needn't invest an outrageous amount of money in AP's if you can obtain a similar rate via another method. I found that the AP is well worth the purchase IF you plan on visiting WDW twice, three times, or more.

I hope this helps.

Take care,

Bob