Book room-only now, convert to Package later

[Dashzap]

I've seen misinformation out there, so I wanted to pass along the process from CMs who book resort reservations.

You can book a Room Only reservation and convert it later to a Package, keeping the room type and room rate.

The CM books the new package first and then cancels the Room Only. The Room Only isn't cancelled until the Package is all set.

Yes, you need to pay the Package deposit of $200 (or pay in full if you are within 30 days of arrival). You get a refund of the Room Only funds.

 

[hodad]

As a customer, I don't know exactly how this happens, but sometimes CMs will try to book a ticketless package only to find that the rate on the original reservation is no longer available. When this has happened to me, I politely request that they honor the original rate, which involves the CM contacting mission control (or whatever it's called) and getting approval to convert the original reservation to a package. It takes some assertion on the customer's part and a little more time, but you should never have to pay more when you turn a room-only reservation into a ticketless package.

 

[CuteAsMinnie]

We've always booked Room Only because payment in full not due until check in. Only once, maybe 20 years ago, did we find a value in a package. Some CM certainly do push the package when booking tho.

 

[Dis703]

If keeping the room only rate what is the purpose of booking the package? We usually tend to do the opposite. Possibly booking a package to start then finding better rates with room only discounts or AP room discounts (when we have one). In the end we pretty much always end up with room only bookings and I haven't seen a benefit to going with a package so far. Unless you need this for the dining plan perhaps?

 

[fdefulvio]

Why not just buy tickets from a third party? Doesn't that accomplish the intent of delaying final payment? I know the third party discounts are minimal, but I'll take any savings I can get. Can you book fast passes at 60 days if you don't have tickets?

 

[Surgie]

Can you book fast passes at 60 days if you don't have tickets?

No you cannot. You must have the ticket numbers in your MDE account in order to book FP.

 

[fdefulvio]

No you cannot. You must have the ticket numbers in your MDE account in order to book FP.

Not being able to book Fastpasses at 60 days would offset any advantages of delaying converting to a package.

 

[Shanti]

Not being able to book Fastpasses at 60 days would offset any advantages of delaying converting to a package.

You don't need a package to get tickets for 60 day FP access. You can buy tickets separately & link them to your reservaton. Then you get 60 day FP+ access. We do this regularly.

I don't like packages due to the lack of flexibility. With a room-only reservation, you can cancel the week before if needed. Then you get to keep the separately-purchased tickets for another trip. You can also make changes more easily in the last month before the trip with a room-only reservation than you can with a package. You can also give different people on the reservation different numbers of tickets days, if you won't all be touring as a group the entire time. A package makes everyone buy the same number of ticket days.

Since a regular package price is the same as the room-only + ticket price, I see no reason to reduce my flexibility and have to pay the resort off a month early by booking a package.

 

[Surgie]

I don't like packages due to the lack of flexibility.

I was wondering about that. Right now I have room only reservations for 3 rooms for May 2018. I'd like to buy tickets to get that expense out of the way this year. But I've hesitated just in case a package discount comes out. We also have two annual passes in the group. I didn't know if possible AP discounts would likely be package or room only.

 

[Shanti]

I was wondering about that. Right now I have room only reservations for 3 rooms for May 2018. I'd like to buy tickets to get that expense out of the way this year. But I've hesitated just in case a package discount comes out. We also have two annual passes in the group. I didn't know if possible AP discounts would likely be package or room only.

AP discounts are room-only, because packages include tickets, which they don't need. Since two members of your party have APs, I would forget about getting a package & keep your eyes peeled for room-only discounts. They're regularly available for every season, & come out a few months before.

 

[Dashzap]

Package upside: Booking a package lets you have a dining plan and travel insurance. You also can pay for your room, dining, tickets, rental car, airfare, and in-room celebration as one transaction if you like. Some people like the all-inclusive feel.

Package downside: A package has less flexibility as it is one-size-fits-all (same ticket and dining plan for everyone). And you need to pay in full by 30 days before arrival, and if you cancel or change things within that 30 days, you'll end up paying fees. Upside of a package is that if you cancel the package, it cancels the tickets.

Room-only upside: Pay only the deposit in advance with the balance due at check-in. Cancel with no penalty fees up until 5 days before arrival. Everyone can have different tickets.

Room-only downside: No dining plan or insurance. You buy your tickets separately and they are nonrefundable, nontransferable. If you cancel your trip you can save the tickets for next trip (and if they expire you can apply the value to a new ticket, so long as you haven't used any days on the original tickets).

 

[Dashzap]

AP discounts are room-only, because packages include tickets, which they don't need. Since two members of your party have APs, I would forget about getting a package & keep your eyes peeled for room-only discounts. They're regularly available for every season, & come out a few months before.

AP discounts can be room-only or ticketless packages with dining plan.

 

[Shanti]

Package upside: Booking a package lets you have a dining plan and travel insurance. You also can pay for your room, dining, tickets, rental car, airfare, and in-room celebration as one transaction if you like. Some people like the all-inclusive feel.

Package downside: A package has less flexibility as it is one-size-fits-all (same ticket and dining plan for everyone). And you need to pay in full by 30 days before arrival, and if you cancel or change things within that 30 days, you'll end up paying fees. Upside of a package is that if you cancel the package, it cancels the tickets.

Room-only upside: Pay only the deposit in advance with the balance due at check-in. Cancel with no penalty fees up until 5 days before arrival. Everyone can have different tickets.

Room-only downside: No dining plan or insurance. You buy your tickets separately and they are nonrefundable, nontransferable. If you cancel your trip you can save the tickets for next trip (and if they expire you can apply the value to a new ticket, so long as you haven't used any days on the original tickets.

You can put insurance on a room-only reservation.

 

[Dashzap]

Since a regular package price is the same as the room-only + ticket price, I see no reason to reduce my flexibility and have to pay the resort off a month early by booking a package.

I agree. I have no interest in a dining plan anyway.

 

[Dashzap]

You can put insurance on a room-only reservation.

Nope, Disney's travel insurance is only on packages. You can get insurance elsewhere on a room-only, like your credit card, but not through Disney.

 

[Shanti]

Nope, Disney's travel insurance is only on packages. You can get insurance elsewhere on a room-only, like your credit card, but not through Disney.

You can still insure it, though. That's my point.

 

[Dashzap]

As a customer, I don't know exactly how this happens, but sometimes CMs will try to book a ticketless package only to find that the rate on the original reservation is no longer available. When this has happened to me, I politely request that they honor the original rate, which involves the CM contacting mission control (or whatever it's called) and getting approval to convert the original reservation to a package. It takes some assertion on the customer's part and a little more time, but you should never have to pay more when you turn a room-only reservation into a ticketless package.

Yes!

 

[tinka-belle]

A true room only reservation cannot add the trip insurance. There is something called a "basic package" that consists of a room & tax plus the extra bonuses (mini golf, etc.) that follows the same package rules for $200 deposit, 30 day final payment. You can add insurance to a basic package, got to call to book this way.

No real benefit to book this way, but if you want the Disney insurance that covers your flights too this way is an option.

 

[Dis703]

You can insure a trip without a package, but perhaps not through Disney. Our flights are covered by my credit card and they cover a few others things as well, so we've looked into various insurance options but never found them necessary. But I also feel less of a need for insurance on a room only since they don't penalize you for moving dates. You could change them almost indefinitely or perhaps even cancel the new reservation before your cancellation date and not lose out. We had to cancel the day of arrival last year and rebooked for a couple weeks later and there was no penalty. And tickets of course you can keep towards a future trip as well. We go regularly though so we know we'll be returning at some point.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

I was wondering about that. Right now I have room only reservations for 3 rooms for May 2018. I'd like to buy tickets to get that expense out of the way this year. But I've hesitated just in case a package discount comes out. We also have two annual passes in the group. I didn't know if possible AP discounts would likely be package or room only.

If you have AP holders in your group, I suggest you keep a look-out for AP room-only discounts which are usually steeper than general public room-only discounts. You can book up to 3 rooms with an AP rate. Package discounts (which are typically either some type of free dining deal or a "stay, play and dine") will require purchasing tickets and typically require booking the room at full price. If you have AP holders, you will probably be better off doing an AP room-only discount (which you can add the dining plan to) and buying tickets separately from a third-party reseller (like Undercover Tourist). If you go with a package discount, the AP holders in your group will end up with extra tickets which may not be worth the extra cost.