Clarification on Hotel Only to Package (also gift card?)

[andee515]

I am getting ready to book a hotel only ressie from Oct 31-Nov 10. Now, I know that at a later date I can change to a package; but I was unsure if I pay the hotel in full prior to a package becoming available, if you are still able to do that without penalty. To maybe complicate matters a little, I am paying for it with giftcards. Will they need to refund the cards and put them on the new ressie (meaning should I keep the cards) Or will they just transfer the balance???

Thanks ahead of time, I would call Disney, but I know after a get a couple answers her the consesus is probably right, not always true with a single call to the cm

[dansdad]

Originally Posted by andee515

Now, I know that at a later date I can change to a package; but I was unsure if I pay the hotel in full prior to a package becoming available, if you are still able to do that without penalty.

You sure can.

Originally Posted by andee515

Will they need to refund the cards and put them on the new ressie (meaning should I keep the cards) Or will they just transfer the balance???

They would have to refund whatever you paid towards the room only back onto the Gift Cards. Definitely KEEP THEM!!

[mickeynut1]

Originally Posted by andee515

I am getting ready to book a hotel only ressie from Oct 31-Nov 10. Now, I know that at a later date I can change to a package; but I was unsure if I pay the hotel in full prior to a package becoming available, if you are still able to do that without penalty. To maybe complicate matters a little, I am paying for it with giftcards. Will they need to refund the cards and put them on the new ressie (meaning should I keep the cards) Or will they just transfer the balance???

Thanks ahead of time, I would call Disney, but I know after a get a couple answers her the consesus is probably right, not always true with a single call to the cm

As the pp said, yes you can pay the room only off with gift cards and if you cancel, the refund will go back to the gift cards, so make sure you keep them. If you book room only now and change to a package later, the room only will have to cancelled/refunded and a package booked, requiring a new $200 deposit (or payment in full if you are less than 45 days from arrival) as money paid toward one cannot be applied to the other. Room only reservations and packages are separate reservation systems, so changing from one to the other requires cancelling and rebooking. Sometimes the credits appear within a day or two, but sometimes it takes a little longer. So if you want to use those to pay on the package, you will have to pay the $200 deposit and wait for the credits to be applied back to the gift cards before you can use those to pay on the package.

[minnie mum]

Both of the PPs are correct. So my recommendation is, if you are relying on these gift cards to pay for a possible vacation package at a later date, DON'T pay off the room only reservation in advance. You have to pay the deposit when you make the reservation. But you don't have to pay off the balance until you check in. Keep those gift cards. If you don't change to a package after all, then just use the gift cards at check in. This way you don't have to worry about waiting for refunds.