I'd like to add 1 or 2 nights to our trip which currently ends on Friday morning. When I try to change online there are no rooms available. However, if I try to get a new reservation there are rooms. I'd prefer not to have to switch rooms for one extra night, pay an extra deposit, etc. I'm hoping that if I do have to make a second reservation the front desk can keep us in the same room.
Has anyone had a successful experience with either adding a night to a reservation or combining two reservations without switching/vacating the room?
Raya,
I've been round-and-round with Disney reservations about this.
You think of it as adding one or two nights to an existing reservation.
The Disney computer system thinks of it as cancelling your old reservation and booking a new long reservation that STARTS on your original start day but ENDS on your planned extended departure day. So the dates of your original reservation are fully booked (or at least one night is) and the system can't comprehend "keep those days and add a few more".
Book a separate reservation for the additional nights at the same level/room type. You can leave it at that and defer the 2nd set of magic bands that will automatically ship and deal with a 2nd reservation (the night before your original check-out date, go to the lobby and explain your staying, not moving, and what your room number is). You will have to pay a second deposit.
Or wait a day or three after you make the incremental reservation then call back once more (hopefully before the FP booking window becomes an issue) and ask the reservation CM to transfer you to GUEST SERVICES to merge your two reservations together with your original arrival date and your new departure date. The Reservation CM CANNOT do this themselves. If they say they don't know who Guest Services is, either escalate or hang up and call back and eventually you will get a CM who knows where to transfer you.
Guest Services will take your two reservation numbers and deposits and merge them together into one. It worked for me. You will end up with one single reservation that runs the full length of stay you want with two nights of deposits on the reservation already. (Moving the money is the issue). Once you call and get this done, it takes a day or two for
MDE to reflect the moved money and the new single reservation. But it works and simplifies life quite a bit.
Bama Ed
PS - you can make it if you actively manage two reservations but with FP, fears of having to move, Magic Band management, I found it easier to merge the two well in advance and then coast through the vacation. Your choice.
PPS - your rate periods have to be the same too. If your first reservation had a discount and the second didn't, you may not be able to keep the discount or extend it to cover the new dates. That may be a factor in deciding to merge or not.
