All Current Disney World Discounts (Winter to Fall 2023)

Looking for the best deals & discounts for Walt Disney World between now and April 2023? This post offers money-saving info and details on special offers for the general public, Florida residents, Annual Passholders, Disney+ subscribers, Visa cardholders, and other groups. (Updated January 30, 2023.)

Let’s start with a quick rundown of what’s not available, as we get more questions about this than any discounts that actually are available at Walt Disney World. That’s right, we’re referring to the Free Disney Dining Plan Discount, the most popular promo of the year. Unfortunately, that won’t come back until the regular Disney Dining Plan returns (see When Will the Disney Dining Plan Return? for our thoughts and predictions on when that’ll be back). We doubt Free Dining will be offered until 2024, and that’s at the absolute earliest.

Speaking of which, you can subscribe to our free email newsletter for instant alerts when new discounts are released. We’ve consistently notified newsletter subscribers on the days that deals go live early in the morning, which is often a significant head start before Disney makes an official announcement. That can make a huge difference when booking–you’ll have better availability and won’t have to wait in a virtual queue or for hours on hold.

Let’s start with good news: Walt Disney World already has more discounts for 2023 than were available at any point last year. Walt Disney World has already released 5 discounts during 2023, which follows 4 discounts released last fall that run through March or April 2023. Most of these were released earlier than normal by historical standards, and offer better savings than their counterparts from the last two years.

If weak discounting and late releases were a sign that pent-up demand had still been running strong, all of this is a sign that the opposite is no longer be true as of early 2023. Although this is not yet evident in attendance or crowds at Walt Disney World–the parks are still quite busy–it does suggest a corner is being turned and visitors are no longer going on spending sprees to make up for lost time.

Accordingly, we’re optimistic that there will be better Walt Disney World discounts throughout 2023. Last year’s holiday season appears to have been the “last hurrah” for pent-up demand. As that starts to fizzle out, household savings decrease, inflation stings more, and the economy slows down, it seems increasingly likely that Walt Disney World will experience its own slowdown. Again, that may not be evident in crowd levels, but that’s only because Walt Disney World is offering better deals to entice people to continue coming.

If you’re thinking about booking one of the many discounts that’s currently available for Walt Disney World, we cannot overemphasize the importance of pricing out multiple options. Don’t just look at the marketing and assume one special offer is best for you based upon its headline savings. This has always been the case with Disney discounts, but it’s even truer than normal right now–and even with apples to apples comparisons. For example, we’ve found instances of “up to 30% off” room rates actually resulting in lower savings than “up to 25% off” room rates.

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. The agents there will do the math for you, booking your vacation with the best-available special offer, and monitoring your package for future discounts that can be applied retroactively. Beyond that, they help take the stress out of planning and will assist with itineraries, dining reservations, and much more.

With that out of the way, here’s a rundown of what is available for the Annual Passholders, Floridians, active or retired US military personnel, Disney+ subscribers, and everyone else. We’ll start with a look at the resort by resort savings for the general public, followed by Florida resident and Annual Passholder rates:

Save Up to $100 Off Walt Disney World Nightly Resort Rates – With this tiered discount, you can save up to $20 per night at Value Resorts, up to $40 per night at Moderate Resorts, and up to $100 per night at Deluxe Resorts for dates between now and March 30, 2023.

Since this is a flat rate dollar amount off, the percentage savings offered by the discount will vary–the cheaper the rack rate, the higher the percentage savings and vice-versa. Typically, it’s about 10-15% off per night. While historically low, this is very competitive with off-site rates, particularly during off-season travel dates.

‘Free’ Dining Card Up to $150 Per Night with Walt Disney World Resort Stays – Get a Disney Dining Gift Card when you purchase a non-discounted vacation package that includes full price park tickets for at least 4 days, and a minimum 4-night resort stay. This special offer is valid for arrivals between June 25, 2023 and September 14, 2023.

Walt Disney World advertises this as being “up to $750” in Free Dining Cards, but that’s actually an example for a 5-night stay. If you stay longer at a Deluxe Resort, you’ll receive more–potentially above $1,000 or more if you have a week-plus vacation. It can be a confusing promo, so we have a ‘Free’ Dining Card Deal at Disney World: FAQ, Info & Tips that answers common questions we’ve received from readers.

Save Up to 25% Off Disney World Resorts for Spring & Summer 2023 – This is a tiered discount, offering up to 25% off resort stays most nights April 10 through July 10, 2023 and up to 20% off stays most nights March 1 through March 31, 2023.

This is the first general public room-only discount that we’ve seen in a while, and it works well for those who aren’t eligible for the AP or Florida resident discounts–or don’t want to book the above vacation package offers. (To each their own, but we prefer room-only discounts.)

Up to 25% Off Disney World Resorts for APs in Winter & Spring 2023 – Annual Passholders can save up to 25% on rooms at select Walt Disney World Resort hotels hotels, valid for stays most Sunday through Thursday until February 28, 2023 and all nights March 1, 2023 to April 30, 2023. Actual savings are tiered from 10% off the most popular resorts to 25% off the least popular ones. Availability is pretty good, and rates are really attractive during the winter off-season, when some Value Resorts are under $100/night and Moderates can be under $200/night after discount!

Up to 20% Off WDW Resorts for Florida Residents – Exact same idea here, except for Florida residents for most nights through April 30, 2023. The key difference is that the discount tiers vary slightly, but almost anyone eligible for the AP discount or Disney Visa offer will come out ahead with one of those.

Up to 25% Off Walt Disney World Resorts Disney Visa Cardmembers – While this deal sounds better, the headline 25% off is only available at Animal Kingdom Lodge, Coronado Springs, and Saratoga Springs. Otherwise, it’s 10% to 20% off, depend upon the resort. This offer is valid for stays most nights through April 30, 2023 when booking using your Disney Visa Card.

Up to 25% Off Disney World Resorts for APs (Spring & Summer 2023) – Walt Disney World Annual Passholders can save up to 30% on rooms at select Walt Disney World Resort hotels hotels, valid for stays most nights May 1, 2023 through July 10, 2023.

Up to 20% Off WDW Resorts for Florida Residents (Spring & Summer 2023) – Florida residents can save up to 30% on rooms at select Disney Resort hotels, valid for stays most nights May 1 through July 10, 2023. These two discounts might appear identical–and they are in most cases–but we’ve actually seen some pricing differences between the two, so it pays to check out both if you’re eligible!

Save Up to $700 on 2-Night Disney World Resort Stays + Star Wars Galactic Starcruiser Voyages – With this discount, you save money on 2-night stays at select resorts when paired with a select Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser voyage from February 5 through September 30, 2023.

This discount is valid for stays immediately before or after your Starcruiser voyage, so you can extend your vacation and have both a “normal” and Star Wars stay. Whether this is a good or bad deal really depends upon whether you’re willing to pay full price for Starcruiser, which is quite expensive!

Discounts for Swan & Dolphin at Disney World – Many Walt Disney World fans dismiss these three third party hotels out of hand, but the Swan, Dolphin, and Swan Reserve are located on-site and within walking or boat distance of both EPCOT and Disney’s Hollywood Studios. They also are eligible for Early Entry and Extended Evening Hours.

Aside from the Disney details and themes, these hotels offer better benefits and a superior location to most Value and Moderate Resorts. With prices starting at under $200 per night after discount, they are well worth considering.

Future Walt Disney World Discounts

What’s past is prologue. 

That expression holds true with Walt Disney World discounts, which play out in predictable patterns every year. Or at least, did until the closure and subsequent reopening. That threw a monkey wrench in things, as pent-up demand collided with closed resorts to create a room inventory imbalance that is just finally starting to be resolved.

While special offer trends aren’t totally back to normal, they are falling back into familiar form most of the time.

Accordingly, our expectation is that the next Walt Disney World discounts will be released in early to mid-April 2023 for travel dates from July 11 through late September 2023. Even though the ‘Free’ Dining Card offer already encompasses these dates, more room-only discounts are likely to be released at that time. This discount could be released as late as May 2023–its release has been less consistent in the last few years.

Whether these are general public special offers or just offers for Floridians, Disney+ subscribers, and/or Disney Visa cardholders remains to be seen and is likely dependent upon resort occupancy projections. Walt Disney World has been tinkering with more targeted discounts during the period of pent-up demand, so more of that wouldn’t be surprising–it really depends on whether that’s starting to slow or if travel is still booming.

While past is prologue, it’s also true that history doesn’t always repeat itself–sometimes it just rhymes.

Other Walt Disney World Discounts

Some of these room-only discounts can be converted to a package, which we do not recommend. The only difference with booking a package is that you’re locking yourself into paying more for park tickets and other vacation components, meaning you can’t use our Money-Saving Tips for Buying Walt Disney World Tickets or other strategies for saving.

Next, there’s the option of Renting DVC Points for Rooms at Walt Disney World. This allows you to rent use of Disney Vacation Club accommodations from a member or business. DVC rental is safe, easy, and cheaper than standard hotel reservations. It’s also a great way to “test drive” the accommodations before buying a DVC membership. Currently, there’s confirmed DVC availability for 2023, or custom-bookings for summer and beyond.

In addition to the aforementioned general public discounts, one popular under-the-radar discount among Walt Disney World fans is the PIN or Unique Offer Code targeted deal. If you’re wondering what a PIN code is and how to get one, read this. Currently, the best available PIN code offer is the same as the summer and early fall AP discount.

Another way to score deep discounts on accommodations is via Hotwire & Priceline Express Deals for Walt Disney World.  These are opaque deals, meaning you can’t see the name of the hotel prior to booking, but it’s very easy to “reverse engineer” the hotel with clues provided in the listing plus good ole fashioned internet sleuthing. Unfortunately, we haven’t see any WDW hotels added to either service in months.

Speaking of deals that are not available, there would also normally be a Bounceback Deal on Walt Disney World Rooms. However, this is NOT AVAILABLE during the phased reopening. Honestly, we’re not confident this type of discount will ever return.

In a normal year, this would run from January until August (or so) and be bookable for travel dates through the following December. In August, the bounceback would switch over to Free Dining for the following fall. Booking bouncebacks discounts is a great idea and efficient way to lock-in a future stay discount.

Finally, some words of warning and generalized commentary. In addition to the standard varying rates of the discount depending on precise travel dates, some room-only discounts have incredibly limited availability, especially room-only offers with peak travel dates. Don’t be surprised if you search for an otherwise qualifying hotel and are unable to book the discount due to zero availability.

In our searches, there are a number of situations close to holidays where these “discounts” would actually cost more, due to zero availability in standard rooms, meaning you have to upgrade to a room with a view, suite, or Club Level room. In other situations, there’s just nothing, period, so Disney’s site recommends upgrading resorts. (Such helpful suggestions for “saving” money!)

On the other hand, the discounts for off-season travel dates look pretty good in terms of availability. The additional upside to those dates is that you can choose off-season times to visit when crowds are lower and rack rates are lower, which means you’ll pay even less.

For more details on the pros and cons of taking advantage of a room-only discount, read our Room-Only Discounts at Walt Disney World post. This is our favorite discount because it’s straightforward and tends to offer the best value for us, and many other Walt Disney World regulars are fans of it for this same reason. However, if you’re a first-timer visitor to WDW, there’s a good chance a better, more inclusive offer will work better for you.

Typically, the best discounts are offered in August and September, and January and February. The downside to the former is that this is the heart of tropical storm season (see our Storm Season at Disney World Survival Guide for more info), and it’s still fairly hot and humid during the fall in Florida. These months are arguably the worst of the year in terms of weather, and that’s assuming you don’t have to deal with any hurricanes or intense tropical storms.

The downside to the latter is that January and February are colder. However, both sets of months are typically among the least crowded times of the year to visit Walt Disney World. (Although that’s less true about the winter with each passing year.) Suffice to say, it’s a trade-off for lower prices and crowds.

As always, keep in mind that Walt Disney World does not offer discounts out of generosity. Discounts are offered because Disney wants to hit a target occupancy rate for its hotels–they are a way to entice people who otherwise might not do so to book a trip.

Disney only offers discounts to the extent that are needed to hit projected target occupancy rates. Once those targets are reached, discounts are not offered. Hence the lack of availability for some resorts and some room categories in any promotion.

This is all a long-winded way of saying that flexibility is important when it comes to Walt Disney World discounts, especially Free Dining. If you want to save the most money, there’s a decent chance you will need to choose your resort hotel based upon discount availability. If you’re able to be flexible on travel dates, that’s even better!

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!

Thoughts?

Have any Walt Disney World deals of your own to add for saving money on vacations or things you’ll need while on vacation? Have you had success booking any of the current room-only discounts? Any difficulties? Any questions about these deals that 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!