Help with the details

[dfamasb]

I am beginning some initial planning for a December 08 trip for my family. We have been going yearly but I'm a little confused about some technicalities...
I would like to make ADRs 180 days in advance, but I'm not sure if I will have booked our trip by then. I've always had room reservations when I made them, can you make ADRs with no room reservations? Also, if I book early (say June) without a full payment (deposit only) will I be able to take advantage of any discounts that become available later on (say August)? I know that your final price isn't guaranteed until payed in full, I just wondered if that only works negatively or if you could benefit from it. We have always booked online through Disney in the past and probably will again.
Thanks for the help!!

[BigRedDad]

I think for ADRs, you need to have a reservation. I may be wrong, but when I made mine 4 months ago, they insisted on having my room reservation number. As for looking for discounts, I leave that to MJ. If a better rate comes out, MJ will automatically change the reservation (even with just the room deposit). This would be the same for you as well. You can make changes to your reservation to include any discounts with just the deposit down.

[Seasonscraps]

You don't need room reservations to make ADRs. Local residents & non-disney guests are able to make them 180 days out and will use your phone number as a reference. You would fall into this category until you book your trip. Disney resort guests are able to make their ADRs 180 days before the arrival date plus the next 10 days of their vacation.

I agree with BigRedDad about using Magical Journeys to book your trip and let them keep an eye out for the best deals. They are fabulous to work with!

[CleveRocks]

I am beginning some initial planning for a December 08 trip for my family. We have been going yearly but I'm a little confused about some technicalities...
I would like to make ADRs 180 days in advance, but I'm not sure if I will have booked our trip by then. I've always had room reservations when I made them, can you make ADRs with no room reservations? Also, if I book early (say June) without a full payment (deposit only) will I be able to take advantage of any discounts that become available later on (say August)? I know that your final price isn't guaranteed until payed in full, I just wondered if that only works negatively or if you could benefit from it. We have always booked online through Disney in the past and probably will again.
Thanks for the help!!

First of all, I agree with everything Christine said about ADRs and such -- very good info!

If discounts come out, whether or not you have an existing reservation makes no difference. It gives you no advantage over someone making a new reservation, but also puts you at no disadvantage. Let me explain ....

When a discount comes out, it does not come our across the board, at every room category at every resort. If a room category in a resort is already selling very well, then Disney knows they do not need to offer a discount or incentive for people to buy that type of room. If you booked a room category that is already above the target occupancy rate, then the discount or promotion won't even be made available for that room category (unless, of course, enough people cancel their reservations and the occupancy rate dips below that target occupancy rate). Knowing this, you then realize that "applying" to a discount or promotional code can't be a 100% automatic thing ... it can only be done as long as discounted rooms are still available.

And on another issue you raised ...

If you book a room (room-only OR package), your final price IS guaranteed ... it makes no difference whether or not you've already paid in full. The only time Disney will charge you extra money is if any applicable taxes were raised ... Disney can't insulate you from that, but they won't charge you for any Disney-based price increases that occur between the day you make your reservation and the day you check out of your resort.

By the way, BOTH of the above things happened to me for my last trip. There was a county tax increase, so my price went up a little (it was explained in a letter). And a discount code came out. I called to try to "apply it" to my reservation at POFQ. They said it wasn't available at POFQ but I could get it at POR. I reluctantly made the switch, even though I totally fell in love with POFQ and didn't really like the idea of POR; my wife and I looked at each other and decided in about 14 milliseconds that 6 nights at POFQ wasn't worth $400 more than 6 nights at POR. So we made the switch, but I called back EVERY DAY to ask if the code was available at POFQ, and low and behold, about a week later, the code was available at POFQ, at least at the moment I called. So I got the resort I wanted and I also saved $400 just by knowing a little 3-letter code.

What happened is that there was a sufficient number of cancellations at POFQ to bring the occupancy rate below the target occupancy rate for that discount, at least at the moment I called. Theoretically, at the first moment after I made that discount-code reservation, the occupancy rate for my dates rose up to the target rate, thus again closing the discount for people hoping to apply that discount at POFQ.

I hope that makes sense.

I've never used Magical Journeys or any other dedicated Disney travel agency, but I would imagine that if had booked with them, they would have made all those annoying daily phone calls for me in order to try to procure than great discount.

[vamaggie]

I've never used Magical Journeys or any other dedicated Disney travel agency, but I would imagine that if had booked with them, they would have made all those annoying daily phone calls for me in order to try to procure than great discount.

This is why we LOVED using Magical Journeys and will never deal with booking for ourselves again. We went last Nov. When Disney released discounts for Visa holders, Debbie at MJ tried to get it for us. None avail at the Poly (where we wanted to stay). Fast forward 3 days, general public packages are announced. Email from Debbie, still none available. I go off to the beach and lo and behold, 2 days later, while I am lounging in the sand, email from Debbie that we got the discount (saved $1000!!) Magical Journeys is amazing in the work they do for us all. Use them--you won't be disappointed!!!