Can I get the DDP booked - anyone done this recently?

[TheWGP]

Hello,

I have a split stay booked at CBR for 3/28 and then 3/29-4/1. The reason for the split is because originally we were unable to get CBR for that Monday night, and just today were able to get it switched over, albeit in a standard room rather than a preferred room (which we have for the second stay).

We already have tickets and have unfortunately already linked them with MDE.

In any event, these are both booked directly with Disney, both room-only. We are considering making them ticketless packages and adding the DDP for all 4 nights - we are arriving late Monday and park days are Tues, Weds, Thurs, Fri (after checkout). We understand the DDP credits from the first night MUST be used on Tuesday, and that is no problem.

The issue is getting the DDP at all - I just talked to a CM on the phone who said they were not able to find any other rooms so they could not rebook it that way. I've read on here and elsewhere that folks have been able to make it a ticketless package by getting Guest Services involved through an experienced CM to "hold" the room reservation, add the plan, then put the room back on. The posts I've seen have specifically mentioned this was doable for bookings from disney.com which is where we have ours through.

I didn't want to bump an old thread about this and upset folks, so here are a couple of examples of threads where this was mentioned:
http://www.disboards.com/threads/can-i-add-the-dining-plan.3450954/
and
http://www.disboards.com/threads/adding-dining-plan-to-discounted-room-res.3448355/

I thanked the CM I spoke to for their time and didn't make any changes with her, as I did not want to escalate / ask them to do something they were obviously unfamiliar with - she was very polite and helpful!


Anyone have any contacts / ideas on this? I know it is an unusual situation but we are planning this on the fly unexpectedly and have been pleasantly surprised with everything working out with reservations with some diligent checking (got BOG, Fantasmic package, TSMM FP's, etc) so hoping this works out too!

Thanks in advance for any responses!

 

[aaarcher86]

Hello,

I have a split stay booked at CBR for 3/28 and then 3/29-4/1. The reason for the split is because originally we were unable to get CBR for that Monday night, and just today were able to get it switched over, albeit in a standard room rather than a preferred room (which we have for the second stay).

We already have tickets and have unfortunately already linked them with MDE.

In any event, these are both booked directly with Disney, both room-only. We are considering making them ticketless packages and adding the DDP for all 4 nights - we are arriving late Monday and park days are Tues, Weds, Thurs, Fri (after checkout). We understand the DDP credits from the first night MUST be used on Tuesday, and that is no problem.

The issue is getting the DDP at all - I just talked to a CM on the phone who said they were not able to find any other rooms so they could not rebook it that way. I've read on here and elsewhere that folks have been able to make it a ticketless package by getting Guest Services involved through an experienced CM to "hold" the room reservation, add the plan, then put the room back on. The posts I've seen have specifically mentioned this was doable for bookings from disney.com which is where we have ours through.

I didn't want to bump an old thread about this and upset folks, so here are a couple of examples of threads where this was mentioned:
http://www.disboards.com/threads/can-i-add-the-dining-plan.3450954/
and
http://www.disboards.com/threads/adding-dining-plan-to-discounted-room-res.3448355/

I thanked the CM I spoke to for their time and didn't make any changes with her, as I did not want to escalate / ask them to do something they were obviously unfamiliar with - she was very polite and helpful!


Anyone have any contacts / ideas on this? I know it is an unusual situation but we are planning this on the fly unexpectedly and have been pleasantly surprised with everything working out with reservations with some diligent checking (got BOG, Fantasmic package, TSMM FP's, etc) so hoping this works out too!

Thanks in advance for any responses!

Just ask for a supervisor. The CM didn't know how to convert the reservation (happens a lot). I'd just call back. If the new CM still can't do it ask for the supervisor and they'll get it taken care of for you since you already have the room. If they decline the supervisor just keep asking.

 

[DisneyLove2015]

I just did this last week. We had 9 days for a military rate but wanted to change it into a ticketless package and take off two days. I had been told originally to wait until we knew the exact dates before adding the DDP (wanted to book this when we booked the dates but the CM said to wait...)

The CM had to get guest services involved bC there weren't any rooms at POFQ with the military rate for our dates left. After a few minutes on hold, the Guest services CM was able to convert it for me. Just keep asking until someone is able to do it for you.

 

[TheWGP]

I spoke with Disney today about this and they are now saying there is a ticketless package minimum of two nights - anyone know anything about that? I was attempting to just switch the 3/28 to 3/29 night over first and they couldn't even get that done.

Any ideas, anyone? I'm going to have to call back tomorrow, they agreed that a day shift supervisor might be able to help further. If there really is a minimum stay of 2 nights to get the DDP then that sinks this whole plan.

 

[sunflare]

I spoke with Disney today about this and they are now saying there is a ticketless package minimum of two nights - anyone know anything about that? I was attempting to just switch the 3/28 to 3/29 night over first and they couldn't even get that done.

This is true. I tried to put a ticketless package on a split stay I had during F&W last November and they couldn't do it for less than a two night stay.

 

[aaarcher86]

I spoke with Disney today about this and they are now saying there is a ticketless package minimum of two nights - anyone know anything about that? I was attempting to just switch the 3/28 to 3/29 night over first and they couldn't even get that done.

Any ideas, anyone? I'm going to have to call back tomorrow, they agreed that a day shift supervisor might be able to help further. If there really is a minimum stay of 2 nights to get the DDP then that sinks this whole plan.

Yes. 2 night minimum for DDP.

 

[TheWGP]

Hrmm. Is there any way to split off one night from the 3-night stay we have booked, then, so we have two 2-night stays and can do DDP on one of them?

I guess we could just do the 3-night stay into a ticketless package with DDP, but that's less optimal because we'd have to book more expensive restaurants to make good use of it for that many days, and it would mean we'd have to get the mugs at the resort on 3/29 which is a park day instead of 3/28 which is a "get there and chill" day.

Is linking the two existing reservations and getting 4-night DDP an option also? I don't think the math on 4 days works out for us but is it even an option?

Thanks for the hand-holding for a newbie to all this! Ideally I'd have planned a lot of this earlier but it is what it is at this point, this was an unexpected trip.

 

[aaarcher86]

Hrmm. Is there any way to split off one night from the 3-night stay we have booked, then, so we have two 2-night stays and can do DDP on one of them?

I guess we could just do the 3-night stay into a ticketless package with DDP, but that's less optimal because we'd have to book more expensive restaurants to make good use of it for that many days, and it would mean we'd have to get the mugs at the resort on 3/29 which is a park day instead of 3/28 which is a "get there and chill" day.

Is linking the two existing reservations and getting 4-night DDP an option also? I don't think the math on 4 days works out for us but is it even an option?

Thanks for the hand-holding for a newbie to all this! Ideally I'd have planned a lot of this earlier but it is what it is at this point, this was an unexpected trip.

No, they're two separate reservations. There's no way to combine them. You'd have to extend and cancel.

To split off one night you'd just have to book a separate one night reservation and modify down your current one to three nights. Keep in mind he new resort modification policy requires that the nights you want to modify to be bookable as a fresh reservation now. You can't just drop a night off.

 

[TheWGP]

Ah, so the three-day ticketless package with DDP with a one-day room only ressie is the only way to do it. Bummer. Thanks very much!

 

[elaine amj]

All my time on the Dis and i hadn't even realized ticketless packages were a possibility. That's what I am looking for this time so I talked to my TA a week or two ago and she said it was doable. I got her to book a 2 night room-only that we will convert to a ticketless package (she said we have to cancel and rebook) a few days beforehand. She explained that once I move to the ticketless package, I am subject to the package cancellation policy. My plans need to be more fluid for other reasons so she advised that this is the best way to go for me. Going with the DXDDP - big splurge but we're pretty excited about it

 

[aaarcher86]

All my time on the Dis and i hadn't even realized ticketless packages were a possibility. That's what I am looking for this time so I talked to my TA a week or two ago and she said it was doable. I got her to book a 2 night room-only that we will convert to a ticketless package (she said we have to cancel and rebook) a few days beforehand. She explained that once I move to the ticketless package, I am subject to the package cancellation policy. My plans need to be more fluid for other reasons so she advised that this is the best way to go for me. Going with the DXDDP - big splurge but we're pretty excited about it

It hasn't always been available. I'd say it's only been around about a year.

Just FYI, you'll need to convert no less than 72 hours prior to arrival.

 

[elaine amj]

It hasn't always been available. I'd say it's only been around about a year.

Just FYI, you'll need to convert no less than 72 hours prior to arrival.

Good to know I haven't been that far out of the loop! Thanks for the reminder about the 72 hr policy - my TA had brought that up too. I check in on March 15th and she said she would contact me to set things up on March 12th.

 

[TheWGP]

We did go for the DDP on the three-night stay. I spent time on the phone with a helpful CM who worked with guest services. To add a little pixie dust, they were able to apply a promo, making the total cost almost $300 less than expected! Not sure how that happens but I'll take it very happily!

I got a reservation number over the phone and this morning got a payment email and a package email with that number, but the package email reflects a different price than the payment email and shows a balance due of what I had paid on the room only. I'm going to assume since I do have that email to prove the price, and they didn't refund the prior payment, that will work out eventually.

One question: it still only shows the two room-only reservations in MDE and when I enter the new reservation number it cannot locate the new package reservation. The helpful CM said I *should* be able to link it to MDE immediately - was he wrong? Did something screw up? I don't think so, but it makes me nervous not seeing it. When I linked on MDE previously with a confirmation number, it was instant.

 

[aaarcher86]

We did go for the DDP on the three-night stay. I spent time on the phone with a helpful CM who worked with guest services. To add a little pixie dust, they were able to apply a promo, making the total cost almost $300 less than expected! Not sure how that happens but I'll take it very happily!

I got a reservation number over the phone and this morning got a payment email and a package email with that number, but the package email reflects a different price than the payment email and shows a balance due of what I had paid on the room only. I'm going to assume since I do have that email to prove the price, and they didn't refund the prior payment, that will work out eventually.

One question: it still only shows the two room-only reservations in MDE and when I enter the new reservation number it cannot locate the new package reservation. The helpful CM said I *should* be able to link it to MDE immediately - was he wrong? Did something screw up? I don't think so, but it makes me nervous not seeing it. When I linked on MDE previously with a confirmation number, it was instant.

It should be instant.

It could be MDE being wonky, it's possible there's just an error on the reservation details (name, phone, etc), or something else. I would give it 24 hours and call them to verify everything if it doesn't work. Might have to request tech support for whatever reason.

 

[TheWGP]

Just checked and the room only ressie is gone from MDE but still cannot find the new confirmation number. Talk about stress inducing!

We did experience a MDE issue previously when it didn't update that we had changed resorts for the one night stay after 48 hours. Tech support was very helpful and sorted it all out.

Update: Called back (my wife was freaking out because it looked to her like we had no hotel reserved per her MDE) and they got it all squared away. We are happy campers and glad to finally be done with all the logistics!