A Call To Disney = Vacation Savings

I had heard the urban myth about special codes being linked to one’s name at the Disney reservation center. The first time I heard about it was from a friend who was visiting Disney and ended up in the hot tub at Port Orleans French Quarter visiting with a lady who was on her 60th trip to Walt Disney World. The thought. . . this lady must know something to have that many trips under her belt.




Then I learned about pin codes that can be used for discounts. We have had some that were mailed to us and some that were e-mailed to us. We have even used a couple of them—applying the discounts to reservations we had made previously.

For the last few weeks, I had been reading about pin codes being available for summer and had been checking my e-mail, even the “junk” folder in case the e-mail had landed there. No luck. There just didn’t seem to be any Disney Discounts for our travel dates in July.



Yes, we had already received a nice discount through AAA including a bonus gift card. But I was wondering if we could save any more on our trip.

So, yesterday, I called Disney—the guest information line. I talked to a wonderful lady named Yvonne. I was a bit nervous about asking about special codes, but she quickly found our names and our existing reservation. She told me there were several codes available to us and if I would be patient, she would see which ones might apply to our existing reservation. Patient? Please! At this point, I am happy to hold!



Yvonne, asked me questions about previous stays, how many times we had visited, etc. while she worked her magic. Within a few minutes, she told me she had found a code for us for free dining during our stay. FREE DINING! Yeah! She said the reservation was an AAA reservation and she couldn’t make any changes, but she gave me the code to give to our travel agent so she could make the changes. My heart was racing!

While I had Yvonne on the phone, I asked about any specials for November, just in case we wanted to go again. She kept trying and trying. No luck. She said that the codes were for travel through August 14 and she encouraged me to call again. I will! I then thanked Yvonne and wished her a magical day before she could wish me one and we both laughed. Even calling a reservationist at Disney can be magical!



As soon as I hung up, I phoned our travel agent, told her about my call, and gave her the discount code. Within minutes I had an e-mail that said the code was for free Quick Service Dining Plan and that our travel agent had then upgraded to the Basic Dining Plan--click here to read more (which was on our reservation to begin with) as we would pay the difference for the upgrade. Total savings: $365.00—more than 10% of the total cost of our vacation.

Incredible! I was pumped. One phone call had saved us a bundle. Moral of the story: It is worth it to ask!