Booking longer package than needed?

[tinkgirl1984]

Ok, so this is a hypothetical question. My whole family: mom, dad, sister 25, myself 28, and 2 nephews (2 & 1) are currently booked for the cabins @ FW with FD Sept. 22-27. No one in my family is really thrilled with this arrangement, but it was the only thing we could book that we'd all fit in that was even moderately economical since my parents are paying for everyone. First choice was always a Cars suite at AoA, but there was never availability for our dates. I was just playing with the website looking at different dates, and kind of realize by accident that the room is actually available...for a longer stay. So my hypothetical question is, how legal/ethical/likely to actually work is it to intentionally book more days than you need and then cancel the extra days? The idea never really occurred to me before, but if it is doable, would be perfect. We could really, really use an extra bathroom! Lol.

 

[princessap]

I was looking to add a night to our stay this year at AOA Lm room and same thing happened. when I couldnt find availability people on here suggested I do exactly what you said!! So lots of people do it. I say go ahead!

 

[mickeynut1]

Ok, so this is a hypothetical question. My whole family: mom, dad, sister 25, myself 28, and 2 nephews (2 & 1) are currently booked for the cabins @ FW with FD Sept. 22-27. No one in my family is really thrilled with this arrangement, but it was the only thing we could book that we'd all fit in that was even moderately economical since my parents are paying for everyone. First choice was always a Cars suite at AoA, but there was never availability for our dates. I was just playing with the website looking at different dates, and kind of realize by accident that the room is actually available...for a longer stay. So my hypothetical question is, how legal/ethical/likely to actually work is it to intentionally book more days than you need and then cancel the extra days? The idea never really occurred to me before, but if it is doable, would be perfect. We could really, really use an extra bathroom! Lol.

As the pp said, go ahead and book the longer stay. I'm not sure why it happens, but sometimes adding nights to your stay shows availability when a shorter stay does not. I would book with the extra nights and then cancel any nights you don't need .

 

[DVC4FUN]

Hmmm.. strange. I wonder if that's actually some sort of glitch in the system. We know how "good" Disney's IT is! Cause I can't see why Disney would discourage anyone from staying.

 

[mickeynut1]

Hmmm.. strange. I wonder if that's actually some sort of glitch in the system. We know how "good" Disney's IT is! Cause I can't see why Disney would discourage anyone from staying.

I always thought it was strange, too, but I have seen this happen for many years. I don't know if Disney thinks people will book the extra nights and just extend their trip without cancelling or just what, but I have seen this on many occasions when pricing out a trip.

 

[Marthasor]

Ok, so this is a hypothetical question. My whole family: mom, dad, sister 25, myself 28, and 2 nephews (2 & 1) are currently booked for the cabins @ FW with FD Sept. 22-27. No one in my family is really thrilled with this arrangement, but it was the only thing we could book that we'd all fit in that was even moderately economical since my parents are paying for everyone. First choice was always a Cars suite at AoA, but there was never availability for our dates. I was just playing with the website looking at different dates, and kind of realize by accident that the room is actually available...for a longer stay. So my hypothetical question is, how legal/ethical/likely to actually work is it to intentionally book more days than you need and then cancel the extra days? The idea never really occurred to me before, but if it is doable, would be perfect. We could really, really use an extra bathroom! Lol.

Yes, you can do it. Just make sure you make any changes prior to your package balance due date. I had to do this in June to get a standard room at Poly. I kept plugging in different check-in/check-out dates that included when I actually wanted to go and, finally, the room became available when I entered a certain set of dates - it was one night longer than I needed, so I booked it and then just called and changed my check-in date without a problem. Who knows how their computers are programmed and if it's to fill rooms, encourage longer stays, encourage people to book at other resorts, etc.? But yes, go ahead and enjoy AoA!

 

[MomToOne]

Hmmm.. strange. I wonder if that's actually some sort of glitch in the system. We know how "good" Disney's IT is! Cause I can't see why Disney would discourage anyone from staying.

This is actually standard in hotel booking systems. When hotels start getting booked up, they want to give the remaining rooms to the guests who will be staying the longest and generating the most revenue. So you may see availability for 10 nights start on day x, but not 3 nights.

(It's actually much more complicated than this but the above gives you a basic idea of what's going on. I used to write the revenue management systems that did the calculations to identify which length of stays should be accepted for any given arrival date. )