Early Booking Question Vacation Planning Tips & Tricks Discuss Early Booking Question in the Vacation Planning forums; Hi Everyone, Maybe someone on here can help answer my question. If I book a room early though disney (not using a travel agent) and there is no current promotion/ ...

[Mousekadoer]

Hi Everyone,
Maybe someone on here can help answer my question. If I book a room early though disney (not using a travel agent) and there is no current promotion/ discount going on for that time, and then as the date gets closer they start offering discounts, will they be available to me? If so, do you have to call disney and request the promo? I know some travel agencies will do this for you, but just curious how it works if you don't use one? Thanks in advance to anyone who knows! I'd just like to know if it's worth booking now, or waiting to see what offers they throw out there when the time comes.

[Spodie]

Yes, you can get the discounts applied to your account if you're not using a travel agent and if you can catch them. All you have to do is call them and tell them the code you saw and then they can apply it. If you don't have a code (and it's a general discount if you don't have an AP, Disney Visa, or are a DVC member), tell them what you saw and they can help you out.

[zima-cheryl]

Originally Posted by Mousekadoer

Hi Everyone,
Maybe someone on here can help answer my question. If I book a room early though disney (not using a travel agent) and there is no current promotion/ discount going on for that time, and then as the date gets closer they start offering discounts, will they be available to me? If so, do you have to call disney and request the promo? I know some travel agencies will do this for you, but just curious how it works if you don't use one? Thanks in advance to anyone who knows! I'd just like to know if it's worth booking now, or waiting to see what offers they throw out there when the time comes.

Just curious if there is a particular reason you don't want to use a TA?

But to answer your question - yes you can do that yourself. We prefer to book early -- esp. if you have something very specific in mind -- that way you don't get shut out.

As Spoodie said - you will have to do the leg work yourself. If you decide to go that route, I'd sign up w/Disney Visa to get their e-mail notices so if a room rate comes out you'll learn about it quicklly. Also keep an eye on the boards & maybe MouseSavers? Deals come out & can disappear quickly depended on the availability.

The other thing you'll want to do is run different deals. Is the room discount or free dining a bigger savings? Can we combine any packages (Lord Bless her... somehow our TA stacked a couple offers on our ressie for Sept. Still not sure how she pulled off that bit of magic?!?)

We like using a TA 'cause I'm awful (I mean really awful) at math. I prefer getting an e-mail saying X is the best deal. Or saying X & Y are w/in $100 of each other, pick one. But if you are good at doing the math & don't mind taking the time to run the numbers you will probably be fine handling this yourself.

[NC_WDW_Daddy]

You can certainly do all yourself if you have the time and diligence to stay on top of it. You will basically be doing what a good TA would do for you.

[Mousekadoer]

Thank you both for the info! I haven't used a travel agent before. I enjoy hunting down great deals while planning our Disney trip! It add to the excitement! However I haven't planned one very far in advance before, its usually a 'lets wait and see what they come out with for deals' before we see where we will stay. I have the disney visa, and I also get the mousesavers newsletter and check their site often. We went twice in 2007 so I ended up buying the AP to get the room discount(which payed for its self!), which was nice because you get all the other discounts on dining and merchandise at world of disney. Its nice to find out I can plan earlier and still be able to apply a discount after booking. Thanks again for your info, this site is so great!