Disney Discounts Disney Discounts are hard to come but they do exist, if you know where to look andwhat to ask for. On this page I will discuss the few discounts that I am aware ofand reveal where and how to obtain them. Disney Discounts Annual Passes If you are planning more than one trip to Disney World in a 366 day period(annual passes arevalid for one year and one day) or if you plan to stayat a Disney resort, consider buying an annual pass. Not only will you enjoy unlimited entry and hopping privileges at all of the major parks, you will also have access to a whole raft ofDisney discounts, including exclusive pass holder discounts at Disney world Resort Hotels andrestaurants. Disney discounts on hotel rooms are offered to annual pass holders at select times of the year andshould yoube able to visit when these discounted rates are offered (depending on your length of stay andgrade of hotel chosen), thepass can almost pay for itself. Remember if you take a one or two week vacation and then returnfor a second vacation any time before the pass expires, all your park entries for the secondvacation will already be paid for.If you can arrange your second visit at a time when annual pass holder hotel discounts are also ineffect, you will be able to accomplish what many believe to be impossible and take "a reallycheap Disney Vacation". Iadmit that there are a lot of "ifs" involved here, but with a little advance planning it can be done. To obtain the hotel and other Disney discounts, only one pass will be necessary per familybut the pass holder must be physically present in order to obtain and use the discounts.Remember the other members of your party will still need their own park tickets. There are two types of annual pass, regular and premium. The premium pass has all the benefitsofa basic annual pass but adds unlimited access to the water parks, Disneyquest,and PleasureIsland. Do the extra benefits justify the additional cost? If you have the extra cash to spare, will bevisiting more than once in a year, are interested in and feel that you will have the time to use allthe extras that come with a premium pass then my answer would be yes. Otherwise, stick with thebasic pass. For full detailson annual pass Disney discounts or to purchase an annual pass click here to visit Disney's official site. Disney Discounts Disney Tickets While savings on Disney Tickets are hard to come by, there are some available. First a word of warning. When looking for discount Disney tickets you will come across someridiculously cheap, even free Disney tickets. Be aware that they are usually tied to attending atimeshare presentation and will require you and your family to invest a half day of your time to listento a high pressure sales presentation. If you are okay with this then go for it! There are somegreat deals to be found. For more information on timeshare presentations click here. The biggest savings that are available with no strings attached are from licensed Disney discountticket resellers. I recommend Maple Leaf Tickets who have been in business in Orlando formanyyears. The tickets that you purchase from Maple Leaf are genuine Disney tickets not vouchers, soyou can buy them with confidence. Discount Disney tickets are hard to come by and the savingsare not huge but for a family of four or more who are buying multiple day tickets these Disney discountsadd up and can save a considerable amount over the course of a vacation and they are definitelyworth seeking out. To check ticket prices for Disney and other Orlando attraction ticketsavailable at Maple Leaf Tickets click here. Disney will give small discounts on most of their multiple day tickets if they are purchased inadvance from their website. One thing to be aware of when selecting tickets on the officialDisney website is that tax is not included until the very end of the booking process (just beforeyou give your credit card information)and at first sight tickets will appear tobe deceptively cheap compared to other discount web sites such as Maple Leaf tickets, whoseprices include all taxes and fees. Don't be fooled. Always go to checkout to discover the true costof your tickets. One very important thing to keep in mind no matter where you buy your tickets is that the moredays you purchase, the cheaper the tickets become. The difference between a five day base passwith no expiration date and a ten day base ticket with no expiration is $138.45 if you used fivedays on your visit and return for a second trip at some future date. Even if many years havepassed, the five days remaining on your ticket will still be valid and will have only cost you$138.45 or just $27.69 for each remaining day. Given the fact that the price of Disney tickets riseevery year, if you intend to return to Disney World at some other time even if it is in the distantfuture, buying the 10 day ticket with the no expiration option can be a great investment. If you buy a ten day base ticket that expires after 14 days but only use five or six days, what canyou do? You have only two options: either bite the bullet and lose the days that remain on yourtickets or you can add the no expiration option by visiting a Disney ticket window before theoriginal 14 days on your tickets expire and pay to upgrade the remaining days on your tickets tothe no expiration option.This must be done before you leave Disney World.If you wait until you return home and the 14days have expired, it will be too late and your tickets will be useless!! One thing to keep in mind is that the no expiration option is a flat fee based on the original lengthof ticket purchased, and you will have to pay the option price on the full 10 day ticket youoriginally purchased not just the five remaining days. This rule applies to all Disney tickets.Youmust pay the option for the number of days originally purchased, not just the remaining days. Forextensive details of the different types and costs of Disney Tickets and for help deciding which isright for you click here to visit my guide to Disney Tickets. Disney Discounts Dining Disney Dining Experience Disney Dining Experience ( This Is Not The Same As The Disney Dining Plan) If you are an Annual Pass holder or are a Florida Resident, you will be entitled to buymembership in the Disney dining experience. Cost $85 for Florida Residents per year, $65 forannualpass holders. The dining experience card gets you a20% discount on food and drinks (including alcoholic beverages) at most table servicerestaurants and lounges plus a very few counter service locations on Disney World property. Onecardcovers a whole family. (As a Florida resident I have used the dining club discounts many timesand believe me the savings soon add up to more than the cost of the membership fee.) Disney Discounts Dining Plan If you book a Magic Your Way Vacation package of three days or longer thatincludes parktickets, inquire about the dining plan package. For $37.99 per day, per adult and $9.99 perchildyouwill be entitled to one table service meal, one counter service meal , and one snack per person perdayincluding all taxes , but excluding alcoholic drinks and gratuities/tips . The dining package has to be purchased for the entire length of your stay. You must be staying ata Disney resort and have purchased park tickets as part of your vacation package. Everyone inyourparty has to be included ( you can't buy it for some but not others) and be on the same package with the same ticket options.Children ages 3-9 must order from the childrens menu (if available) Some high end table servicerestaurants such as the California Grill and Cinderella's Castle, as well as dinner shows, take uptwo table service meal credits so you have to keep an eye on where you eat and how manycredits you use. Although, at first sight $38.99 a day may sound expensive, if you intend to eat at table servicerestaurants during your stay, the dining plan will definitely save you money. Character meals and buffets take one table service credit with the exception of Cinderella'sRoyalFeast which requires two. See below for the official Disney explanation of benefits. 1 Table-service Meal1 adult table-service meal includes 1 entrée and 1 dessert (lunch or dinner only), 1 juice (breakfast only) and 1 single serving non-alcoholic beverage, or 1 full buffet. 1 child table-service meal includes 1 appetizer, 1 entrée, 1 dessert (lunch or dinner only) and 1 single serving non-alcoholic beverage, or 1 full buffet. Children ages 3-9 must order from a Children's Menu where available. 1 Quick-service Meal1 quick-service meal includes 1 entrée or 1 complete Combo Meal, 1 dessert (lunch or dinner only) or 1 juice (breakfast only) and 1 single serving non-alcoholic beverage. Children ages 3-9 are limited to the Children's Menu (if one is available) at quick-service restaurants. 1 Snack1 snack includes one of the following: frozen ice cream novelty, popsicle, fruit bar, popcorn scoop (single serving box), single serving grab bag of chips, single piece of whole fruit, 20-oz. bottle of Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite or Dasani water, medium fountain soft drink or juice, 12-oz. coffee, hot chocolate or hot tea.
I have never used the dining plan as it can't be combined with my Florida Resident Disney discounts,but everyone I have spoken to who have used it tell me it is great and saves a ton of money. Every once in a while Disney will offer the dining plan free of charge to fill rooms at slow timesof the year, so it always pays to ask if this is an option during your stay. If you are visitingDisney World at a busy time, I recommend that you make advance reservations for as many ofthe table service restaurants as you can. Owing to the popularity of the dining plan, many arebooked up weeks in advance. For each night of your package, each Guest in your party enjoys: 3 MealsChoose from select Walt Disney World Resort table-service and quick-service restaurants for all 3 of your meals. 1 adult table-service meal includes 1 appetizer, 1 entrée and 1 dessert (lunch or dinner only), 1 juice (breakfast only) and 1 single serving non-alcoholic beverage, or 1 full buffet. 1 child table-service meal includes 1 appetizer, 1 entrée, 1 dessert (lunch or dinner only) and 1 single serving non-alcoholic beverage, or 1 full buffet. 1 quick-service meal includes 1 entrée or 1 complete Combo Meal, 1 dessert (lunch or dinner only) or 1 juice (breakfast only) and 1 single serving non-alcoholic beverage. Children ages 3-9 are limited to the Children's Menu (if one is available). 2 SnacksA snack includes one of the following: frozen ice cream novelty, popsicle, fruit bar, popcorn scoop (single serving box), single serving grab bag of chips, single piece of whole fruit, 20-oz. bottle of Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite or Dasani water, medium fountain soft drink or juice, 12-oz. coffee, hot chocolate or hot tea. For a limited time United Vacations are offering the Disney Dining Plan at no charge with the purchase of a qualfying vacation at one of DisneyWorlds resort hotels.To take advantage of this great deal click on the following link FREE Disney Dining at Walt Disney World® Resorts! Disney Discounts Credit Cards Disney Rewards Visa Credit Card If you have good credit, are a frequent Disney visitor, and are looking for a new credit cardconsider the Disney rewards Visa card from Chase. For every purchase you make, you will earnpoints that can be used towards the purchase of Disney merchandise, Disney hotel stays ,themepark tickets, etc. You will also receive special cardholder promotions from time to time offeringvarious Disney discounts not available to the general public. Details of these special cardholderpromotions will be sent to you with your monthly bill. For full details on this and other Point Rewards Cards Disney Discounts Florida Residents Rates Disney offers Florida Residents incentives to visit their parks in the shape of Disney discounts, some ofwhich such as discounted hotel rooms and seasonal annual passes are substantial. These Disneydiscounts are designed to encourageFloridians to vacation at Disney World during slow times of the year. Florida residents also haveaccess to a unique pass that only allows access to Epcot and only after 4pm.(very useful if youwish to have dinner at EPCOT''S top notch restaurants and enjoy the evening entertainment)Also available is a membership to the Disney dining experience which for an annual charge of$85 entitles the member to a 20% discount onfood and drink (including alcoholic beverages) at Disney table service restaurants. Other Disneydiscounts include general park admissions and full annual passes with no restrictions or blackoutdays at a deeply discounted price . For full details on these and other available Florida residentDisney discountsclick here and visit disneyworlds official site Disney Discounts Hotels When calling Disney central reservations, don't be afraid to ask about discounts. Hotel discountsare often available to Florida residents, annual pass holders, Disney Rewards Visa card holders, Disney Vacation Club members and AAA members. But this does not mean Disney discounts are never available to the general public. From time totime, Disney will have un-advertised specials at specific hotels when they need to fill unoccupiedrooms but you have to ask! Disney reservation agents are trained to respond only to specificquestions and will not volunteer information on potential Disney discounts. If you are a serving member of the US Military you can stay at the Shades of Green Resort, adeluxe hotel on Disney property where you will enjoy full access to Disney's transportationsystem as well as being able to take advantage of Disney Worlds Extra Hours Magic program.Shades of Green is reserved for serving members of the United States Armed Forces and pricesat this beautiful property are based on rank. Make no mistake this is a top notch resort and nomatter what your rank, you will pay considerably less for your stay here than you would stayingat a comparable Disney Deluxe hotel. If you have a Disney rewards Visa card and intend to pay for the whole cost of your stay usingonly your Disney Visa, a discount may sometimes be available but here again you have to ask. The Swan and Dolphin hotels are twin resorts that are on Disney property but are not operated byDisney. Guests at these resorts enjoy most of the benefits that they would receive if they werestaying at a Disney owned resort including access to the entire Disney transportation system, andearlyentry and extra hours privileges at selected parks. Discounts at these high quality deluxe hotelsare ofteneasier to come by. It is always worth asking about possible upgrades at check in. While free upgrades are extremelyunlikely to be available, upgrades at greatly reduced rates sometimes are. Say you want to stay ina concierge room but have been put off by the large difference in cost between rooms on theconcierge floor and standard rooms. On arrival at the check in desk, if you ask the desk clerknicely and space is available you maybe able to secure an upgrade at a price much lower than ifyou had booked it before leaving home. Upgrades are not always available and prices will varyby season and at the whim of the desk clerk or manager on duty but it never hurts to ask. Disney Discounts Disney Vacation Club The Disney Vacation Club (DVC) is Disney's answer to timeshare and for those that chose tobuy a share in one of these premier properties, a DVC membership offers a significant numberof Disney discounts and benefits, most of which are only available to its members. They rangefrom discounted annual passes and hotel rooms to discounts on food and other services. For thosethat are unfamiliar with the Disney's Vacation Club I have written the following brief explanationof what the DVC is, how it works, and how it differs from a conventional timeshare. The Disney Vacation Club is timeshare with a Disney twist. If you plan on being a frequentvisitor to Walt Disney World, have a need for a little more space then the average hotel roomprovides, thenthe Disney vacation Club may be a good option for you. With a conventional timeshare you buy a fixed week at a specific resort. With the fixed week youcontract to stay in a specific unit at a fixed time each year. You can exchange your week at yourhome resort for a different resort and different season, but you must exchange a week for a week.Youcan not split the week, thus ruling out the possibility of taking several short breaks during acalender year. With the Disney model you have a lot more flexibility. You buy points in a specific resort at apredetermined price per point. Theamountof points purchased determine the size of units that are available to you, either studios, one,two, or three bedroom apartments, and the length of time you can stay. A three bedroomunit will cost considerably more points than a one bedroom or studio. Unlike conventional timeshares, you do not have to stay for a week or longer. You can use yourpoints any way you please, stay for a weekend or a week it doesn't matter. This isparticularly convenient if you live close to Disney and want to take several short breaks eachyear. Any unused points will be carried over to the next calendar year. In the same way that hotels raise or lower their rates depending on the season, the DVCwill alsoincrease or decrease the number of points needed to stay at times of high or low demand. Youare not, however, restricted to your home resort. As long as there is space available, your pointsaregood at any of the other DVC resorts and can also be used to exchange for other propertiesaround the world.. The beauty of the points system is you have complete control over how, when, where, and inwhat size unit you will vacation. To buy from Disney, there is a 150 point minimumpurchase and each point currently cost around $104 each. One thing to be aware of is the annual maintenance fee. You must pay this every year. It coversproperty taxes, building and ground maintenance, heating, air conditioning ,utilities, etc. Thischarge can amount to several hundred dollars per year in addition to the cost of your points. As with any time share in the Orlando area, you are buying an interest in Florida Real Estate.Unlike many traditional timeshares, you are not buying a deed for life. Instead your deed willexpire around 50 years from the date of purchase and if you wish to continue ownership past thispoint you or your heirs will have to buy new points. Before deciding to make a purchase, you should weigh up all the pros and cons of ownership andfully understand the commitment you are making. Do not sign a contract until you are sure youunderstand all the conditions. This is not a decision to be taken lightly. If you decide that theDisney Vacation Club is right for you and you become a member, you will receive a welcomepackage that describes the many Disney discounts that are now available to you. For moreinformation and details on the benefits of membership click here.
|
