February 2020

[Maplehead]

Just called. Nothing new released. Still just the 40% Visa discount for Riviera.

 

[Niki P]

I am frustrated

 

[HatchFamily]

Does anyone think Disney actually won't release discounts? We've gone every year for the last 8 years and there has always been a discount. Not so patiently waiting over here...

 

[MadMadamMim1]

I am frustrated

Me too. Disney encourages us to book resorts early, reserve restaurants early, book FPs early, then takes their sweet time when they know we’re waiting on discounts.

 

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

My guess is they are holding off on Jan through March discounts because they are still pushing fall discounts.

 

[HatchFamily]

My guess is they are holding off on Jan through March discounts because they are still pushing fall discounts.

I'm not seeing Fall Discounts still available, but Holiday Season ones, for Nov-Dec. Do we think early 2020 discounts won't come out until after that? I imagine people that have booked hoping for a discount will have to change resorts to something within budget. All speculation at this point I suppose

 

[mom22boys]

I am frustrated

Me too. Resort availability on property seems to be dwindling for my dates so people are clearly booking at rack rates. Will they cancel reservations if discounts do not come out or keep them? I have started to look at resorts off property, and we have never stayed off property before.

 

[DisneyRunner2009]

I'm trying to plan, too. There are a lot of ESPN events going on that are booking up value and moderate resorts. Then you have a holiday and runDisney in the mix.

 

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

I'm not seeing Fall Discounts still available, but Holiday Season ones, for Nov-Dec. Do we think early 2020 discounts won't come out until after that? I imagine people that have booked hoping for a discount will have to change resorts to something within budget. All speculation at this point I suppose

Yeah, I think of Nov-dec as fall

 

[JoJoGirl]

Does anyone think Disney actually won't release discounts? We've gone every year for the last 8 years and there has always been a discount. Not so patiently waiting over here...

I’m not too worried.

1. Disney just this week released a steep Visa discount at Riviera. They may be letting that one simmer a bit to see how many rooms they can fill before they drop a wider resort discount. At the very least, it’s causing some folks to take a closer look at Riviera, folks who might not have otherwise (me included.)

2. Touring Plans just revised crowd forecasts downward for both my mid-December and early February stays. A quick search still shows plenty of resorts available during those times.

3. Late fall/early winter discounts seemed a little late this year too. I remember having to watch every day for a couple of weeks then as well.

4. There is still plenty of time between now and the 60-day FastPass window for early January. It is gets to be the last week of October and there are still not discounts, I might worry.

It is frustrating trying to be patient, though! I wish they would just release the discounts already, lol!

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

So there is a lot of consternation and some trolls stirring up drama over in the January watch thread. Figured I'd copy and paste these encouraging words here as well:

Somehow this thread has avoided more drama than that one though, LOL! Maybe February folks are just more patient (it is still further away, lol)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here's a list of historical release dates for Stay Play Dine and room only discounts typically covering Jan/Feb dates:

2019 Travel - released 9/26/18 VISA, released 9/26/18 PUBLIC *(no early Visa release although there were add’l discounts for Visa cardholders)
2018 Travel - released 10/3/17 VISA, released 10/3/17 PUBLIC *(no early Visa release although there were add'l discounts for Visa cardholders)
2017 Travel - released 9/28/16 VISA, released 9/30/16 PUBLIC
2016 Travel - released 9/24/15 VISA, released 9/28/15 PUBLIC
2015 Travel - released 10/6/14 VISA, released 10/9/14 PUBLIC
2014 Travel - released 10/3/13 VISA, released 10/7/13 PUBLIC
2013 Travel - released 10/4/12 VISA, released 10/10/12 PUBLIC

There is no reason to fret or panic everybody... I have full confidence that discounts are coming. We just need to be patient - perhaps they wanted to give the Riviera discount a chance to “fly alone” first. With that resort just opening up in Dec I’m sure they’re trying to fill rooms there. Plus they’re probably hoping people will stay there and then buy into DVC.

I have it on a good source that they have prepared the winter discounts and that they are similar to last year’s. So they didn’t release this week...a small delay...but they will be coming. Don’t feed into the trolls and negativity that pops up from time to time here in the thread. It happens every year and those people get their jollies off of stirring up stressed out people looking to book Disney. That does you no good and does not contribute to the excitement of planning a Disney trip.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'll also add that this is a good time to figure out your alternate plan. When discounts finally come:

• What it your preferred resort doesn't have availability for your dates?
• What if you have to upgrade significantly in room category to find availability significantly eroding your savings?
• Know your budget and using the prior year data, come up with scenarios that work for you.

If you enjoy planning, embrace the what-ifs of waiting and have a bunch of different ideas that work. And encourage others on the thread to remain patient and know that whatever happens, there will be some room that should fit their budget (even if it's off-site). If you don't enjoy the planning then maybe "alternate scenarios" isn't for you since it may only add to the stress though, lol!

I also will acknowledge that it's easy for me to say this since we're operating on a deluxe budget and regardless of what we book I'll be able to cover it fully through various credit card rewards (I'm one of those crazy Credit Card churner people, lol). For those of you in a tighter budget situation, I do feel for the stress this places on your family vacation. Being less than 4 months out and still not sure exactly how it will all come together has to weigh on you.

 

[ezma]

So there is a lot of consternation and some trolls stirring up drama over in the January watch thread. Figured I'd copy and paste these encouraging words here as well:

Somehow this thread has avoided more drama than that one though, LOL! Maybe February folks are just more patient (it is still further away, lol)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here's a list of historical release dates for Stay Play Dine and room only discounts typically covering Jan/Feb dates:

2019 Travel - released 9/26/18 VISA, released 9/26/18 PUBLIC *(no early Visa release although there were add’l discounts for Visa cardholders)
2018 Travel - released 10/3/17 VISA, released 10/3/17 PUBLIC *(no early Visa release although there were add'l discounts for Visa cardholders)
2017 Travel - released 9/28/16 VISA, released 9/30/16 PUBLIC
2016 Travel - released 9/24/15 VISA, released 9/28/15 PUBLIC
2015 Travel - released 10/6/14 VISA, released 10/9/14 PUBLIC
2014 Travel - released 10/3/13 VISA, released 10/7/13 PUBLIC
2013 Travel - released 10/4/12 VISA, released 10/10/12 PUBLIC

There is no reason to fret or panic everybody... I have full confidence that discounts are coming. We just need to be patient - perhaps they wanted to give the Riviera discount a chance to “fly alone” first. With that resort just opening up in Dec I’m sure they’re trying to fill rooms there. Plus they’re probably hoping people will stay there and then buy into DVC.

I have it on a good source that they have prepared the winter discounts and that they are similar to last year’s. So they didn’t release this week...a small delay...but they will be coming. Don’t feed into the trolls and negativity that pops up from time to time here in the thread. It happens every year and those people get their jollies off of stirring up stressed out people looking to book Disney. That does you no good and does not contribute to the excitement of planning a Disney trip.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'll also add that this is a good time to figure out your alternate plan. When discounts finally come:

• What it your preferred resort doesn't have availability for your dates?
• What if you have to upgrade significantly in room category to find availability significantly eroding your savings?
• Know your budget and using the prior year data, come up with scenarios that work for you.

If you enjoy planning, embrace the what-ifs of waiting and have a bunch of different ideas that work. And encourage others on the thread to remain patient and know that whatever happens, there will be some room that should fit their budget (even if it's off-site). If you don't enjoy the planning then maybe "alternate scenarios" isn't for you since it may only add to the stress though, lol!

I also will acknowledge that it's easy for me to say this since we're operating on a deluxe budget and regardless of what we book I'll be able to cover it fully through various credit card rewards (I'm one of those crazy Credit Card churner people, lol). For those of you in a tighter budget situation, I do feel for the stress this places on your family vacation. Being less than 4 months out and still not sure exactly how it will all come together has to weigh on you.

Thank you for a GREAT post....I do believe discounts are coming ..when its a guess .. Hopefully by the end of next week we will be done with this game!!

 

[MASNYC10023]

Not to jump ship... but is there a similar thread for Universal? We have done Disney in Feb for 5 years and have always gotten a great price at GF Club. I am wondering if maybe I should make a back up plan to try Universal this year.... we have never been. I know there is a ton of information out there but my question to this group of Feb. discount planning experts is...".does Universal Hotels offer a similar Feb. discount for their higher end hotels"? Maybe this is the year I try something new ( not that I really want to).

 

[Sarahslay]

I have been comparing numbers this afternoon for different Disney resorts and have concluded that even at 20% off the rates seem so high. I think the challenge for me is that last January we got YC on a Visa discount (I think 35%) at about $300/night. I guess we were traveling during value season and didn't even realize it. Now I am trying to book in February during a non-value time.

I stayed at YC last October with an AP discount that came out to just over $300 a night (I don’t remember the exact amount, but I remember thinking it was a steal and just over $300), I do think we’ll be lucky to have the high 300’s with the regular deal this year because rates do seem a decent amount higher. Of course I’m hoping for a good AP rate, but sometimes that just doesn’t happen for the resort I want so I’ll take what I can get at this point.

 

[Sarahslay]

Not to jump ship... but is there a similar thread for Universal? We have done Disney in Feb for 5 years and have always gotten a great price at GF Club. I am wondering if maybe I should make a back up plan to try Universal this year.... we have never been. I know there is a ton of information out there but my question to this group of Feb. discount planning experts is...".does Universal Hotels offer a similar Feb. discount for their higher end hotels"? Maybe this is the year I try something new ( not that I really want to).

I didn’t even think Universal typically did discounts, of course I haven’t been looking but I never noticed them in the past when we went. I do know that they typically like to add extras more than really a huge room discount, like we did a Harry Potter one where we got breakfast at both of the Harry Potter restaurants and early access to the parks.

 

[Isabelle12345]

It’s in!
Up to 35% for AP, 25% for general public, free dining for kids
But we can’t go through yet...

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Wow, these discounts are awful(for us) Dont have kids 3-9 and the 10% off we would have gotten at POFQ we cannot get because you have to have 6 day tickets?(it's not because of that, apparently!) I'm not even sure if that but it just shows nothing available, maybe it's too early? This may be the first time I ever go to Disney without some sort of discount. Wasnt expecting that!

 

[Amunet]

Wow, these discounts are awful(for us) Dont have kids 3-9 and the 10% off we would have gotten at POFQ we cannot get because you have to have 6 day tickets. This may be the first time I ever go to Disney without some sort of discount. Wasnt expecting that!

Just posting in here (I know you were told in the January thread); you do not need to have 6 day tickets for the room only discount. The 6 day tickets are if you want the 'free' disney gift card

Edit: Same though with the kids. Fiance and I went on the play stay dine last year and it was a great deal.

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Just posting in here (I know you were told in the January thread); you do not need to have 6 day tickets for the room only discount. The 6 day tickets are if you want the 'free' disney gift card

Edit: Same though with the kids. Fiance and I went on the play stay dine last year and it was a great deal.

Thanks! Just cane back to change my post. I thought it wasnt let me add the discount because of days but it looks like some other issue?

 

[Isabelle12345]

I can’t seem to go through all the way
I see the offers on the general page then whenever I click on a rate the special offer disappears
I am the only one?
WoW Disney IT!!!