Save Up to 40% Off Disney World Resorts During ‘Happiest Price on Earth’ Flash Sale

Walt Disney World deals are coming. There will be a ton of ‘Christmas in July’ sales starting soon, and one of those will be a limited-time discount offering up to 40% off resort hotels at Walt Disney World. (Updated July 8, 2025 with prices.)

The genesis of this all is Prime Day, which is essentially Amazon’s Christmas in July sale. The retail behemoth created its own money-saving holiday several years ago to rival Black Friday or Cyber Monday. Amazon’s Prime Day will return July 8-11, 2025 and there are already ‘early access’ deals in the lead-up to the sale.

Not wanting to miss out on the action, other retailers are getting in on the “fun” of Amazon Prime Day 2025, and next week basically has become the start of Christmas (shopping season) in July. There’s also Walmart Deals Week, which starts July 8, 2025 at 12 am ET.  There’s also Target Circle Week, exclusive to Target Circle members, starting July 6, 2025. I’m sure Kohl’s is also having a sale…because when isn’t Kohl’s having a sale?!

The latest entry into the Christmas in July/Prime Day-counterprogramming is Priceline’s first-ever “Happy Price Days.” This is a brand-new savings event designed to bring big deals to top travel destinations.

To launch, Priceline is unveiling a can’t-miss offer for Walt Disney World fans and deal seekers alike: The Happiest Price on Earth Sale – featuring up to 40% off Walt Disney World Resort hotels, available exclusively from July 8-11, 2025.

For four days only, travelers can book their stay at The Most Magical Place on Earth at Priceline’s happiest prices of the season.

Priceline has revealed that the travel dates for this discount are August 1, 2025 through October 11, 2025.

We’d be remiss if we didn’t point out that there’s currently a wide room discount for this exact same time frame: Stay Longer & Save Up to 30% Off Walt Disney World Rooms. Another wave of Free Dining was also available, but it was quietly pulled from the special offers page a few weeks ago (as has become an increasingly common practice).

Obviously, this maxes out at 40% off whereas the current deal for those same dates is only 30% off. It’ll be interesting to see the specifics are of this new Priceline Happiest Price on Earth Sale, and whether it’s truly something special. It’s possible that the deal is that, but with another 10% off across all tiers, which would be fantastic.

It’s also possible it’s that deal…but with one resort or two at 40% off. Last year, there was a DVC Friends & Family 40% Off Discount for Saratoga Springs and Old Key West, and it wasn’t exactly great. A repeat of that is probably the worst case scenario. My guess is that we’ll land somewhere in between, with this Priceline deal being about the same for many resorts–but with diminished availability–and excellent for a handful of options and select travel dates. (See update below on pricing.)

July 8, 2025 Update #1: Priceline’s Happiest Price on Earth Sale is now live and can be booked (allegedly) here: https://www.priceline.com/partner/priceline-ad-sales-walt-disney-and-happy-price-days-2025

I’ve found…absolutely nothing. Quite literally. I’ve yet to have much success finding discounted dates or resorts that are less expensive than booking with Walt Disney World directly. I don’t know what, if anything, I’m doing wrong. But this feels like a classic case of marketing puffery to me. (See the next update.)

I have heard from a couple of readers who have scored savings of over 30% off via this deal, so there is that. It’s absolutely worth checking your travel dates to see if you’re one of the lucky “winners.” Please share in the comments if you’re able to find and book a great deal (dates, resort & room combo, please) because I’d love to attempt to replicate it to confirm that there are, in fact, deals to be had.

July 8, 2025 Update #2: After doing further searches for travel dates in September and early October 2025, I’ve found several instances of the Priceline Happiest Price on Earth Sale beating rates direct from Walt Disney World. This includes both the current general public special offer and the current Annual Passholder rates, which is the best discount currently available directly from WDW.

Unfortunately, none of these apply to our upcoming travel dates nor is there a consistent, across the board discount. But that just underscores the reality that it’s worth pricing out your dates and not just searching for one single resort. If you’re flexible, you might be able to snag a great deal, as there definitely are several Deluxe & Deluxe Villa Resorts that are 40% off!

Good luck! The free cancellation policy should make this doubly attractive, too. Book now and then take a wait and see approach with whatever else Walt Disney World might release in the coming days or weeks, as you can always cancel this should something better come along–but you can’t book this later if nothing better comes along and this is already sold out or over!

Stay tuned for more special offer news. Speaking of which, let’s cover what to expect from the next wave of discounts…

In case you missed it, Walt Disney World released its last ‘wave’ of discounts for 2025 vacations this summer and fall back in late March and early April. That included special offers for Annual Passholders, Floridians, Disney Visa cardholders, and the general public. For every other special offer that’s currently available, see All Current Walt Disney World Discounts for 2025.

The best case scenario is that this Priceline deal is similar to Walt Disney World’s sizzling summer offer for rooms starting at $99/night or ~50% off–the biggest room-only discount in yearsThat discount runs from now through July 31, 2025.

Separately, there are also the 3-Park Magic Discount Walt Disney World Ticket and/or the 50% Off Kids Ticket Deal for Walt Disney World a better option! If you combine all of these deals, you could get the cheapest Walt Disney World trip in July 2025 since at least 2019.

Based on historical precedent, the next full round of 2025 discounts will be released between mid-June and early July 2025. Obviously, late June is already in the rearview mirror and no promotions are going to drop in the lead-up to the holiday weekend, so we’re looking at the second week of July 2025 at the absolute earliest.

This next wave should include more special offers for October through December 2025. The last round ended October 11, so it would stand to reason that the next set of special offers will run October 12 through December 23, 2025.

As always, that’s plus or minus a few days–there are holidays on both ends of that range that muddy the waters a bit (that long weekend in October is very popular for fall break, so I could see special offers potentially not starting until October 14, 2025).

As for what will be released, the only sure thing is a general public room discount (probably 30% off that could scale to 35% or 40% off with a ‘stay longer & save more’ option). If that deal does scale, another AP and FL resident deal with better savings and more dates is also likely.

And as noted above, Free Dining was pulled prematurely–in the past, that has happened so it could be re-released later as a “new” discount (perhaps with modified dates). I also wouldn’t be surprised by a wild card offer or two–potentially the ~$100 dining card deal or a kid-focused discount, such as kids play & dine for 50% off.

October through December is generally high occupancy and Disney already indicated that forward-bookings were strong, so the holiday season could see more restrained savings. It’s actually nearer term, in August and September, when we might see the more aggressive offers.

As suggested above, it’s entirely possible that the Priceline “Happiest Price on Earth Sale” is simply a marketing wrapper on top of discounts that will be publicly available from Walt Disney World. That all we’ve gotten here is the start date of July 8, 2025 for those. But it wouldn’t make sense for those special offers to be a flash sale that ends on July 11, 2025.

Maybe Priceline negotiated a “bonus” 5% off for a limited time, and the special offer will look very similar to what’s already been released for Annual Passholders and Florida residents for August through December 2025.

Maybe it’ll be only for August and September, and more closely align with the aforementioned Disney+ deal that is running for roughly one month. Maybe it’s an exclusive deal by virtue of being released first on Priceline, and then it’ll become available for the general public via DisneyWorld.com and travel agents the following week.

Any of these are possibilities that cannot be ruled out. My gut instinct is that this is marketing for a general public offer and not anything truly special. I’m just skeptical that Walt Disney World would release its best deals via a third party given the benefits of doing so directly and targeting them at various affinity groups.

There’s also the reality that this would likely anger a lot of Authorized Disney Vacation Planners. It couldn’t come at a worse time, given that Disney needs them right now (see Why Summer is Slow at Walt Disney World). Not only that, but Universal is making serious inroads with travel agents.

But stranger things have happened–and relatively recently. When I first heard the rumors of the Costco Disneyland Ticket Deal, I didn’t believe it–sounded too good to be true. But it is true. Disney has its reasons for doing that, I’m sure, and the same might hold true with superior savings on Walt Disney World resorts via Priceline. Nevertheless, I’m skeptical.

Normally, the only way to score deeper discounts than directly would be via Priceline Express Deals on Walt Disney World Resorts. Sites like Priceline, Hotwire, and Hotel Tonight offer substantial savings, but the tradeoff is that don’t know the name of the hotel until you pay. It’s a blind booking–but there are ways to reverse-engineer the hotel you’re booking (as we explain in that article).

The reason for these blind bookings is so that hotel chains, including Walt Disney World, can dump unsold inventory at the last minute while concealing to the general public that they’re unloading rooms at such a cheap rate. That might tarnish their brand, irritate guests who paid significantly more, or create an expectation among consumers of future sales.

That’s not what the the “Happiest Price on Earth Sale” is, though. This is going to be transparent rates of up to 40% off Walt Disney World resorts. We just don’t know the specifics, whether it’s actually exclusive to Priceline, etc.

Speaking of Priceline Express Deals, we haven’t seen anything widespread for on-site Disney hotels since last September. (Third party on-site hotels continue to make appearances with regularity.)

This is interesting because the Disney+ deal for this summer normally would’ve been exactly the type of discount to wind up on Priceline. A relatively last-minute deep discount on a limited number of resorts with savings superior to even Annual Passholder rates–that checks literally all of the boxes of a blind booking, minus the blind part.

I’ve been wondering whether Walt Disney World deemed that Disney+ deal a success or failure. It was insanely popular–there’s zero doubt about that. But did it capture new reservations, or largely result in a bunch of existing reservations modifying to take advantage of cheaper prices? Based on what we saw, it was definitely a mix of the two–so it comes down to the distribution.

Many readers have asked whether we expect a similar special offer for August and September 2025. The easy answer is yes, given that those are typically the two lowest-occupancy months of the year. The real question, though, is how that deal might be accomplished. Will it be another targeted Disney+ deal that helps juice subscriber numbers while also offering substantial savings? Will it be Disney quietly dumping inventory on blind booking sites? Will it be something else?

It’s possible that we just got our answer–it’s Priceline’s Happiest Price on Earth Flash Sale–and we just don’t know it yet. I truly don’t have an answer, but wanted to nevertheless bring this to your attention.

My gut is that we’re going to see several deals roll out–and not all at once–this month for travel dates from August through December 2025. I’d go further and see that the current AP rates of 35% off are going to be surpassed (and not just by this 40% Priceline sale, which could be illusory).

I’d expect the best deals to be on the following resorts (asterisks indicate Disney+ deal eligibility):

  • All Star Resorts*
  • Port Orleans Riverside Resort*
  • Coronado Springs Resort
  • Family Suites at Art of Animation Resort*
  • Saratoga Springs Resort*
  • Old Key West Resort
  • Animal Kingdom Lodge*
  • Cabins at Fort Wilderness
  • Grand Floridian Resort
  • Yacht Club Resort

This list is based on a mixture of the aggressive Disney+ deal, plus previous inclusion in aggressive discounts and Priceline Express Deals. Inclusion of resorts with convention centers depends on group bookings for fall and beyond–we’ve heard some rumblings that these have been soft as Disney faces increased competition and businesses look to cut costs.

Finally, I wouldn’t expect the aggressive Disney+ deal to be surpassed. That was really good and sold out fast; if Disney learned any lesson from that, it’s probably that they don’t need to dangle 50%+ off. But we shall see!

We’re in uncharted territory at this point, with Walt Disney World deviating pretty substantially from the 2019 playbook that they’d been using. We’ll be monitoring special offers during ‘Christmas in July’ and will keep you posted with specifics, analysis, 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

Thoughts on the Priceline Happiest Price on Earth Flash Sale? Expect this to be a great deal…or marketing fluff for whatever Walt Disney World releases next week? What do you think of these Walt Disney World discount predictions? Would you book a quick trip in August or September if savings on par with the Disney+ deal are offered again? 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!

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47 Comments

  1. I never saw any advertising on their site indicating this existed, before or after. There’s nothing there now, there wasn’t yesterday, their ai bot says there is no such sale. Google only turns up this site, not theirs

    Where is your source on this?

    1. It’s there. It’s listed as their top deal this week. If you are on your phone you just have to scroll down a little bit and it’s right there. It’s listed as “Happy Price Days – Save up to 40% on Disney Hotels. Exclusive offer ends 7/11/25”

  2. I looked just for fun this morning using September 20-24 as my dates and 3 hotels were cheaper through Priceline: Yacht Club ($484 v $537 direct via Disney), Coronado Springs ($228 v $254), Contemporary ($603 v $670). The rest were priced the same or direct through Disney was way better.

  3. We did find Animal Kingdom Lodge for $388 per night for two adults staying 9/12-9/15. Pretty good discount, although I have occasionally seen better with Disney discounts over the last year.

    1. Thanks for sharing! Looks like that beats the current general public offer, but not AP or FL rates. Still, anything below $425/night on AKL is pretty good!

  4. Yacht Club Club Level Aug for a week is coming up as $600 less than direct through disney..seems like a great deal and free cancellation as well

  5. Priceline is offering ~10% off at all listed resorts during my dates in early October. I don’t know how that compares to wdw direct pricing because it doesn’t matter. Not enough to even get me to look. Yacht Club for $900+/ night doesn’t feel like a “flash sale”

  6. FYI as of 7:02 July 8th, Priceline is showing special deals for 8/1 to 10/11 but saying up to 30% not 40%.
    Maybe it’s too early…I was up researching something else for a presentation tonight but remembered this sale and checked it out.
    So far nothing spectacular and nothing better if you have an AP. Plus I doubt Priceline accepts DGC purchased at Target.

    1. 11 AM UPDATE: Priceline site now reads up to 40% off.
      You’ll have to check for yourself but if you have an AP you won’t find better deals.
      Everyone keep in mind that if you pay with DGC from Target you’re getting an additional 5% off.
      Good luck and best wishes.

  7. Well that just felt like a big scam. Logged onto Priceline just after midnight and they had the new promotion loaded in. Put in my August dates for Animal Kingdom Lodge Savannah View. Rate quoted was 33% off. I went to check Disneys website to see if they were offering the new deal. Of course, Disneys reservation system goes down for maintenance. Go back to Priceline and enter my payment info and hit book. Brings me to a new screen after about 20 seconds and quotes me a new price only 11% off. No thanks. Will wait to see what Disney finally loads in overnight but man that felt gross.

    1. Quick update: Tried again this morning. Disney website done updating. No new deals or pricing for my August Animal Kingdom Lodge stay. Checked Priceline one more time and the good price (33% off 4 nights Savannah view) was BACK. Would I get the bait and switch once more? I entered my payment info, hit book, and this time it worked. 33% off Savannah view for 4 nights in August vs 25% via stay more save more. I now have a Disney confirmation number. So for everyone who experienced nonsense when the deals dropped last night at midnight, try again!

    2. thanks for the updated info. so you got a Disney confirmation. but unlike Disney you can’t pay it off in installments am I correct?

  8. Have a trip during this timeframe and I’m very open to rebooking for a better deal, maybe even upgrading resorts. Buuuut I’m pretty wary of booking through Priceline. The discount would have to be monumental.

    1. Yeah, that’s the tricky thing. And what if Disney ends up not releasing discounts tomorrow? Do you take the sure thing with Priceline, or wait another week or so for WDW direct deals?

  9. Hello,

    I currently have 7-night stay booked for August 16-23. Is there any sense that this new wave of promotions will be applicable to those dates?

    Thank you for your insight!

  10. Is this still set to start tomorrow 7/8? I looked at Priceline today and it’s already showing a modest discount from the stay more save more promotion, but it’s not being called any name. At least today. I still can’t get over Disney selling rooms cheaper via third party when for decades they have always trained the customer that the best and preferred deal was always direct through them.

    1. Still slated to start tomorrow.

      Like you, I’m also skeptical about this. I could see this being the release of Walt Disney World’s late 2025 deals, but with Priceline adding its own wrapper and maybe an extra 5% off coupon? Not really sure what to expect, but they’ve declined to share more details with me.

  11. I am slightly confused. Are these deals only going to be “express” deals or not? Also, are these deals going to be focused on certain dates. We are looking to go in December.

    1. They will not be Express Deals, you’ll know what you’re getting before booking. No dates have been revealed yet.

  12. Hi Tom,

    When you you anticipate any discounts for room and tix bundle to be released for reservations with May/June 2026 timing. We are looking at booking a ten day stay during this time, preferably Port Orleans, French Quarter. Suggestions for best timing options to ensure we visit during the 2026 Flower and Garden Festival are always welcome.

    Thank you

  13. We are booked (hotel so far) for next summer, July 2026. Do you anticipate that they will release Canadian resident ticket discount again for next year? I am waiting on purchasing park tickets as we hope to take advantage of that.

  14. I already have a trip booked for the end of October. Can I apply a discount to an already booked trip? If so how?

    1. If your dates are part of the promotion and rooms are available, you can phone WDW-DISNEY and they will apply it for you.

    2. I’ve been able to apply discounts in the past. I am booked for January 2025 and I’m am waiting for discounts to drop for that time frame so I can take advantage of them. Also booked at Swan and Dolphin, but if a good discount drops for November time frame, I’m switching hotels to either the beach club or Boardwalk. Good luck grabbing a discount!

  15. Appreciate the heads up Tom!

    Out of curiosity, do you know if DisneyStore.com will be participating in any of the “July in Christmas” week deals as well? There was a few things I was eyeing and was waiting to see if there would be a July 4th sale, or if I’m better off waiting until next week.

    Thanks again!

    1. I haven’t received any press releases from them, but that doesn’t necessarily mean anything–sometimes those are shared *after* sales start. Unfortunately, I don’t keep notes on DisneyStore sales precedent, so I’m not sure whether they’ve had deals this coming week in prior years. Sorry–I realize that’s not helpful!

  16. Hi Tom,
    Is booking through Priceline as safe as booking direct from Disney? I worry with booking through 3rd party sites about the hotel room not being available because Disney would prioritize guest that book direct with them, should we be concern with the risk of that happening. When you book through Priceline how do you add the dinning plan to your vacation package?

    1. Years ago (2016 or 2017) when I booked through Orbitz, I was not able to add the dining plan to my reservation. Back then I was able to stack an Orbitz coupon of 15% off with a current WDW offer of 35% off!

    2. IIRC any reservations made via the third party booking engines like this cannot be easily modified to have tickets or the DDP added. I know some people have reported success, but you have to go through a different system (group bookings, maybe?) and do it over the phone.

      It’s also worth being mindful of the cancellation policy, whatever that might be, before booking.

    1. I wouldn’t necessarily rule it out, but it’s unlikely for late September and beyond–that’s the busiest stretch of the year for Disney.

      If there is a deal, it’ll almost certainly be another 3-park offer to keep people away from MK. I could even see a 2-park ticket for only EPCOT and DAK.

  17. Hi, Tom. Thanks for the heads up on this flash sale. We’re looking to book a last-minute trip in August, so this seems like it could be beneficial to us. I’m a little apprehensive about booking through a third-party instead of direct from Disney during hurricane season. It seems as if Disney’s hurricane policy is much more lenient than most third-party agencies. I’m curious if you have any experience with this?
    Thanks so much for your wonderful articles and advice. You’ve improved our trips to Disney!

    1. I don’t have experience with having to cancel trips made via third party, no.

      Before booking this, I’d definitely double-check to see what’s available directly. If it’s the same, obviously go that route. If not, be very mindful of the cancellation policy.

      As a general matter, I try to *not* book through Priceline, Expedia, etc., for real world destinations for exactly this reason–especially international trips. I’ve had a couple of friends who have been burned, and the language barrier + lack of functioning CS phone lines compounds matters.

    1. I’m not expecting anything, but who knows–DLR resort deals are more random (or I’m worse at spotting patterns).

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