Room discounts at Thanksgiving?

[Ex-Floridian]

We just booked a room only reservation. We live in MA but have a house in FL still with my husband having his FL CDL license still. We can get he and the kids (13 and 17) FL Resident Annual Passes but I don't think I can pull that off. Unless I say I "forgot" my ID and bring the tax bill we get from FL with both our names on it.

The Annual Passes they get will give us that discount or the FL resident discount.

Although our travel agent watches for these discounts I also look too.

The FREE dining plan has block out dates which include ours (11/18 check in - 11/24). One of these days are not in the block out dates.

I bet the room discount will be a better savings.

Any help from my rambling above???

 

[tampabrad]

The WDW website has the info you will need to show to get an AP at the FL resident rate.

As for a FL resident or AP discount on the room, these are not year round guaranteed available discounts. The are offered at certain times of the year and are often blocked out on weekends and most likely blocked out on holidays or peak times. To qualify for the room discount, only one adult staying in the room has to have the AP or proof of FL residence. The discount rate must be booked ahead of time as the resort will not give discounts at check in.

 

[ParentsOf4]

Watch the prices at the Swan and Dolphin for Thanksgiving week. We went during Thanksgiving last year. I recall a room at the Value Resorts was (I think) $159/night while our room at the Dolphin was $139/night! Even with the (I think) $12 resort fee, the Dolphin was less expensive than the Value Resorts. If they offer the same price in 2012, we're planning on staying there again!

 

[Master Yoda]

As mentioned before, only the lead guest needs to have Florida residency or an AP to get those discounts, if available. As of late the general public promotions have been equal to or better than the AP and Fl Resident rates and available first to boot.

Since you mentioned AP's there are a couple FYI I will leave you with. You can not get free dining with APs as a minimum ticket purchase is required. What many people do is get the tickets and either hold onto them or upgrade them to an AP at the park. If you want to buy the dining plan and intend to use AP's for tickets, your room must be booked under an AP discount, or an AP annual offer (full price). You can not use a Fl resident or general public discount and get the dining plan without purchasing tickets. As before you can purchase tickets and then upgrade them to APs at the parks.

Disney does not currently have a free dining promotion running for the general public. The only thing currently for free dining are PIN codes. If that is what you have your check in date must be inside of the available dates. If your check in date comes before the available dates you can look at breaking up your reservation into 2 reservations. While this is always possible, it is not always practical especially when you are dealing with the dining plan. If your check in dates occur after the available dates all you can really do is move your dates.

What will be the best deal will depend on where you are staying. Considering that your party is made up of 4 adults in the eyes of Disney, free dining will more than likely be the best deal up until you stay at a deluxe or DVC resort. Regardless of that you will need to run the numbers to be sure.

Your travel agent should know all of this info and should know how to tweak your reservation to get you the best deal. You should not have to do all of this leg work. If they do not, well........ you know the rest.

 

[Ex-Floridian]

The WDW website has the info you will need to show to get an AP at the FL resident rate.

As for a FL resident or AP discount on the room, these are not year round guaranteed available discounts. The are offered at certain times of the year and are often blocked out on weekends and most likely blocked out on holidays or peak times. To qualify for the room discount, only one adult staying in the room has to have the AP or proof of FL residence. The discount rate must be booked ahead of time as the resort will not give discounts at check in.

Thanks for confirming - this piece I knew. Used to live in FL for 19 years )

 

[Ex-Floridian]

Watch the prices at the Swan and Dolphin for Thanksgiving week. We went during Thanksgiving last year. I recall a room at the Value Resorts was (I think) $159/night while our room at the Dolphin was $139/night! Even with the (I think) $12 resort fee, the Dolphin was less expensive than the Value Resorts. If they offer the same price in 2012, we're planning on staying there again!

We were going to go to the Dolphins but read too many bad reviews how old their rooms are. Plus we4 all want to check out the Beach Club...thanks though

 

[Ex-Floridian]

As mentioned before, only the lead guest needs to have Florida residency or an AP to get those discounts, if available. As of late the general public promotions have been equal to or better than the AP and Fl Resident rates and available first to boot.

Since you mentioned AP's there are a couple FYI I will leave you with. You can not get free dining with APs as a minimum ticket purchase is required. What many people do is get the tickets and either hold onto them or upgrade them to an AP at the park. If you want to buy the dining plan and intend to use AP's for tickets, your room must be booked under an AP discount, or an AP annual offer (full price). You can not use a Fl resident or general public discount and get the dining plan without purchasing tickets. As before you can purchase tickets and then upgrade them to APs at the parks.

Disney does not currently have a free dining promotion running for the general public. The only thing currently for free dining are PIN codes. If that is what you have your check in date must be inside of the available dates. If your check in date comes before the available dates you can look at breaking up your reservation into 2 reservations. While this is always possible, it is not always practical especially when you are dealing with the dining plan. If your check in dates occur after the available dates all you can really do is move your dates.

What will be the best deal will depend on where you are staying. Considering that your party is made up of 4 adults in the eyes of Disney, free dining will more than likely be the best deal up until you stay at a deluxe or DVC resort.
Regardless of that you will need to run the numbers to be sure.

Your travel agent should know all of this info and should know how to tweak your reservation to get you the best deal. You should not have to do all of this leg work. If they do not, well........ you know the rest.

Hey there! We have 2 adults and 2 children. I have been reading about these PIN codes, but how do you get them? Looks like I need to just keep watching. We chose Thanksgiving week so the kids will miss as less school as possible. Our school system if you miss days when it is a normal school time, it will take them 2 weeks to make up everything! Thanks again for the input.

 

[Master Yoda]

Hey there! We have 2 adults and 2 children. I have been reading about these PIN codes, but how do you get them? Looks like I need to just keep watching. We chose Thanksgiving week so the kids will miss as less school as possible. Our school system if you miss days when it is a normal school time, it will take them 2 weeks to make up everything! Thanks again for the input.

Your 2 children are 10 or older so when it comes to pricing for tickets and the dining plan they are the same price as adults. This is why I said "they are adults in the eyes of Disney"

You had mentioned free dining and certain "block out dates". The thing is, there currently is not free dining promotion being offered to the general public in the US. The only thing that is out are PIN codes. If you have an email that tells you about a free dining promotion in November, this is more than likely a PIN code email. If this is the case, go to the bottom of the email and their should be a code at the bottom. Forward that email and/or code to your travel agent and they should be able to tell you if there is a way to apply it to your current reservation.

 

[Ex-Floridian]

Your 2 children are 10 or older so when it comes to pricing for tickets and the dining plan they are the same price as adults. This is why I said "they are adults in the eyes of Disney"

You had mentioned free dining and certain "block out dates". The thing is, there currently is not free dining promotion being offered to the general public in the US. The only thing that is out are PIN codes. If you have an email that tells you about a free dining promotion in November, this is more than likely a PIN code email. If this is the case, go to the bottom of the email and their should be a code at the bottom. Forward that email and/or code to your travel agent and they should be able to tell you if there is a way to apply it to your current reservation.

Oh I get it...sorry for the confusion. How do people get these emails? I was just there in March and Disney has sent me nothing.

 

[Master Yoda]

Oh I get it...sorry for the confusion. How do people get these emails? I was just there in March and Disney has sent me nothing.

They come at random. A couple of tricks I have hear is to make sure you register on the official site, order a planing DVC and save a sample trip on the official site.

 

[Vader2112]

They come at random. A couple of tricks I have hear is to make sure you register on the official site, order a planing DVC and save a sample trip on the official site.

Are the pin code discounts any more substantial then the AP/Resident Discounts?

 

[Master Yoda]

Are the pin code discounts any more substantial then the AP/Resident Discounts?

They are all over the map. Some are better some are worse.

 

[dreamfinder]

Oh I get it...sorry for the confusion. How do people get these emails? I was just there in March and Disney has sent me nothing.

Basically WDW needs to know that you exist, and that you are in their systems. From that point on, it is pretty much sheer luck. Some people have only had their name on a single reservation, but then get PIN codes frequently, others have tagged their reservation with their email, registered for WDW updates, requested the planning DVD, signed up for every WDW contest they can find, and even started to plan a trip online, and gotten no PIN codes. Some people seem to report a high occurance of PIN codes if they log into the WDW site, and then price out the trip for the time they want, and then save it instead of booking it. There is no real rhyme or reason. I still feel that they use PIN codes in a targeted fashion (beyond the obvious trying to get people to come in slower times) but doing things like trying to convince people to come who haven't made a trip for a while, or to come in a different season than they normally do, or to stay at a different class of resort than normal.

 

[Ex-Floridian]

Basically WDW needs to know that you exist, and that you are in their systems. From that point on, it is pretty much sheer luck. Some people have only had their name on a single reservation, but then get PIN codes frequently, others have tagged their reservation with their email, registered for WDW updates, requested the planning DVD, signed up for every WDW contest they can find, and even started to plan a trip online, and gotten no PIN codes. Some people seem to report a high occurance of PIN codes if they log into the WDW site, and then price out the trip for the time they want, and then save it instead of booking it. There is no real rhyme or reason. I still feel that they use PIN codes in a targeted fashion (beyond the obvious trying to get people to come in slower times) but doing things like trying to convince people to come who haven't made a trip for a while, or to come in a different season than they normally do, or to stay at a different class of resort than normal.

That's me! I have a profile and all the above ... no PIN codes..

 

[disneygirl76]

We just booked a room only reservation. We live in MA but have a house in FL still with my husband having his FL CDL license still. We can get he and the kids (13 and 17) FL Resident Annual Passes but I don't think I can pull that off. Unless I say I "forgot" my ID and bring the tax bill we get from FL with both our names on it.

The Annual Passes they get will give us that discount or the FL resident discount.

Although our travel agent watches for these discounts I also look too.

The FREE dining plan has block out dates which include ours (11/18 check in - 11/24). One of these days are not in the block out dates.

I bet the room discount will be a better savings.

Any help from my rambling above???

Hey there,

My DH and I went to WDW at Thanksgiving on a Pin Code we got in the mail. So they do offer discounts around that time. It was a huge savings from the original package I had booked. It was a room only discount for a deluxe resort and then we added dining and tickets.

 

[Ex-Floridian]

Oh I wish for PIN codes. I wonder why I never get any?

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Oh I wish for PIN codes. I wonder why I never get any?

I feel your pain. We are going Nov 16-21 and all of the PINs I've seen for this time only go until the 14th or 15th. Of course, I haven't received any PINs...just my friends. I am praying for a room only discounts b/c 1) tickets are cheaper through Undercover Tourist 2) free DDP is a waste for us b/c we don't eat much QS or snacks 3) a 30% off discount at a deluxe is going to save me more than free dining.

As of last night, I got DH to agree to one more day (a relaxation day) if room discounts come out and miss our trip by a day. I will probably call just before my 45 day mark to switch from pkg to room only.

Fingers crossed that you and I both get some magic and get some discounts for our respective dates.