Save Up to 25% Off Disney World Hotels in Summer & Fall 2021!
Walt Disney World has released new hotel discounts through Fall 2021 with room-only deals. This post shares the details of these special offers, analysis as to how much money you’ll save with each, comparisons to other discounts, and availability info.
There is a tiered discount that’s essentially an “extension” of the previous promotions released for Annual Passholders, Florida residents, and the general public that offered up to 35% Off Hotels at Walt Disney World for Summer 2021. That deal is still available for booking and travel or stays most nights now through July 10, 2021.
There are obvious differences between the deals. The first is that the only discount that has dropped thus far is a general public room-only offer. Annual Passholders and Florida residents will likely see discounts released later, and will be left with the table scraps of unsold options…
Here are the official details: guests can save up to 25% on rooms at select Disney Resort hotels for stays most nights July 11, 2021 through September 29, 2021. Walt Disney World’s summer room discount is available for booking through September 29, 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, and Little Mermaid Standard Rooms at Disney’s Art of Animation Resort. 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:
Note that since reopening, Walt Disney World has been touting its relaxed “book with confidence” cancellation policy. However, this incredibly flexible refund option ended last month and the normal cancellation policy is back in effect. We’re fans of flexibility, but as more returns to normal, it’s probably not necessary to incentivize bookings.
It’s also noteworthy that there is no difference in the discount for weekdays versus Friday and Saturday nights, which has been the case with some of the previous room-only discounts from earlier this year.
The biggest difference between now and when the last Walt Disney World deals dropped is demand. For the first six-plus months after the parks reopened, travel was lethargic and bookings were anemic. That resulted in some above-average deals, but honestly, nothing quite on par with what we anticipated.
Now, travel has heated up–especially in Florida–and hotel bookings are picking up in a big way. Suffice to say, “Revenge Travel” has arrived at Walt Disney World. Not only is it here, but it comes against a backdrop of reduced park capacity and several hotels, literally half of Walt Disney World’s Value and Moderate Resort room inventory, still out of commission.
Low supply and high demand is not exactly a great recipe for scorching deals. That probably also explains why there’s no concurrent release of Annual Passholder and Florida resident rates. Ironically, it’s a reversal of what happened for roughly the same dates last year when Walt Disney World reopened, and there was nothing for the general public but great deals for locals (well, reversal minus the “great deals” part).
Unfortunately, the solution for this–reopening more hotels and in a hurry–is easier said than done. Walt Disney World has already recalled furloughed and previously laid-off Cast Members, and even posted tons of new job listings. They’re still having significant difficulties filling the necessary positions. This trend is hardly unique to Florida or Disney; you’ve probably seen similar stories on your local news.
However, it’s pronounced in Orlando since so many people are transplants, many of whom might’ve left the region when unemployment skyrocketed last spring and job openings dried up. Moreover, the International and College Programs are still on hiatus, so those sources of “renewable” labor are absent. All of that presents significant issues for Walt Disney World, especially given the number of employees needed and its slower pace at hiring than local competitors.
Moving along, in spot-checking availability for this room only discount…it’s not looking great. Granted, our searches are not exhaustive or comprehensive, and usually a clearer picture takes a few days or weeks to emerge.
Right now, we’re seeing plenty of availability at Deluxe Resorts for a variety of dates and room categories. That’s probably not universally true; I don’t search every date and resort combination. (That’s why it’s helpful when readers share their booking success/failures in the comments to these discount posts!)
However, what we’re seeing early on is a dearth of options at the Value and Moderate Resorts. Where there is availability, it often requires a room upgrade (e.g. from standard to preferred view…or the dreaded Pirate Rooms), thus at least partially negating the benefit of the discount.
This is not a huge surprise, and is pretty much what we expected. Pop Century, All Star Movies, Caribbean Beach, and Coronado Springs all have been doing strong numbers since the start of spring break–so much so that they’re overbooked and frequently moving guests from those resorts to Deluxes. There’s also the reality that the lower-tier resorts simply don’t have as good of percentage discounts as the Deluxes & Villas.
Perhaps this is best illustrated with a visual–here’s a look at the lowest rates you’re likely to find, with these prices from the “Value 2” season after Labor Day weekend:
It probably doesn’t need to be said, but nearly $300 per night for Disney’s Caribbean Resort is not a great deal. Ditto the prices at Coronado Springs and Pop Century. (All Star Movies is not available for travel dates on the screenshot above, but it’s typically ~$9 to $16 cheaper per night than Pop Century in our searches.)
Suffice to say, if you’re hoping to book a Value or Moderate, you may want to temper your expectations and/or be flexible with travel dates. Even then, you may not have any luck.
Benchmarking these discounts as compared to historical offers is pretty easy, as a very similar slew of room-only discounts was released two years (we skip last year due to the closure) on April 24 that covered travel dates for May through August 28 with similar hotel options. Even that offer is not a great comparison since it ended prematurely due to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, the opening of which was expected to be a big draw.
There are other slight differences since some hotels are currently closed, but you get the idea. That summer & fall 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. There was also a free gift card offered to some bookings.
Basically, this discount is identical minus the AP and Florida resident rates, which is obviously a huge difference for those groups. Additionally, Caribbean Beach and All Star Movies have lower percentage savings, and the Art of Animation Family Suites have higher savings. There’s also no gift card (but I honestly don’t remember the circumstances of that, I just have a notation about it).
With that said, the biggest difference between then and now is something not obvious from the face of the deal: availability. I distinctly recall that deal from two years ago having a surplus of options at virtually any resort. I know this because we booked it several times and had no issues whatsoever getting exactly what we wanted, even weeks after the promo was released. That was a slow summer and early fall at Walt Disney World. This almost certainly will not be.
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 Value or Moderate Resorts (see above commentary). Same goes for the Deluxe Villas, simply because Walt Disney World doesn’t have much inventory for those resorts, so those rooms in particular are likely to book quickly.
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. However, this requires a direct availability match for your existing booking under the deal, meaning that if there isn’t availability for the combination of your travel dates, resort, and room category, the deal cannot be applied retroactively. You can try modifying your travel dates, resort, and category to see if that’ll work, though.
Based upon reader comments, it would seem more people than normal are experiencing this issue. This is totally normal and happens with all deals, but can be confusing. Think of applying a discount to an existing reservation as somewhat akin to a price match. If the exact product is not in stock at the store that has it on sale, the store where you’re trying to purchase the item may deny the price-match. (Except in this case, both “stores” are Disney, so perhaps that’s still confusing.)
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.
Ultimately, some of these room-only discounts are fine, but there’s nothing groundbreaking here. A lot of people looking to book a Value or Moderate Resort are probably going to end up disappointed, as the rates and availability leave a lot to be desired for the two lowest tiers.
To that point, Deluxe Villa and Deluxe Resorts are going to offer the best savings—we’d skew towards the standalone properties rather than the add-on wings for maximum savings. Unfortunately, due to the loss of the extra 5% off plus higher room rates for the summer months, the net prices end up being more expensive. Nevertheless, if you’re eager for an escape to Walt Disney World in the coming months and don’t mind the in-park sacrifices and can’t find any better options via Disney Vacation Club Point Rentals (especially confirmed reservations) or Priceline Express Deals, this might be as good as it’ll get for you. 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? If you booked this, do you think you ended up with a good price or do you feel like you’re overpaying? What was available or unavailable for your dates? Is up to 25% 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!
Dana,
You might want to call Disney directly to see if it is available. However, you may not save much, if anything at all. The discount for ASM is only 10%. The money you may save will be offset by the cost of the additional night. But you would get an additional day! Good luck!
Tom,
I have an 8 night stay booked at All Stars Movies beginning September 30th, the day AFTER the promo ends.
I thought I could book the day before, adding the 28th on the last promo day and merge the reservations together as the extra day is available, same room type, and I’ve already secured the other days. Can I???
I thought if you book the promo on the last day it was valid during your entire stay.
Isn’t it??
Looking at taking a trip in December in hopes that St. Nicholas will soon be there! Lol! I am hoping to get to attend a Christmas party in early December and have been trying to find a moderate hotel. But not much is listed. Do we know when more resorts might open up again? Do you know if any of the resort discounts ever apply to the Swan and Dolphin?
Disney just announced the college program will be back this summer! Great news and hopefully means other resorts (POR/POFQ) will reopen soon.
Sue: Points inventory and cash inventory are two different things. Since about 95% of the resort is owned by members and DVC, that only leaves a small portion left for cash reservations. Plus any points inventory left over at 60 days out may be turned over to Disney Reservation Center to sell for cash. December is one of those times when seven months out is really tough to book. Especially early December. You need to book your home resort at 11 months out and see what is left at 11 months out. Best thing about SSR is that by December all the units should be renovated and ready to go. They will have the new murphy bed instead of the sleeper sofa which should be a big upgrade.
Believe it or not I was able to get the discount on the same room, same dates!! Booked at Coronado Springs the tower in September. Was I just lucky??? I saved around $350. Bu the way, love your blog!! So looking forward to this trip and hoping for some additional relaxation on the covid rules!! Thanks!!!
Saved $450 on my 6 night stay at Boardwalk. Was originally booked in a preferred room at CB but paying 350 a night, for that I’d rather be at a deluxe in a MUCH better location not waiting in huge skyliner lines. I updated to Boardwalk last week and now got this discount that likely wouldn’t have applied to my room at CB so I’m happy. But agree with everyone else that it’s crazy how much they are charging right now plus I still need to factor in food costs.
Now if only Ohana’s will reopen by the end of July!!!
We had to cancel a May reservation for POP and move it to Aug. The increase was $700. They told me to call back today to see if there was a discount. There was but it only saved $400. Compared to the May rates.
I have a reservation for a Family Suite at Art of Animation and tried to get the discount applied but the only suites available for the discount are the Nemo which are the most expensive. According to the website there are Lion King and Cars suites available but not with the discount. I find this advertising very misleading and disappointing. The CM really couldn’t give me an explanation. She did say there were 400 people on the Family Suites list. It was cheaper than my original reservation but not as cheap as applying the 20% to my original rate. I did find Nemo suites cheaper that the Disney offer on another travel website.
Jeesh, I don’t understand that if you can’t find a room, why not book at Saratoga? It’s our home resort and it’s not that bad.
I tried modifying my reservation to add the discount. Rooms are still available for the dates we are there, but not when I try to apply the discount. Do they only offer so many discounts even though there are applicable rooms left?
No amount of discount at this point is worth staying on Disney property. Transportation issues inside park—wait, wait, wait! Lines for pools—wait, wait, wait! Large amount of restaurants closed, limited menus, or limited occupancy making it difficult to get a reservation. Many shows and events not happening because of loss of staff. I could go on but won’t. On top if this Disney management seem callous to providing exceptional customer service/ relations with the public. I cancelled a $17,000 stay because they closed Port Orleans & had only 1 selection to accommodate our party which was Carribbean Beach resort that was not to my satisfaction because of size of complex. I even talked to the head of customer service and git the same “cold” response instead of trying to accommodate our party of 35 to a better hotel. Clearly they are so disconnected from their customers in doing the right thing. After all– it is they who advertise to book well in advance for your trip—so once these plans are messed up by Disney shutting most of their moderate resorts you would think they would feel a sense of courtesy to fulfill the already paid for reservation to a better hotel! You would think? They have become so vain and conceited they no longer value the people who gave them all they have! Sorta like all our politicians these days!
I’ve been holding out hope that they’ll have some kind of package for the anniversary, a la the ultimate Christmas package, but considering these dates creep right up to that and it seems like demand is pretty high for that weekend, it seems I should probably recategorize my hope as a delusion. I guess WDW is going to make boatloads off all of us paying the sticker price to be part of the day-of festivities.
No luck here, either. Have a BR studio for August & was not able to apply the discount (a cash reservation not DVC points). CM said to keep trying, that things change and something *could* come up. I’m not counting on it. That room type has been unavailable for awhile. I am a little surprised at the lack of availability in late August.
We have CBR booked in August with AAA, and have a pool/water view with 5th sleeper. I asked the AAA person I’ve been working with about it (after I saw this article this morning! Thanks!) and this was her answer:
Good Morning, I checked with Disney and they don’t have the same room category available with the discount. They way Disney works there promotions is odd. They only offer certain room category’s. We can check again in a few days. Sometimes people will hold rooms and then not deposit. Then more rooms open up.
Does this make sense??!!! My trip is crazy more expensive than the one I had to cancel last summer… 🙁
It does make sense.
Essentially, there are no discounted rooms available under the promotion for your travel dates, resort, and category combination. If there’s no direct availability match for your existing discount, the deal does not apply. You can try modifying your travel dates, resort, and category to see if that’ll work, though.
What you’re experiencing happens all the time, and can be confusing. Think of it sort of like a price-match; if the product is not in stock at the store that has it on sale, the other store may deny the price-match. (Except in this case, both “stores” are Disney, so perhaps that’s still confusing.)
I was also wondering if I was not understanding something as to how to attain a discount such as this. Was also under the impression that I could call Disney and get a current discount applied to my already booked room only. I am waiting though for the december discount if it happens? Is this not the case? I notice the Polynesian is omitted from this current discount list? What is the reason for that? Because it is not open yet or so much demand they don’t have to? Thanks for the bounty of information on your blog, so helpful!
Yeah, the Poly probably isn’t included because there’s sufficient demand without offering a discount. Lots of people probably wanting to stay in those new rooms.
DVC availability for the Villas for the month of October is thin on the ground; I wouldn’t be surprised if you don’t see much discount availability then, as well. (I can never remember; do the summer/fall discounts usually end in September?)
They usually end in August or September–it varies by year.
Just got off the phone for over an hour to find out all star movies is not even offering its measly 10%! A value resort in value season with no discount. I really might just cancel…it’s the new pay more get less plan.
Here’s the deal. Sept 6 is the last day for the Pandemic UI extension and weekly $300 bonus. There will be a flood of folks looking for work. Oct 1 WDW 50th anniversary. With the pandemic in the rear view mirror allowing for higher capacity limits and masks only for indoor rides WDW will be be frantically opening hotels and restaurants to accommodate the insane revenge travel demand. Modest deals will be offered to fill those rooms. Great mottoes to live by: “Love thy neighbor as thyself”, “Treat others as you would have them treat you.”**and so apropos, “Book now and modify later”.***
*Jesus
**Jesus and Confucuis
***Tom Bricker
Wise words to live by. 😉
It’s undoubtedly playing a role, but I wonder to what extent enhanced unemployment is actually impacting the Central Florida labor market. It’s such a unique dynamic down here with so many young people, transplants, and temporary workers. On top of that, it was really difficult to navigate Florida’s unemployment system early on, so I could see many people–particularly among Walt Disney World’s workforce–having left the region entirely.
My hope is that they’re working hard to bring the College Program back for the fall semester. That absolutely would make a difference, and help the situation significantly.
We are DVC members and have been trying to book a week in early December at any WDW resort that isn’t our home resort, which means we had to wait until we were 7 months from the dates we wanted. We are fairly flexible with the dates, but wanted to go sometime in December 1-23 which is the next-to-cheapest category in terms of points. We can’t find any availability, for any size unit, for a week. Only a few nights here and a few nights there. We could be waitlisted. Saratoga Springs may have availability but that is our least favorite resort (and our home resort). So, I don’t know that Disney will need to come up with any discounts for December this year. In addition to pent-up demand for travel, and WDW’s 50th, I think there are a lot of DVC members like us with a lot of points that need to get used up before we lose them.