Bounceback deals are returning to Walt Disney World for 2024 vacations! These are the best way to book special offers a year in advance, and have been absent for the last 3 years since reopening. This post shares the official announcement, when booking begins, eligible 2024 stay dates, how to take advantage of these highly-coveted WDW deals, potential 2024 Free Dining implications, and much more.
Also known as “Future Stay Offers,” bounce-back discounts are only available to travelers who are currently staying at one of Walt Disney World’s resort hotels to book during the duration of their trip. Although full details aren’t known for the 2023-2024 incarnation of future stay offers, typically this discount must be booked during or shortly after check-out from your Walt Disney World resort.
Bounceback offers were typically the best way to book popular discounts pre-closure, but they were also confusing, elusive, and deceptively complicated. Their absence for the last few years will likely only add to the mystique as bounceback offers return, since I’m sure even many longtime fans forgot about the ins and outs of booking bounceback offers in the last 3 years. We’ll cover more of the ins and outs later in the post, but let’s start with the Summer 2023 news about the return of bounceback offers at Walt Disney World…
Here’s the announcement from Walt Disney World:
Next week, Guests staying at a Disney Resort hotel will begin receiving communication about a Resort Future Stay offer. Guests can save 25-35% on a future resort stay on select dates throughout 2024 — see below for offer details.
Details of this offer will be emailed directly to Guests on the morning of checkout, beginning July 5. In the weeks following, the offer will be shared with Guests through in-room collateral and on their in-room TVs. This offer is only bookable over the phone, and must be booked within 7 days from the date of checkout on the current reservation. Please keep in mind that to receive commission for the future booking, you will need to call on behalf of your client to make the reservation.
Here’s a look at the bounceback offer that will be released to resort guests at Walt Disney World in July 2023:
In case you can’t read that, here are the details:
- Save up to 25% off Value Resorts
- Save up to 30% off Moderate Resorts
- Save up to 35% off Deluxe Resorts & Deluxe Villas
Available the following dates:
- January 7-10, 2024
- January 15-18, 2024
- January 21-25, 2024
- January 28 to February 1, 2024
- February 4-8, 2024
- February 11-14, 2024
- February 19-22, 2024
- February 25 to March 16, 2024
- March 31 to May 23, 2024
- May 27 to August 29, 2024
- September 2-30, 2024
- October 27-31, 2024
- November 25-27, 2024
- December 1-24, 2024
The 2024 Resort Future Stay Offer excludes 3-bedroom Grand Villas, Bungalows at Disney’s Polynesian Villas and Bungalows, Cascade Cabins at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge, and the Campsites at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort.
For reference, this is better than the last bounceback offer from Walt Disney World. Not that it really matters, but comparisons are always fun, and the bounceback offer when the parks & resorts closed was a room-only discount with savings of 20% off Value Resorts, 25% off Moderate Resorts, and 30% off both Deluxe and Deluxe Villa Resorts. This “Future Stay Offer” was bookable when the parks closed, but it was cancelled and removed from rooms when resorts reopened.
My first reaction to this is that it’s great that bounceback offers are returning. The biggest barrier to booking bounceback offers is knowledge. Once you have that–and you will after reading this–then bounceback offers are without a doubt the easiest and most hassle-free way to book popular discounts.
Honestly, I’m also a bit surprised that bounceback offers are returning. My impression even pre-closure was that bounceback offers was a relatively small initiative, and like so many ‘little things’ of that scale that have seemingly been lost forever, I figured that bounceback offers might’ve met that fate. (On the plus side, this could mean that there’s hope for Tables in Wonderland!)
My other initial reaction was that it’s great Walt Disney World is going to email bounceback offers to guests upon checkout. From a practical perspective, this is a much better approach–and one that would likely achieve a higher ‘success’ rate and greater guest visibility.
Then I continued reading the announcement, and subsequent sentences make it unclear whether the in-room collateral and television messages will replace the emails. (Frankly, I’m glad they’re going to be doing the in-room collateral. I know I’m a weirdo, but getting lucky and having the in-room flyer was always exciting–like a lower-stakes version of discovering hidden treasure!)
Frankly, the wording makes me wonder whether this is being rolled out hastily, and is yet another sign that bookings are trending downward and Walt Disney World is scrambling to buoy bookings. Why else would the emails go out first but the printed collateral and television messages not yet be ready?
Finally, this made me think about the potential implications for Free Dining, which is the definitive Walt Disney World discount. Free Dining overshadows all else, and it’s pretty much always front-of-mind whenever discounts or Disney Dining Plan news is released. This bounceback offer is the first real 2024 Walt Disney World discount that’s being released in the post pent-up demand era and following the release of the 2024 Disney Dining Plan.
We’ve been speculating for the last month-plus that the table is already being set for the potential return of Free Dining, and this bounceback offer only reaffirms that. This is pretty consistent with past bounceback offers to be released prior to Free Dining (there’s always overlap) and, as noted above, actually offers superior savings.
The one big thing to note here is the late Summer and Fall 2024 dates that are not available for the bounceback offer. While valid for almost the entire summer, and there a number of blockout dates in October and November 2024. That’s not necessarily conclusive of future discounts–or the lack thereof–for those time frames. Things can and will change as those dates draw nearer, and actual occupancy numbers are known.
Nevertheless, they’re at least somewhat instructive. If you’re already planning for a Walt Disney World vacation in the final four months of 2024, have flexibility in your travel dates, and want to be able to book the best possible discounts (hopefully Free Dining!), we’d recommend avoiding the dates that are not eligible for the bounceback offer. Those are more likely to be blocked out for future discounts, too.
With all of that said, here’s what you need to know about bounceback offers at Walt Disney World based on past precedent from pre-closure…
FAQ & How to Book ‘Future Stay Offer’ Discounts
Before we get ahead of ourselves, we should offer a ‘bounceback offer’ definition. Bouncebacks (or bounce-backs, or bounce backs…there’s really no consistent terminology) are targeted offers released to Walt Disney World hotel guests. They are not a type of discount, but they’re a method of booking a discount. (Think of them like PIN or Unique Offer Codes, except targeted differently.)
Usually, bounceback offers are very similar to deals that will be available for the general public to book at a later date. In many cases, bounceback offers might have more or better dates, more room inventory, and/or less exclusions. The most common bouncebacks are room-only discounts, while the most popular (by far) is the Free Dining Bounceback.
Bounceback offers are distributed via in-room fliers that are usually similar in size to park maps (see above). Unlike PIN/UOCs, receipt or possession of a flier is not necessary to book a bounceback. This trips up a lot of people, as most guests don’t read blogs like this one.
Short of tangible receipt of the bounceback flier or being plugged-in and reading about it online, how else are you going to know you’re eligible for “Future Stay Offers” at Walt Disney World? You could really miss out, and you’d never know! (In other words, not reading this blog is detrimental to your well-being, so never stop.)
So, who isn’t eligible? Obviously, anyone who is at home. Also, anyone who is at Walt Disney World, but is staying off-site or in third-party hotels. You need to be staying at a Disney-owned hotel in order to take advantage of the Future Stay Offers. It doesn’t matter if you will be arriving soon at Walt Disney World–you aren’t eligible to book unless you’re currently staying in a Disney-owned hotel at Walt Disney World, or are within the window following check-out.
Beyond that, it doesn’t matter in which WDW hotel you’re presently staying or which promotion you’ve booked your current stay under. Pre-closure, you could book up to three hotel rooms via the bounce back offer for multiple travel dates, but those rooms must be under the name of an adult on your current reservation. This means that during your current stay, you could book yourself bounceback room-only deals for three different trips in June, September, and December. Again, that was the case prior to the closure–we do not yet know whether this will be the policy for 2024 bouncebacks.
Among diehard Walt Disney World planners, it’s very popular to do a strategic short stay during the bounceback window to make yourself eligible for the following year’s bounceback offer. (It most frequently was done for Free Dining, but we’ve heard of some people doing it for other offers!) This is not as crazy of an idea as it might sound!
You might remember the fictional Costanza family from New York, who have booked a variety of fake vacations in past blog posts on this site. The Costanza family now has 4 “Disney adults,” as their kids have grown up (I know you’re all on the edge of your seats with curiosity, so yes, they have added more pet hamsters to their family–they now have 15!–but none of those will be joining them on this trip).
The Costanzas really like the location of the Magic Kingdom area hotels, but they are incredibly frugal. As such, the Costanzas follow the advice in our Tips for Renting Disney Vacation Club Points post, and book a 1-night stay in a Deluxe Studio at Disney’s Grand Floridian Villas in September 2023 for ~$250. After checking in, they arrive at their room to find that there is no flyer for the 2024 Resort Future Stay Offer in their room.
Cool as a cucumber and never one to get upset, Mr. Costanza picks up the in-room phone and dials x8844. A Cast Member assists them in booking for next year. Alternatively, since Mr. Costanza is on vacation and doesn’t want to deal with a call center or being on hold, he could simply contact his fee-free Authorized Disney Travel Planner, or travel agent.
In a perfect world, he’d give them a heads up about booking this bounce-back before his trip, which would make this a matter of a quick, one-line email during his trip. (We’ve done–and recommend–the latter approach.)
Since they only took a 1-night vacation this year, they go all out and book a stay at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge for December 10 through 24, 2024. Although Mr. Costanza does not celebrate Christmas, and finds tinsel distracting, he finds the ambiance of Wilderness Lodge very enjoyable during the holidays.
This will be an expensive vacation package–and as we’ve noted, the Costanzas are frugal–but after crunching the numbers, the Costanzas realized it’s worth the splurge to book the 2024 bounceback that offers 35% off the resort stay.
These somewhat extreme example should illustrate a few important points:
- How you booked your current stay does not matter–it just matters that you’re staying in a Disney resort.
- It does not matter if your current resort is excluded from the bounceback promo you want to book–you can book any eligible resort while staying at any Disney resort.
- Your current length of stay does not matter.
- The flier not being in your room makes no difference–dial x8844 and you can book the bounce-back offer.
The first three points we’ve covered above in sufficient detail (I hope) but the last point is worthy of elaboration. Mousekeeping is supposed to leaves these fliers in every single room, but sometimes, that does not happen. As you might know from our past posts, Mousekeeping is currently understaffed (and overworked) and sometimes oversights are made. It happens.
The last time it was offered (Fall 2019), we stayed in 6 different Walt Disney World resorts during the window that was eligible to book the Free Dining Bounce Back Offer. A couple of these rooms did not have the bounceback flier in them. This wasn’t because we weren’t eligible (again, anyone currently in a Disney-owned hotel is eligible) but due to simple human error. It was no big deal, because all we needed to do was pick up the in-room phone, dial x8844, and inquire about what (if any) bounceback offers were available to us.
We cannot reiterate enough that dialing x8844 is how to book the bounceback offer (if you booked your current stay with a travel agent, they can also handle it for you, making this entirely hassle-free for you). Do not call the front desk and do not call the central reservations line. While there is a chance that Cast Members at either of those lines will be able to help, there’s also a chance they won’t.
Walt Disney World is a incredibly complex organization and it is not possible for every Cast Member to know every single thing about the resort. If you’ve read the blog post to this point, you already know more about bounceback or future stay offers than ~98% of Cast Members. Any questions you could have now are unlikely to be answerable by anyone but a Cast Member whose role specifically pertains to booking bouncebacks.
The specific role of Cast Members at x8844 is booking bounceback offers, so they have specialized knowledge of the promotions, and will be much better at helping you. (Same goes for travel agents and having this specialized knowledge.) Think of it like a doctor. You might absolutely adore your proctologist (said no one ever)…but you should really go to a neurosurgeon for an operation on your brain, rather than the butt doctor.
Ultimately, booking a bounceback offer is not brain or butt surgery, even if our long-winded explanation might make it seem just as complicated. Hopefully, we’ve broken these discounts down in a way that makes sense and clarifies the who/how/when/etc. of Walt Disney World Bounceback Offers. We are huge fans of these deals, as they take a lot of the stress out of booking discounts–namely, the waiting and hoping there’s availability for your travel dates and resort. If you get the chance, we’d recommend booking the Bounceback or Future Stay Offer as a safety net when you visit Walt Disney World.
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
Have you booked any Bounceback or Future Stay Offer in the past at Walt Disney World? Do you make a point of calling x8844 to check for bouncebacks even if you don’t receive an in-room flier? 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!
