At Least 30 Trips and 1st Big Problem

[disney_family_1247]

The title kind of says it all...we go to WDW every year, and this is the first real reservation issue we've ever had. We booked the bounceback offer when we were there last year. My mom did too, and we gave her confirmation number when we booked so that we'd have adjoining rooms. We had to make the reservation from the parking lot of a Walgreens where I was filling prescriptions for our two year old who spent the last night of our vacation in the hospital in Orlando . Fast forward to a month ago, when Mom called to change the number of days of tickets she wanted. She decided to check if we would have connecting rooms, and the CM said that there was no mention of that on the reservation. Keep in mind that we have a Grand Gathering number because there are eight of us in total. Mom asked him to make sure our reservations were linked, and he said that he did. I just checked online yesterday because I was reading about the new online check-in. I discovered that we have a Water View Room. I mentioned that to Mom, who realized that she has a Standard Room. She called and found out that our groups are not linked together (despite the GG#). They said there are no more standard rooms available (Port Orleans Riverside). The CM she spoke with was rude and told her that she should have checked her confirmation, but Mom says that the confirmation has some tiny letters behind the hotel name (svr) that she didn't pay attention to. I called and spoke with someone very nice who said that they will try and keep us close to one another and possibly bump her up to a Water View. Mom is upset about the rooms not being together, but that's not dh and my issue...this trip is nearly a budget buster as it is; we DID NOT ask for a more expensive room!!! At no point in the past year, when dh lost a secondary income unexpectedly, did we ever say, "Gee, how can we make our most expensive Disney Trip on record cost MORE?" The CM didn't even try to explain what had happened, but I am upset. We are paying too much and cannot downgrade.

Has this happened to anyone else?

[KELLY]

But have you thought about booking 2 value rooms and ask for them connecting it would save you some money.

[disney_family_1247]

Originally Posted by KELLY

But have you thought about booking 2 value rooms and ask for them connecting it would save you some money.

When we booked last year, my dad was coming too, which made us a group of 9. We were too many for the value resorts, which is where we usually stay. By the time he decided he wasn't coming, there were no more value rooms available for our dates .

[Jestocost]

I'm confused. Did you know the price of your room when you booked? Has the price increased since you booked based on being put in a water view vs. standard view? Did they upgrade you to a more expensive room without your knowledge or consent and expect you to pay for it?

I don't believe they can forcibly upgrade you to a more expensive room and make you pay for it; they have to honor the price given at the time of booking provided you don't make changes yourself. Since it sounds like you didn't make any changes, I have to believe that you were OK with the price when you booked and only now are realizing that it's a more expensive room. Sometimes with special offers the standard views are all gone and you have to book a more expensive room to get the discount. Usually it's still cheaper than a standard view without the discount, however. If you're still being charged a price that was OK with you when you booked, I'm not sure you have much reason to be upset about that one element.

The fact that the water view vs. standard view disparity makes it harder for you to be next to your mother is more problematic and it sounds like they could be making more of an effort to address that. Still, room locations always are nothing more than requests that may or may not be possible to honor. Hopefully they'll figure out something that will meet your needs. There's no need to give up now. Just keep on trying right up until check in.

[disney_family_1247]

I know that they cannot promise connecting rooms, but we go every year and have always gotten them. The problem is that I am the queen of research and things fell apart with this reservation. Our youngest is three this year, so it's the first time we don't fit in a value room. While at Disney last year, we all agreed to book at the Port Orleans to get the trundle beds. We are doing the free dining package again. I didn't check the prices for that resort before we left home and was planning to before we booked before checkout. Then my baby started struggling to breath. We went to Urgent Care, who sent us to the ER, who transferred us to the Children's Hospital in downtown Orlando. DH had to ask for an extra night at the Pop Century so that he and the kids could stay there while I was sleeping with our daughter at the hospital. We didn't even think of making the reservations until she was discharged. I should have checked prices and stuff when we got home, but I was honestly so traumatized by our experience, that I wanted nothing to do with planning another trip. I didn't even notice how much we owed until it was time to pay, and nothing I read indicated a water view room. That note was new on the online reservation page. We did not request the more expensive room, and I did not catch the problem earlier because of our unpleasant, unique experience the last time. Had I know that it would cause this big an issue, I would have overcome my resistance!

I have been trying to get really excited about this trip and not worry about another trip to the hospital, and this news is not helping!