Room only---for now??

[We LOVE Disney]

My family will definitely be going to WDW next year in June for 2 weeks :cloud9: We already know we will be staying at POR :cloud9:

We have been going back and forth between getting a 10 day MYW package (and adding on 4 days if we want to while we are there) or annual passes for all 5 of us.

We know that sometimes (not always) people with annual passes get room discounts. So, we were thinking of booking room only right now and then around May 2012 IF discounts for AP holders comes out, purchase AP and get the discount. Does this sound "legal"?? Do you have to already HAVE the AP to get the discount or does it happen very often that people see the discounts and THEN book their trip?

Any insight to this plan would be much appreciated :blush: I know we don't HAVE to book anything right now but I just need something booked so I know it's final and it gives me something to look forawrd to. We haven't gone for the last 2 years and we are having MAJOR WDW withdrawl!!!

[faline]

You don't have to have the annual pass in hand in order to book a room with an annual passholders' discount. You will need to have your annual pass when you check in though. We've booked a number of times before we've actually purchased the pass.

[kakn7294]

We've also done that as well. As long as you have the AP or the AP voucher in hand at check-in, you'll be fine.

[Goofy4TheWorld]

Whew, a lot to cover here!

First, there is no such thing as a MYW park ticket that can be longer than 10 days. You could get a "package reservation" that gave you a room and dining credits for 14 days, but the park tickets are capped at 10 days.

There are essentially three ways to go beyond 10 days at Disney. 1) Buy an Annual Pass 2) Buy a second set of tickets for your additional days, in your case a 4-day ticket, or 3) Spend your 4 "off days" at Downtown Disney, Water Parks, or at the pool. There is no such thing as a 14-day ticket at Disney World.

There are a lot of fine details in the analysis of which of the three options above works best for you, and if you are interested I will post further, but for now I will just throw that out there.

Second, you do not have to own an AP to book an AP discounted room. You cannot book an AP room via DisneyWorld.com unless you have an AP, but you can book an AP room via phone or Magical Journeys. My reading of Intercot is that official Disney policy is that you must have the fully activated AP in hand at check-in to be allowed to check-in using an AP discount. That would mean you would have to go to Guest Services and purchase your AP prior to checking into your hotel. However, as kakn7294 posted, many people have reported being able to check-in having only a non-activated voucher in hand, so who knows!

Third, keep in mind that if you book a package reservation at POR now, and some time in the future want/need to switch to a room-only reservation, that you can't really "switch" the reservation type directly, Disney will cancel the old reservation, refund any deposits paid for that reservation, and then re-book a completely new reservation, and require payment of a new deposit based on the reservation type you switch to. It is even possible that you could cancel your package reservation room-type at POR and it might not even be available for booking as a room-only, at least based on my reading of Intercot.

Are you going to want the Dining Plan? If so that adds a layer of complexity that I am not sure about, I know AP holders can add the DDP without buying tickets but not sure if that can be done without already owning the AP (note that AP holders can pay for the DDP without buying tickets, but they cannot get any Free Dining without buying tickets.)

If you want to know more detail just ask:mickey: