Daily fluctuations in room rate on WDW site?

[kalikiana]

Hi everyone! So much helpful information on these boards as we plan our first family trip to Disney! I'm hitting a roadblock though and hoping you guys can help (tried to do a search on here with not much luck so I'm sorry if this is a duplicate question).

I am trying to put together a spreadsheet of different hotels/rates and checked the website on Sunday, then Wednesday, and then again today and each day the rates have been different (like hundreds of dollars/night in some cases). Is that what it's going to be? Or does it have something to do with them doing maintenance? Before I go crazy trying to nail down rates to compare in this spreadsheet, wanted to ask the gurus on here If it helps, looking specifically at AKL, Poly, Contemporary, Beach Club.

Thank you in advance for your help!

 

[dmunsil]

The base rates do not vary for the same dates, but if you're just looking at the summary screen that shows multiple resorts, it will always show the cheapest room type available. So if, say, a standard room is available one day, and then the next day standard rooms are sold out, the price listed will change, but that's because it's showing the rate for a different room type.

The other thing that can happen is that it may be showing you a room discount, and the discount could be coming and going as people book and cancel over time. Really, you have to drill down to the individual resort and make sure you are seeing the same combination of:

- Resort
- Room type
- Dates
- Guests (more than 2 adults incurs a surcharge at most resorts)
- Discount

If all five of the above are the same, the rate will be the same.

 

[kalikiana]

The base rates do not vary for the same dates, but if you're just looking at the summary screen that shows multiple resorts, it will always show the cheapest room type available. So if, say, a standard room is available one day, and then the next day standard rooms are sold out, the price listed will change, but that's because it's showing the rate for a different room type.

The other thing that can happen is that it may be showing you a room discount, and the discount could be coming and going as people book and cancel over time. Really, you have to drill down to the individual resort and make sure you are seeing the same combination of:

- Resort
- Room type
- Dates
- Guests (more than 2 adults incurs a surcharge at most resorts)
- Discount

If all five of the above are the same, the rate will be the same.

Definitely makes sense, thank you! I also discovered the rack rates listed at MouseSavers which definitely helped me get a baseline for what to expect too. Hmm, just went back and tried to search again and still can't figure out what I did (how did I get a $319 standard rate at AKL for the last weekend in April??) but at least I know for future searches!

Thank you again for your help!