Let's Recap!
1. Seasonal Resort Deals
If you have browsed Disney fan blogs for long, you have likely seen the term “peak season”. Peak season is Disney lingo for the times of year the property packs with guests - think summer, Christmas and long holiday weekends. The price range of tickets, dining and resort prices that are advertised on the Walt Disney World website hits the top end of costs during peak season. Similarly, times outside of peak season when fewer people are traveling tend to be on the cheaper end of the ticket, dining and resort room spectrum. In addition to lowering prices a bit during the “off season”, Disney fills resort rooms by offering seasonal deals.
Checking the Disney website a few months before your desired vacation time is a way to find the newest resort deals. For example, as I write this article in July the Walt Disney World website is advertising 25% off select resort rooms for guests traveling to Walt Disney World the first week in August through the first week of October. Guests that book with this sale will enjoy a cheaper visit to a Walt Disney World Resort and will likely enjoy shorter attraction wait times since they are visiting the parks outside of peak season. While this tip does not fit my usual advice to book and plan as far out as possible, substantial resort savings and the chance to enjoy shorter wait times may be worth the quick vacation turnaround time to take the plunge and rack up the savings.
2. Annual Passholder Resort Deals
One of the best kept secrets of Walt Disney World Annual Passes are that Passholder savings often add up quicker on resorts than ticket prices. Meaning, Disney offers some awesome resort deals exclusive to Annual Passholders throughout the year. Some of my family’s favorite Annual Passholder resort deals have been visiting an All Start Resort for ninety dollars a night during a long weekend vacation in the spring, and visiting The Yacht Club for under two hundred dollars per night during a weeklong trip in May. Passholder deals are also offered in waves that take into account lower park attendance. Passholder deals are easy to book on the Walt Disney World website and post at a variety of times. Because my family lives within driving distance of Orlando, we scour the Walt Disney World website for resort deals every few weeks in anticipation of our next Disney Vacation.
If you are considering go all in on Annual Passes take the time to do you research to understand the potential savings at resorts, on merchandise and on Disney dining. While my park time per year sometimes does not make an Annual Pass fiscally “worth it”, I always recoup money and save enough on lodging and Disney Dining to make the Annual Pass a good value.
3. Dining Package Promotions
Hey, you have to eat - lucky for you there is no shortage of delicious food on a Disney vacation. Dining benefits are another way that Disney offers guests money saving incentives to visit Walt Disney World. Sometimes this incentive means a dining plan or dining perk will be comped for guests visiting the resort during specific times of the year. Other times, Disney may offer discounted prefix meals at a table service dining location for guests buying preferred seating at a show or event in the parks.
At the time of writing this article in July, a dining deal is live on the Walt Disney World website. The deal offers a free dining package to guests that book at select Walt Disney World Resorts prior to August who are willing to visit during select dates in the fall and purchase a 5 or 6-day Magic Your Way Park Hopper Option ticket at the regular price. Deals like this one mean that your family can visit Disney World and buy park tickets as you normally would, enjoy Disney Dining as you normally would, but without the added cost of paying for dining!
4. Passholder Bring a Friend Events
One of the neatest Disney money saving deals that has been launched in recent years is the Annual Passholder bring a friend promotion. Though these deals are only offered sporadically, the jest is that an Annual Passholder can bring a non-passholder friend to the parks with them for a deeply discounted day ticket price. While this tip is not a super money saving tip for families visiting Walt Disney World, it is undoubtedly among the best of special offers and discounts offered by Walt Disney World.
