Please help clarify AP and Resort discounts?

[k5thbeatle]

First of all I realize there is no guarantee of an AP discount being available every season. That being said for a number of years there has almost always been an AP resort discount released for every season.

Let's use the following hypothetical situation for this Fall as an example of what I am wanting clarification. Wanting to book a resort room at say the Beach Club for this Fall we know there is no AP discount available for that season at this time. The discount for this time of year usually (based on past years) comes out later this Summer. We know too that when announced these rooms book fast. In fact in more recent years I am told they often book up within the day they come out if not within the first few hours at least for many if not most resorts. Some have even told me if you don't closely watch over your computer it's easy to miss the release and be left out. Again maybe not entirely true in every instance for every resort but that's kind of what the situation seems to be these days. For us with our work schedules hawking over a computer to ensure we book the moment or even day they come out is just not possible or practical.

Which brings me to the specific situation I am asking about. With the above scenario if I were to book a room now today at the regular rate could I apply the AP discount, assuming one were to come out that included this hotel? Why wouldn't I simply be able to apply the discount considering:
A) An AP discount is announced and I am indeed an AP holder
B) The discount does include the hotel we are booked at
C) Our reservation falls well within the dates announced
D) Our room type is one that is included in the discount

Can someone please help me understand how this works or I guess a better question why I wouldn't be able to apply the discount in such a situation???

 

[cakebaker]

Booking now doesn’t guarantee you will get the discount. There has to be current availability at the resort you want to book. Having an existing reservation gives you no advantage. We book at the resort we’re willing to pay rack rate for, then watch for the AP discount and re-book. If one doesn’t come out, we still have a reservation.

Booking if you’re only going to keep it if a discount is released makes no sense. It decreases the availability of rooms which = fewer discounts.

 

[Wood Nymph]

Can someone please help me understand how this works or I guess a better question why I wouldn't be able to apply the discount in such a situation???

You would be able to apply the AP discount under all these scenarios. And if you are lucky, you will be able to do this. But it is more likely that the discount will be released and it may require you to change your resort, your resort category, i.e. water view instead of garden view, or change your dates.

We have had an AP discount become available that changed our resort or room type. One thing that happens with the AP discount that you didn't mention is that discounted rooms will become available at a later date. We had this happen in February when we tried to add two days to our trip with the AP discount. We had to take two days at a different resort with one room type, then a few weeks later and better room category opened up, then even later, a room at our original resort opened up. But all of our dates fell within the AP discount period, so we didn't have to worry about that.

 

[dkrauss]

Booking now doesn’t guarantee you will get the discount. There has to be current availability at the resort you want to book. Having an existing reservation gives you no advantage. We book at the resort we’re willing to pay rack rate for, then watch for the AP discount and re-book. If one doesn’t come out, we still have a reservation.

Booking if you’re only going to keep it if a discount is released makes no sense. It decreases the availability of rooms which = fewer discounts.

The above is the way my wife and I play it also. This to me is an excellent way to handle it.

It will be interesting to see how many resort discounts will be available in 2020 given the rise of SWGE.

Doug

 

[vinotinto]

The best way to think about AP discounts (or any discount for that matter) is that if you have already booked, and a discount for the general time frame comes out, when you go to modify, the options that it will give you are the exact same options that it would give you is you were making a new booking. It does not allow the discount to be applied unless it is available as a new booking.

Not every resort or room category or even date within the general dates will be available at a discount. The only way to know what will be included and available is to check your dates and resorts. "Stays most nights XXXXX through" is the phrase they use. The resorts/dates/categories that are not well-booked are the ones offered at a discount or a at a better discount. With room only discounts, some dates may be discounted and some may not. With the Spring passholder rates (available most nights through April 27th) we didn't even get a list of resorts and discounts, but WL and Poly some dates were discounted 20%, some discounted only 10%, some not discounted. With the early Summer rates, we got a list of resorts and discounts, but not every resort had availability under the discount, even though they had availability at full rack rate, were technically included in the dates, and the resort and room categories were also technically included.

 

[stephk1981]

When/ if an AP discount is released, you can call to change your reservation. As a previous poster said, you may need to change to a different room category or resort. Disney only offers so many discounted rooms on each offer and often are only available at certain resorts and room categories. It does sound like you are worried about not being able to call when a discount is released, or that you are too busy to continue checking for a discount. Booking a room now won't help with that. You will still have to be proactive in looking for discount releases, disney isn't going to automatically apply a discount for you if you don't call....nor will they apply it if all of the rooms have been filled on the discount. Have you thought about going through a travel agent? They will be the lookout for you and call disney when discounts are released....no work for you. Obviously it's still not guaranteed you will get a discount, but having a travel agent may be easier in your situation.