Hi Christina, welcome home and welcome to planDisney! Visiting Walt Disney World with friends is simply the best. My fellow panelists
Corey and
Olivier had a friends trip over Marathon Weekend this past January and we had a blast running the races, checking out the theme parks, and carb loading at some table service restaurants. Now let’s discuss applying Annual Passholder discounts on Disney Resort rooms!
In order to receive an Annual Passholder discount towards a room for a friend at a Disney Resort hotel, you would need to have a room booked for yourself at the same Resort hotel with the same travel dates and using the same discount. A room booked on Vacation Points would not count. This is something I confirmed with a Cast Member and she also stated that you can book up to three rooms using your Annual Passholder discount so long as the Passholder will be staying in one of the rooms. You will also be required to show a valid Annual Pass at check-in.
Christina, I know this might not be the answer you wanted to hear, so I’m offering some helpful tips and alternatives to help you save on your upcoming trip! First, I recommend checking out the Walt Disney World
special offers page to see the current promotions for Resort hotel rooms. I see discounts of up to 30% on rooms
through early Fall.
Disney+ subscribers are also eligible for room discounts this summer.
Second, you can skip booking a DVC Resort villa and instead book using the Annual Passholder discount so that you and your friend can book separate rooms and take advantage of the discount. My family will sometimes
bank our Vacation Points for the next Use Year and stay instead at
Disney’s Art of Animation Resort or
Disney’s Pop Century Resort when we want to save our Vacation Points for a bigger trip.
Lastly, you can also book a DVC Resort villa for your friend as well. If you’re short on Vacation Points, you can always
borrow Vacation Points from next year’s allotment or
purchase One-Time-Use Points. If you’re not a member of
Membership Magic Beyond, you may want to look into this optional program. Besides priority access to member lounges and special character experiences at the ImaginAtrium at the Member lounge in EPCOT, you can also get a discount on One-Time-Use Points!
Christina, I hope these options give you more insight on how to best plan out your upcoming trip with your friend. If you have any further questions on how to make the most of your DVC membership, please feel free to
contact me and my fellow panelists here at planDisney!
Your pal,
Sean