Walt Disney World has teased a new October through December 2025 discount, which was buried in the press release about Christmas in the parks & resorts. This shares the basic outline of that special offer in case you missed it, our initial assessment and why this deal might be on the subpar side, plus what else we can expect in terms of deals later this week–and potentially more for travel dates in August & September 2025.
As background, Walt Disney World released its last ‘wave’ of discounts for 2025 vacations this summer and fall back in late March and early April. That included special offers for Annual Passholders, Floridians, Disney Visa cardholders, and the general public. (See All Current Walt Disney World Discounts for 2025.)
Notably, there’s an AP offer that runs from August to December 2025, but is only valid the following dates:
- August 1 to October 11, 2025
- October 20 to November 1, 2025
- November 17 to November 24, 2025
- December 6 to December 22, 2025
There’s also currently the Stay Longer & Save Up to 30% Off Walt Disney World Rooms, which runs from August 1 to October 11, 2025. Another wave of Free Dining was also available, but it was quietly pulled from the special offers page a few weeks ago (as has become an increasingly common practice).
Separately, there are also the 3-Park Magic Discount Walt Disney World Ticket and/or the 50% Off Kids Ticket Deal for Walt Disney World. There’s also Walt Disney World’s sizzling summer offer for rooms starting at $99/night or ~50% off–the biggest room-only discount in years. That discount runs from now through July 31, 2025. If you combine all of these deals, you could get the cheapest Walt Disney World trip in July 2025 since at least 2019.
Last but not least, there’s the Save Up to 40% Off Walt Disney World Resorts ‘Happiest Price on Earth’ Flash Sale. That just launched today on Priceline and runs through July 11, 2025 for the exact same dates (Aug. 1 to Oct. 11) as the ‘Stay Longer & Save More’ deal.
As shared in our latest update to that discount, we’ve actually been able to find some discounted rates of 40% off. Not for our travel dates, but it’s worth checking out–especially if you’re flexible on dates or resorts. You might find a deal that beats the current general public or even the AP rate. That’s not the case for our upcoming trips, but it’s absolutely worth checking out. Definitely a YMMV deal.
All of this brings us to Walt Disney World’s teaser for the Halloween and Holidays special offer:
Looking to celebrate the best time of the year in a Disney Resort hotel with plenty of benefits including 30 minutes of early theme park entry and, for guests of Disney Deluxe Resort hotels or Disney Deluxe Villas, extended evening park hours?
Friends and families can save up to 20% on rooms at select Disney Resort hotels, while also receiving up to a $100 Walt Disney World Resort Dining & Shopping Card when adding four-day (or longer!) standard theme park tickets to their stay.
This offer is available to book starting July 10 for stays most Sunday to Thursday nights October 12-November 20, 2025, and most nights November 23-December 25, 2025. Visit DisneyWorld.com/SpecialOffers on July 10, 2025, to get offer details.
Whether you’re from California, New York, Texas or even just down the street, get ready to dash through the snow as you laugh and play all the way to Disney World this winter. There’s plenty of fun to be had as you ride your favorite attraction and sing your favorite Disney song this holiday season, so make sure to check your list twice and start planning now.
In other words, at least one discount is dropping on July 10, and it’ll be a vacation package deal maxing out at 20% off plus a $100 dining & shopping gift card. This two-fer discount might sound pretty excellent, but as we explain below, that could be deceiving.
As for what else will be released, that’s the only sure thing. Our hope is that there’s also a general public room discount (ideally 30% off that could scale to 35% with a ‘stay longer & save more’ option). If that deal does scale, another AP and FL resident deal with better savings and more gap-filler dates is also likely.
And as noted above, Free Dining was pulled prematurely–in the past, that has happened so it could be re-released later as a “new” discount (perhaps with modified dates). I wouldn’t expect any wild cards at this point–that percentage savings plus the gift card is the marquee wild card special offer around which marketing campaigns will be oriented. That reality probably rules out a return of Free Dining, unless Walt Disney World wants to get aggressive (and finally comes to terms with Free Dining not having the cachet that it once did).
It’s also possible that whatever is released has blockout dates that mirror the aforementioned Annual Passholder discount. All of the exclusions are for good reason–they’re Fall Break, Jersey Week, Veterans Day, and Thanksgiving. My gut says that degree of exclusions is a bit too heavy-handed and likely the result of Walt Disney World erring on the side of caution since the AP discount was released so early. But at least some of those dates could be blocked out from general public special offers, too. We’ve seen that plenty of times in the past with discounts during October, November, and December!
If you’re already overwhelmed or want someone else to do the homework for you, use a travel agent. Any travel agent! We recommend requesting a FREE no obligation quote from Be Our Guest Vacations, an Authorized Disney Vacation Planner and having them book for you.
They’ll assist you with the planning process, help you choose the most economical dates, best add-ons, etc. Notably, they also monitor reservations and can retroactively apply new discounts if a better deal is released to save you more money. Similarly, they’ll help you with discount comparison shopping so you book the best discount for you, not just the catchiest one. (As might be the case with the 20% off + gift card deal.)
Walt Disney World makes these special offers confusing on purpose so that comparison shopping is more difficult. This is done in a bunch of little ways, which I assume is for marketing purposes or to appeal to different consumer psychologies. I really don’t know. Regardless, we highly recommend using a travel agent–even if it’s not Be Our Guest Vacations. (Just don’t use a Big Box or MLM–see Why You Should Use A Disney Travel Agent for more.)
If you are going to go the travel agent route for the October through December deals, you need to do so ASAP. Don’t expect to request a quote on July 10 at 8 a.m. and receive an immediate response–you need to get your ducks in a row now. My other advice is to provide them with backup options. As with all Walt Disney World special offers, some resorts, room types and dates won’t be available. Flexibility is the name of the game when it comes to deals like this. That’s doubly true during October through December, the most popular stretch of the year at Walt Disney World.
If you want to ‘do it yourself’ but aren’t sure which resort to book, check out our new Rankings of ALL Resort Hotels at Walt Disney World from Worst to Best. Several of the resorts with the biggest savings are in the top 10!
When it comes to the deal(s) that’ll be released on July 10, that’s all we know. Nothing about participating resorts, excluded room categories, anything else. My guess is that we’re going to see special offers, plural, even though Walt Disney World has only teased one. But that’s just a guess. I would also guess that October through December discounts will come out first, and by themselves, before any (potential) aggressive discounts backfilling August and September 2025.
For reference, last year’s discount for Halloween and Christmas was up to 30% off resorts for stays most nights from November 24 to December 25, and up to 20% off stays most Sunday to Thursday nights from October 6 to November 21. There were a bit more quirks to the special offer, but that was the basic contours of the deal.
Discounts were as low as 10% off some Deluxe Villas (Wilderness Lodge and Animal Kingdom) as well as the Polynesian and all Value Resorts. At the other end of the spectrum, most Deluxe Resorts were 30% off during December.
Separately, there were additional discounts for Florida residents and Annual Passholders: Save up to 40% on rooms for stays most nights from December 9 to December 25; Save up to 35% on rooms for stays most Sunday to Thursday nights from October 6 to November 21, and most nights from November 24 to December 25. (As always, APs got superior savings, with the discounts being 5-10% less for Floridians, depending upon dates.)
While it’ll come down to the specifics, it’s likely that a similarly-tiered discount peaking at 20% off with an up to $100 dining gift card that requires a minimum length-of-stay and ticket purchase will be inferior to last year’s offers for many travelers. This would probably be true even if you assume the minimum stay and tickets are something you’d do anyway.
This is because it appears that the dining card will be per stay as opposed to per night. A 4-night stay works out to be $25 per night (via the gift card deal), whereas 10% off Disney’s BoardWalk Inn (about middle of the road when it comes to Deluxe Resort rack rates) is $77.60 for the least-expensive holiday season travel dates. In other words, you’d be better off forgoing the discount in favor of 30% off Deluxe Resorts as opposed to 20% off plus that gift card.
I hesitate to do any more math, even of the back-of-envelope nature, because Walt Disney World has only teased details so far and the specifics could differ dramatically. If that dining & shopping gift card ends up being per night instead of per stay, it would change the equation pretty dramatically. But it seems like Walt Disney World would’ve clearly communicated as much if that were the case, leading me to believe this special offer will be inferior to last year.
So what gives? Why would Walt Disney World offer lesser deals than last year given the scorching summer sales? One straightforward explanation is what we discussed at length in Why Summer is the New Low Crowds Season at Walt Disney World.
The whole point of that post is that attendance and occupancy are not down across the board; that this phenomenon is confined to the summer. This is why we cautioned readers against wanting to confirm their own narratives about Disney pricing out the middle class, higher prices, fewer perks, or Disney’s declining reputation.
The only explanations that work for the crowds slump were ones unique to summer. Because the rest of the year, especially winter, is getting comparatively busier due to guests shifting their trips away from what used to be the summer tourist season. That alone could explain the increase in discounts for May through September, but a decrease in deals for October through December. (Expect a similar story in January through March; the discount decrease then might be even more pronounced as winter crowds increase.)
Beyond that, CFO Hugh Johnston expressed enthusiasm for the Parks & Resorts segment during the company’s most recent earnings call, indicating that Walt Disney World performed better than expected for the fiscal quarter. As discussed in Walt Disney World Bookings Are Up for Rest of 2025, resort reservations for the remainder of this year are outpacing last year.
Johnston revealed that bookings for Walt Disney World are trending up 4% in the third quarter and up 7% for the fourth quarter. Not only that, but the first quarter of 2026 (which is actually October through December 2025), Disney previously guided to 6% to 8% growth. Given the numbers that the CFO was seeing (as of May), the actual growth is probably going to be at the higher end of that for the Experiences business for this year.
While those year-over-year increases sound impressive–and are given the surrounding circumstances–keep in mind that last year was down as compared to the prior year. So the baseline was lower, and this is more a reversion to the norm. It’s also possible that these numbers are up so much because of discounting. July is part of the third quarter that’s trending up 4%, and we’re seeing unprecedented deals for this month, in particular.
In other words, it is possible that Walt Disney World is fueling strong results by continuing the aggressive discounts for otherwise lower-occupancy months. That strikes me as highly plausible again for August through September 2025, which is why we’re still of the belief that something on par with the sizzling summer Disney+ subscriber deal could come out of left field. That seems much less likely for October through December, though. There just isn’t the same need for discounting to incentivize visits, as that’s happening organically as summer hollows out.
Speaking of which, what could we see for an August and/or September surprise deal? We pretty much already covered this in the Priceline post, but I’d expect the best deals to be on the following resorts (asterisks indicate Disney+ deal eligibility):
- All Star Resorts*
- Port Orleans Riverside Resort*
- Coronado Springs Resort
- Family Suites at Art of Animation Resort*
- Saratoga Springs Resort*
- Old Key West Resort
- Animal Kingdom Lodge*
- Cabins at Fort Wilderness
- Grand Floridian Resort
- Yacht Club Resort
This list is based on a mixture of the aggressive Disney+ deal, plus previous inclusion in aggressive discounts and Priceline Express Deals. Inclusion of resorts with convention centers depends on group bookings for fall and beyond–we’ve heard some rumblings that these have been soft as Disney faces increased competition and businesses look to cut costs.
Finally, I wouldn’t expect the aggressive Disney+ deal to be surpassed. That was really good and sold out fast; if Disney learned any lesson from that, it’s probably that they don’t need to dangle 50%+ off. But we shall see!
We’re in uncharted territory at this point, with Walt Disney World deviating pretty substantially from the 2019 playbook that they’d been using. We’ll be monitoring special offers during ‘Christmas in July’ and will keep you posted with specifics, analysis, and will notify subscribers of our free email newsletter when any Walt Disney World discounts are released or rumored!
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
YOUR THOUGHTS
Thoughts on the upcoming October through December deals at Walt Disney World? Expect this round of special offers to be better or worse than last year? Think Walt Disney World is achieving year-over-year growth due to aggressive discounts or something else? Did you book something during the Priceline Happiest Price on Earth Flash Sale as a safety net? What do you think of these Walt Disney World discount predictions? Would you book a quick trip in August or September if savings on par with the Disney+ deal are offered again? Do you agree or disagree with our assessments? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
