Second Wave Disney World Discounts for Summer 2026
Walt Disney World has released its “Wave 2” resort room-only discounts saving up to 30% off hotel rack rates from May through July 2026 for the general public. This shares booking & travel dates for this special offers, plus commentary about what’s up with this “new” discount and more.
This is one of a growing number of special offers that has been released thus far for 2026 Walt Disney World vacations, with offers for Annual Passholders, Floridians, and the general public. Along with this ‘Wave 2’ summer deal, we should note that it’s your last chance to book the ‘Buy 4, Get 2 Free’ Walt Disney World Resort & Ticket Deal for Summer 2026 before that ends this weekend.
If you want help doing the math on which special offers make the most sense for you, check out Walt Disney World’s Unprecedented Summer 2026 Discounts: Here’s Which Are Best & Worst! If you’re wondering about discounts beyond summer, the next release typically occurs later in the spring, and that will likely cover dates deeper into the year. We’re also expecting another release of summer discounts including multiple ticket deals, and (hopefully) more aggressive last-minute resort discounts that once again offer ~2019 pricing. Whenever more discounts are released or rumored, we’ll send you an alert ASAP if you sign up for our FREE Walt Disney World newsletter.
Per Walt Disney World, here are the deal details: Save on rooms at select Disney Resorts Collection hotels this summer—for stays most nights from May 1 to July 29, 2026
- Save up to 30%Â for stays of 5 or more consecutive nights
- Save up to 25%Â for stays of 1 to 4 consecutive nights
This offer is valid for the Disney Resorts Collection hotels listed below. View the chart to explore savings.
For stays most nights from May 1 to July 29, 2026: Save 30%Â for stays of 5 or more nights and Save 25%Â for stays of 1 to 4 nights:
- Bay Lake Tower at Disney’s Contemporary Resort
- Boulder Ridge Villas at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge
- The Cabins at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort (Disney Vacation Club)
- Copper Creek Villas & Cabins at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge
- Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge
- Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas – Kidani Village
- Disney’s Beach Club Resort
- Disney’s Beach Club Villas
- Disney’s BoardWalk Inn
- Disney’s BoardWalk Villas
- Disney’s Contemporary Resort
- Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort – King Bed Rooms
- Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa
- Disney’s Old Key West Resort – 1-Bedroom and 2-Bedroom Villas
- Disney’s Riviera Resort
- Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa
- Disney’s Wilderness Lodge
- Disney’s Yacht Club Resort
- The Villas at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa
For stays most nights from May 1 to July 29, 2026: Save 25% for stays of 5 or more nights and Save 20%Â for stays of 1 to 4 nights:
- Disney’s All-Star Sports Resort
- Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas – Jambo House
- Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort
- Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort
- Disney’s Old Key West Resort – Deluxe Studios
- Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort
- Disney’s Polynesian Villas & Bungalows
- Disney’s Port Orleans Resort – Riverside
For stays most nights from May 1 to July 29, 2026: Save 20% for stays of 5 or more nights and Save 15% for stays of 1 to 4 nights:
- The Campsites at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort
- Disney’s All-Star Movies Resort
- Disney’s All-Star Music Resort
- Disney’s Art of Animation Resort – Family Suites
- Disney’s Pop Century Resort
- Disney’s Port Orleans Resort – French Quarter
For stays most nights from May 1 to July 29, 2026: Save 15% for stays of 5 or more nights and Save 10% for stays of 1 to 4 nights:
- Disney’s Art of Animation Resort – The Little Mermaid Standard Rooms
The number of rooms allocated for this offer is limited. Savings based on the non-discounted price for the same room. Length-of-stay requirements may apply. See Important Details Below.
Important Details
- 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.
- Cannot be combined with any other discount or promotion, except for the 2026 Kids Dining Plan Offer.
- Advance reservations required.
- Must be consecutive-night stays.
- Offer excludes the following room types: 3-Bedroom Villas; Moderate & Deluxe Resort Suites; Cabins at Copper Creek Villas & Cabins at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge; and Bungalows, 1-Bedroom Villas, 2-Bedroom Villas and Penthouses at Disney’s Polynesian Villas & Bungalows.
- Valid admission is required to enjoy the theme parks and is not included in this offer. Theme park reservations may be required based on admission type.
Reservations may be made online, by phone, or via your Authorized Disney Vacation Planner.
If you want to help determining which discounts are available for your travel dates and which resort will work best for your family, we highly 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.
They can help you determine whether this room-only discount or ‘Buy 4, Get 2 Free’ is the better deal for you, given your party size, resort preference, and eating preferences. Beyond that, Authorized Disney Vacation Planners help take the stress out of planning and will assist with itineraries, ADRs, and much more.
If you want to ‘do it yourself’ but aren’t sure which resort to book, check out our new Rankings of ALL Resort Hotels at Walt Disney World from Worst to Best. Several of the resorts with the biggest savings are in the top 10!
Here’s the direct link to book this up to 30% off special offer on DisneyWorld.com.
Our Commentary
If this so-called “Wave 2” summer special offer looks familiar, that’s because it is. This special offer was previously available, and for travel dates through October 4, 2026. (See Stay Longer & Save More: Up to 30% Off WDW Hotels in May to October 2026!)
That discount was released on January 6th and ended yesterday. Today, Walt Disney World started marketing this as the “Wave 2” summer special offer. That’s their term, not mine. This is different from typical Wave 2/Second Wave discounts we’ve seen in the past, like Free Dining, when subsequent releases have added dates as opposed to removing them. That’s the more logical approach–you’d expect later dates to be released over time…right?
However, we’ve also seen Walt Disney World do this a few times in the last 2 years, including with this specific ‘Stay Longer & Save More’ deal. One key difference in the past is that it’s also had a early booking element, encouraging guests to book by a certain date to ‘unlock’ an extra 5% off, making it a ‘stay longer & book earlier to save most’ deal, effectively. This time, that wasn’t a component of the deal and Walt Disney World did not previously, at least to my knowledge, advertise a ‘Wave 1/2’ distinction.
Honestly, I’m not sure whether there is a distinction between Wave 1/2 beyond the dropping of August through October 2026 travel dates. This might simply be the same special offer as yesterday, but with fewer dates. In which case, there’s nothing to see here, folks.
In comparing the specifics, I don’t see any other changes to the terms of the discount itself. Meaning that, on its face, this is simply a more restrictive re-release.
I’m nevertheless bringing it to your attention because Disney is advertising it as “new” and you’re going to start seeing a big marketing push for it. So at minimum, this ‘heads up’ might save you some confusion and prevent you from thinking you’re going crazy if you could swear that you’ve seen this “new” special offer before. You’re not crazy, you have seen it. (Well, you might be crazy, but that’s separate from this. We’re all a little mad here as we obsess over a purple dragon and his popcorn buckets.)
At maximum, it’s possible that this new/re-released discount now has more room inventory allocated to it. Accordingly, I’d recommend checking availability again if you didn’t get your first choice of resort or room category previously. (And if so, please report back!)
Otherwise, I don’t see too much point in fixating on this specific special offer. It’s materially the same as before, just shortened. And if history repeats itself, those August through October 2026 travel dates will be released as a “new” discount down the road. It’s also likely that there will be a different, unique discount for that timeframe released in Spring 2026. So stay tuned for that.
As noted above, we’re also expecting that more aggressive last-minute Summer 2026 discounts are on the horizon, albeit likely targeted ones with more restrictive resort and room options, as well as travel dates and inventory. That’s what happened last year, and summer is still a ‘softer’ time of year for Walt Disney World. 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 this ‘Wave 2’ Walt Disney World room-only discount for May through July 2026? What was available or unavailable for your dates? Does it seem like WDW has added room inventory for the second wave, or is this all about reducing travel dates? Spot any other differences? 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!
Since we’re quasi locals living in Tampa, I booked a Poly Room for 7/4/26 -7/5/26 mid 2025 figuring we’d drive up & back home to celebrate the 4th @ Disney. In January I decided to expand our stay to include 7/3. No discounts were available at Poly under Return Offer, FL Resident or AP but I was able to book an A/P discount at Grand Flo & would just suffer through the split-stay during what will be a very busy weekend. Tom, As soon as I received your email mentioning Wave 2 I jumped online & was able to secure a 25% discounted room at the Poly for 7/3 eliminating the split stay & room move! Thanks for a great job of keeping us up to date.
I have been watching for a few possible weeks we can travel this summer and there was no new inventory yesterday that I could see. Felt worthless and pointless. I wish they’d call out what they did/added/etc.
We’re trying to book for mid August and the deal disappeared! I cannot believe they just changed the dates. Anyway, I cannot find the Wave 2 discount anywhere- please help.
KJ – wave 2 dates are only good through 29 July:(
I would guess that the removal of Aug-Sep either means those dates sold especially well or the earlier dates sold particularly poorly. (If they go back on sale later like Tom suspects, that might be evidence of the latter.) Either way, I think it happened because when those back-to-school months get the same percentages off but with a lower rack rate baseline, it’s a great opportunity for those who take advantage.
WDW resports has always had more capacity than they “sell’ since covid. They just don’t have the staff to maintain it cause they laid off everyone who then in turn went to Universal. We go multiple times a year to the WDW resorts and every resort hallway is empty at any time of the day. And when we’re on our balcony there is no sign of activity on other balconies any time of the day, no lights, no shoes, cups, no swim gear, and no housekeeping etc. When I travel for work I always run into guests on the elevators, hallways, or balconies at regular JWs, Hyatts, Gaylord, etc, and housekeeping. These “deals” seem more like Disney Vacation Plan deals to prop up the international visitor attendance, not the local APs who actually fund the parks on a year round basis….and Iger’s yacht staff to sail around the DHL islands. Disney Vacation Planning is also a payment plan similar to cruise lines….and well, the YouTube videos say a lot about that. Basically, either be a Florida AP or book your vacay through Disney Vacation Planning. Same with the cruise lines. Stop trying to optimize this vs that at Disney, the game is rigged.
I have a room only reservation for Caribbean Beach 7/2-7/5 booked at rack rate. I wasn’t able to find any discount availability with wave 1. I heard about this very shortly after it was announced this morning and immediately checked to still find nothing available. I’m wondering if they even added any new inventory for wave 2. What are the chances that any discounts will be available before our travel dates? I know Caribbean Beach doesn’t always have a ton of discounted rooms available due already selling well.
Normally I’d say your chances are pretty low.
However, I just checked and there’s availability at CBR for your dates via both the AP and FL resident rates. It’s only the GP offer that doesn’t have availability.
It wouldn’t surprise me if there are rooms blocked out or people have holds in place for that weekend, in particular, waiting to see what WDW announces (or doesn’t) for America’s 250th Anniversary.
In other words, keep checking.
Thanks for that info. Thats good to know as we also have a trip coming up in a few weeks and will likely be upgrading our tickets to APs so we might be able to take advantage of that.
I looked at dates that started July 29 for 6-8 nights and noticed the discount was only on the first night. I don’t have a lot of experience with room only reservations so maybe this is always the way it works as opposed to packages (ex-free dining) which will span your trip based on check in date. Also I think bounce back might span whole trip based on check in but maybe not?? Can you clarify please?
This is how it works with room only discounts. To the best of my knowledge, the arrival date policy only applies to Free Dining and other package deals. No clue why. Just another way to make things more confusing, I guess!