Up to 40% Off Disney World Hotels in 2021!
Walt Disney World has released strong new room-only discounts for winter and Spring 2021. In this post, we’ll share the details of these special offers, compare & contrast them with this year’s room-only discounts, and share analysis as to how much money you’ll actually save with each.
As you might recall, Walt Disney World released a slew of room-only discounts at the beginning of last month, including extensions of the up to 40% off “Rediscover the Magic” discount for Annual Passholders and Florida residents, plus the “Southerner Savings” for residents of certain states, with solid deals lasting through Christmas 2020. (These deals can still be booked for holiday travel dates.)
However, the only general public offer was the abysmal Magic Is Here “deal” (air quotes around deal) which was a discount in name only. Following that, there was the widely-targeted PIN Code, but still nothing for everyone, which resulted in a lot fo vocal fan frustration. Well, it appears that Disney has heard your complaints, and is now answering–as there is an excellent general public discount in addition to the Florida Resident and Annual Passholder deals!
This is a tiered discount, with each category of guest (Annual Passholder, Florida resident, general public) receiving different discount levels. Obviously, you should apply the best deal for which you qualify.
Let’s start with the Annual Passholder options.
Here are the official details: Annual Passholders can save up to 40% on rooms at select Disney Resort hotels for stays most nights January 3 through April 17, 2021. Walt Disney World’s winter and spring AP discount is available for booking through April 17, 2021.
This special offer excludes the following room types: 3-bedroom villas, Cabins at Copper Creek Villas & Cabins at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge and Bungalows at Disney’s Polynesian Villas & Bungalows. Additional per-adult charges may apply if more than 2 adults per room at Disney Value, Moderate and Deluxe Resorts and Studios at Disney Deluxe Villa Resorts. Maximum length of stay under this deal is 14 nights.
Here are the resort by resort savings rates:
For all of these discounts, Walt Disney World is touting that guests can “book with confidence.” For extra peace of mind, know that if your plans change, any Disney-imposed change and cancellation fees will be waived up to the date of check-in for reservations with arrivals through April 30, 2021.
This is consistent with Walt Disney World’s temporary new cancellation policy, applicable to anything booked. It’s not unique to this offer, but this an extension of the policy through at least April 2021, so that bodes well. We’re guessing that this policy will be the norm until at least 2022. There’s simply too much uncertainty for many people to feel comfortable booking travel without incredibly flexible modification and cancellation policies.
Next, the discount chart for Florida Residents:
Terms and conditions are pretty much identical for the Florida resident deal. Same exclusions, stay limitations, and extra guest fees. The only material differences are that this is available to all Florida residents, not just APs, and you save 5% less across the board.
Finally, the general public discounts:
Here we start to see additional differences, with the noteworthy one being that Friday and Saturday nights save less most dates in January and February.
This makes complete sense. First, weekends are currently significantly busier at the hotels due to Floridians and other Southerners doing long weekends. (It’s honestly surprising that the same limit isn’t being imposed on the other deals–but perhaps Disney is weary about discouraging too many bookings.) Second, those dates encompass the long weekends of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Valentine’s Day, and Presidents’ Day. Those have become increasingly popular travel times, so reducing the incentives for hotel stays then also seems appropriate.
Benchmarking these discounts as compared to historical offers is pretty easy, as a very similar slew of room-only discounts was released last year on October 4 that encompassed travel dates of January 1 through April 25 of this year with the same exclusions and hotel options. (Obviously, there were slight differences since some hotels are currently closed and there’s a new cancellation policy, but you get the idea.
That winter/spring discount offered 15%-25% off room-only rates for general public, 20%-30% off room-only rates for Florida Residents, and 25%-35% off room-only rates for Annual Passholders. In other words, this deal offers an additional 5% off across the board for most dates, but 5% less to the general public on select Fridays and Saturdays.
All things considered, we’d call that a win for Walt Disney World deal-seekers. Even though you can save more with DVC point rentals or Priceline Express Deals, the flexible cancellation policy here (which neither of those offer) is huge.
Of course, value for money still depends upon what crowds, wait times, and entertainment offerings are looking like inside Walt Disney World’s parks, but comparing the apples to apples of the resorts, these 2021 discounts are better than their 2020 counterparts.
As with most discount release days, Walt Disney World’s phone lines will be jammed and the online system will likely slow to a crawl at peak times, with Stitch eating the occasional page here and there.
Despite that, we’d encourage you to book this deal ASAP, especially if you’re considering one of the Deluxe Villas. Walt Disney World doesn’t have much inventory for those Disney Vacation Club resorts, so those rooms in particular are likely to book quickly.
In fact, with limited availability due to the ongoing resort closures and the potential for Walt Disney World “Revenge Travel” in 2021, you might want to book whatever you’re eyeing sooner rather than later. With that generous cancellation policy, it doesn’t hurt to lock something in now–you can always cancel what you have, but you cannot book what’s gone!
In any case, here’s a look at what should be the best per night prices at all of the eligible resorts:
Keep in mind that if you already have a resort reservation booked under another discount (or no deal at all), you can modify your reservation and apply this deal (pending availability and eligibility). Since this is the best deal Walt Disney World has released for these travel dates, you will definitely save more money–unless your room category isn’t available and you have to do a forced/unwanted upgrade.
If you want to help determining what discounts are available for your travel dates and which resort will work best for your family, we recommend requesting a quote from Be Our Guest Vacations, a no-fee Authorized Disney Vacation Planner that we recommend. The agents there will book your vacation and help take the stress out of planning.
Overall, some of these room-only rates for Winter and Spring 2021 at Walt Disney World are pretty attractive. As always, Deluxe & Villa Resorts are going to offer the best savings—we’d skew towards the standalone properties rather than the add-on wings for maximum savings. Several great options under $300 per night there–including some Deluxe Villas under $250 per night.
Even the Value and Moderate Resorts are good options. We criticized this deal in the fall because Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort was ~$180 per night for most dates. Now, both it and Coronado are in the ~$140 range for many dates. Art of Animation and Pop Century around $100 per night is also pretty good, especially with the upgraded rooms in both. Ditto the soon to return All Star Movies Resort. If you’re eager for an escape to Walt Disney World in the coming months and don’t mind the in-park sacrifices and need flexibility on the cancellation policy, these price points are pretty attractive.
Hopefully, Walt Disney World will release more 2021 discounts for the general public in the coming months. It’s good to see Disney getting back on track with general public discounts, and also reopening more hotels and restaurants. By the way, if history repeats itself, the next major round of discounts would be released at the beginning of January 2021, and would include a room-only offer and Free Dining! While that is probably premature for a return of the Disney Dining Plan and that highly-coveted deal, Walt Disney World has already surprised us countless times during the reopening process. We will be closely monitoring what’s released and will notify subscribers of our free email newsletter when any Walt Disney World discounts are released or rumored!
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
YOUR THOUGHTS
What do you think of these room only discounts for the general public, Annual Passholders, and Florida residents? If you booked this, do you think you ended up with a good price? What was available or unavailable for your dates? Is 35-40% off enough to convince you to book a trip, or is too much still missing from the full Walt Disney World experience to justify even those prices? Do you agree or disagree with our assessments? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
Hi Tom,
I just noticed that more rooms opened up before and after Thanksgiving 2020 with pass-holder discounts. Previously it looked like everything was booked. I assume, but don’t know, if the other discount buckets opened up more for this time frame. I booked Saratoga about a month ago due to limited availability and now both the Contemporary and the Yacht Club have availability and better rates.
My daughter and I were booked for 6 nights this past May at the Yacht Club Resort with the park hopper pass and quick service meal plan. I checked the supposed discount price for the same trip, minus the meal plan, for Feb 2021…for a whole ~$500 less! Not much of a discount!?
Do they ever have complete package discounts? I’m in CA and you all know the situation here. I don’t have an annual pass so I need tickets and a room. So far all I’ve seen are room only deals. Thanks for any info that can help.
You can convert any room-only discount into a package offer with tickets, but the discount is still only for the room.
I know you’re not psychic, but do you have any thoughts on potential discounts in August 2021? The trip I canceled from this past August is costing me over $1000 more next year…I’m hoping that comes down! Thanks as always for all your information!
Going by historical precedent, it’s possible discounts for those dates will be released in January (that’s what happened two years ago) or the end of February (what happened this year).
Thank I just booked and was allowed to buy a hopper pass so does that mean no more reservations for parks required? No one at Disney had an answer for me.
That’s odd no one at Disney could help you. Park reservations are still required. Park hopping is still not available. If it’s not available when your trip is about to start, you will need to call in to cancel and get a refund.
The same happened for me. I paid for it but then of course you also have to make your reservations for which park on what days so it doesn’t make any sense.
Thank you for your response. I called them regarding the hopper pass as I paid extra for it yesterday. They are now $180 each. Guest services had no answer. The other guest on this blog did state she did the same and I had to make park reservations for the given days. I will do as you say when it gets closer in March regarding if we need to get a refund. I am just hopeful by then they will let us park hop. The order Yesterday took my $3000 quick and fast. I was just overjoyed that the button to select hopper pass was available. We are going in December and that button wasn’t there. I was just hoping if someone knew we were going to be able to have hopper passes back. Thank you so much for the response.
Read your site. Made the call. Waited 2 hours on hold. Netted $1320.00 Per hour. Thanks. It is for mid-April and I hope we can be there.
FYI when I called for help with my reservation today, the cast member told me there will be another round of discounts released next week.
Thank you Tom! Just saved thousands of dollars modifying my two Yacht Club rooms! Maybe I won’t have to stay at the Swan hotel after all and be fully immersed with Disney. Plus Swan just switched to Mears transportation buses instead of using Disney buses which affect your drop off location to Magic Kingdom.
If I have already booked for April 1st to April 8th can I receive the discount?
Yes, go to your plans and clink Change Reservation. Then click Add Offer, then choose the offer that applies to your reservation, go through the check out process and you’re done.
Unfortunately the exclusions apply to more than just those in the fine print on the announcement. We have an AKL reservation in January, and when I tried to go on and get the discount it wouldn’t apply it to our room type. I called in and was on hold for two and a half hours to find out that these rooms are excluded. So if you’re trying to switch over a pre-existing reservation and it’s not working online, the outlook is not good. 🙁
I had the same experience with Kidani Village (Savannah view). I had previously booked a one bedroom suite for our trip. I wasn’t able to secure and apply the discount online, so I called Disney directly. I was told that the the savannah view rooms are excluded from the promotion.
Update: I called again this evening to confirm that savannah view rooms were excluded from the promotion, as originally told to me. I learned that the savannah view rooms were not excluded from the promotion, but rather that the promotion was limited to a certain number of rooms and the room allotment had already been booked. I was just too late.
In any event, thank you Tom for letting me know of the discounts. Hopefully I will be quicker next time.
I am really disappointed. When I put in the same date as the one you show, Resort prices are different. If I put in 4 people instead of 2, the standard rate for the room changes. That is unfair!! Was ready to book but not if they change the room rates like that. The standard rate for all stars movies is 160. My discount takes it down to 134 but with only two people, the standard rate is 130. Do not like what I am seeing. Not making any reservations now.
Are all 4 people adults? I noticed something that said an additional fee applies if more than 2 adults in a room. Not sure how much that fee is though.
We got a pin code for 35% off for stays 1/3- 6/30/21, book by March 15 . Maybe just unique for us because we got a pin code before and had booked for Nov and canceled. We’re also currently booked for next Nov 2021, so I was surprised to get another code. We’re thinking about booking for March or possibly June, depends on how things are going with everything. Maybe another round of codes coming out?
I second the PIN code. We are slated for Christmas week and this code works for our June trip with family.