This post contains sponsored content from DVC Rental Store. Help support WDWNT by using the links in this article to book your next resort stay with our sponsors, DVC Rental Store.

Deluxe Resorts at Walt Disney World are always a great place to stay, but the prices can sometimes be insane! Even with Disney promotions, the prices can be out of reach for many families. But there’s no denying that a stay at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge will be better than Pop Century.

Disney has just released a promotion, the “Play, Stay and Enjoy a Disney Dining Promo Card,” in which you can get a $1000 dining promo card when you stay 5 nights at a Deluxe resort. Surely that can impact your vacation budget in a meaningful way. However, there are several restrictions on this promotion that may impact whether it’s a good deal for you. We’ll talk about these a bit later.

But first, let’s look at some potential comparisons when booking Disney’s “Play, Stay and Enjoy a Disney Dining Promo Card” promotion versus booking through our sponsor, DVC Rental Store.

Booking Play, Stay, and Enjoy a Disney Dining Promo Card Directly through Disney’s Website

Example trip: 2 adults, 5 nights at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge – Jambo House in a 1 Bedroom Villa Standard View, from 2/27/24 to 3/3/24

Because you are booking a package, this 5-night stay includes park tickets, specifically 2 adult 4-day non-park-hopping tickets, as shown below.

The total price of this package is $6597.40, but this includes the $1000 Disney Dining Promo Card, which means the cost after deducting the $1000 value of the promo card is $5597.40.

Booking The Same Hotel and Park Tickets through DVC Rental Store

Example trip: 2 adults, 5 nights at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge – Jambo House in a 1 Bedroom Villa Standard View, 2/27/24 to 3/3/24

You can look up pricing for any DVC resorts using the Check Availability page at DVC Rental Store.

For the same exact dates and room type, we find the following pricing.

Now, of course, this isn’t a package, it’s just the room, so we will need to add 2 adult 4-day tickets to this price.

You can order your park tickets directly from Disney, but to save you even more money, DVC Rental Store provides discounted park tickets when you book a room!

When we total up the cost of the room plus the tickets from the DVC Rental Store, the amount is $4328.94. Compare that to the price through Disney, which (after deducting the $1000 dining promo card) is $5597.40, and you’re saving $1268.46!

As I alluded to at the beginning of the article, the Disney “Play, Stay and Enjoy a Disney Dining Promo Card” promotion has a number of restrictions. Obviously, the biggest one is that you have to spend the $1,000 dining card on dining at Walt Disney World. Admittedly, that’s not hard to do, but if you’re on a tight budget and plan to eat off-property for several meals, then this restriction may end up costing you more.

The second restriction of the promotional package is that all guests in the room must book the same package. This becomes significant if anyone in your party is an Annual Passholder because they’re not going to need those 4-day park tickets (unless they have blackout dates, but even then, they aren’t going to need all four days). This restriction is put in place because Disney is marketing this package deal to vacationers from out of state who don’t have Annual Passes, so naturally, they’re going to need park tickets.

For example, if you were traveling as a party of 4, but 2 of the people in your party had Annual Passes, you’d be spending an additional $1200 or so for tickets that are not necessary. By booking through DVC Rental Store, there are no ticket requirements, so even if all 4 people in your party were Annual Passholders, you’d still be able to take advantage of the best pricing.

The main takeaway from this comparison exercise is that even when Disney is offering a fairly attractive promotion giving away a $1000 dining promo card, there are still better deals out there. Our example above is just an example – we don’t expect that you’ll want to book this exact vacation. But regardless of your travel needs, you’ll still find a better deal at DVC Rental Store for almost any length of stay at any time of year, whether you need park tickets or not!