180 dining 60 FP and 45 Final payment....

[avic77]

We all know the numbers for when we can book things. They are marked on our calendars, set in our phone notifications. We wake up at absurd hours to get that one coveted FP or reservation.
But I have noticed a trend that seems to me to show that Disney really has their dates backwards. Any given FP and Dining thread will mention watching for cancellations at one of the later dates. "Watch for dining to open at the FP window as people drop dining while making final plans for which park on which day, Check for FP and dining cancellations around 45 days out as people who can not make final payment will drop ADR's and Fastpasses"...
So why doesn't Disney set things where Final Payment is due first then FP and ADR's. It would seem to make more sense. Maybe it would result in less hording of ADR's as people will have already paid in full and set their park days.

 

[roxymama]

It's unrealistic to expect all people to have all their money ready for a Disney trip any sooner than the 45 days. Many people save up and set aside money every month or every paycheck up until those last days prior to payment. Or people want to hang onto their money in case anything in their life comes up so they can cancel.
However, getting people to make a hotel reservation so they can get ADRS 180 days out, means that 180 days+ out there are people "locking" themselves into full stays at Disney. It makes it harder for someone right before their trip to decide to take a day or two to see Universal or go to a Beach or Sea World. If you have ADRs set for 5 days and then you have FP+ booked for those days as well, you are "locked in" in theory. It also helps them keep track of crowd level of people who are not staying on property. And they like that families staying off site have also "locked" themselves into X # of days at Disney, since they have ADRs for certain restaurants too.

I hope that makes sense.

 

[lbmiller77]

LOL, this would make too much sense. I agree with you, I am currently stalking the reservations to pickup an extra day at our resort and the same principle applies (60 day fp, 45 day pay in full, or 5 day last chance cancellations). It's stressful having to constantly check MDE (and deal with all the glitches) but we do what we have to do to get what we want

 

[avic77]

I think 90 days to be Paid in full, 60 days dining, 45 days FP and 30 for offsite makes sense personally

 

[avic77]

or even 90 days PIF and dining then 60 and 30 for FP

 

[Lesverts]

Hate to break it to y'all but final payment is now (as of 2016 packages) due 30 days from departure now and not 45. New for 2016 vacations. So Disney isn't changing that.

Also room only, only 1 nights stay is payable before arrival. Balance due at check-out.

 

[ArwenMarie]

Not sure what payment has to do with anything? We always book room-only when we stay onsite and we never do the dining plan, so we pay our accommodations and food after we get back. (airfare and park tickets obviously before we go!)

I do think the 180 day ADR rule doesn't make sense anymore and encourages people grabbing them until they get everything more set.

I think the FPs make sense as they are I guess, although again, they don't fit in with the ADR schedule.

 

[roxymama]

I could be totally wrong (because we are all just guessing) but I think it may be harder to get ADRs at all restaurants (not just BOG type popular ones) at 90 days out.
At 180 days the pool of people in the world who have decided they want to go to Disney on vacation is smaller than at the 90 day mark. You would be up against a larger group of people trying to get ADRs on your 90day morning than you are now. We are rewarded for being planners. Disney wants to lure more people to make up their minds about their vacation by dangling the 180-day thing at us, they want more people to plan like us earlier and lock themselves in...but there's still a big chunk of people who haven't even realized they want to go just yet.

 

[lbmiller77]

It's unrealistic to expect all people to have all their money ready for a Disney trip any sooner than the 45 days. Many people save up and set aside money every month or every paycheck up until those last days prior to payment. Or people want to hang onto their money in case anything in their life comes up so they can cancel.
However, getting people to make a hotel reservation so they can get ADRS 180 days out, means that 180 days+ out there are people "locking" themselves into full stays at Disney. It makes it harder for someone right before their trip to decide to take a day or two to see Universal or go to a Beach or Sea World. If you have ADRs set for 5 days and then you have FP+ booked for those days as well, you are "locked in" in theory. It also helps them keep track of crowd level of people who are not staying on property. And they like that families staying off site have also "locked" themselves into X # of days at Disney, since they have ADRs for certain restaurants too.

I hope that makes sense.

Cruises expect you to pay in full 45 days in advance, unless you want to book at the last minute and take a chance that a stateroom wont be available. Excursions on these cruises book up to 60 days prior to your trip, if memory serves me correctly, they are non-refundable unless weather interferes.

Airlines are also very similar in their approach. You pay in full, and then at that moment you get to choose your seat (except for Southwest).

I don't understand your sentence about people not having the money to go at the 45 day mark. I put money aside every month as well, and, as a single parent household, I know the difficulty. However, if I couldn't scrounge up the money for my hotel stay at that point, I probably am not going to be able to afford the tickets and travel costs either. My inability to come up with the money for my trip should definitely not prevent others who can pay on time from booking their hotel, adrs and FP's.

Why can't Disney do the same and lock in the reservation at 45 days then at that 45 day mark allow people to make reservations for dining and fast passes? Why can't those who have to wait to pay at the last minute suffer the consequence of getting the left over ADRs and FP's? Furthermore, under the current system you are never locked into the park you choose, your adrs, nor your fp. There are almost always adrs and Fp available after you cancel your first set, but when you go to rebook, they just might not have your preferred location or times available. In this case "locked in" is simply your state of mind.

 

[roxymama]

I put "locked in" in quotation marks because I realize it is a state of mind. It's the state of mind Disney wants us in. I realize now my sentence may be confusing.

I was just trying to state that I think Disney did this the way they did at 180 because they want people to start mentally locking themselves into staying as many days as possible onsite or if staying off-site, going to a Disney park. And they want people to mentally have that happen earlier as opposed to later. Plus it is nice having the down payment money at 180 days earning interest as opposed to anytime later than that.

And we actually are on the same page about the paying for the trip at 45 days. I agree after 45 (or 30 now) it's ok to make people cancel if they cannot pay (and release their adrs, etc.) I was just saying you should not make people pay at like 90 days. That feels too far out for me.

 

[Jadyreen1282]

It's fine the way it. It would confuse so many if they changed too much at once. Some of you already need someone else to watch adrs for you and you pay for that. Yikes don't scare the children.

 

[ArwenMarie]

It's fine the way it. It would confuse so many if they changed too much at once. Some of you already need someone else to watch adrs for you and you pay for that. Yikes don't scare the children.

I "need" someone to watch ADRs for me because we don't book our trips at 180 days due to my husband's job. And then many of them are gone by the time I get to it at 100 days out or so.