Booked @ RPH at the ghastly "standard" rates for July ; needed 3 rooms so I called (instead of just on-line booking), as I also wanted to get the rooms as close to each other as possible. Booked 2 King Suites at $755.66 each, and one Standard King room at $622.23 (all pre-taxes). I asked about AAA and APH rates and was told none exist (well, there was an AAA rate for our dates BUT we needed to stay 5 nights instead of 3, so it's probably similar to the Stay More Play More & Savvy traveler rates). That said - the person assisting me on the call said she would designate each room as "APH Rate" just in case such a rate came through. I wasn't aware they could do that... and probably won't bank on it and still keep my eyes open in case an APH rate appears (because it might appear only for different room type, etc.) - but hey, I'll take every little bit of help I can get. May be worth it to make a call.
Update... just booked AP rate for a 2BR suite @ RPH for same dates. I'll call tomorrow to see if those "AP rates" were ever applied to the other rooms, but doubt it, lol - in which case I'll cancel those.
But hey, who knows. Worth a shot. I will say, however, that before these AP rates emerged, I had noticed a few weeks ago all the King Suite rooms at RPH were booked / gone. ANd now it seems I just took the last 2BR suite (or danr close to it, because those aren't showing up on the website now either). Let's face it, they aren't gonna put an AP rate on a sold out room, lol, so I'm glad I grabbed the 2BR when I did. Checked other resorts but room configurations at HRH just don't quite work for our group, and while PFB is lovely (saw some decent AP rates there; could have gotten 2 king rooms and a 2Q and perhaps *made* it work for us, albeit cramped), but we prefer the proximity of RPH to IOA and City walk over PFB, and now, with just 1 room, I only need to purchase 1 AP. For a group of 8 people at the 2 parks for 3 days, buying the unlimited express park-to-park passes would cost $4800 alone. So we are about breaking even now vs (a cheaper resort / buying UExP passes) but with the added benefit of being onsite, within easy walking distance to parks and City Walk, and enough space for all (wish we had 1 more bathroom, but oh well!)
NEW AP RATE: (for same mid July '22 dates)
RPH 2BR Hospitality Suite (w/ K and 2Q water view rooms; 7 adults 1 child) $1703.11 each for Fri/Sat nights, and $1441.99 for Sun night.
Total $4848.21 (plus all those lovely taxes)
Prior Rates: RPH 1 King Suite (3 adults) @ $824 (Fri, Sat) and $754 (Sun)
RPH 1 King Suite (2 adults 1 child) @ $779 (Fri, Sat) and $709 (Sun)
RPH 1 Std King (2 Adults) @ $623 per nt, for just 2 nights.
TOTAL: $5915 (plus alllll those lovely taxes) (so yeah, if this works out, should save me over $1100, not including small extra cost of AP ticket.)
