$100 hotel cancellation fee???

[Falltime]

So I booked the GCH under the buy 3 get 2 free deal (hotel only no tickets) and was told I had 5 days prior to arrival to cancel to receive a full refund when I made the reservation. So anyway I needed to cancel the reservation and I called yesterday to do so and they told me in order to cancel the reservation I would have to pay a $100 fee? Is this true? anyway I ended up not canceling it as I didn't want to pay the fee but why did they tell me when I made the reservation I had 5 days before arrival and I would get a full refund. Anybody else had this problem? what can I do? Is something new Disney is doing or is it just Disneyland as I have never had this "fee" when I needed to cancel reservations when going to WDW.

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

Hi Falltime,

There are two types of reservations. Package, and room-only. Room-only reservations do not offer the 5 for 3 (two free nights at the hotel), and it could have been that when you were making your reservations, they started off as room-only and were converted to package. If you paid $200 per room - that was a package.

Room-only reservations have a 5-day cancellation policy. Packages have the following change/cancellation policy:

Days..........................Change.........................Cancel
30+ .............................$25.............................$100
29-5.............................$50.............................$200
4-1...............................$75............................ 50% of package price


Here's a link to the 2009 policies that Dreams Unlimited shows for Disney:

http://www.dreamsunlimitedtravel.com/disneyland/disneyland2008terms.htm

 

[Falltime]

Thanks for the info - it was room only reservation under the deal as I have annual passes so we didn't need the tickets - so the CM gave me the buy 3 nights get 2 more free deal and just took off the ticket price - I did pay a $200 deposit

 

[DianaSparrow]

We are also AP holders and decided to book DLH for the 5 nights for 3 night package. If you called Walt Disney travel you did book a package, since you can only get the 5 for 3 with a package. I also told them that we were AP holders and they took the ticket price off, but we get everything else in the package like Toontown madness, priority seating, etc. If you called the hotel directly (which we usually do, but not this time) they cannot offer the 5 nights for the price of 3. Plus, since you booked a package, full payment is due 30 days prior to your arrival, unlike just a hotel reservation where you don't pay everything until you arrive. I do remember the CM telling me about the cancellation fees - I thought they were steep, but I believe they started doing that when too many reservations would cancel, or people would make several reservations and only keep one.

Hope this helps - the 5 for 3 is really a GREAT deal. We always stay onsite as APers and this is the least we've paid in proabably 6 years!

 

[Krissy Marissy]

Thanks for the info - it was room only reservation under the deal as I have annual passes so we didn't need the tickets - so the CM gave me the buy 3 nights get 2 more free deal and just took off the ticket price - I did pay a $200 deposit

If she booked under a package but just removed the tickets then you are probably subject to the same rules as a package...even though you technically didn't buy tickets. Because otherwise you wouldn't have gotten the 5 for 3 deal.

 

[pixiewings71]

The PPs are correct, to get the 5 for 3 deal you had to book a package. I wanted to do it for DD12s 13th bday in July but couldn't justify the prices they quoted me. When I was on the phone with my CM she did make sure I knew it was a 'package' and would be subject to package cancellation fees.

 

[Falltime]

I called back today and talked to a very nice supervisor I explained the reason I needed to cancel as I rebooked my stay through WDW event service for the Haunted Mansion 40th event as it was a much cheaper rate than the buy 3 get 2 free deal. I also explained that they didn't tell me about the fees but rather told me I had a room only reservation and 5 days to cancel - otherwise I would never have even booked if I would have known the penalties. So since I basically changed my reservation as I am still coming for the same dates but couldn't book the change through Disneyland as I had to book it through WDW event services she said she would only charge me the $25 change fee after verifying my other reservation. So everything worked out in the end.

 

[bumbershoot]

I'm so glad it has worked out for you. Sometimes the CMs just don't know what they are talking about, and I'm glad the manager was able to come to a compromise!

 

[Tasscrapper]

Does anyone know what the going rate is for the 5 for 3 hotel with no tickets for either the Paradise Pier or Disneyland Hotel? I didn't think it was even possible without the tickets and we have ap's as well.

 

[prettyprincessbelle]

Sometimes the CMs just don't know what they are talking about

Yeah, this is too true.

Glad everything worked out, OP!

 

[cccdisney]

Does anyone know what the going rate is for the 5 for 3 hotel with no tickets for either the Paradise Pier or Disneyland Hotel? I didn't think it was even possible without the tickets and we have ap's as well.

My sister has a AP and got the 5 for 3 deal for PPH the same time we are going (May 29-June 3rd) for $776. This is a package without the hopper tickets. So it includes all the package perks. That price also includes the tax and resort fee. Really the only downside is that it is only a good deal if you can stay 5 nights and if you are sure you won't have to cancel.