AP discounts....book prior and attempt to add discount later or book post discounts released?

[Naughty Nurse]

Hi..we are thinking about getting our first AP for a 1 off trip planned for September/October 2019...we are stuck waiting to book anything yet till after flights are released in November...but from people's experiences is it better to book earlier and attempt to add discounts later or to book once discounts are released. We are thinking of staying a week each in 4 resorts...so believe we will have some flexibility when it comes to room availability as it would not matter in which order we stayed in each hotel. Just really wanting to make the most of the AP discounts as will be unlikely to ever purchase one ever again. Thanks for any suggestions or opinions.

 

[sophie832]

There are no guarantees that the room you book will be eligible or available for the AP Discount once it comes out. If you absolutely want to stay at a certain resort, I would book rack rate just to ensure you have a room there, no matter what. When the public discounts or packages come out, if one of them can be used for the same resort/room, switch to that. Then see if the same thing happens for the AP Discount. If not, you will either have to pay full price to keep that room, or be more flexible and go with whatever resort is available for discounts on your travel dates.

 

[DaisyDuck001]

The more people who book at rack rate with the idea that later they will switch to an AP discount, the less likely it is that there will ever be an AP discount for that time frame at that resort.

AP discounts are only offered if the rooms aren't already selling enough at rack rate.

So IMHO, booking at rack rate is not a good idea unless you are willing and able to pay that rack rate.

 

[focusondisney]

I agree with the previous posters. Disney offers discounts to fill rooms. If all or most rooms in a particular category at a particular resort are already booked, there is no need for Disney to offer a discount on that room. So booking in advance, hoping for a discount, may work against you. On the other hand, if there is a resort room you really want to stay in, you do run the risk of it not being available even at rack rate if you wait. So book ahead if you really want the room & are willing to pay rack rate. If you happen to get a discount later, that is just a bonus.

AP discounts are the last ones released too, so you will be waiting a long time for next September’s AP offers. Not sure exactly which weeks you are going, but October is very popular & has not had discounts offered for a few years now. There are posts from people having trouble finding rooms to book for this October. So I wouldn’t depend too heavily on any discounts for next October. As a matter of fact, although there have been discounts for much of this year, bookings seem to be up much of the year, so who knows what next year will bring.

Obviously, with a 4 week trip, an AP will be the way to go just for park admissions. There are also Dining & shopping discounts too. But room discounts are not a guaranteed benefit & shouldn’t be depended on.

 

[Naughty Nurse]

I agree with the previous posters. Disney offers discounts to fill rooms. If all or most rooms in a particular category at a particular resort are already booked, there is no need for Disney to offer a discount on that room. So booking in advance, hoping for a discount, may work against you. On the other hand, if there is a resort room you really want to stay in, you do run the risk of it not being available even at rack rate if you wait. So book ahead if you really want the room & are willing to pay rack rate. If you happen to get a discount later, that is just a bonus.

AP discounts are the last ones released too, so you will be waiting a long time for next September’s AP offers. Not sure exactly which weeks you are going, but October is very popular & has not had discounts offered for a few years now. There are posts from people having trouble finding rooms to book for this October. So I wouldn’t depend too heavily on any discounts for next October. As a matter of fact, although there have been discounts for much of this year, bookings seem to be up much of the year, so who knows what next year will bring.

Obviously, with a 4 week trip, an AP will be the way to go just for park admissions. There are also Dining & shopping discounts too. But room discounts are not a guaranteed benefit & shouldn’t be depended on.

The reduced cost of park tickets and discounts on dining and shopping are definitely the main reasons we are thinking of doing the AP this trip. We have already budgeted for the normal rack rates. So cause I like to plan as much as possible as early as possible, I imagine we will just end up booking our different hotels after finally buying flights in Novemeber. As you guys have said if we manage to get any room discounts it will just be an added bonus. Thanks for your opionions.

 

[kerepka625]

AP rates for October 8th - December 25th were just released!

 

[HelenParr]

Sorry if this is repeat question: I have a 10 day booked at rack at YC. AP discount is now available for just the first 6 days...but no room at all available at any rate for the last 4 days...am I out of luck on the discount? Or can they modify the existing 10 day to have the savings for the first 6 days but keep that reservation?

(I’m not willing to change resorts, and can live with what I have. WDW resort changes make me nervous because I’m always afraid that the CM will screw it up...)

 

[reluctantredhead]

Sorry if this is repeat question: I have a 10 day booked at rack at YC. AP discount is now available for just the first 6 days...but no room at all available at any rate for the last 4 days...am I out of luck on the discount? Or can they modify the existing 10 day to have the savings for the first 6 days but keep that reservation?

(I’m not willing to change resorts, and can live with what I have. WDW resort changes make me nervous because I’m always afraid that the CM will screw it up...)

This happened to us for our trip in December. My H called and was able to get the CM to apply the AP rate to the available dates for our trip, and it saved us almost $500. It's definitely worth a phone call to try!

ETA: I was nervous too, especially since we didn't get an email confirmation or have any changes reflected on our MDE the day he did it. But we got the email, and the AP rate showed up, the next day.

 

[HelenParr]

I really appreciate the encouragement to give this a shot. I was on the fence.

Reporting back with my experience. After almost an hour on a call with a CM (who was great and very pleasant, the delayed call was mostly me on hold while she worked through today's "magical enhancements" to the system) I was able to split the reservations to obtain the Passholder rate for the days with an available PH discount, and keep the remaining days as the original reservation. Everything showed up in MDE right away (a first for me, usually when I modify, it takes forever to show up, and often has a glitch). We might have to change rooms, although CM made a note to keep the room the same, but I'm willing to move for the savings.

The new reservation shows as "PH Q1 Tier 2 Room only" What does Tier 2 mean? I'm not familiar with that nomenclature.

Even adding back in the resort parking fee that I'll likely have to pay for the "new" reservation, I'm ahead over $600. That $600 has been re-allocated in my budget to F&W Festival!