by Kerry Thomas
December 18, 2009
Discount Walt Disney World resort rates are available to the
general public, even if you don’t have the “secret” Disney discount codes. Here’s how.
When you go to http://disneyworld.disney.go.com
price your dream vacation as you normally would. Select “Vacation Packages” or “Room Only” option, enter your checkin
and checkout dates, number in your party, and then select the resort you are
interested in, all as usual. Click “Find
Prices.”
The Disney reservation system will return a price quote for
that resort on those days. For example,
I just selected to go to the Pop Century resort Feb 2-9, 2010. The Disney reservation system gave me a
price quote of $786 for a preferred room for my 7-night vacation, and $668 for
a standard room.
Now here’s the key.
On the left side of the screen there is an area where you can change
your search criteria. Look for the link
that says “Start Over.” A new popup
screen will open, asking you why you did not book a reservation. (You can ignore or close the original “Book
Your Vacation” window.) In the new
popup window, scroll down to the bottom “Check Out Our Special
Offers” button. Clicking on this
option opens another new window, which will show you the discount offers
currently available to the general public for vacation packages or room-only
and other discount offers.
[I’ve since discovered that you can skip the whole initial process
and go directly to the current discounts if you look for the “Special
Offers” link at the bottom of the page under “Book Your Vacation.” This link will take you directly to the
current discounted “Special Offers” page.]
In my example above, I clicked on “Save at least 30% on
Disney Resort hotels.” I selected “Value
Resorts,” clicked on “Book Now,” then on “Book Room Only” option. My dates and number of people remained the
same. Under “Advanced Search” I chose “Value
Resorts” then “Pop Century resort,” then clicked on “Continue.”
My new price quote for a preferred room was now just $550
for 7 nights (30% savings), and just $468 for a standard room (tax included).
Just for comparison, I also checked the savings on a 7-night
room-only rate for a Studio – Bay Lake View at Bay Lake Tower at Disney’s
Contemporary Resort. My original $3229
price quote was discounted down to $1776 for 7 nights, tax included (45%
savings). A Theme Park View room at the
Polynesian Resort was discounted from $4016 down to $2410 (40% savings). A standard view room at the Caribbean Beach
Resort was discounted from $1924.62 down to $1196. (38% savings).
This technique allowed me to save 30% on Value Resorts, 35%
on Moderate Resorts, 40% on Deluxe Resorts, and 45% on Deluxe Villas for stays
through February 11, when booked through the Walt Disney World Travel Company
before December 31. That’s also what
the current discount codes would have saved me, and the same savings was noted
in an email I received with my own personal PIN code.
Like all Disney offers, this technique may be discontinued
at any time.