Disney Resort Rack Rates

Until recently, making a reservation for a stay at one of the Walt Disney World resorts was fairly straightforward.  Rack rates, or the published full price for which hotel rooms are sold, were established for either four or five seasons throughout the calendar year.  The more crowded the time of year (Christmas and Summer for example), the more it cost to stay per night, no matter if it was a weekday or weekend.  The pricing and rates for Walt Disney World hotel stays in 2008 will be now be date specific.  First, you will now have to pay a nightly rate based on the season of that date.  For example, if your first night of your stay falls under the value season and the consecutive nights fall under peak season, you will no longer be able to maintain the value season rate for the entire reservation. Second, premium rates will now be applied for premium dates, such that staying on a Friday or Saturday night pricing may be higher than staying Sunday through Thursday. 

Starting in 2008, each night of your stay will be priced separately, and you will be charged the applicable rate for that night.  While there will still be "seasons," starting in 2008 the rates within those seasons will vary, with weekend nights (Friday and Saturday) and holidays in some seasons being higher priced than weeknights (Sunday through Thursday).  For example, if you check in on December 18, only that one night will be based on a cheaper value season rate.  Holiday season rates will apply from December 19^th on.  If some nights of your stay are weekend nights, you'll be charged the higher rate for those.  Moreover, all seasons have a few holiday periods where the rate per night increases as well.

            Let’s take a look at an example set of room rates for Disney’s Moderate resorts (Caribbean Beach, Coronado Springs, Port Orleans French Quarter and Port Orleans Riverside).  Thanks to mousesavers.com for this information!

Value Season: January 1 - February 13, August 3 - October 1, November 30 - December 18

Regular Season: March 30 - May 21, October 2 - November 29

Summer Season: May 22 - August 2

Peak Season: February 14 - March 29

Holiday Season: December 19 - December 31

• Rates in black are the basic rates for most dates in that season.
• Rates in red apply only on Martin Luther King Weekend, January 18-20.
• Rates in pink apply only on Presidents Day Weekend, February 15-17.
• Rates in green apply only on Easter Week, March 16-27.
• Rates in blue apply only on Independence Day Weekend, July 4-5.
• Rates in orange apply only on Thanksgiving Weekend, November 26-29.

	Value	Regular	Summer	Peak	Holiday
Standard View Sun-Thurs nights	$149 $159	$165 $175	$179	$189 $204 $199	$205
Standard View Fri & Sat nights	$149 $159	$175 $175	$189 $194	$199 $204 $199	$215
Water View, King Bed or Preferred Location Sun-Thurs nights	$165 $175	$185 $195	$199	$215 $230 $225	$230
Water View, King Bed or Preferred Location Fri & Sat nights	$165 $175	$195 $195	$209 $214	$225 $230 $225	$240

            While I expected the varying costs per night to be confusing, it can actually be displayed effectively in color-coded charts like the one above.  What does get a little daunting while trying to figure out how much you could pay is switching from chart to chart between the different resort types (Value, Moderate, Deluxe, and Vacation Club resorts) and then switching between each Deluxe Resort chart (that’s right, each Deluxe resort has its own chart!).  The sheer amount of numbers is a lot to take in, and might entail being extremely organized in your planning (or you could just simply ask a travel agent for help!)

While I am disappointed that guests may no longer take advantage of a single rate per season or utilizing a cheaper rate based on the first night of stay throughout their entire vacation, it seems as if the 2008 resort rates will not be as confusing as originally thought.

Dining Changes:

The other big changes for 2008 are related to the Dining Plan options:

• The price of the regular Dining Plan has been reduced by $1 per person per night, meaning the 2008 plan costs $37.99/adult and $9.99/child per night. However, it no longer includes gratuity or appetizers (but tax is still included).

• A new Deluxe Dining Plan is available for $69.99/adult and $19.99/child per night. With this new plan, each guest receives 3 meals and 2 snacks per night. You can choose from table service or counter service for each meal.  The table service meals include appetizer, entrée, dessert and non-alcoholic beverage. "Signature Restaurants" still count as 2 table service meals with this plan.  You also receive a refillable mug per person, to be used at your resort.  (This is a LOT of food – be careful if you are considering this dining option because three table service meals will not only take a HUGE appetite, it will also take a lot of time to sit through).

• A "Wine & Dine" Plan can be added on to any package that includes dining for $39.99 per night.  This allows you to enjoy one bottle of wine per night from a selected list.  (Again, be wary of this dining option – you might not be able to drink an entire bottle of wine per night, even with multiple people in your party.  A good idea is to take a look at how much alcoholic beverages cost at the restaurant you plan to dine at, and compare prices.  An entire bottle of wine a night may be a bit on the excessive side).

With all of these changes to resort pricing and dining packages, I think 2008 will be an interesting year for Walt Disney World.  While I think many, if not all of these changes, will stay in effect, is the cost of having so many different options available really worth it for Disney?  With multiple ticket types, variable resort prices, a multiple-tiered dining system, when will providing choices to Disney guests become too much?  If you ask me, planning a vacation to Walt Disney World might become needlessly complicated and cumbersome. 

Next time: We’ll take a look at the smallest Disney Resort on property; the Port Orleans French Quarter!