Can You Add Occupants to a Room?

[wdrl]

We just joined DVC this month. We are anxiously awaiting 7/8/09 to come so we can book our first reservation at BLT for 6/8/2010.

We have a question about making a reservation. Lets say we book a studio for two people. But at the last minute we want to add a third person to the room. Can we do this, or do we have to notify Member Services first before we can add another person? Does it matter whether we add or replace an adult with a child?

 

[DebbieB]

I do that all the time. I usually just make the reservation for myself because I'm not sure who will be joining me at 11 months. Then closer to the date add people. I just added someone by sending an e-mail for my AKV stay next month, including adding DME. If you are doing the dining plan, you do need to do it in advance.

 

[Deb & Bill]

As long as you don't exceed occupancy, you can add adults, children, any age. You can have four adults in a studio for no extra cost over two adults. But I don't think I would put four adults in a studio - too crowded.

 

[n2mm]

We do it often ourselves. As long as you are within your occupancy you'll be OK. Just last week we had a studio for the 2 of us, and my daughter arrived and had a studio for her and hubby and the kids (15yo, 4 yo, 1.5 yo). We knew it might be a little crowded, so we went to the front desk and got our 15yo gs an ID for our card and he crashed on our sofa bed during the trip. This was not a problem at all -- we were at the BCV.

 

[Disney_Daddy]

We live in Florida and usually have friends/family stay with us for a night here and there. We haven't ever added them to the reservation.

One time I did try to add someone at the last minute to a reservation with the dining plan. We learned quickly that you cannot do so. Dining plan reservations must be made in advance!!

 

[Figment2]

You can also remove names as needed. There have been times when I think so and so are going and then they back out, so new so and so's are added.

 

[Dean]

You can also remove names as needed. There have been times when I think so and so are going and then they back out, so new so and so's are added.

You can add or remove at any point even during mid stay except possibly where the DDP is involved.

We live in Florida and usually have friends/family stay with us for a night here and there. We haven't ever added them to the reservation.

One time I did try to add someone at the last minute to a reservation with the dining plan. We learned quickly that you cannot do so. Dining plan reservations must be made in advance!!

Which is the catch 22 with the DDP. Can't add or subtract anyone on check in, must arrange in advance and must get the DDP for all parties for the LOS. If you get put in this position where you try to add them at check in and you can't and they don't allow you to get keys for them, check in for the party listed, pay for the DDP, then go back later that day or the next morning and add them explaining exactly what happened. They'll be able to give you extra keys for the people in question. The extra keys may or may not have access to the DDP credits but you can restrict them as to charging or not. This is simply one of the issues with the DDP given that the group participants seem to vary more and commit later with DVC trips than with most cash trips. There are times you literally don't know who's coming until you leave and sometimes even after. I understand why Disney (it's not DVC) has the requirements but feel that there should be some flexibility where DVC is concerned for the reasons referred to above. You literally may not know whether the DDP is appropriate for a given trip until the day of arrival (even afterwards sometimes) or who/how many. IMO, DDP should be adjustable at check in if they're going to continue the LOS for all in the party arrangement. It's also would be nice to allow one to drop the first or last day, possibly even both, and Disney does have a history of allowing that option for similar programs in the past. Note, I'm not complaining, I realize that one can avoid it by simply skipping the plan but I also don't think it's appropriate for Disney/DVC to create the catch 22 they have for some members.

I do believe it's not a good idea to have guests staying over night not listed on the reservation or registered in the villa.

 

[Figment2]

Thanks, Dean, I forgot about that. We never use the DDP so it's never an issue.

Cyn