I am sure some of the Disney veterans here will get a good chuckle out of this dumb question, but as dates get closer is there any chance they reduce the price in rooms to fill them? I ask because we are staying at the WL, but I have had my eye on possibly upgrading to a Boulder Ridge or Copper Creek one bedroom suite. Currently its just a bit out of our price range, but with two kids and two adults we think the one bedroom suite could be worth it if prices came in a bit.
Not really.
They release offers like free dining, or AP discounts at pretty much the same time every year, to fill rooms that haven’t yet been booked. So availability of those discounts depends on how well bookimg is going at different resorts.
But they don’t need to reduce prices to get people to book. So no, they don’t just reduce the prices at the last minute.
I agree, they don’t really seem to reduce prices directly as you get near, of course doesn’t hurt to keep checking.
If you are willing to play around a bit, you could keep an eye on Priceline Express deals - I’ve been watching them and trying to figure out some patterns on how things get released. I’ll be adding to this forum thread as I find more info.
There’s a bit of a chance being taken with Priceline Express, since they don’t tell you the hotel until after you’ve booked - but see my thread for some ways to help get around that.
FWIW, I believe I just saw a 2 bedroom OKW Villa appear there for $400 in end of August, first time I’ve seen that. Have not seen any BR or CC show up at all, but I’ve only been testing out some targeted search dates so far.
Of course, if you haven’t done so already another option is to check with Magical Vacations Travel and see if they have any of their deals when you are going. Some quotes I received from them for this summer for deluxe were terrific.
Not a dumb question, just not quite the right idea. Availability can come and go on a sub-hourly basis as dates get closer. People change or cancel as the opportunity for a no-penalty cancellation starts to dwindle. This can lead to sporadic availability of rooms eligible for an existing discount program. If you check often (I mean many times per day) and are able to commit immediately you can sometimes pick up a discount eligible cancellation even after weeks or months of no availability. You have to be ready to strike, though. I’ve missed out after just a few minutes of indecision.
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Have you looked at renting DVC points? We have stayed in a Kidani 1-bedroom with rented points and will be staying in Bay Lake Tower with rented points in January. It’s so much cheaper than paying rack rates. DVCrentalstore.com will check availability without charging you anything. They’re a little bit more $ per point than David’s, but you don’t have to pay the whole amount up front. I have heard good things about David’s as well - dvcrequest.com.
If you check out DVCrentalstore.com, I have used Lindsay Wheatley twice and she has been great!
I looked at those but if I canceled my hotel and booked through that would I lose all of the fast pass and dining reservations I have already made? Also would I still get Magic Bands through Disney?
You will def get Magic Bands through disney. I don’t know about the fastpasses. But I would assume it works like any other time when you switch reservations. You just add the confirmation number of your new reservation to your My Disney Experience account. I think I understand that you are actually canceling your reservation and reserving a new room. But I could be wrong about that.
If you’re that close to your date there may not be any availability, but it might be worth checking. The travel agents at the rental companies could help with that answer as well, I bet.
The closest I’ve come to something like this is finding a discounted or lower priced room that wasn’t available when I originally booked a reservation. Say for example I am fine with a “standard” view room, but only “preferred” rooms were available when I booked, I’ve occasionally found a cheaper room might show up (presumably because someone else cancelled). I’ve also switched to a less expensive resort pretty close to when a trip started or found a room with a Passholder discount that wasn’t available when I first booked.
Beyond that, I haven’t seen prices drop. Some folks have had success finding some Disney resorts listed on Priceline, but don’t recall ever hearing anything at Wilderness Lodge being listed there.
Thanks for everyone’s responses. I emailed the DVC service named above for a quote and they said there is no availability the week that we are going.