~50% Off Disney World Hotels for Christmas & Early 2021

Walt Disney World is offering over 50% off stays at Disney’s Contemporary Resort and aggressive discounts at other hotels for most nights this Christmas season through early 2021 for Disney Visa Credit Cardholders. In this post, we’ll offer thoughts on the deal, why it’s being offered, and more.

This deal is available for travel dates beginning November 29, 2020 and running through February 28, 2020, bookable through that same end date. Reservations may be made online, by calling the Disney Reservation Center at (407) 939-5262, or via your Authorized Disney Vacation Planner.

There is no set percentage off discount per resort tier or even specific hotels. Instead, the discount rate varies based upon resort, room type, and travel dates. For example, you may save 56% off Disney’s Contemporary Resort for holiday travel dates but “only” 49% off Saratoga Springs or 44% off Coronado Springs for the same dates. Or some totally different percentages for early 2021…

Here are some sample discounts provided by Walt Disney World and Visa:

$185 per night plus tax for a standard view room at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort for stays most nights from December 12 through December 23, 2020.

(For comparison, pictured above is the same rate for those dates via the “Passholder Room Offer for Fall and Holiday Travel.”)

$299 per night plus tax for a deluxe studio at Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa for stays most nights from December 13 through December 19, 2020

(For comparison, pictured above is the same rate for those dates via the “Passholder Room Offer for Fall and Holiday Travel.”)

$349 per night plus tax for a garden wing — standard view room at Disney’s Contemporary Resort for stays most nights from December 12 through December 23, 2020

(For comparison, pictured above is the same rate for those dates via the “Passholder Room Offer for Fall and Holiday Travel.”)

This Disney Visa deal indicates that there are also great rates at the following Walt Disney World hotels for additional room types and dates:

  • Disney’s Contemporary Resort
  • Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort
  • Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa
  • Disney’s Riviera Resort
  • Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa

In calling, we found that virtually all hotels have discounts, not just the ones listed above. It’s possible those are the best deals, or maybe those are the “recommended” resorts that Walt Disney World wants to emphasize and nudge guests towards.

Anyway, the number of rooms allocated for this offer is limited and you must use a valid Disney Visa Card or Disney Rewards Redemption Card to pay the deposit. Additionally, the offer is nontransferable, meaning that the Disney Visa Cardmember must stay in room to be eligible for the discount.

Offer Exclusions: Villas at Disney’s Grand Floridian & Spa, Campsites at Fort Wilderness, 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 Value, Moderate, or Deluxe Resorts (but not Deluxe Villas).

Enjoy added peace of mind when booking! You can modify or cancel your reservation with extra flexibility through April 30, 2021. (Obviously, you can only cancel with no penalty through February 28, 2021 for this deal; that’s just an “in general” policy.)

Now that we have details out of the way, let’s move on to an assessment of the discount itself. I hesitate to offer too strong of conclusions about the percentage off range since Disney Visa has only provided a scattering of sample dates (I didn’t receive the offer email and don’t want to pester a phone rep asking about a ton of random dates).

With that said, the Christmas 2020 rates for this Disney Visa offer are superior to the previously-released discounts of up to 40% off for Annual Passholders and Florida residents. The difference is that deal runs through April 17, 2021…and also has set percentages off. While we’re guessing this rate only differs slightly based upon the aforementioned variables, it’s entirely possible that some resort/room/date combos are 55% off and some are 5% off.

Our assumption is that the discount percentages for this Disney Visa discount are most significant for Christmas travel dates (hence those being the example used) because those travel dates are nearest, then tapering off into early 2021. It’s also possible that a lot of unfilled rooms remain at those specific resorts for the upcoming holiday season.

That would make sense for a few reasons. First, the listed resorts are not particularly popular and/or have more trouble filling rooms at full price (each of the listed resorts has its own, unique reasons for this). Second, that stretch of December is a higher-priced rate season, and perhaps more value-conscious consumers are choosing earlier travel dates this year because they can work remotely and their kids attend school virtually. Finally, there are undoubtedly vacation cancellations due to the current nationwide case surge and quarantine rules are once again expanding.

In addition to the Walt Disney World-provided sample dates, we called to inquire about rates for February 10, 2021. For that night, here are the pre-tax, best available rates:

  • $123 for Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort
  • $210 for Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa
  • $301 for Disney’s Contemporary Resort
  • $108 for Disney’s Pop Century Resort
  • $78 for Disney’s All Star Movies Resort

Although the bottom-line prices are better, keep in mind that the baseline prices are lower for that date, which falls during Value Season. Accordingly, the percentage discounts are actually lower for February 2021. Moreover, not all of the above rates are as good as what’s offered to Annual Passholders for the same dates (see below AP pricing for that night):

Missing from that screenshot are Saratoga Springs ($229 with the AP discount) and Pop Century ($100 with the AP discount).

In short, if you’re a Disney Visa cardholder and Annual Passholder pricing out dates in 2021, you should compare rates as there’s about a 50/50 chance the Visa or AP rate will be better. For every other Disney Visa cardholder, these rates are going to be your best option–they beat the Florida resident rates and the general public discounts.

For the best availability, we’d recommend calling Disney or having an Authorized Disney Vacation Planner do it for you. Travel agents have the option to book this online, so they might have an easier time “rate shopping” across all discounts for which you’re eligible than you would by calling and talking to a call center representative.

It’s also possible that this will be bookable online at some point with a link on DisneyWorld.com for those of us who didn’t receive the offer email. As of publish time, Walt Disney World still hasn’t added any mention of this deal to the official website. That’s not uncommon for targeted Disney Visa deals. Usually they’re added after a day or two of availability…but not always. UPDATE: The discount can now be booked online via DisneyWorld.com.

Ultimately, the long and short of this is that we’d recommend checking online, calling Disney, or contacting your travel agent to see what options there are for your vacation dates between now and February 2021. Additionally, if you already have some booked for this Christmas with another discount, you might want to rebook as this is almost certainly a better deal.

Aside from renting Disney Vacation Club points or scoring a Priceline Express Deal, this Disney Visa cardholder deal is probably the best direct-from-Disney discount you’re going to see for the Christmas date range at the Walt Disney World resorts that are highlighted. Things become more questionable with the early 2021 travel dates, but it’s still worth checking out and doing some rate-shopping!

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 Disney Visa Cardholders? If you booked this, do you think you ended up with a good price? What was available or unavailable for your dates? Is 45-55% off enough to convince you to book a trip this Christmas, 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!

59 Responses to “~50% Off Disney World Hotels for Christmas & Early 2021”
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