5 people in a 4 person room

[Elevationist]

 

[kimgg]

I think the people here are a little harsh on both sides. Can't we be a little less rigid and more polite? Advice is one thing, but . . .

OK, it is the OP's choice if he wants to chance the extra person. I would think if he is "caught" he will then have to pay the extra amount to move to a extra or bigger room at that point. In my opinion, it is a small risk to take if it is only for a couple of days. If there are alternatives like the dolphin, or other 5 person resorts that is great, but acting like he is committing a major crime on society is a little uncalled for to me and I would like him to know that not everyone would take it as so.

I'm sure Disney doesn't lose sleep over all the ways they make money off of us so I wouldn't lose any over the fact they make it hard for larger families to "play by the rules" without spending a fortune.

Don't bother making any remarks directed at me (if anyone does) as I won't be monitoring this thread; I just wanted to root for the underdog OP here. I'm lucky enough to be a family of 4 at the moment.

 

[MariDisney]

I had a CM at Epcot ask me if we had been to Animal Planet our trip yet. Sometimes, they think they have the right info, but they don't.

 

[Miaka]

PORS is going to be your cheapest option, however, depending on the ages of those in your party you might be totally a legal 5 in a room for 4 occupancy, if one of the the others is under the age of 3. They are considered an infant for Disney and occupancy standards, and the rooms will hold 4 plus 1 infant under the age of three.

 

[disneyfantotheend]

Did you check into Shades of Green? I think those rooms are the same size as deluxes.

 

[stitchlovestink]

I'm detecting a negative, sarcastic tone in your post, and I truly don't appreciate it. I also KNOW that I don't deserve it.

I am sharing true information. I'm merely trying to help people understand that Disney has a bad breakdown in telephonic guest relations/communications, and that we here on these boards have sat back for YEARS and watched people trust answers that have just been WRONG at times.

Can I not say that without incurring your sarcasm??? If these boards aren't here for us to help one another, then what are they for? For you to accuse me of something and feel better about yourself?

I've read SO MANY posts in which people were given bad information on the phone (such as RMulieri encountered) and then believed it, and then defended that information here on The DIS. I've written something like the following in numerous posts: "I now it seems strange that I'm asking you to trust information from a random stranger in New Jersey rather than from a bona fide Disney cast member, but that's exactly what I'm asking you to do." I only say things like that in specific situations when I know for 100% sure that my FACTS are correct. I would never do that about an opinion. But if someone says they were told by a call center CM that Caribbean Beach Resort guest buildings have 3 floors and have elevators, I know that that information is wrong and I will point it out to the person so that they can know the FACTS. In such cases, I'm not trying to be Robert Iger, I'm trying to be a nice guy who doesn't want someone to be disappointed at the start of their vacation.

I have read many of CleveRocks posts and have NEVER read bogus advice in his posts. He is very knowledgable and gives great advice, IMO.
OP, I do think he is right. Your call (even w/in the hotel room to the front desk) is routed to a call center. I don't believe that the call center CMs purposely give bad advice or lie, but they don't always know all the true facts and policies. I would hate to see you have problems during your stay. Do what you feel you must, but don't trust the call ctr CM's info as gospel. It just is not accurate and goes directly against WDW policy. I do hope you are able to come to a positive resolution and that you have a fantastic trip.

 

[Mom21]

I had a CM at Epcot ask me if we had been to Animal Planet our trip yet.

I'd just tell him/her I live there and walk away.

 

[livndisney]

Thanks for the input everyone. I just got off of the phone and made my reservations at PORS. Before I called to make my ressies, I called PORS and explained my situtation to them. The lady I spoke with was very nice and basically told me that having an extra person in the room in not allowed. However, since it is only for two days and is a child she did not see it being a problem she even told me to just request some extra pillows and sheets for the extra child to sleep on.

I realize that I am taking a very small risk doing this, however, the way the she talked Disney knows that people do it all the time and as long as they dont go overboard with people in the room it is no big deal.

So I guess we will just have to wait and see what happends. In the mean time I will continue to call to see if a room that sleeps 5 will open up.

I wonder if it was the same cm that asked me WHICH castle I wanted to eat in at the MK. FYI-CRO is not at the resort(some not even in the state). They know what the computer tells them. They have no "authority" to override occupancy rules.

 

[Turtlegirl]

In my years on this board, I have learned two things about fellow DISers. First, DISers know waaay more then CMs. If you want the correct answer from knowledgeable people ask here, not by calling Disney. Second, DISers abide by the rules and can get quite upset if you try to bend them. I myself see nothing wrong with having an extra child sleep in the room for only 2 nights, but that's IMHO. Unfortunately, it seems to be the the norm these days that whenever you call any large company you get incorrect information. So you can make your own decision regarding whether to have 5 in your room, but don't fall back on what the CM said...and if you call back you'll get yet another answer, even though you know correct one.

 

[kaytieeldr]

detecting a negative, sarcastic tone in your post, and I truly don't appreciate it. I also KNOW that I don't deserve it.

I can vouch for that! CleveRocks is one of the most knowledgeable, informed, and helpful posters on the DIS.

 

[Jaymie]

Just out of curiousity, has anyone personally been kicked out of a Disney resort for exceeding the max occupancy. Eg. having 5 people in a room a for 4??

 

[kaytieeldr]

To the best of my knowledge, nobody's admitted being being ejected

 

[CleveRocks]

Wow, did you read an awful lot into my comment and I regret that you took offence to my post. I don't normally attempt to explain my choice of words but given your response, I will make an exception. You stated your opinion that the OP couldn't rely on the information provided by certain CMs to which I asked the question - than who can you trust? I think that was a fair question since I don't agree that a Disney employee does not speak for the Disney Company. My further comment about Robert Iger was to point out that we all can't go to the top dog to have a decision rendered since that would be chaos. It was that simple.

Again, I regret the confusion over my comments and regret any negativity that you may have read into it my post.

TC.

Thank you for your clarification. It was the Iger comment that sent me thinking you were being so negative. Again, thanks.

The problem with answering your question about who to go to is that there really isn't a satisfactory answer. If it weren't for having this message board as a daily diversion/hobby, SO MANY things about my own 3 trips over the past 4 years would've gone very poorly. I can very much picture myself, hypothetically, getting angry at checkin when the front desk CM tells me the way things really are as opposed to how I was promised they would be. As everyone has already said, we've all read about and/or experienced such unpleasantness over and over and over.

Unless you are actually on-property at WDW (and even then, you have to make sure you're talking to a person in the proper department/role), the only half-decent way to get answers to questions is by e-mailing WDW Guest Communications ... sorry, I don't have that e-mail address handy. These answers tend to be correct, BUT there are 2 problems that occasionally but not always occur with such answers: 1) they often take a couple weeks to get a response; 2) the response may be vague and/or may not exactly answer the question, even if it's clear that the response was NOT a form letter ... this is especially frustrating (example: "I got a personalized response but the person totally missed the point of my question").

The only thing I can recommend to people is to come and ask their questions at a forum such as The DIS; there are many such message boards, and the DIS is the very very best, and there are one or two others which come close and then a dozen or so that are worse than calling 407-W-DISNEY.

The beauty of The DIS is that there are so many members, you get the benefit of the collective wisdom of literally hundreds of people at a time. You get to wade through all the answers and then decide for yourself whom you believe and trust.

Yes, this is a terrible way to do things. Yes, most people don't know and don't care about Internet message boards. Yes, plenty of people miss out on all kinds of info, plenty of people go to WDW expecting one thing and getting another. For example, ever have some extra FASTPASSes and try to give them away? Most of the time I offer free FASTPASSes to someone in line, you'd think I just asked if I could borrow money to buy a pie to throw in their faces.

I guess the bottom line is that Disney's bottom line doesn't suffer if most of their guests are misinformed/uneducated ... if Disney lost money and/or guests due to this lack of good information, I'm sure they'd then do something about it.

PEACE.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

Here's the deal.

You didn't talk to anyone at POR. I know that Disney publishes direct numbers for each resort, but it's an illusion. ALL of those calls go to a department with the name Main Switchboard (not a very creative name, I agree). The cast member knows, from their computer screen, where the call is intended for, and will even answer your call with the name of that resort.

These cast members are trained to be gate-keepers. They are trained to NOT let a call through to the actual resort unless they truly believe they can't handle the answer. Unfortunately, many of them BELIEVE they can correctly answer the question but are very badly mistaken.

And even if they do decide to call the resort, what happens is you get placed on hold while the CM calls the resort. A CM at the resort then decides whetehr or not to take your call. If the resort decides NOT to take your call, then the original Main Switchboard CM gets back on the phone with you and gives a guess or a phoney baloney answer.

I promise you, this is how it works.

And the shame of it is, many of the call center CMs have never even been to the resorts they are giving answers about. The same thing happens when they are asked questions about transportation, the parks, restaurants, and so on ... they inadvertantly just give BAD information.

And, in my opinion, that's what you got, bad information. The person who gave you that answer wasn't empowered to give you that answer. It's such a shame that Disney's system stinks this bad when it comes to communicating with guests.

Don't forget you also get that same call center when trying to call the front desk from your resort room, which is weird because you would assume you are actually speaking to a Cast Member working there like any other hotel.

 

[CleveRocks]

I can vouch for that! CleveRocks is one of the most knowledgeable, informed, and helpful posters on the DIS.

Aw shucks, you're just sayin' that 'cause it's true.

And one of the ways I eventually became so well-informed and helpful is by learning from kaytieeldr. It was about 5 years ago that I was a born-again Disney newbie (hadn't been there since 1993) starting to plan a May 2005 trip, and kaytieeldr (starting out on a now-defunct AOL message board) was always there to not only educate me, but also to demonstrate to me how to share information in a nice, honorable and fun way. She frequently went out of her way to find/calculate information for me, and of course for many others. In the days before web-enabled cellphones, she even trusted this stranger from New Jersey with her home telephone number so I could give a "live" report on Disney's Magical Express (I was one of the first people to ever use it) that she could post on that board.

And no, Ronda, don't send me a bill to fix your computer because you cried on it while reading this.

 

[maxiesmom]

I wonder if it was the same cm that asked me WHICH castle I wanted to eat in at the MK. FYI-CRO is not at the resort(some not even in the state). They know what the computer tells them. They have no "authority" to override occupancy rules.

I had a CM tell me there is only one bus stop at Port Orleans Riverside.

OP--What most everyone is telling you on here is the truth. You can only have 4 people in a 4 person room. If Disney were caught allowing people to have extra guests they would be find to the high heavens. You can try to sneak an extra person in, but if you are caught you will be either told to leave or to get another room. And hopefully there would be another room available for you to have.

To the poster wondering why POR allows 5 in certain rooms while other Moderate resorts do not, well there is more involved in the fire code (which dictates how many people can be in a room) than room size. It also takes into account how many floors a building has, if there are elevators or not, and things such as how wide the doorways are.

 

[HaleyB]

I didn't read the whole thread, just the first few posts.

Having 5 in a 4 person room will cause you problems. One person won't be able to take advantage of Extra Magic Hours. Housekeeping will not give you bedding for a 5th person, and may in fact report you, which would mean you would either be asked to leave or made to get another room at rack rate.

That is just silly, how would they know. We always get a cot because my pre-teen son and my pre-teen daughter refuse to share a bed. We always get bedding with it.

The other issues are real, no ME no EMH and of course you are breaking the rules and maybe the fire code.

 

[duffy]

The whole point of the thread is, to let people know that there is a risk of being caught breaking the rules and being forced to leave.

We're staying at Port Orleans Riverside in Nov. It's me, my 14-year old, my sister and her 2 kids. She wanted to stay in a value, but her kids are both older than 3, and I refused. She kept trying to convince me that we'd be ok, but I told her that I was unwilling to take the chance. Housekeeping may never find out or report us, but I don't want to worry about "hiding" one child!!

 

[Disneyadore]

No matter how you try to sugar coat it, its wrong.
You don't pay for something you know you must. What's next? Does any one of you ask for an extra free bread at his bakery because he ore she got visiting guests that need to eat?
And don't tell me that sneaking in a guest at Disney is difference. The main reason people do these things is there not willing to pay and the sad thing is that at the end of the bill we all have to pay more for all those who choose not to follow the rules.
Further more I think the mods will close this threat because its not allowed to give information about bending the Disney rules.

 

[CanadianGuy]

Just out of curiousity, has anyone personally been kicked out of a Disney resort for exceeding the max occupancy. Eg. having 5 people in a room a for 4??

To the best of my knowledge, nobody's admitted being being ejected

Frankly, with friends who work at various resorts, I can assure everyone this can and does happen.

And if the room isn't capable of the capacity, you are asked to leave the property immediately with no refunds issued and given very little assistance to do so.

Why? Because you broke the guest/property covenant.

What is that covenant? The property has certain rules, including room capacity that are governed not only by the resort, but by Florida law. Room capacity is one of them. It's dictated by the number of floors, the number of stairwells, the distances from the farthest rooms to the nearest stairwells/exits, the square footage of the rooms, the nearest fire extinguisher, the nearest hydrant location and a few other arcane things that you would think would have zero bearing on this stuff.

It's not as simple as the square feet of the room and how many beds you shove in there. Don't believe me? Then, call a Fire Marshall in Orlando, FL.

Therefore, the guests are asked not to exceed room capacities because if they do - Disney is potentially under penalty of law and civil liability in the event of a fire and loss of life.

Seriously.

Call the CRO and ask for some help on this. Or even better, just call Shades of Green and see what they can do for you. Or change your travel dates to a time when space is available in the accommodations you require and can afford.

Whatever you choose to do, all of us fighting about it on the internet isn't going to make this any better or worse.

We're done here.

Knox