2020 Sun & Fun Disney World Hotel Deal
Walt Disney World has several new discounts for summer, with travel dates between now and August 31, 2020. In this post, we’ll share the details of these discounts, and share some analysis as to how much money you’ll actually save with each. (Updated March 20, 2020.)
We’ll start with the update, which is an extension to the “Bask in the Sun & Fun” room-only discount that was first released at the beginning of the year. This promo originally was scheduled to end by now, but has been extended due to the coronavirus outbreak that has caused the parks to close (see our Walt Disney World Closure FAQ).
Full details of the discount are below, including the new dates and discount tiers. If you’re traveling during the summer dates of the Sun & Fun room discount, it’s worth booking something now to lock-in a deal. However, we are expecting significantly better discounts for whenever Walt Disney World actually reopens through pretty much the end of the year…
There will certainly be some pent-up demand for getting out of the house once the global health crisis is over, which will mean an influx of locals and Annual Passholders in the parks, especially on weekends. However, Walt Disney World will need to get more competitive on pricing to lure tourists back.
Given preliminary unemployment estimates and the growing belief that this will result in a recession (if we’re not already in one), many Americans simply will not be able to afford a vacation–even if they really want (and arguably deserve) one after all of this is said and done.
That means Walt Disney World will have to aggressively discount to entice guests to visit and book vacation packages or hotel rooms. This is hardly a bold prediction–we saw exactly the same scenario play out during the recovery of the Great Recession and post-9/11. Those periods saw some of the most attractive discounts in the history of Walt Disney World.
With the current situation disproportionately impacting the travel & tourism sector, it’s highly likely that Disney will need to offer really great deals to bolster attendance and hotel occupancy. For those ready and financially able to travel later in 2020, there should be some unprecedented discounts. We will be closely monitoring what’s released, and will notify subscribers of our free email newsletter as soon as any Walt Disney World discounts become available!
As for the current discounts, the other special offer was the “Savor Your Summer with a Tasty Kid-Size Package” or Kids Eat Free Deal. This is no longer available for booking. For future reference (as this is likely to return at some point), this offer uses the words “Get a FREE Dining Plan for kids” to promote the offer, and the emphasis should definitely be on the for kids part of that. Although it’s probably obvious, this is not the normal Free Disney Dining Plan promotion. Heck, this isn’t even Half-Free Dining or Free Dining Lite.
With the Kids Eat Free Deal, you get a free Disney Dining Plan for kids ages 3 to 9 when you purchase a non-discounted vacation package that includes any tier of resort room (Value through Deluxe Villa), theme park tickets, and the Disney Dining Plan for all adults in your party. Kids will receive for free whatever Disney Dining Plan adults in the party purchase.
This means that if you purchase a package with the Quick-Service Disney Dining Plan, your kids, will receive the Quick-Service Disney Dining Plan for free. If you purchase the standard Disney Dining Plan, that’s what they get. Ditto the Deluxe Disney Dining Plan.
As with all Walt Disney World discounts, there are potentially ways to leverage this offer to your advantage if your party fits certain narrow parameters or you can hack it. By and large, the “average” family isn’t going to find worthwhile savings with this discount, though. Kids dining plans cost less than half the price of adult Disney Dining Plans, meaning that you’re saving significantly less with this offer than regular Free Dining.
Spring & Summer 2020 Room-Only Discount
Next up is the “Bask in the Sun & Fun” room-only discount. With this offer, you can save up to 25% on rooms at select Walt Disney World Resort hotels for stays most nights April 1 through August 31, 2020, when you book through August 31, 2020.
This offer excludes the following resorts and room types: all 3-bedroom villas, Fort Wilderness Campsites, Cabins at Copper Creek Villas, and Bungalows at Disney’s Polynesian Villas & Bungalows.
In addition, you can turn this room-only discount into a package deal, but we don’t normally recommend that. We recommend keeping this as a room-only discount and purchase from one of the options in our Discount Walt Disney World Ticket Tips post–you’ll save more money and come out ahead that way.
Annual Passholders & Florida Residents
Pretty much the exact same offer is available for Florida residents and Annual Passholders, but with an additional 5% or 10% off, respectively. The AP/Florida Resident deal is valid for April 1 to July 9, 2020 travel dates.
The Annual Passholder or Florida Resident offer must be booked by July 9, 2020. It’s always worth crunching the numbers to see if one person in your party should buy an AP to take advantage of the better promos and other discount offers.
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. If you’re at all flexible about your resort choice or room preferences, consider waiting until later this evening or tomorrow when things calm down a bit. You’ll save yourself a lot of headache and frustration!
Overall, some of these room only rates are attractive, especially on the AP and Florida resident end of the spectrum. Animal Kingdom Lodge for 35% off or Caribbean Beach & Coronado Springs Resorts for 30% off are pretty solid deals. The 40% off deal for Visa cardholders at Disney’s Riviera Resort (covering those same dates) is a deeper discount, but that resort has higher rack rates.
Savings elsewhere are more meager. Grand Floridian or Contemporary for only 10% off is a nonstarter, and the same goes for the Value Resorts on select nights. If you’re looking at only a 10-15% discount for your travel dates, are staying at a lower-tier resort, and you have multiple kids, you should definitely do the math. The Kids Eat Free deal might actually be better for you.
With that said, this is about par for the course with summer discounts–and that alone is good to see. We’ve been concerned that the popularity of Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance coupled with the debuts of Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway and Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure would spike bookings and cause Walt Disney World to wean guests off discounts (something CEO Bob Iger indicated was a goal in the past). Given these releases, we’re now doubting that’ll happen. That bodes well for future 2020 Walt Disney World discounts, including a second wave of Free Dining for late fall and holiday season travel dates.
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
Do you agree or disagree with our assessment of these Spring & Summer 2020 Walt Disney World discounts? Do you disagree with our assessment of the Kids Eat Free deal? Which, if any, will you book? Have any trouble with availability for your travel dates or preferred resort? 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!
With the recent park closures, do you think they will offer more incentives for fall or winter travel? Particularly, so you think they will offer the Fall Free Dining promotion?
Thanks for the notification of the extension. I had a trip booked for the beginning of July which is when our school year usually finishes but was able to move to it back by several weeks. There are so many unknowns that I’m not counting on this trip actually happening. Since school is currently off will classes be extended into the summer? Will teachers be laid off soon and therefore I will have to cancel the trip? I still can’t believe this is our new reality. Keep healthy everyone!
Some of these dates seem a bit suspect to me. Discounts for April 1 seem a risky proposition. I just received an update email from Lincoln Center, in NYC, announcing the cancellation of all Metropolitan Opera, NYC Ballet and other performances, through mid-May, due to Covid19. I’m as disappointed as the next person that my April 8 WDW trip has been cancelled, but I’m hedging my bets as to when I should reschedule. I’ll likely wait until the dust settles and the deeper discounts are released.
Yeah, there’s no way the parks are reopening on April 1. I don’t think that’s what anyone at a high level within the company is actually expecting.
I think it’s simply easier for Disney (from their own perspective) to proceed as if things are going to be back to normal ASAP so as to not prematurely discourage guests from booking trips. That lack of transparency could come back to bite them down the road, but what do I know.
Tom, you are right. The bureaucratic impulse is to do nothing, even if everything is a shambles. Disney should, in concert with all other businesses, be pushing the Governor and members of the Florida legislature for a hard date at which the lockdown will be lifted. All possible testing will be up and running very soon. With testing, the virus has been tamed in South Korea and Hong Kong. The point at which household budgets are ruined will come long before the political class will want to risk removing the lockdown. Disney fans also need to contact the company, and push for a firm re-open date no later than the first week of April.
It is easy to see Disney doing nothing for months and months, with the firm growing weaker, and weaker, until they announce they have “ no choice “ but to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Hi Tom, thank you for keeping up with your website. Me personally, I love the Disney news and updates, the good and the not-so-good, written with your slighty twisted humor!
There are always more discounts available at DisneyWorld and I understand why. Do you anticipate any similar discounts at Disneyland? Thank you for all you do, especially with all that’s happening in the world.
So, a friend has told us that with Disney dining plan, the counter service credits are now being divided into adult counter service credits and children counter service credits, with the latter only being redeemable for stuff off the kids menu. This alters our use of the counter service drastically, and lowers the value of the DDP bc we would always just get full size adult meals with the counter service credits and make them stretch further bc our kids could share.
Tom, are you hearing anything about this? We are heading down for 5 nights in a few weeks and are trying to game plan.
I’ve heard the same about the credits being divided visually, but no confirmation that they won’t still allow you to redeem kids credits for adult meals. I assume you can’t, though.
I’m not surprised. This was always a bug in the system and not a feature, so it would make sense that Walt Disney World is closing this loophole.
I sure hope that if this is true, they don’t look at my “kids” and try to enforce it. Mine are 10 and 12 and therefore Disney charges me adult prices for them. They better be able to choose from the adult menu.
The sun and fun room discount is not really a discount- the standard rates have been so inflated- I have a one night res at one resort because I had to split my stay to take advantage of the Free dining for the rest of my stay. I’m paying less at rack rates than is offered with this “special “ Disappointing
Staying at Coronado Springs, Club level the first week of June. I was told by my travel agent there were no deals available at this time for that resort/room type/ date. I was so disappointed. Last year, this deal saved me over $1000. I’m curious as to why all of a sudden I can’t get a discount, or one is not available. I have ALWAYS been able to apply a discount on every trip I’ve ever booked! Please help me understand this better!
I am in the same boat. We are at Wilderness Lodge in June, and my travel agent couldn’t apply this deal to our rooms either. We’ve gone to Disney 4 times before (every other year or so) and always have been able to get a discount for summer travel (and at Wilderness or Animal Kingdom). Our agent said that the discount didn’t work for most of her clients.
Same thing here. We booked for June months ago and we told the discounts don’t apply to the Family suite we booked. So when the new discounts came out we called within hours of their release and were told that basically, our room type isn’t part of the discounts being offered. When I informed them that the discount wording says nothing about room type but what resort the discount is offered, they said it’s also room type. I was also told that they basically offer a limited amount of rooms for specific room types. So when they sell out, even though the discount is still being offered, if the rooms are all gone at the resort then NO ONE is getting the discount. It’s not a traditional discount in the sense that while it’s still being offered everyone will get it. Once the resort sells out of allotted room types the discount is ostensibly over even though it’s not over.
I suspect Disney has some pretty complex algorithms to figure this out, but it would be interesting to know how much revenue they loose (prior bookings that now get a discount) vs. new revenue generated when they announce these. Often seems on this blog like a substantial portion of folks taking advantage already have a reservation – though this blog is not an average cut of society. Or does Disney figure those with reservations already have a budget and therefore this just becomes a shift from one bucket to another and they just regain the revenue in food or merchandise? I have always thought the operational algorithms the airlines use must be pretty spiffy but I bet Disney could challenge them on calculating that individual reservation price for each consumers vacation (the maximum each consumer would pay for a vacation – what you give up in a room you could get back in a ticket, or special event, or food, or etc. etc. etc.)….
First, you’re right that the readers of this blog are not representative of the general public. So that plays a huge role.
Second, I’d hazard a guess that many (not most, but a not insignificant number) people who rebook to take advantage of the discount are banking on that, and would cancel their reservations if one didn’t become available.
Finally, a lot of assumptions are made about the sophistication of Disney’s analytics, tracking, forecasting, etc…but from the accounts I’ve heard, this is simply not the case. This technology obviously exists and Walt Disney World has some of the groundwork to implement it, but they’ve yet to even remotely harness this to its full potential.
Disney is making money either way trust me on that.
Most people make reservations pay the $200 deposit and wait for the discounts. Since nothing needs to be paid until a month before they can move and cancel no problems.
I’m an example of someone with an existing reservation who Disney made money on by offering this discount. I could not afford rack rate at a deluxe, so booked a moderate, and when the discount came out, the deluxe hotels became more affordable so I switched, at an increased cost of about $800 for the full trip (at rack rates, the upgrade would have been around $2,000). Yes I’d still go the WDW either way, but the discount persuaded me to pay more for an upgrade that was previously out of my budget at rack rates.
We already booked a Polynesian studio villa for the last week in April and when I spoke to a Disney agent to retroactively add the offer he said it wouldn’t apply to the studio villas either because the Polynesian bungalows and villas were considered a separate resort unto themselves (which I already knew). When I pointed out that the offer states that bungalows only were excluded he double checked and was just as confused as to why the offer didn’t pop up for the studio villas. His guess was that all the limited offers had been claimed, but wouldn’t that show as such on his end? Just wanted to make anyone else staying at the Poly aware.
I originally had a trip booked for WL in August but unfortunately the discount could not be applied. Looks like I’m probably moving down to a moderate resort.
So I see that the dates im going May 7th – May 12th at Caribbean beach I qualify but my travel agent said I would have to transfer to Coronado springs to get the deal? Why?
I can’t speak to this specific example, but often resorts are listed as eligible, but don’t have availability for certain dates, room categories, etc.
Thank you so much! I just saved $655 on my room discount. I was on hold for 20 minutes and the agent took care of me and in 5 minutes I was done. Best 20 minutes wait ever
Would you be willing to share an idea date range and resort so I can have an idea I’d this might work for me?
I will be staying in ALL starts movie resort the second week of August
Would you be willing to share an idea date range and resort so I can have an idea I’d this might work for me?
Would you be willing to share an idea date range and resort so I can have an idea I’d this might work for me? Thank you!
Remember there is online chat as long as you switch the country to USA on the website. Then don’t need to wait on the phone.
Thanks for the info. We were already book for POP in August for week before the start of free dining :(. I would never have looked to see if a new offer was added a few days after the free dining was announced. thanks to your info I was able to apply the summer offer and save almost $200. Thank you!!
Hi Tom, Thanks for the info! Do you know if they are ever going to bring back the Disney Visa card room discount? I keep calling guest relations every month to see if it’s available, but so far no luck 🙁
Does anyone know if they will offer a Passholder discount for the end of summer (trip is the end of July that I’m planning)?
I’m thinking of buying the Annual Pass but I want to make sure they have a room discount offer for my trip.
I so love your posts. I wouldn’t have known about this otherwise. I was able to go in and change our two reservations at Port Orleans in June 2020 and save $280 in about 5 minutes of work!
I already had a preferred room booked at Pop Century from May 3-8. I just went and tried to apply this offer and it said it was not available. Does that mean my room does not qualify or that I was too late to get the discount? Is there anything I can do to have it apply to my trip? Thank you!
I’d call and talk to someone and see what’s going on. Unless you used a discount when you originally booked that was better than this deal, you should be able to update with this discount. A CSR should be able to clarify for you or get it applied.
I’m going May 10th and staying at Pop Century also. I called and they gave me 15% off each of my rooms. I would call if you did t already.
These discounts are not all days and room types–only way to know what is available for your date range is to do the search
I got a preferred room at pop century may5-15th and they added the discount no problems, along with the Canadian resident ticket price.
Room discount I could do on the online chat. Tickets I had to call in but it took all of 5 minutes after I was on hold for 30.
Tom,
Thanks so much for the information!
Saved me $200 on my vacation in June.
Hi Tom. I have been following your posts since our first trip in 2018 and they have been so helpful, thank you! My family is staying at All Star Movies 5/11/20-5/20/20. My travel agent just called and was able to get the 15% room discount. However, we were hoping for the kids free meal plan also. Disney told our agent that our dates don’t qualify? Any idea what the problem is?
The Kid-Sized Package Offer is valid for arrivals most nights from May 25, 2020 through August 28, 2020.
Question for the group! Would this be the best price? Or what are the odds there will be a better promotion? Anyone have historical recollection?
I have already booked 3 family suites at Art of Animation from May 1-4 with 2 days of Park Hopper passes for everyone. Will I be able to get the discount applied automatically or do I need to contact Disney?
You will need to do it yourself unless you book through a travel agent and then they do the work for you 😉
My travel agent tried for me but was told that there is a minimum 4 day stay for this promotion. With the free dining promotions the stay requirement of 4 days is made quite clear. This one seemed rather deceiving.
Brenda, you should definitely press your Travel Agent to double check. Disney’s booking site says minimum stay is 1 night, so you should be able to apply the discount to any length of trip. I went to Disney’s site and was able to get the discount to display for same days as you mentioned, so unless you’re staying in the mermaid rooms, which you shouldn’t be as you’re in a suite, you should be able to get the discount.
Did you book with any other discounts when you originally booked your trip?
Thank you for the information! If I have already booked my trip will I get the discount automatically or do I need to contact the resort?
You will need to do some work. You don’t necessarily need to contact the resort. If you go to the offers page and click the offer you’re looking for, there’s usually a button that allows you to see if you can apply to your vacation.
You can go online to the Disney experience app and modify your reservation.
Seeing this fall room only discount offer, i have a question. I have already made a reservation for the Beach club starting September 12th and I am waiting to apply a discount. Do you know if the dates are for guest arriving by September 12th get the 20% discount for their whole stay or if it is only the exact nights that are listed above… meaning we would only get a 20% discount on the first night of our 7 day trip?
Looks like it should apply to your entire vacation. I went in to start a new reservation for Sept 12 and it said it just has to start before that day.
We arrive sept 12 and only stay through the 14th but they let us apply the discount to the entire stay. Was on hold for 36 mins before I got through, but worth calling in before they are sold out! Good luck 🙂