DC discounts -- worth it?

[Lynn-Marie]

Will I get my money's worth of discounts (and then some) in a 6 day DL/DCA trip? I am considering buying the Disney Club membership -- but I'm wondering if the food discounts amount to that much at DL/DCA. Is there anywhere on-line where I can find out which specific restaurants at DL/DCA offer discounts to those of us w/the DC card?

Thanks for any info!

 

[FoodLover]

Info on meal discounts at DL/DCA:

http://www.mousesavers.com/dlmeals.html

Mary
MouseSavers.com

 

[scanmom]

I have never used my DC discount at DL/DCA, but have at WDW and saved more than my membership fee with 1 trip. I have saved even more at my local DS. It has been an excellent investment for me. I also saved alot on my phone bill, because DC has a toll free phone # to book pkgs, or just room only for WDW or DL/DCA. I have also used this # to make my PS's for our meals! It's great. I think that more of the restaurants in DL/DCA give discounts for DC members than WDW does.

 

[niks81]

While I have not used mine much yet, I do believe that you definitely save more than $39, which is the cost to join. For one, you receive several of the entertainment book discounts, many being 50% off luxurious hotel rooms. Also, at the stores in WDW you get 10% with a purchase of 15 bucks or more. I think that for only $39 it is a great deal if you use it to your advantage.

 

[daddysmouse]

It's definitely worth it just for the discount on park passes alone. But...we were told (in March) that the only stores in WDW that offer discounts are those located in "Downtown Disney" as an incentive to get people to go there. No other park stores offer the DC discounts.

 

[Luv2Roam]

The DC discount is more widely available for use in DL/DCA. We used it at RFC. AND all the parks stores/kiosaks (sp?) allow a discount when your purchase comes to $50 or more (less sales tax).
Some CM's were sticklers for the $50 limit. On one sale I was pennies short and had to buy something else. On another sale I was only in the low $40 range and was allowed the discount.

 

[suzannewong]

when I looked at the membership app. form, it appears that there is a "promotion code" that can be entered so would get a discount on the membership fee(?). does anyone know more about this? also appears that you may get a discount w/ some kind of corporate i.d. (?)

 

[pbhunt]

Most businesses and government agencies that belonged to the Magic Kingdom Club have a corporate ID # or promotional ID# that goes in that box, so that the membership is only $29/year. You might ask at work (or other family members/work) if your company has a code available for you.

 

[JudithM]

In addition to using it at Disney parks, it also has an Entertainment symbol on the back. I have to investigate that more .

 

[ovj27oats1]

I believe that symbol give you the full benefits of the entertainment card also. Maybe someone else can confirm this.

 

[lfwebb]

My understanding is that you get the benefits of the Entertainment card EXCEPT for hotel discounts in the Orlando area. So, for example, I could not use the DC card to get the entertainment rate at the Universal Hard Rock Hotel. I had to buy a regular entertainment book for that discount. Otherwise, though, the card gives you the wonderful hotel discount benefit.

 

[suzannewong]

Have been buying ET books for several years and have never used the hotel discounts. The discount is half of what is ref. to as "rack rate", a highly inflated rate that virtually no one pays. The discounted rates that the hotel itself offers, online discounts, corp. rates like AAA or various promotional rates are 99.9% of the time a better deal. The other .1% of the time the hotel says that the offer isn't avail./applicable to the dates you need. When I started shopping hotels online it was really interesting to go the hotel's website and see the numerous rates that they offer for the same dates; another option is to call the hotel directly (not the 800#) and ask specifically for "the best rate available" and after they give a quote ask again"is that the best rate you have?".

 

[Mop]

We got discounts on our Ultimate Park Hoppers (aka unlimited magic passes aka length of stay passes) without problems. We did not use it for anything else. The American Express White Glove Treatment discount is better than the DC discount at the World of Disney at Downtown Disney, so we used that. We tried to use the DC discount at the House of Blues, but were told we could not because it was only good until 4pm. This restriction was not listed anywhere in the documentation that I could find. I had even printed out the website pages with the offers I might be using to make sure that I knew the restrictions. As it turns out, most offers have a vague, yet powerful, statement that says that there may be additional restrictions and these restrictions don't appear to be detailed anywhere. If you do plan on using the card somewhere, I would plan on confirming ahead of time that the discount will be valid or if someone could provide information on what any additional restrictions may be.

For a discount buying the Disney Club card, I believe entertainment.com has a discount for current Entertainment book holders. I'm not sure if it's still up, but it was valid earlier this year.

 

[dreamflight99]

Just a quick note to add to your info...the Disney Club card I purchased "included" membership in the "entertainment" club as part of the membership. It did not include the "coupon" book, but did include the hotel-listing book. I recently called for a few properties, and was told it was not vaild on weekends, they were near capacity and had no availabilty, etc.! I agree with your perception, most of the discount clubs/memberships may NOT be worth the $$ of joining. If you can't at least recoup the fee...it's not worth being a member. I have been a member of the new & improved (so they say) Disney Club for nearly a year, and have yet to be able to use it to the tune of "$39"...making it a loss. I also recently bought an Orlando Ent. book, which may have been a mistake as well. Birnbaum's guide offers coupons on the last page which more than cover the cost of the book. I used the coupon for Vero Beach R. and saved hundreds of $$. So many friends tell me thay call disney and request the ent. rate, and obtain great prices...but I've actually stayed for less at the same properties just inquiring through reservations (?) Sometimes, annual ph specials, or just "plain old Disney Specials" are a better rate than any of the members benefits. It can be frustrating, but clearly-there's no free lunch (with memberships). These boards offer some of the BEST Disney insider tips on saving at resort properties...and there is no membership fee!! (yet)