Annual Pass discount on club (concierge) in Contemporary?

[JoieNsk]

We don't leave in Florida and don't spend in WDW 10+ day for year every year. So at the first glance Annual Pass is no deal for us.

But I was thinking if I would get 30% discount on the room - it might worth getting Annual Pass just for me. And all the family will use the discounts as I am a travel planner for the family.

We have an expensive club room booked in Contemporary Resort in January for 3 nights after the cruise: we really want the view and opportunity to watch the fireworks from the balcony. Couple of my family members can't stand the crowds due to heath issues. If I would get a discounted rate on that one - I would get the Annual pass. With this and all the other discount it would pay back.

But I am not sure Club (Concierge) rooms are eligible for those discount?

Thank you very much in advance for any info!!

 

[tobikaye]

I have not booked an AP discount for a club level room, but I have seen them available when checking rates. If an AP discount comes out for your time frame, call and see if there is availability for the type of room you booked. Sometimes there are only a few discounts available per resort/room category. Have it applied and then purchase or upgrade to the AP on the day you check in. You do not have to have the AP until you are actually at WDW.

I booked an AP discounted room for my January 2017 trip, but I did not upgrade until the day I arrived.

I had planned a trip about 4 years ago, not CL, but my plan had been to purchase an AP just for that trip. The difference between the ticket I was going to buy and the AP was only about $300. The room savings alone using the AP discount would have been $500. So, I would have already saved $200. It would have been a trip with lots of shopping and meals, so I would have saved more than enough for that upgrade. I did not get to book the trip because something came up while I was in the planning stages.

 

[JoieNsk]

I have not booked an AP discount for a club level room, but I have seen them available when checking rates. If an AP discount comes out for your time frame, call and see if there is availability for the type of room you booked. Sometimes there are only a few discounts available per resort/room category. Have it applied and then purchase or upgrade to the AP on the day you check in. You do not have to have the AP until you are actually at WDW.

I booked an AP discounted room for my January 2017 trip, but I did not upgrade until the day I arrived.

I had planned a trip about 4 years ago, not CL, but my plan had been to purchase an AP just for that trip. The difference between the ticket I was going to buy and the AP was only about $300. The room savings alone using the AP discount would have been $500. So, I would have already saved $200. It would have been a trip with lots of shopping and meals, so I would have saved more than enough for that upgrade. I did not get to book the trip because something came up while I was in the planning stages.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH for such a detailed answer!

That's kind of like my situation is going to look. The difference between tickets for one person and the Annual Pass would be less than the savings from the room discount - IF I GET a discounted rate.

 

[JoieNsk]

I just read somewhere that some room types are excluded from any discounts.

I remember it was something about Grand Floridian and Contemporary - in particular.

 

[JoieNsk]

I also have Disney credit card. They might have discount offer as well. So I will look into that too. It might be more beneficial just to book the room with credit card member discount and buy normal tickets.

Again - IF I GET the discount for the room I am interested. Al those "ifs" really make things complicated ))

 

[tobikaye]

According to Mousesavers's listings of discounts, https://www.mousesavers.com/walt-di...ls/disney-world-resort-hotel-discounts-codes/, here is what was excluded for the current discount:

Offer excludes Villas at Grand Floridian, Bay Lake Tower, Bungalows at Polynesian Bungalows & Villas, Copper Creek Villas & Cabins, Little Mermaid (i.e. Standard) rooms at Art of Animation Resort, Campsites and 3-bedroom villas. As with all Disney promotional discounts, some resorts, room types and date combinations will not be available. It’s important to be flexible if you want to book a discounted room.​

 

[JoieNsk]

According to Mousesavers's listings of discounts, https://www.mousesavers.com/walt-di...ls/disney-world-resort-hotel-discounts-codes/, here is what was excluded for the current discount:

Offer excludes Villas at Grand Floridian, Bay Lake Tower, Bungalows at Polynesian Bungalows & Villas, Copper Creek Villas & Cabins, Little Mermaid (i.e. Standard) rooms at Art of Animation Resort, Campsites and 3-bedroom villas. As with all Disney promotional discounts, some resorts, room types and date combinations will not be available. It’s important to be flexible if you want to book a discounted room.​

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

I was trying to find the rate description at Disney web-site as they have the rate available till December 24th. But there is no rate description there. Maybe because I am not an Annual Pass-holder right now it would not show rate description for me?

 

[mustinjourney]

something else to think about -- the AP gives you food and merchandise discounts, as well as the photopass memory maker for free...so that alone is "worth" about $200. So by getting just one AP, you spend about $400 extra to get the AP, but with the $200 savings for the photopass, you're really only spending an extra $200. When you factor in the 10%-20% savings on some restaurants, you can save another $100-$200 fairly easily...and that's before you save any money on the hotel.

 

[JoieNsk]

something else to think about -- the AP gives you food and merchandise discounts, as well as the photopass memory maker for free...so that alone is "worth" about $200. So by getting just one AP, you spend about $400 extra to get the AP, but with the $200 savings for the photopass, you're really only spending an extra $200. When you factor in the 10%-20% savings on some restaurants, you can save another $100-$200 fairly easily...and that's before you save any money on the hotel.

Thank you very much, I was considering all these factors.

But if we are staying Concierge - we are not going to dine that much. I can see already that we would have breakfast and dinner in the lounge. I stayed once Concierge in Grand Floridian with my friend who is savvy. And with her we didn't eat anywhere at all for two days - really. It was no park stay too. We had more than enough to eat in the lounge.

And it seems like the Contemporary offerings are sufficient enough to do something like this. Though with my mom and my daughter I am planning to have "normal lunch" somewhere for sure. It makes for more fun. And also we are going to the parks.

My problem is that for some irrational reason I like the idea of Annual Pass, and that's what I am afraid of )) That I am trying to rationalize for myself why I need to get it ))

Do you save on special dining experiences with Annual Passes? Like Desert Parties or Parade Dining?

If Annual Pass also gives you discount on that - that would make it for me. Because I already booked Frozen Party in Epcot as I am trying to make everything as easy as possible considering my mom's 73 yo age.

 

[adelaster]

I don't think there's a January discount up yet. But I can tell you that there were some Contemporary club options in the current holiday passholder promotion- though not many are left, and it appeared to be very limited. To give an example:

Bay Lake View - 1 Bedroom Suite - Club Level
2 Queen Beds and 1 Queen-Size Sleeper Sofa
Sleeps up to 6 Adults
Standard Room Rate $1,659.00 USD Avg/Night Excl Tax
Passholder Magical Holidays Room Offer $1,493.10 USD Avg/Night Excl Tax

I wouldn't count on savings with the annual pass. Get it if it makes sense or comes pretty close to making sense monetarily for park admission. I'm a new passholder for that reason- eyeing two or three shorter trips in a year and if all come through we'd be breaking even to saving hundreds-before any price increases in 2018. Short parkhoppers cost more than longer stays do- considerably more. They are also harder to find discounted third party. It made sense to bite the bullet after pricing it out a few times over.

As near as I can tell, the savings on special events are limited and minor-not worth an AP for sure. For example, you spend $82 vs $89 on some of the MVMCP nights- increasing as the rates do to $91 vs $95. I do not think that dessert parties/parade food packages are included-at least not at present. The savings on rooms vary, and come out later than the public discounts. The merch discount is nice.

There is a great food discount right now- but it ends in a week and as of yet there's no word on extension= which is doubtful as it was an anniversary bonus.
New! 45th Anniversary Benefits
From now through September 30, 2017, as a Walt Disney World Passholder, enjoy 20% discounts at 45 select dining locations.

The pictures/videos are a nice perk, but unless you really take a lot of them it isn't a life-changing addition. It sounds like your party has special needs, and it would be less than ideal to change how you would normally spend your time to make sure you took advantage of photos, etc. A deal is only a deal when you are getting the item regardless.

If you want to justify it to yourself you can, but it sounds like you have a particular room in mind, and I wouldn't personally gamble on that. The discounts work best with a flexible and open mind. They can change any of the perks at any given moment- so go into it expecting nothing and see if it still makes fiscal sense. Honestly though, if you can afford to stay club contemporary you are probably able to afford it. I recoiled when posting the above, one night is more than I paid for our APs!

 

[JoieNsk]

Honestly though, if you can afford to stay club contemporary you are probably able to afford it. I recoiled when posting the above, one night is more than I paid for our APs!

Thank you very much for such thoughtful and detailed comment!

We also have two trips ahead.

One is three day trip in December with my husband only - kind of for both birthdays and minor wedding anniversary. We try to travel instead of giving each other presents, and he was so nice to agree to go to Disney with me this time )) But there is no availability on the rooms I am interested in with AP discount - it was not planned well ahead, was kind of last minute thing.

You are very right about being flexible, and we are not really that flexible - neither with dates nor even with room types: I am planning on certain type of experience, otherwise the trip would not make that much sense. I was able to get public discount on the two of the three days for the December trip.

But added AP discount for that first trip + tickets for both trips for me - would already buy AP. I was not going to buy Photo Package for the December trip, but I would certainly buy it for Trip in January.

I read somewhere that "package" trips have cancellation dead line 30 days. So I am thinking that some availability might open around 30 days of our trip?

And I am trying to watch when the January discounts for AP would come up so I can try to check on that right away. I guess I just need to be patient ) Which is hard sometimes

About affordability - yes, we can afford to pay those prices, it would not make it or break it for us. And we do have some challenges, my daughter has Asperger, and even my husband is a little claustrophobic - he really doesn't like the crowds. So we often pay extra just to avoid the crowds etc.

But maybe I am cheap in nature )) I would still try to make at least some financial sense, otherwise I feel stupid I guess ))

 

[JoieNsk]

I really appreciate all the information and help I got here! Thank you VERY MUCH!

I did my math again and made a decision to get the Pass. Actually to upgrade my tickets to Annual Pass as I will be in WDW area in October - not for the parks, but close to Disney Springs. So I can stop there and do the upgrade (hopefully).

And after I already made the decision - I called Disney again, just to check if any availability opened up for our short "couple trip" in December. I didn't have any hope really as whenever I called before nothing was available. But this time I got experienced cast member on the line: she saw the availability on one day and though there seemed to be no availability on the other day - she did something and was able to change both my one-day reservation to AP rate and put them into one 2-day reservation. I could not believe my years (and my eyes - when I saw the updated reservations in My Disney) )))

The third day had no availability so far, but even added discount on the first two days - together with the other stuff - bought Annual Pass for me!

If I get something in January when the offer will be out - that will be even better.

And the good thing - once I get that AP, I will not need to spend so much time and bother cast members calling Disney. I would be able to check the availability on-line myself? I really like that part too.