Adding a day, CM said no avail..

[petunia]

Im looking to add 2 days to our ressie for August (free dining), one at the beginning and one at the end of our dates. When I called to ask how much it would cost, the CM said there was no availability for the Friday night, but I could add the Sunday. Just for fun I checked online and there is availability for that day. Could it be that I have a standard booked and only preferred is available? If that was case, would I have to change/upgrade my whole ressie to preferred? Or would I just have to book that as a night/room only, before our weeks stay and change rooms? Im just surprised she never gave the option, just told me there was no availability, or I would have asked her all these questions...

 

[Hi Pluto]

Yes, it's probably that there was not the same category of rooms available for the entire stretch of your dates. You could always just book that extra night, room only, no dining plan attached. Maybe you can get a good room only discount for that one night.

ETA: Or you could try calling back and speaking with another CM. Some are more "crafty" than others in helping you figure out how to make it work.

 

[Disneylover99]

There is probably no availability for those particular dates under the free dining promotion. You may find the availability at rack rate or under a room discount though.

 

[Hopefully]

Disney has made it more difficult to-change reservations by either adding or removing single nights. In order to add a night at the beginning and end of your trip, the entire trip including the new days must be available to book. In essence, you are canceling your current reservation and booking a completely new reservation. It doesn’t matter that you can see one night. It is not available to add.

 

[nkereina]

Could it be that I have a standard booked and only preferred is available? If that was case, would I have to change/upgrade my whole ressie to preferred?

If you're seeing preferred rooms available under the free dining promotion, then this could be the reason. And yes, you would need to book your whole reservation, for the entire duration, as a preferred room. This is why she couldn't add it to your existing package.

Or would I just have to book that as a night/room only, before our weeks stay and change rooms?

You could do this too, but you would potentially have to change rooms and it would be two separate reservations. To book ADRs for the whole trip, you would have to be 180 days out from the check-in date of your week long stay since its two separate reservations.

Another possibility is that there are not any rooms left under the free dining promotion for that night. Disney allots X number of rooms in each room category at each resort to go towards the free dining promotion. If they are sold out of free dining rooms on that first night, you would be out of luck. We have run into this before and just booked a room outside of the promotion the night before our fred dining package started. We made sure it was the same room category and called to request we remain in the same room. It worked out fine.

 

[SharonZ]

Just because you are seeing availability, it doesn't mean that it is a room available under free dining. I would book standard room only for the first night.

 

[Searc]

Just book room only for the night you want to add.

 

[petunia]

Yes I guess the only option is to book a room only for the first night, as there is only preferred available, we will likely have to move the next day, as the free dining promo for August has passed I believe, and I wouldnt want to lose the promo just to add a night..thx all!

 

[Mainsail Minnie]

You can call back and try another CM. They can contact Guest Services, who can override the computer algorithms that are preventing you from changing your booking. Not all phone CMs are aware this is possible, though. That's why I'd call back & try speaking to someone else.

 

[SarahC97]

I'd call back. Last week I was trying to change my reservation and i could see availability online but the CM said there was nothing. I called right back and a different CM was able to help.

 

[nkereina]

Yes I guess the only option is to book a room only for the first night, as there is only preferred available, we will likely have to move the next day, as the free dining promo for August has passed I believe, and I wouldnt want to lose the promo just to add a night..thx all!

Is there only preferred available at the resort or just preferred available under the free dining promo?

 

[petunia]

Just preferred left at the resort for the night I want to add, and I have standard room booked with free dining. I plan to call back tomorrow.

 

[SG131]

Just preferred left at the resort for the night I want to add, and I have standard room booked with free dining. I plan to call back tomorrow.

Unfortunately if it’s only preferred left at the resort there is not much they can do. They MIGHT and that’s a big might be able to switch your free dining over to a preferred room so you don’t have to switch. Other than that keep checking online to see if a standard opens up. Good luck!