Is There Really an Advantage to Booking Early?

[lebeau]

We are planning a trip for the week of Halloween. This is more than 6 months out (d'uh) and there are still a lot of unknown variables. Chief among them, Disney has not yet released any discount info.

A few folks (including obviously Disney castmembers) have recommended that I should go ahead and book my trip now and then apply discounts as they become available. But I don't see how this is an advantage to me. Maybe I'm missing something.

:shrug:

Obviously, when we get to 190 days out, there is an advantage in that I can book dining reservations 10 days before guests without a resort reservation. But I don't see the advantage in booking before then.

We are thinking about booking the one of the "Princess" rooms at Port Orleans. The Disney rep I spoke to suggested booking now before these rooms are all filled up. But it seems to me that if these rooms fill up early, Disney will not offer discounts on them. Aren't I shooting my chances in the foot for getting a discount if I book now?

I value a discounted room over the princess decorations. I'll take a regular moderate room with free dining over a princess room at rack rates. So it seems to me that it is in my best interests to not commit to a princess room until discounts come on-line.

Just because I reserve a specific room now doesn't mean Disney will let me apply a general discount to it later, right?

It's entirely possible there is some advantage to booking early that I am missing. So I leave it to you guys to point out the flaw in my thinking. What am I missing here?

Thanks for the feedback!

 

[slappy magoo]

There will probably be discounts released at some point, but the main advantage to booking now is, if discounts aren't released, you still have something.

Yours is a more unique situation because these themed rooms are still so new, I don't know if they're always going to exclude them from promotional offers.

 

[lebeau]

Gotcha.

The Disney associate told me I should hurry up and book because the Princess rooms (being new) would book up quickly and I wouldn't want to disappoint my girls. However, I have no interest in a Princess room at rack rates if there are perfectly good discounted rooms somewhere else on property (which I expect will be the case).

So, if I had my heart set on the princess rooms regardless of discount, that would be an advantage. But if the discount is more important to me than any specific room, it would be better to wait until the 190-day reservation window.

Is that accurate?

 

[DisneyJoe]

Small correction:

It's not 190 days. It's 180+10 for resort guests.

At 180 days from your arrival day they allow you to book up to 10 days worth of ADR's.

 

[lebeau]

Small correction:

It's not 190 days. It's 180+10 for resort guests.

At 180 days from your arrival day they allow you to book up to 10 days worth of ADR's.

Gotcha. Important distinction.

So far as I can tell, it breaks down like this:

Before the 180 day mark - Booking early is an advantage if you want a specific room badly enough to pay rack rates for it even if discounts are available elsewhere

At 180 until day 189 - Booking early gives you an advantage in booking hard-to-get ADRs over those who book ADRs without a hotel reservation.

As we will probably want to visit the castle and Chef Mickey's this visit, the 180 day advantage is somewhat significant to us. But we definitely value the discount over a specific room. So I'm still not seeing an advantage to booking earlier than that for us.

 

[DisneyJoe]

Are you a AAA member? AAA rates are available now, you don't need to wait for them.

If Disney comes out with discounts, they are almost always better than AAA, and you can switch - if not, you still have a discounted room.

 

[slappy magoo]

Book the room and don't tell your kids. So if a discount comes out that doesn't apply to those particular rooms, you're not disappointing them by moving to another room to save money. If you get a Princess room, AND then discounts come out AND the discounts apply to Princess rooms, get your discount and then brag like Hell if you want.

 

[lebeau]

Are you a AAA member? AAA rates are available now, you don't need to wait for them.

If Disney comes out with discounts, they are almost always better than AAA, and you can switch - if not, you still have a discounted room.

Currently I am not. My parents belong, but I am assuming I can't use their discount.

 

[fosse76]

Keep in mind, discounts won't apply to every room in the resort, and it's possible that the specialized rooms won't be included in the discount. I think there is the inherent danger of no discounts if people book in anticipation of a discount. If all these rooms get booked, Disney won't see the need to discount the rooms. But the rooms the OP wants are extremely narrow and specialized, and if their bookings are limited, then it's very unlikely a discount would even apply to them (assuming because they are limited in numbers and more popular).

 

[kar6921]

Booking In Advance

If you know anyone who is a travel agent, have them price what you want and check it against Disney's prices. Last year I saved $149, and this year I saved $200 by getting my friend to book it through her travel agency. Plus DW paid her for booking it. Same exact plan as booking on the Disney site, but she said they can ask for specials that DW might not advertise. Only down side is that if you want to change anything on your reservation, you have to do it through the travel agency, which is no problem for me.

 

[lebeau]

Keep in mind, discounts won't apply to every room in the resort, and it's possible that the specialized rooms won't be included in the discount. I think there is the inherent danger of no discounts if people book in anticipation of a discount. If all these rooms get booked, Disney won't see the need to discount the rooms. But the rooms the OP wants are extremely narrow and specialized, and if their bookings are limited, then it's very unlikely a discount would even apply to them (assuming because they are limited in numbers and more popular).

That's my reasoning as well. By booking early, I am signaling to Disney that there is no need to offer discount. And if the princess rooms prove to be popular enough to full early, well, no way are tose going to be discounted.

So the question is, would we rather be sure to get a priness room or a discount. And for us, as much as the girls liked the princess rooms, the discount is more important.

I am willing to shell out an extra $200/week for the decorations. But I'm not willing to shell out an extra $200 and give up free dining or 20-25% off the room rate.

At the 180 day window, I'll book something just to get the jump on ADRs. But I see no advantage to booking prior to that. Heck, if there's no discount offered I'll likely reschedule my trip.

 

[Zummi Gummi]

The only reason I book far in advance is because I've found the airfare to be significantly cheaper the farther out you are. Obviously, resort rooms don't work that way.

If I'm using DVC points for a stay, than I also book early (because those rooms do disappear). Otherwise, there's no tangential advantage to booking 6 months or more ahead.

 

[Pioneer Hall]

Disney will always tell you to book early because it is money in their pocket right away (even if it is a small deposit). You are also correct that if bookings at a certain resort/room type/category etc are up then they won't have a reason to release discounts. If they get a number of people to book something early then they have less of a reason to offer incentives later on, and at that point they assume that those booked are ok with the price they are paying. Most people won't cancel or change their plans due to a lack of discount being offered (since most people book their rooms not even taking that into account at first).

 

[Mikester71]

I booked all four of our trips a year in advance and did so at our local CAA office each and every time. Sure, we do get a few nice benefits thrown in for booking the trip through CAA, but the main reason we always do it a year out is so that we can go in throughout the year and make cash payments on the trip whenever we get some extra cash, instead of paying it all at once. We always have it paid off well in advance anyways, but it is just nice starting out early to get a jump start on it. Plus, it just makes the trip seem more official with the reservation being made and money put down. Gets us all excited and lets us commence with the countdown and planning! :sohappy:

And oh yeah...CAA has never had a problem adjusting our reservation to factor in new discounts when they become available. One year, we had the whole trip paid off early when we noticed a better deal had come out. Our agent called down there for us and got the new deal applied to our reservation and we were sent a cheque back from WDW for the difference. Can't beat that!

 

[lebeau]

Disney will always tell you to book early because it is money in their pocket right away (even if it is a small deposit). You are also correct that if bookings at a certain resort/room type/category etc are up then they won't have a reason to release discounts. If they get a number of people to book something early then they have less of a reason to offer incentives later on, and at that point they assume that those booked are ok with the price they are paying. Most people won't cancel or change their plans due to a lack of discount being offered (since most people book their rooms not even taking that into account at first).

This is really what I expected all along. But I wondered if I was just being cynical. Apparently not. It's really remarkable how often the cynical point of view is also a realistic one.

Thanks for confirming!

 

[Silver Figment]

Yeah, don't forget about airline prices. The sooner you book your trip the better the prices will be on airline ticket if you are flying down. Prices skyrocket the closer you are to your trip, or planes may possibly fill up.

 

[lebeau]

The only reason I book far in advance is because I've found the airfare to be significantly cheaper the farther out you are. Obviously, resort rooms don't work that way.

If I'm using DVC points for a stay, than I also book early (because those rooms do disappear). Otherwise, there's no tangential advantage to booking 6 months or more ahead.

From CVG, the air fare is outrageous this far out. It will come down and then go back up again. Timing that low point is very tricky. I always wind up buying in before the true low point.

Right now, if I tried to buy for Oct/Nov, I'd pay about $300/seat. For four of us, that's $1,200.00 on top of the parks, room, meals, etc. Plus all the baggage fees and whatnot. If I wait, tickets will probably come down to the $200 range. Maybe even a little under that. But it's kind of like timing the stock market to buy tickets. Very stressful.

 

[finaldynasty]

I booked all four of our trips a year in advance and did so at our local CAA office each and every time. Sure, we do get a few nice benefits thrown in for booking the trip through CAA, but the main reason we always do it a year out is so that we can go in throughout the year and make cash payments on the trip whenever we get some extra cash, instead of paying it all at once. We always have it paid off well in advance anyways, but it is just nice starting out early to get a jump start on it. Plus, it just makes the trip seem more official with the reservation being made and money put down. Gets us all excited and lets us commence with the countdown and planning! :sohappy:

And oh yeah...CAA has never had a problem adjusting our reservation to factor in new discounts when they become available. One year, we had the whole trip paid off early when we noticed a better deal had come out. Our agent called down there for us and got the new deal applied to our reservation and we were sent a cheque back from WDW for the difference. Can't beat that!

That is good to know that they will give you a refund once the trip is payed off. We were paying on our last trip and a better deal came out and they applied it to our balance which left us with about a $250 balance once everything was said and done.

 

[Master Yoda]

Everything Evan said is correct. The only advantages to booking in advance would be of course dining reservations and room type. The dining thing is pretty cut and dry. If you must eat at Ohana, Le Cellier, etc you need to book at least 190 +/- days out. If you want a particular type of room at a particular resort you might have book even farther out than that. If all you are looking for is a standard room at a value resort then you can wait until promotions are released. If you want a turret room at the Yacht Club then you will most likely need to be on the phone 499 days out.

 

[lebeau]

Everything Evan said is correct. The only advantages to booking in advance would be of course dining reservations and room type. The dining thing is pretty cut and dry. If you must eat at Ohana, Le Cellier, etc you need to book at least 190 +/- days out. If you want a particular type of room at a particular resort you might have book even farther out than that. If all you are looking for is a standard room at a value resort then you can wait until promotions are released. If you want a turret room at the Yacht Club then you will most likely need to be on the phone 499 days out.

Can't get any more clear than that. Thanks as always, Master Yoda!

Discount > Room Choice for us. While the girls would go gaga over a Royal Guest room, we certainly won't prioritize that over the discounts that are typically available during the off season. Looks like we'll be holding off until that ADR window comes into play.

Looks like April 30 is when our window would open. I wonder if we'll have discount info by then...