Please - just slap me if I ever become one of those Disney people who thinks that because I love Walt Disney World it should love me back by giving me special codes for discounts that ordinary guests can’t have. I admit I long for a frequent guest program, like any rewards program letting me earn credits for future stays, but I hope I never succumb to “code mania”, like so many others have. And I don’t think Walt is rolling over in his grave because his company likes making money or that it is unfair that WDW sends postcards seemingly randomly with extra special codes only good for the person who receives it. I’ve never gotten one of these, I would like one of these, but I don’t think it’s some kind of a conspiracy that I’ve not been sent one.

Even so, I am constantly on the lookout for codes and other discounts and cringe at the thought of paying regular “rack” rate at a WDW resort. Regular rack rate can be almost obscenely expensive, and this is why Mary at Mousesavers.com is my hero.

Her website with over 200 pages of savings on everything from room rates to luggage for your trip, and her newsletter are without a doubt the first things I look at when I plan a trip.

Let’s say I wanted to stay at Disney’s Grand Floridian this May, which is considered “regular season” there, and I wanted a theme park view for a long weekend. Regular rack rate would be $570 a night.

I don’t want to pay $570 a night so I check Mousesavers. The first thing I find is a discount for those of us that go to WDW a lot, and that’s the “bounceback discount promotion”. If I am at WDW and wanted to come back in May, I could call from my room and use get 30% and save over $170 a night, over $500 for a long weekend.

Mary tells about the code I use most frequently, the Annual Passholder code (or the AP code).  Getting an AP for WDW is not as silly as it sounds if you go every year, because after a certain amount of days it is actually cheaper to pay for the AP  than it would be to get a pass for the number of days you are at WDW, and with the AP you get room discounts. Savings vary but they can be huge, and the savings I got on our last stay was enough to actually pay for the AP. Remember, not everyone in your family needs to get the AP for you to get the savings, so do the math, it is often the case that the price of one annual pass will save you more than if you had bought regular passes. Using myself as an example, my $477 AP saved me this past year over $800 in room rate and several hundred for the price of park admission.

Mousesavers will tell of most special codes or offers that WDW has going, along with the normal ones like AAA, Florida resident, and veterans’ discounts. Everything is spelled out there, with charts breaking down seasonal rates, the dining plan, and types of rooms (with views and such). You really have to be foolish not to check Mousesavers.com because it is very unlikely that if you do you will pay full price.

I laughed when I read the “contact Mary” page on the site and would like to congratulate her for her grace and tact in urging people to read the “frequently asked questions” before writing to her. I can only imagine the desperate email pleas she gets, begging her to help get a family into a sold out character breakfast, or pleading for a code that have been mailed to others. It’s not like I can’t see why they go to her when they are losing hope about something, because she really does know her stuff. But we should all stop bugging her and just thank her - Thank you Mary! I wouldn’t be able to go to WDW as much as I do without your help!