Saving money by booking each night as a separate reservation

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ademartine

New Member
Original Poster
I'll be staying at the AKL for 7 nights and to save some $$ I'm considering booking each night as a separate reservation. To make one reservation for the length of the stay the cost is roughly $2500. I can book each night individually (using a mix of standard view and savanna view) for a total cost of $2000.

What are the chances when checking in I can request a standard view for the entire stay even though I will be paying a savanna view rate for a couple of nights? I definitely don't want to change rooms and I would like to avoid the check-in/check-out paperwork drill each day.

Any suggestions?
 
BigRedDad

BigRedDad

Well-Known Member
You would have to pack up each night and get in. Unless getting a view of Arusha Rock, I would not stay in a Savannah view room. It is not worth the cost. Get the cheapest room and walk to the Savannahs to see the animals.
 
jaklgreen

jaklgreen

Well-Known Member
I think there is a mistake somewhere. On the website they usually automatically add tickets to the final price so make sure that you change that and are looking at just the room price. I have never seen them making 1 night cheaper if you just book for that night. The rate is the rate and will not change if you book separately or together.
 
DisneyDaver

DisneyDaver

Well-Known Member
ademartine said:
I'll be staying at the AKL for 7 nights and to save some $$ I'm considering booking each night as a separate reservation. To make one reservation for the length of the stay the cost is roughly $2500. I can book each night individually (using a mix of standard view and savanna view) for a total cost of $2000.

What are the chances when checking in I can request a standard view for the entire stay even though I will be paying a savanna view rate for a couple of nights? I definitely don't want to change rooms and I would like to avoid the check-in/check-out paperwork drill each day.

Any suggestions?
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I would not take the risk of ending up have to make multiple moves during your vacation. Depending on how other people have rooms booked, the same room may not be available for all 7 nights. I think the risk of having to make at least a couple room moves is high.
 
DisneyDaver

DisneyDaver

Well-Known Member
CAPTAIN HOOK said:
I would suggest that somewhere you've miscalculated. A room rate is just that - the rate for the room. The price will be the same whether you book for one or seven nights - it can't be cheaper by continually checking in or everybody would do that and reservations staff would be dealing with existing customers all day long
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It would seem to me that booking 7 individual nights could be cheaper than booking a 7 day period in a block if certain room discounts were available on certain types on rooms for a night or two during the 7 day period.
 
BigTxEars

BigTxEars

Well-Known Member
I agree, double check the math as it seems like something is not correct in those savings. Not sure though.

And too much work and worry to book 7 nights, I can promise you I would be moved each night to a different end of the resort if I tried that.
 
D

DisneyDebNJ

Well-Known Member
BigTxEars said:
I agree, double check the math as it seems like something is not correct in those savings. Not sure though.

And too much work and worry to book 7 nights, I can promise you I would be moved each night to a different end of the resort if I tried that.
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I have to agree with this. Also, even if you saved a few dollars on your room rate, with all the packing and stuff... how much park time you paid for are you missing out on
 
mouse_luv

mouse_luv

Well-Known Member
ademartine said:
I'll be staying at the AKL for 7 nights and to save some $$ I'm considering booking each night as a separate reservation. To make one reservation for the length of the stay the cost is roughly $2500. I can book each night individually (using a mix of standard view and savanna view) for a total cost of $2000.

What are the chances when checking in I can request a standard view for the entire stay even though I will be paying a savanna view rate for a couple of nights? I definitely don't want to change rooms and I would like to avoid the check-in/check-out paperwork drill each day.

Any suggestions?
Click to expand...

I have to mirror what everyone before me has said on this thread. Also, there's a reason that Standard view rooms aren't available some nights you are there and only savannah rooms are coming up. So the odds of you staying in a standard room all week by asking are slim to none.
 
dreamfinder

dreamfinder

Well-Known Member
Saving money via the method you described makes sense. Renting a Fiat today, and a BMW tomorrow will usually be cheaper than a 2 day BMW rental. But what you are looking to do is unlikely to be done.

Each of your room nights would still be handled as a separate reservation. So you would indeed need to go down to the front desk every day and check in again. The odds of getting the same room are slim to none. They will be automatically assigned in advance of your arrival. You could show up and plead your case at the front desk, and see if the assigner on duty can help you out, but every change they make to let you stay in the same room cascades down the line. So even though you would basically be paying for someone else to have a free upgrade to savannah view, unless they are only staying one night, that means that AKL either need to eat the upgrade cost on the other nights of their stay, or they are suddenly down a standard view room the night you are staying. Etc, etc.

That said, I have done this out at DLR, but I had a concierge level room and the concierge was able to help out when they called us in advance to help us plan our trip. Very different than trying to do it with a normal room. And I did indeed need to check back in each day even though we never moved.
 
daisyduckie

daisyduckie

Well-Known Member
tahqa said:
Keep in mind that when making reservations you have to put the first nights cost down as a downpayment. If you're making each night a separate reservation you would have to pre-pay your entire stay.
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Great point!

Besides, Disney no longer pro-rates your stay depending on the rate when you check in. What each day costs, each day costs. You would save no money by dividing up your stay like you want to. And as you would have to go down to the desk each day and check in and out, you would have to keep your luggage packed. No way of knowing If you could stay in the same room, and that is highly unlikely.
 
Master Yoda

Master Yoda

Pro Star Wars geek.
Premium Member
The mix of standard and Savannah rooms is the most likely reason you are seeing a price difference. You might get lucky and have them stick you in a Savannah room for the entire stay, but my money is on them making you switch. I can all but guarantee you will have to switch when going from a standard to a Savannah as it is a paid for upgrade.
 
M

Mouse_Trap

Well-Known Member
Really surprised at some of the responses so far.....assuming the OPs prices are correct, that's a saving of $500!
Yes it would be inconvenient to move each day, but that's a heck of a saving to most people.
 
ToTBellHop

ToTBellHop

Well-Known Member
Mouse_Trap said:
Really surprised at some of the responses so far.....assuming the OPs prices are correct, that's a saving of $500!
Yes it would be inconvenient to move each day, but that's a heck of a saving to most people.
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Personally, I view WDW as a luxury. If I'm going to splurge on a luxury, I'm not going to go through this effort to save $500. Not worth the sacrifice of relaxation and not having a room guaranteed each day between about 11 am and 3 pm.
 
PigletIsMyCat

PigletIsMyCat

Well-Known Member
packing/repacking, or being unable to unpack; going back and forth to check in/out/in/etc, not being able to settle in a room.... to me, the savings between roughly $2000 and $2500 probably won't be worth it. my time is worth something, convenience is worth something. if getting a lower rate for a room is that important, check out another resort, another time of year, or consider looking into renting dvc points.

the reason you aren't able to book a standard/savannah view some nights is likely because there are none left at that price. there are people in them. as others have said, if you were to do this and then try to stay in the same room, it would cascade down and mess up so many other reservations. i highly, highly doubt they would let you stay in the same room.
 
The Incredible Schmulk

The Incredible Schmulk

Well-Known Member
PigletIsMyCat said:
packing/repacking, or being unable to unpack; going back and forth to check in/out/in/etc, not being able to settle in a room.... to me, the savings between roughly $2000 and $2500 probably won't be worth it. my time is worth something, convenience is worth something. if getting a lower rate for a room is that important, check out another resort, another time of year, or consider looking into renting dvc points.
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This. The cost savings when renting points is far greater than that of this day-to-day reservation plan. You can go to any one of several reputable DVC rental companies that you can find with an easy Google search, and I'd wager that you would be able to find your pick of savanna view rooms in both Jambo and Kidani. I just went and did a quick calculation for mid-March, and you would be able to get a savanna view studio for around $1650 using points. And you'd be able to stay in the same room.
 

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