Nov 2018 ..book now or wait for promotions??

[jliucci]

I have been to Disney a number of times, a few trips during the fall "free dining". I have always waited until the fall promotions come out (around April or so) but I am reading more and more people who have already booked their November vacations. Do you call and request the promotions be added to your reservation after? How do you know your vacation days will line up with the offer? As you can tell i am debating booking our vacation now for piece of mind, but i also was hoping to score some find of promotion. Advice is appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[teetee830]

I typically book as soon as I know I'm going. That way I can plan and pay over time. However, my vacations are set around when my DS is out of school so I don't have a lot of flexibility on when I go. Or for instance my next trip is for DS's Birthday so that date isn't going to change. If I had flexibility or if I was only going to go if there is a discount I'd wait to book. Since I know I'm going those dates regardless of a discount or not I go ahead and book. If a discount becomes available I call and see if I can apply that to my reservation. I've never had a problem doing so.

 

[mickeynut1]

I have been to Disney a number of times, a few trips during the fall "free dining". I have always waited until the fall promotions come out (around April or so) but I am reading more and more people who have already booked their November vacations. Do you call and request the promotions be added to your reservation after? How do you know your vacation days will line up with the offer? As you can tell i am debating booking our vacation now for piece of mind, but i also was hoping to score some find of promotion. Advice is appreciated.

Thanks!

If you book now and a discount comes out later for your dates, you can call and see if what you have booked is available under the discount. If there is no availability for the dates & resorts you have booked, the discount cannot be applied to your existing reservation. Sometimes you have to be flexible with your dates (if possible) and resort/room type to take advantage of a discount as having a reservation already in place does not guarantee a discount can be applied. There is no way of knowing ahead of time if your dates will fall within a discount period or if a discount will even be offered for your time frame. With that said, if you will go regardless of a discount and you are willing to pay rack rate (if need be), I'd book now to make sure you get what you want. If you will only go with a discount, I'd wait to see what (if any) discounts come out for your dates.

 

[dfurst05]

What are some of the details of the vacation you hope to book? When do you want to go, where do you want to stay? Do you have a specific room type you are hoping to book?

Also, how will you be booking your trip? By yourself through Disney or will you be using a TA?

 

[tnolan]

You had better book now if you're going in Nov. As I wrote in another forum, I was just checking what was open way back in Dec. of last year, and was met with the fact that Nov. 10-17 of this year was already sold out in standard and lagoon view at the Poly. Not sure which resort you wanted, but if this is the trend across the World, the sooner the better might be to your advantage in terms of booking. If it turns out that free dining is offered during the time of your arrival, you will be able to attach it when it comes out. I did so a couple years ago.

 

[dansdad]

You had better book now if you're going in Nov. As I wrote in another forum, I was just checking what was open way back in Dec. of last year, and was met with the fact that Nov. 10-17 of this year was already sold out in standard and lagoon view at the Poly. Not sure which resort you wanted, but if this is the trend across the World, the sooner the better might be to your advantage in terms of booking. If it turns out that free dining is offered during the time of your arrival, you will be able to attach it when it comes out. I did so a couple years ago.

Need to add a caveat to this. You MAY be able to apply a discount/promotion to your reservation. They only include a certain number of rooms in any given promotion. So there has to be availability under the discount. You may have to switch room type, resort and even dates.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

I book with an agent that offers discounts a year or more ahead. They do agency exclusive deals. I pick from whatever resorts they have deals on. I like the peace of mind of having the deal set in stone from day 1. I know my price and no searching.

 

[Ilovemyprincesses]

If rooms are full there is no reason for them to offer a deal.

 

[KrazeeK120]

I book with an agent that offers discounts a year or more ahead. They do agency exclusive deals. I pick from whatever resorts they have deals on. I like the peace of mind of having the deal set in stone from day 1. I know my price and no searching.

Same. They already have their fall discounts available. I got Poly standard for the last full week of October a few months ago.

 

[KrazeeK120]

You had better book now if you're going in Nov. As I wrote in another forum, I was just checking what was open way back in Dec. of last year, and was met with the fact that Nov. 10-17 of this year was already sold out in standard and lagoon view at the Poly. Not sure which resort you wanted, but if this is the trend across the World, the sooner the better might be to your advantage in terms of booking. If it turns out that free dining is offered during the time of your arrival, you will be able to attach it when it comes out. I did so a couple years ago.

Did you check with any TAs to see if they have standard availability at the Poly for those dates?

 

[Sue M]

If you book now and a discount comes out later for your dates, you can call and see if what you have booked is available under the discount. If there is no availability for the dates & resorts you have booked, the discount cannot be applied to your existing reservation. Sometimes you have to be flexible with your dates (if possible) and resort/room type to take advantage of a discount as having a reservation already in place does not guarantee a discount can be applied. There is no way of knowing ahead of time if your dates will fall within a discount period or if a discount will even be offered for your time frame. With that said, if you will go regardless of a discount and you are willing to pay rack rate (if need be), I'd book now to make sure you get what you want. If you will only go with a discount, I'd wait to see what (if any) discounts come out for your dates.

This. If you’re going with or without a discount by all means book now. I wait till discounts come out because I won’t pay rack rate.
One thing to consider, Disney only offers discounts when they need to fill rooms. If enough rooms are already booked without a discount, there is no reason for Disney to offer one.

 

[crazy4wdw]

I book with an agent that offers discounts a year or more ahead. They do agency exclusive deals. I pick from whatever resorts they have deals on. I like the peace of mind of having the deal set in stone from day 1. I know my price and no searching.

Same. They already have their fall discounts available. I got Poly standard for the last full week of October a few months ago.

Just booked a standard room at the Beach Club for the 1st week of November through "them". Saved me $200/night!

 

[Mickey's Best Girl]

It’s kind of a catch 22 these days.

If you don’t book now you run the very high risk of the resort(s) being sold out - which was very much the case last fall.

If you book now the resorts become sold out by you and others who book ahead and therefore no discounts are necessary to fill the rooms.

 

[Dean Marino]

Book NOW at rack. Lurk, check offers - ask for offer LATER.

My Dear Wife and I did this for YEARS, prior to buying into DVC. Book Rack-Lurk-renegotiate worked very well for our first 8 years .

Note: if you are an AP? Book the GP offer - lurk, renegotiate later.

 

[Belleandtinker]

Always book! This will help with ADRs too.

 

[ErinsMommy]

Depends when your going - we're going "Jersey Week" and there wont be any discounts because its a popular time for us to go thanks to teachers convention, so we booked a few months ago.

 

[Princess_Lisa]

What I did for my Birthday trip is book something at Rack Rate that I can afford and once the discounts are released, I may upgrade depending on what I can get. If you book now, your price won't go up, but you can always try to find cheaper (if available). What I wouldn't do is book more than you can afford (at Rack Rate) and assume there will be discounts.

 

[Amanda&Mike]

Book now or consider renting DVC. We waited for an AP discount for a November trip and ended up having to pay rack rate for half of the trip and doing a split stay in order to get some nights at a discount. It was less than ideal.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Book now or consider renting DVC. We waited for an AP discount for a November trip and ended up having to pay rack rate for half of the trip and doing a split stay in order to get some nights at a discount. It was less than ideal.

Too late to book DVC for that week in November. Probably all booked or only limited villas left.