December Trip Dilemma

So, my mother and I are passholders who live in Tampa. Our annual passes expire on December 14th, so we are going to have one last 4-night Disney trip the 11th-15th (Going to Disney Springs on the 15th). But, I am having a little bit of a dilemma with this trip. We typically stay at an All Star resort on-site when we go to Disney, and have always been able to get very good prices for these stays. We have been very happy with AS resorts, because we really just use the hotels as a place to sleep, and we are fine with the limited amenities. However, looking online now, there is no availability at any of the AS resorts during our planned trip, and I can't move the dates- this is when we have to go due to my job. Also, it's our last Disney trip for who knows how long, since we are not going to be renewing our passes when they expire
Today while looking around on Groupon, I found a deal to stay at the B Resort at Disney Springs for $89 a night, and they have availability. The resort fee will be waived, but I'm sure we still have to pay the parking fee which is $20 per day. I am not thrilled about this, because $109 is more than we usually pay for All Stars. I know B Resort is nicer than AS, and I'm sure we would appreciate the "fancier" things, but I am struggling with the trade off between the two. If we stay at B Resort, we won't get Extra Magic Hours or FP at 60 days out. Now, we will be staying at AS Sports for a couple nights in November, so we could just try to make sure we get fast passes for high-demand attractions during that trip, and just be happy with what we can get during the December trip...

So, here's my dilemma.... Do I go ahead and book the B Resort for $109 per night on Groupon and just suck it up about losing the extra fast pass time and EMH or do I hold out and hope that more availability/special rates open up for an All Star resort when the time gets closer?

Did you try calling Disney? I read recently on another thread that a person couldn't find availability online but when they called they were able to book.

I like the B Resort a lot and I have always been able to make my FP+ reservations 30 days out but I understand if you have your heart set on staying onsite.

What is the cancellation policy on the B Resort? If you can cancel without penalty, I would book it and then ditch it if something opens up on-site that interests you.

"D" day at Disney is the 30 day mark before arrival. This is do or die time for final payment being due for Disney vacation packages. Up to this point you can get a refund from Disney.

Anyway, this is when some people bail and openings become available and you may grab an All Star resort reservation after all.

You can still look everyday and check to see if there is availability at All Star. People do cancel earlier due to illness and so forth.

If groupon has a cancellation policy then you can book now to play it safe. If not find another place for a back up plan that allows you to cancel.

When you do your Disney November trip it might pay to ask right then and there person to person with the front desk for your December time.

Personally, I would stay on Disney property.

Have you checked some of the other Disney Springs hotels? Best Western And Wyndham Garden especially sometimes have low rates. (But again, you need to factor in resort and/or parking fees.) There is a specials page on the Disney Springs hotels you may want to check out. Also looks like you would qualify for 15% off since you are a Florida Resident.
http://disneyspringshotels.com/special-offers/

After looking at Disney's website and online travel agencies like Orbitz, it seems as though there is very limited availability for those dates in December. Disney only seems to have 6 resorts available. The cheapest passholder rate is $221/night for a Family Suite at Disney's All-Star Music Resort. While things can change, I wouldn't expect much.

According to their website, the Groupon rate has a 14-day cancelation policy. It might be worth grabbing that, as the waived resort fee deal is a good one for that hotel. This may end up being a situation where you just have to make do with what you can get because your travel dates are set.

The link that sbd78 provided is a good one to check. It's the marketing association for the seven Disney Springs hotels. Typically, they have a major promotion for each quarter. In past years, the winter promotion usually is announced in September. That said, you probably won't find a cheaper rate for the B Resort than$89 with waived resort fees.