What if they release a discount after I book

[BuffaloJason]

I'm starting to think about booking my family's next trip to "the World" for early Feb-2013. Last time we stayed at WL (in Feb-2011) with a deeply discounted rate. I wondering if we book right away at full price when 2013 rates are released and then they eventually release a discount for the New-Years-to-Spring-Break-lull, (as it seems they usually if not alwats do) can we change to the discounted rate assuming there's still availability? I'm thinking they can't stop you from cancelling and then rebooking but I'm trying to make sure I'm not missing something, and wondering how easy or hard they'll make this to do.
Thanks in Advance,
Jason

[Fangorn]

You will have to cancel and re-book to take advantage of any new offer. The simplest way to do this is to book you trip through Magical Journeys (an Intercot sponsor). When you book through them, they will keep tabs on your reservation and any new offers that may come out that will reduce your charge will be applied for you.

Steve

[Fangorn]

And BTW,



Welcome to Intercot!!!!


Steve

[faline]

Work with Magical Journeys. They will track your reservation and if a discount comes along later, they will automatically apply it for you. Easy peasy and cheap - as in free - for you to use their services!!

[mickeys_princess_mom]

Work with Magical Journeys. They will track your reservation and if a discount comes along later, they will automatically apply it for you. Easy peasy and cheap - as in free - for you to use their services!!

YES! YES! YES! Never been disappointed!

[vicster]

Another vote for Magical Journeys!!!!!!!!1

[disneymom15]

Another vote for Magical Journeys!!!!!!!!1

Totally agree, Magical Journeys is THE BEST!
You won't regret using them.

Also wanted to say WELCOME to Intercot

[MstngDrvnDsnyLvr]

Yet another vote for Magical Journeys!!

[BrerGnat]

To answer your original question, YES, you can certainly cancel/change your original reservation to take advantage of a special offer provided you are more than 45 days out from arrival (for a package), in order to avoid being charged a "change fee." Disney doesn't care how many times you cancel or change your reservation prior to that. What I always do is book "room only" because the cancel/change penalties are much more forgiving. You have until 5 days prior to arrival to cancel or make changes with no penalty. I buy my tickets separate and I don't do a dining plan, so it's easy.

To echo everyone above me who has responded, certainly use Magical Journeys. Disney is annoying to have to deal with directly. You spend lots of time on hold and it's a long distance call on your dime. Let MJ handle things for you....they are amazing at what they do and it becomes less work for you. And, it's free, so why not try them out? You'll be glad you did.

[brownie]

Welcome to INTERCOT!

Another nod to using Magical Journeys. They take the pain out of dealing with newly released discounts. They'll do what they can to have any new discounts applied to your reservation.

[Disney4]

Work with Magical Journeys. They will track your reservation and if a discount comes along later, they will automatically apply it for you. Easy peasy and cheap - as in free - for you to use their services!!

All but two of my days stay in June were eligible for AP rates this year when I booked with MJ. I awoke at seven in the morning a couple Weeks ago to find an email from MJ informing me that AP rates were released for my two previously ineligible dates, they were rebooked and the discount was applied. All before I even woke up!

Priceless!

[BuffaloJason]

Thanks for all the replies. I haven't ever bothered to use a travel agent for WDW trips in the past, buy maybe its worth considering giving Magical Journeys a shot this time around. I've heard them mentioned frequently on the Intercot Insider podcasts, always wondered why anyone would bother, since the process of booking yourself is so relatively easy... perhaps I now have my answer!

Thanks also for the welcomes... it feels a little funny to be welcomed to Intercot. I've been lurking here since sometime in the mid/late 90's. I remember excitedly watching grainy "realvideo" clips of attraction ride throughs in the Sun Workstation lab at college. I'm not sure if this is actually the first time I've ever bothered to post to the discussion boards or (more likely) I have/had another user i.d. under some long forgotten email. But anyway, I'll take it as a welcome back and thanks again to all of you. I'll have to try to get in the habit of posting more often that once a decade

[Imalismom]

I have never had a problem with booking without a discount and then when the AP or Florida rates come out, changing to that rate. I have even changed to a bounce-back rate.

HOWEVER.. that being said, the last three discounts out, WL has ONLY been at 5%, and the AKL, YC, and BC being the three with the larger discount (25%).

In fact, I am not staying at WL on my next stay because of the 5% offered. I'm not sure if it is because of the renovations there so they are not discounting it or if it is some other reason.

[CleveRocks]

You will have to cancel and re-book to take advantage of any new offer.

it's not true that you'd have to cancel and re-book to take advantage of any new offer.

There are two types of reservations, room-only and package, and these are each handled by a different entity/company under the Disney umbrella. If you have a room-only and you then take advantage of a new room-only discount, you don't need to cancel and re-book, you simply modify the reservation ... you keep the same reservation number and everything.

Similarly, if you initially booked a package and you want to take advantage of a new package discount, you don't have to cancel the reservation and re-book, you simply modify that same reservation.

It's only if you change from a room-only to a package (or vice versa) that you'd have to cancel the pre-existing reservation and re-book a new one.

This is an important distinction, as if you cancel and re-book you'd have to pay a whole new deposit and wait for a refund of the original deposit, and so on.

[CuteAsMinnie]

If you book room only now and at a later date (say close to your arrival date) you purchase park hopper tickets, does the reservation automatically become a package??

[KathyMJ]

If you book room only now and at a later date (say close to your arrival date) you purchase park hopper tickets, does the reservation automatically become a package??

It does not. As Cleverocks stated, if you are booked and a discount is released, your reservation does not need to be rebooked. We will modify the reservation.

But if you book a "room only" and would like to convert it to a package later, then yes, it must be cancelled and rebooked. Room only reservations and Package Reservations are basically from 2 separate parts of Disney. They do not have the ability to transfer a deposit from one to the other.
Think of it like Sears owning Kmart. Even though they do, you can not make a return from one store to the other. Possibly a poor comparison, lol, but that's what comes to mind.

[KathyMJ]

Welcome to Intercot, Jason

[CleveRocks]

If you book room only now and at a later date (say close to your arrival date) you purchase park hopper tickets, does the reservation automatically become a package??

Get ready for another technicality ...

You CAN order tickets along with a room-only reservation and NOT have it automatically become a package.

What happens is you don't actually buy the tickets as part of your reservation, rather you more or less "reserve" them. The only advantage to "reserving" the tickets (as opposed to just buying them when you arrive) is you will get them at the front desk and pay for them there as part of the check-in process; if you wait to buy them when you arrive, you'd have to go over to another counter, the Lobby Concierge desk, to purchase your tickets and have them codeed onto your Key To The World card.

So it's not a big advantage at all to attach tickets to your reservation, it saves you one little step on your check-in day.

If you add tickets to your reservation and allow it to become a package, there is the disadvantage (although some may not see this as a disadvantage ... it depends on your economic circumstances) of having to pay your full bill by 45 days prior to arrival; if you change it into a package fewer than 45 days before arrival, then you have to IMMEDIATELY pay in full. Packages also carry a penalites for cancellation starting at 45 days prior to arrival, versus room-only reservations that don't start cancellation penalties until 6 days prior to arrival.

One tangible advantage to adding tickets as part of a package involves ticket price increases, such as the one that starts TODAY. If you booked a package last week for a trip next week, you paid the "old" price for the tickets. But if last week you booked a room-only and "reserved" tickets along with it, you will pay the "new" price for those tickets when you arrive. A package protects you from ticket price increases but the room-only + tickets does not.