Are connecting rooms now guaranteed for families w/kids?

[mefordis]

The Disney agent told me if there are 2 adults with small children they will guarantee connecting rooms? Does anyone have experience with this? I know several years ago whenever we requested connecting rooms we were told they are not guaranteed, and half the time we did not get them.

 

[Dug720]

To my knowledge, no. Not guaranteed if there are 2 adults as they could split one adult and one kid in each room.

 

[RedHead0186]

My TA told me that recently too. We booked a family trip: two rooms for my brother/SIL and two kids, one room for my parents, and one room for me. We told the TA we wanted the two rooms for my brother's family to be connecting, and we would like connecting rooms for me and my parents. My TA told us Disney would guarantee connecting rooms for the family of 4. No idea if that's new or not, but we were just told that about a month ago.

 

[Genie+]

Possibly it is a newer policy. Were they saying this in regard to a certain resort or was it just booking in general?

 

[mefordis]

My TA told me that recently too. We booked a family trip: two rooms for my brother/SIL and two kids, one room for my parents, and one room for me. We told the TA we wanted the two rooms for my brother's family to be connecting, and we would like connecting rooms for me and my parents. My TA told us Disney would guarantee connecting rooms for the family of 4. No idea if that's new or not, but we were just told that about a month ago.

I don't know if I can trust it enough to tell my family to go ahead and book connecting then they will be disappointed if they end up down the hall from each other.

 

[Dave006]

I don't know if I can trust it enough to tell my family to go ahead and book connecting then they will be disappointed if they end up down the hall from each other.

What resort are you inquiring about?

It is going to vary by resort. Some resorts have more connecting room than other resorts. Also it depends on how your book. For example you can't book multiple rooms online. The best you can do is have both reservations updated to indicated "traveling" with and listing the other reservation. If you book by phone the CM will list both rooms on the same reservation.

There is also the possibility of an issue with assigned connecting rooms that may result in one of the rooms being pulled from service due to a maintenance issue. In this type of situation your family might be offered a move to another resort.

Dave

 

[Dug720]

I don't know if I can trust it enough to tell my family to go ahead and book connecting then they will be disappointed if they end up down the hall from each other.

If they're willing to consider a Value resort, a Family Suite at Music or Art of Animation may be the way to go.

 

[mefordis]

What resort are you inquiring about?

It is going to vary by resort. Some resorts have more connecting room than other resorts. Also it depends on how your book. For example you can't book multiple rooms online. The best you can do is have both reservations updated to indicated "traveling" with and listing the other reservation. If you book by phone the CM will list both rooms on the same reservation.

There is also the possibility of an issue with assigned connecting rooms that may result in one of the rooms being pulled from service due to a maintenance issue. In this type of situation your family might be offered a move to another resort.

Dave

We are looking at the Poly. I spoke with an agent and she confirmed if you have two adults with kids, they will guarantee connecting rooms. If there is a 3rd adult they cannot guarantee them.

 

[Neener16]

I have not had a problem traveling with my daughter and granddaughter. We call ahead of time and have no other room requests except to have connecting rooms. So far so good.

 

[lanejudy]

I would take that “guaranteed” with a grain of salt. Guests have been told for years that it’s guaranteed, even had it noted on the reservation confirmation. Most received connecting rooms but some don’t. If you truly need connecting, book a room category that accommodates everyone in the same room. If you can manage if split, take the chance.

 

[sponica]

Not all resorts have the same room types as connecting, so I'd take it with a grain of salt. It's why we didn't stay at CBR when we went with in laws, there weren't a lot of standard rooms that connected to standard rooms.

 

[HopperFan]

Has always been said that the fine print terms of service, the ONLY guarantee is that you will get a room somewhere on property that will fit your party. They will upgrade you for free, downgrade you with refund, move you to any room, any resort that fits your party and they have met their obligation.

Now if you tell me there is one adult and four kids in two rooms ~ yes they will need to give you connecting if no child is 18. Otherwise if it is important, I'd book a suite.

 

[bluezy]

The Disney agent told me if there are 2 adults with small children they will guarantee connecting rooms? Does anyone have experience with this? I know several years ago whenever we requested connecting rooms we were told they are not guaranteed, and half the time we did not get them.

I've heard this many times over the last 20+ years...that connecting rooms are "now guaranteed". Yet, as was pointed out, the fine print of the reservation indicates otherwise. There are many uniformed/misinformed CMs, TAs, etc. who will say the rooms are guaranteed to get the sale or just simply because they *think/assume* that's the case. Our TA *always* told us that while we could request connecting rooms, they were never (other than for certain medical issues) guaranteed so we should always be prepared for not getting them, just in case.

And I've always been baffled with the "guaranteed if there are 2 adults" thing. Why would connecting rooms be guaranteed for parties including 2 adults? Two adults could split up and each take a room with kids. It just never made sense to me (maybe I'm missing something)?

We have 5 kids and needed connecting rooms for several trips. We always stayed at Pop Century because they have the largest number of connecting rooms (or at least they did back in the early 2000s when we needed them). I always made that my only request, and we always got them. But I always had a contingency plan just in case we didn't get connecting rooms. Once AoA opened, we just stayed there because we knew we'd all be in one room (and by that point, our oldest son was in his early 20s and bringing his girlfriend so they got their own room.).

 

[mefordis]

I've heard this many times over the last 20+ years...that connecting rooms are "now guaranteed". Yet, as was pointed out, the fine print of the reservation indicates otherwise. There are many uniformed/misinformed CMs, TAs, etc. who will say the rooms are guaranteed to get the sale or just simply because they *think/assume* that's the case. Our TA *always* told us that while we could request connecting rooms, they were never (other than for certain medical issues) guaranteed so we should always be prepared for not getting them, just in case.

And I've always been baffled with the "guaranteed if there are 2 adults" thing. Why would connecting rooms be guaranteed for parties including 2 adults? Two adults could split up and each take a room with kids. It just never made sense to me (maybe I'm missing something)?

We have 5 kids and needed connecting rooms for several trips. We always stayed at Pop Century because they have the largest number of connecting rooms (or at least they did back in the early 2000s when we needed them). I always made that my only request, and we always got them. But I always had a contingency plan just in case we didn't get connecting rooms. Once AoA opened, we just stayed there because we knew we'd all be in one room (and by that point, our oldest son was in his early 20s and bringing his girlfriend so they got their own room.).

Same here, in the past I only received connecting rooms about 50% of the time, with kids and two adults. But I think it's a new thing that they do now guarantee connecting rooms with 2 adults + kids. The agent said it will be explicitly written on the confirmation "guaranteed connecting rooms".

 

[lisset005]

We are a family of seven who frequents WDW a few times a year and we have always been told that because we are a family with minor children we are guaranteed to have connecting rooms. We have also been told once our oldest turns 18, it will no longer be guaranteed (he's a teen now). We have always gotten connecting rooms at the variety of value and moderate resorts we have booked.

 

[lanejudy]

The agent said it will be explicitly written on the confirmation "guaranteed connecting rooms".

It has been on some confirmations for years. There were still guests who did not get connecting despite having it on the confirmation. WDW does their best to provide connecting but unless/until they have a booking system that literally blocks out specific rooms/pairs as booked, there will unfortunately be times that connecting isn’t available.

 

[bluezy]

It has been on some confirmations for years. There were still guests who did not get connecting despite having it on the confirmation. WDW does their best to provide connecting but unless/until they have a booking system that literally blocks out specific rooms/pairs as booked, there will unfortunately be times that connecting isn’t available.

I agree. I have seen plenty of people over the years say their reservation said that connecting rooms were guaranteed but ended up not getting connecting rooms. It happened to a friend' of mine. I warned her that despite what her TA said and what was added to their reservation ("connecting rooms guaranteed") they should be prepared just in case it didn't happen. Well, they weren't prepared and it was a rough start to their vacation. They had to go but some toiletry items and the kids weren't happy that they weren't going to have their "own" room. They were able to move to connecting rooms 3 days later. And I can remember a single mom with 4 kids checking in late at night who was told she was guaranteed connecting rooms and found out at check-in that she did not have connecting rooms. And the resort was booked to capacity. They actually ended up moving her to a different resort. Those are just 2 of many stories of people not getting their "guaranteed" connecting rooms. Until I see a specific announcement directly from Disney indicating they are guaranteeing connecting rooms for any family of 5 or more, I will continue to be skeptical and advise people to have a contingency plan if they request connecting rooms...just in case. JMO.

 

[bluezy]

Same here, in the past I only received connecting rooms about 50% of the time, with kids and two adults. But I think it's a new thing that they do now guarantee connecting rooms with 2 adults + kids. The agent said it will be explicitly written on the confirmation "guaranteed connecting rooms".

I just don't see the point of guaranteeing connecting rooms to parties with 2 adults. Whenever I read about a TA/CM saying that, I immediately think it's incorrect/misunderstood information. It makes zero sense to me (I'd love for someone to explain the logic). I could totally understand if it was 1 adult and 4 children. Our "plan b" was always that DH would take 3 kids and I would take 2 if we had to go in separate rooms...because we were 2 adults who could each be the "lead" person on a room. I would have felt terrible if we were guaranteed connecting rooms and a single parent wasn't.