Two rooms, one adult

[aaarcher86]

Originally Posted by kaytieeldr

You might want to explain that to the DISer who was in that exact situation but couldn't get connecting rooms.



They don't. That's why "GTD" is computer-generated, while information stating that things like connecting rooms are not guaranteed is stated on the Disney website and on the paper they consistently reorder and use for reservation confirmations.



Well, based on experience, at least one person in this thread would be within their rights to warn, "Don't book a preferred room at a Value because you won't get it - and they'll argue about refunding the extra money you paid!"

I don't need to explain anything to anyone that didn't get to book 2 connecting guaranteed rooms. On this same thread there is a DISer who had it booked correctly and got what was guaranteed to them. Another poster on this thread is someone who has stated they are (or were) a resort CM and has stated that there are reasons that rooms are guaranteed without listing the details.

I have no doubt that CMs guarantee rooms that shouldn't be, don't guarantee rooms that should, and even that sometimes people that are under policy guaranteed connections don't get them for one reason or another. How many threads with a question are there on the board and no matter what the policy/answer is there are at least 4 people that pop in, 'that's not true, I was able to do the exact opposite.'

No matter what situation you have there will always be people that had the opposite experience. Always. Whether it's right or wrong, against policy or agreeing with it. Always.

They are always going to have a clause to cover themselves for the few times they need to because yes, it CAN happen... anything CAN happen under the right circumstances.

[twinboysmom]

Originally Posted by aaarcher86

I don't need to explain anything to anyone that didn't get to book 2 connecting guaranteed rooms. On this same thread there is a DISer who had it booked correctly and got what was guaranteed to them. Another poster on this thread is someone who has stated they are (or were) a resort CM and has stated that there are reasons that rooms are guaranteed without listing the details.

I have no doubt that CMs guarantee rooms that shouldn't be, don't guarantee rooms that should, and even that sometimes people that are under policy guaranteed connections don't get them for one reason or another. How many threads with a question are there on the board and no matter what the policy/answer is there are at least 4 people that pop in, 'that's not true, I was able to do the exact opposite.'

No matter what situation you have there will always be people that had the opposite experience. Always. Whether it's right or wrong, against policy or agreeing with it. Always.

They are always going to have a clause to cover themselves for the few times they need to because yes, it CAN happen... anything CAN happen under the right circumstances.

I am just curious, not trying to be rude but since you are so insistent regarding their policy do you have personal experience with this? Have you been one adult with 4 or more children trying to book 2 rooms? Not 2 adults, one adult. Because as I said before, my coworker was not allowed to do so. She talked to multiple supervisors and even told them she would be forced to book off property (which she did). I know if I go on the Disney website it with 1 adult and 6 kids it only gives me options of villas.

[aaarcher86]

Originally Posted by twinboysmom

I am just curious, not trying to be rude but since you are so insistent regarding their policy do you have personal experience with this? Have you been one adult with 4 or more children trying to book 2 rooms? Not 2 adults, one adult. Because as I said before, my coworker was not allowed to do so. She talked to multiple supervisors and even told them she would be forced to book off property (which she did). I know if I go on the Disney website it with 1 adult and 6 kids it only gives me options of villas.

Not rude at all - it's not a popular posting and I've made it several times, but it is what it is. I've tried to avoid the topic lately, but I would hate for a single mother with kids to miss out on an opportunity and/or booking if DISNEY is willing to guarantee something.

As far as I know, you could never book 2 rooms with 1 res on the website. It's always had to be over the phone since 9/10 it would require 2 separate reservations. People would constantly be booking it that way, when it's reserved for a specific circumstance. It's not something Disney wants to leave in the judgement of the person booking. Not that big of a shock since you currently can't pull up a regular value room with 4+1 either.

I don't know what the circumstances are with your friends booking - there are rooms that don't have connections available whatsoever. I have no idea what the details are and again, I have no doubt that CMs mistakes (we get reports of them all the time on here. No reason to think it wouldn't happen with this).

Yes, I have personal experience with the policy (and I mentioned that earlier).

It's not like I'm alone in what I'm saying. There is someone on this same thread that had a booking exactly like I've described it, and another person who did/does work for Disney saying there are guaranteed bookings.

[twinboysmom]

Originally Posted by aaarcher86

Not rude at all - it's not a popular posting and I've made it several times, but it is what it is. I've tried to avoid the topic lately, but I would hate for a single mother with kids to miss out on an opportunity and/or booking if DISNEY is willing to guarantee something.

As far as I know, you could never book 2 rooms with 1 res on the website. It's always had to be over the phone since 9/10 it would require 2 separate reservations. People would constantly be booking it that way, when it's reserved for a specific circumstance. It's not something Disney wants to leave in the judgement of the person booking. Not that big of a shock since you currently can't pull up a regular value room with 4+1 either.

I don't know what the circumstances are with your friends booking - there are rooms that don't have connections available whatsoever. I have no idea what the details are and again, I have no doubt that CMs mistakes (we get reports of them all the time on here. No reason to think it wouldn't happen with this).

Yes, I have personal experience with the policy (and I mentioned that earlier).

It's not like I'm alone in what I'm saying. There is someone on this same thread that had a booking exactly like I've described it, and another person who did/does work for Disney saying there are guaranteed bookings.

All I can tell you is that my friend tried to book at any value resort, she didn't care. I am a WDW vet, having been well over 30 trips, thought I personally knew most everything. She made multiple calls, talked to multiple people, asked for supervisors, and their supervisors and received the same song and dance. Because a room may be unexpectedly taken out of service, etc we cannot guaranteed the rooms will connect and minors cannot be in a room alone. You are certainly entitled to belive what you wish, I would suggest before you offer it as advice though you personally call and try to book two rooms with 5 plus minor children. Btw, the person who you described as booking like you described had two adults. The other you suggested was a travel agent, not a WDW cm. I have said my experience and gladly bow out. We will just have to disagree.

[maxiesmom]

Originally Posted by aaarcher86

They are always going to have a clause to cover themselves for the few times they need to because yes, it CAN happen... anything CAN happen under the right circumstances.

Exactly! And none of us know if those right circumstances would happen to a poster who had "guaranteed" connecting rooms or not! Because it does happen! And as long as someone knows going in that their "guaranteed" connecting rooms may not exist, that is fine. However, someone insisting they won't run into a problem ahead of time is not helpful. We simply don't know for sure, and have no way of knowing for sure.

By the way, I have twice now paid for a room type, only to be told at check in "Sorry, that is not available. You now get room X." Disney does screw up, and there is no way to guarantee someone they won't. And to insist everything will be fine ahead of time is doing a huge disservice to people. Everything may not be fine! I would think most people would be grateful for that heads-up, so they can make an informed decision.

[aaarcher86]

Originally Posted by twinboysmom

All I can tell you is that my friend tried to book at any value resort, she didn't care. I am a WDW vet, having been well over 30 trips, thought I personally knew most everything. She made multiple calls, talked to multiple people, asked for supervisors, and their supervisors and received the same song and dance. Because a room may be unexpectedly taken out of service, etc we cannot guaranteed the rooms will connect and minors cannot be in a room alone. You are certainly entitled to belive what you wish, I would suggest before you offer it as advice though you personally call and try to book two rooms with 5 plus minor children. Btw, the person who you described as booking like you described had two adults. The other you suggested was a travel agent, not a WDW cm. I have said my experience and gladly bow out. We will just have to disagree.

Yes, they had two adults but they did not book 2 reservations. They did exactly what your friend was told they couldn't do. It will also state on the reservation 'guaranteed for families' or something like that. A non guaranteed connecting room will be 2 separate reservations linked together with a connection requested. And again, a former/current CM has stated the same. I don't know when your friend tried to go, but for at least the past year the policy has been as I stated before.

It's not as if situations like your friends never happen. People get incorrect information, pay for someone not on their reservation using dining plan credits, send their luggage on DME without riding it, etc. It's a big place with lots of turnover. Mistakes happen. Policies change.

I'm happy to agree to disagree.

[aaarcher86]

Originally Posted by maxiesmom

Exactly! And none of us know if those right circumstances would happen to a poster who had "guaranteed" connecting rooms or not! Because it does happen! And as long as someone knows going in that their "guaranteed" connecting rooms may not exist, that is fine. However, someone insisting they won't run into a problem ahead of time is not helpful. We simply don't know for sure, and have no way of knowing for sure.

By the way, I have twice now paid for a room type, only to be told at check in "Sorry, that is not available. You now get room X." Disney does screw up, and there is no way to guarantee someone they won't. And to insist everything will be fine ahead of time is doing a huge disservice to people. Everything may not be fine! I would think most people would be grateful for that heads-up, so they can make an informed decision.

I've said before that things absolutely happen! Tons. Disney reserves the right to change a reservation, move you around, etc... but when you book a garden view room at POR (even with the knowledge that something MIGHT happen) it's what you expect. You don't book and pay for a room thinking 'This doesn't even matter. I probably won't get what I'm paying for because they change it if they want to,' or worry about getting downgraded. If Disney has a policy that guarantees a connecting room for a certain type of people that's what I would expect, just like I would expect to get the room type I booked.

You've at least been on the boards for quite some time, I'd imagine you've taken a decent amount of Disney trips to have run into a problem 2x. And I've seen you advocate yourself that with the number of rooms they book out per night the percentage of those kinds of things happening is low.

But to say it's never guaranteed isn't right. They do guarantee it. Could something happen? Sure. But they would absolutely accommodate accordingly.

[maxiesmom]

Originally Posted by aaarcher86

I don't know if you aren't reading all my posts, but I've said numerous times that things absolutely happen! Tons. Disney reserves the right to change a reservation, move you around, etc... but when you book a garden view room at POR (even with the knowledge that something MIGHT happen) it's what you expect. If Disney has a policy that guarantees a connecting room for a certain type of people that's what I would expect, just like I would expect to get the room type I booked.

But to say it's never guaranteed isn't right. They do guarantee it. Could something happen? Sure. But they would absolutely accommodate accordingly.

If something is guaranteed that means you will get that thing, no question. And that is not the case when it comes to room types at WDW. They are not guaranteed no question. And they can only accommodate accordingly if they have something similar to hand out. And as I can attest to, that isn't always the case.

As far as connecting rooms go, if you have 2 adults they can give you 2 non-connecting rooms and have an adult sleep in each room. They have done so in the past, so to them that seems to them to be accommodating people accordingly--everyone has a place to sleep, and no child is left unattended.

But to say someone is guaranteed to get connecting rooms needs to come with an * after saying guaranteed as much as they can, which is not 100% guaranteed. And is misleading them at worst.

[aaarcher86]

Originally Posted by maxiesmom

If something is guaranteed that means you will get that thing, no question. And that is not the case when it comes to room types at WDW. They are not guaranteed no question. And they can only accommodate accordingly if they have something similar to hand out. And as I can attest to, that isn't always the case.

As far as connecting rooms go, if you have 2 adults they can give you 2 non-connecting rooms and have an adult sleep in each room. They have done so in the past, so to them that seems to them to be accommodating people accordingly--everyone has a place to sleep, and no child is left unattended.

But to say someone is guaranteed to get connecting rooms needs to come with an * after saying guaranteed as much as they can, which is not 100% guaranteed. And is misleading them at worst.

We're never really going to come onto even ground with this.

I really do understand what you're saying - it can't be guaranteed because it's not 100% that something won't happen. But that's life, right? There's always an off chance something might happen at some point in time.

Yes, 2 adults can get 2 rooms by putting 1 adult in each room and for most bookings with 2 rooms they book 2 reservations doing exactly that.

Guaranteeing connecting rooms is Disney's wording, not mine. If you'd rather say it's never guaranteed that's totally fine. But if Disney will guarantee me 2 connecting rooms why wouldn't I assume they would? If Disney has a policy stating such, why wouldn't I judge based off of the policy of the place I'm making arrangements with?

Of course anyone could say 'they guarantee connecting rooms for this set of people, but beware, a pipe could burst and you could be out of luck.' Or 'well, you booked a garden view room. They're nice, but you might get downgraded at check in because it does happen from time to time.'

If Disney is going to create a category of people that have a special booking procedure to ensure they get connecting rooms that's certainly what I'd expect. If for some reason something happened and they were unable to provide the rooms at that particular resort they'd put the family somewhere else that meets their needs. But since this board follows Disney policy, what's wrong with stating what Disney's policy is?

ETA: Twinboysmom - For kicks while I wait for my coffee I called reservations, said I'm a single mom with 5 kids and I'm planning a vacation. I asked if I could get 2 rooms at a value that were connecting since I don't fit in one room. She stuck me on hold to check on it and came back and advised the same... I could have 2 connecting rooms. I asked if they'd be guaranteed and she said yes.

For the record - I'm more of a person that says 'don't believe the reservation CMs' since they often get stuff wrong. But since you advised I should try booking in that fashion after our back and forth, I gave it a go. I guess you could always do the same and see what they say.

[kaytieeldr]

Originally Posted by aarcher86

Of course anyone could say 'they guarantee connecting rooms for this set of people, but beware, a pipe could burst and you could be out of luck.' Or 'well, you booked a garden view room. They're nice, but you might get downgraded at check in because it does happen from time to time.'

Garden view (or preferred location, or pool view, or Magic Kingdom view, or Savannah view, etc.) is a bookable category. Even so, neither it nor any of the other bookable categories is guaranteed; any room or rooms could be taken out of service for any reason, or many guests' flights could be cancelled due to extreme weather at home so they don't check out...

Connecting rooms isn't a bookable category. When the location/view for which you've paid isn't 100% "yours" until you're in the room, a request has even less weight - no matter how it's booked. And don't forget the poster in this thread who got connecting rooms that didn't connect to each other.

[aaarcher86]

Originally Posted by kaytieeldr

Garden view (or preferred location, or pool view, or Magic Kingdom view, or Savannah view, etc.) is a bookable category. Even so, neither it nor any of the other bookable categories is guaranteed; any room or rooms could be taken out of service for any reason, or many guests' flights could be cancelled due to extreme weather at home so they don't check out...

Connecting rooms isn't a bookable category. When the location/view for which you've paid isn't 100% "yours" until you're in the room, a request has even less weight - no matter how it's booked. And don't forget the poster in this thread who got connecting rooms that didn't connect to each other.

It's not a bookable category, but it IS a distinct method of booking the reservation by the CM. They are booked in a separate fashion with distinct coding.

The person that received a connecting room that didn't connect to each other had it fixed.

[maxiesmom]

Originally Posted by aaarcher86

Guaranteeing connecting rooms is Disney's wording, not mine. If you'd rather say it's never guaranteed that's totally fine. But if Disney will guarantee me 2 connecting rooms why wouldn't I assume they would? If Disney has a policy stating such, why wouldn't I judge based off of the policy of the place I'm making arrangements with?

Because that place also states on their own web site that connecting rooms are a request only, and not guaranteed. I don't know why they say two different things in two different places, but they do. It is maddening! And as you yourself agree, they have no real way of guaranteeing connecting rooms 100%. So it is not much of a guarantee, is it?

Disney also lets me pay for a certain room type, but then I've been unlucky enough twice to not get what they have told me I was getting. You simply can't count on anything 100% when it comes to your room reservation. And thinking you can can lead to much stress and frustration.

[Tinkerbellie16]

Yes. If you book two rooms and only one person is an 'adult', they will guarantee the connecting rooms...I've looked into it myself. And of course, call Disney and let them know to make absolutely sure.

[maxiesmom]

Originally Posted by Tinkerbellie16

Yes. If you book two rooms and only one person is an 'adult', they will guarantee the connecting rooms...I've looked into it myself. And of course, call Disney and let them know to make absolutely sure.

They will guarantee it as much as they can. There have been posters who had that on their reservation, and still didn't get them. One of them was an adult with multiple children. Not sure what a guarantee is worth if it isn't a 100% guarantee.

And as far as calling and checking, remember the people on the phones are not always right either, which could be another thread. I just helped someone on another post who was told over the phone they couldn't book a room type that they most certainly fit in. The CMs at the call center don't know everything.

They can tell you anything they want ahead of time. They don't assign rooms as we book, so they truly don't know for sure what will be available. And they won't be the ones to deal with you if you don't get what you want either.