Walt Disney World deals are coming. The party doesn’t end after the Independence Day weekend, as another holiday is on the horizon: Christmas in July. There will be a ton of sales next week, and one of those will be a limited-time discount offering up to 40% off resort hotels at Walt Disney World.
The genesis of this all is Prime Day, which is essentially Amazon’s Christmas in July sale. The retail behemoth created its own money-saving holiday several years ago to rival Black Friday or Cyber Monday. Amazon’s Prime Day will return July 8-11, 2025 and there are already ‘early access’ deals in the lead-up to the sale.
Not wanting to miss out on the action, other retailers are getting in on the “fun” of Amazon Prime Day 2025, and next week basically has become the start of Christmas (shopping season) in July. There’s also Walmart Deals Week, which starts July 8, 2025 at 12 am ET. There’s also Target Circle Week, exclusive to Target Circle members, starting July 6, 2025. I’m sure Kohl’s is also having a sale…because when isn’t Kohl’s having a sale?!
The latest entry into the Christmas in July/Prime Day-counterprogramming is Priceline’s first-ever “Happy Price Days.” This is a brand-new savings event designed to bring big deals to top travel destinations.
To launch, Priceline is unveiling a can’t-miss offer for Walt Disney World fans and deal seekers alike: The Happiest Price on Earth Sale – featuring up to 40% off Walt Disney World Resort hotels, available exclusively from July 8-11, 2025.
For four days only, travelers can book their stay at The Most Magical Place on Earth at Priceline’s happiest prices of the season.
Thus far, those are the only details we have about “The Happiest Price on Earth Sale” for Walt Disney World. I received these details via a press release yesterday and followed up with a ton of questions–the exact ones I’m sure you have–and was going to wait until I had answers before publishing. But the clock is ticking on the holiday weekend and I doubt I’m going to have more before Monday, if at all.
Moreover, I wanted to put this on your radar because it’s likely that we’re going to see another flurry of Walt Disney World discounts in the next two weeks. Not just this, but special offers directly from Disney. We’ve started getting more questions about deals for the remainder of the year, and it’s likely that they’re coming soon. (In fact, that’s what the Priceline “Happiest Price on Earth Sale” might actually be.)
Let’s cover what to expect from the next wave of discounts, including but not limited to the Priceline Happiest Price on Earth Flash Sale, starting with what’s currently available…
In case you missed it, 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. For every other special offer that’s currently available, see All Current Walt Disney World Discounts for 2025.
The wide room discount for this time frame is the Stay Longer & Save Up to 30% Off WDW Rooms, which runs most nights 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).
Subsequent to that, Walt Disney World has released yet another resort special offer with rooms starting at $99/night or ~50% off–the biggest room-only discount in years. Even though it was released later, that discount only runs through July 31, 2025.
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 a better option! If you combine all of these deals, you could get the cheapest Walt Disney World trip in July 2025 since at least 2019.
Based on historical precedent, the next full round of 2025 discounts will be released between mid-June and early July 2025. Obviously, late June is already in the rearview mirror and no promotions are going to drop in the lead-up to the holiday weekend, so we’re looking at the second week of July 2025 at the absolute earliest.
This next wave should include more special offers for October through December 2025. The last round ended October 11, so it would stand to reason that the next set of special offers will run October 12 through December 23, 2025.
As always, that’s plus or minus a few days–there are holidays on both ends of that range that muddy the waters a bit (that long weekend in October is very popular for fall break, so I could see special offers potentially not starting until October 14, 2025).
As for what will be released, the only sure thing is a general public room discount (probably 30% off that could scale to 35% or 40% off with a ‘stay longer & save more’ option). If that deal does scale, another AP and FL resident deal with better savings and more 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 also wouldn’t be surprised by a wild card offer or two–potentially the ~$100 dining card deal or a kid-focused discount, such as kids play & dine for 50% off.
October through December is generally high occupancy and Disney already indicated that forward-bookings were strong, so the holiday season could see more restrained savings. It’s actually nearer term, in August and September, when we might see the more aggressive offers.
As suggested above, it’s entirely possible that the Priceline “Happiest Price on Earth Sale” is simply a marketing wrapper on top of discounts that will be publicly available from Walt Disney World. That all we’ve gotten here is the start date of July 8, 2025 for those. But it wouldn’t make sense for those special offers to be a flash sale that ends on July 11, 2025.
Maybe Priceline negotiated a “bonus” 5% off for a limited time, and the special offer will look very similar to what’s already been released for Annual Passholders and Florida residents for August through December 2025.
Maybe it’ll be only for August and September, and more closely align with the aforementioned Disney+ deal that is running for roughly one month. Maybe it’s an exclusive deal by virtue of being released first on Priceline, and then it’ll become available for the general public via DisneyWorld.com and travel agents the following week.
Any of these are possibilities that cannot be ruled out. My gut instinct is that this is marketing for a general public offer and not anything truly special. I’m just skeptical that Walt Disney World would release its best deals via a third party given the benefits of doing so directly and targeting them at various affinity groups.
There’s also the reality that this would likely anger a lot of Authorized Disney Vacation Planners. It couldn’t come at a worse time, given that Disney needs them right now (see Why Summer is Slow at Walt Disney World). Not only that, but Universal is making serious inroads with travel agents.
But stranger things have happened–and relatively recently. When I first heard the rumors of the Costco Disneyland Ticket Deal, I didn’t believe it–sounded too good to be true. But it is true. Disney has its reasons for doing that, I’m sure, and the same might hold true with superior savings on Walt Disney World resorts via Priceline. Nevertheless, I’m skeptical.
Normally, the only way to score deeper discounts than directly would be via Priceline Express Deals on Walt Disney World Resorts. Sites like Priceline, Hotwire, and Hotel Tonight offer substantial savings, but the tradeoff is that don’t know the name of the hotel until you pay. It’s a blind booking–but there are ways to reverse-engineer the hotel you’re booking (as we explain in that article).
The reason for these blind bookings is so that hotel chains, including Walt Disney World, can dump unsold inventory at the last minute while concealing to the general public that they’re unloading rooms at such a cheap rate. That might tarnish their brand, irritate guests who paid significantly more, or create an expectation among consumers of future sales.
That’s not what the the “Happiest Price on Earth Sale” is, though. This is going to be transparent rates of up to 40% off Walt Disney World resorts. We just don’t know the specifics, whether it’s actually exclusive to Priceline, etc.
Speaking of Priceline Express Deals, we haven’t seen anything widespread for on-site Disney hotels since last September. (Third party on-site hotels continue to make appearances with regularity.)
This is interesting because the Disney+ deal for this summer normally would’ve been exactly the type of discount to wind up on Priceline. A relatively last-minute deep discount on a limited number of resorts with savings superior to even Annual Passholder rates–that checks literally all of the boxes of a blind booking, minus the blind part.
I’ve been wondering whether Walt Disney World deemed that Disney+ deal a success or failure. It was insanely popular–there’s zero doubt about that. But did it capture new reservations, or largely result in a bunch of existing reservations modifying to take advantage of cheaper prices? Based on what we saw, it was definitely a mix of the two–so it comes down to the distribution.
Many readers have asked whether we expect a similar special offer for August and September 2025. The easy answer is yes, given that those are typically the two lowest-occupancy months of the year. The real question, though, is how that deal might be accomplished. Will it be another targeted Disney+ deal that helps juice subscriber numbers while also offering substantial savings? Will it be Disney quietly dumping inventory on blind booking sites? Will it be something else?
It’s possible that we just got our answer–it’s Priceline’s Happiest Price on Earth Flash Sale–and we just don’t know it yet. I truly don’t have an answer, but wanted to nevertheless bring this to your attention.
My gut is that we’re going to see several deals roll out–and not all at once–this month for travel dates from August through December 2025. I’d go further and see that the current AP rates of 35% off are going to be surpassed (and not just by this 40% Priceline sale, which could be illusory).
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 Priceline Happiest Price on Earth Flash Sale? Expect this to be a great deal…or marketing fluff for whatever Walt Disney World releases next week? 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!