Canceling part of a reservation? Consecutive separate reservations?

ClapYourHands

DIS Veteran
Joined
Mar 2, 2018
Short version:
I'm looking for the best strategy to book now with discounts through Disney, while preserving my chance to take advantage of possible Priceline bookings later.

Long version:
I booked Best Western DS for a good (refundable) rate through Priceline for 6 days. Then the new Disney Discounts came out. I plan to get an AP, so I booked 2 days at AS Music at the start of my trip to give DD some time at a Disney-themed hotel. Magical Express will help me recoup some of the cost of the more expensive room. But I think my daily rate will go up for my remaining BW days if I cancel the first two days at BW (first two days are weekdays), so doing the whole trip with the AP rate might work with my budget, if I call back and book the next 4 nights at AS Mu.

BUT, complicating things a bit is that I'm also hoping I might be able to score something on Priceline when (if?) some onsite opaque deals show up closer to my dates. I realize that Priceline might not have availability for the whole stay, so I also want to hold on to my ability to use the discounts that are currently available.

My understanding is that if I book through Disney, I can't really MODIFY a reservation; I can only cancel and rebook a different reservation at the same hotel, and it's dependent on current availablity. Therefore, if there are no rooms left at the AP rate when I want to modify, I would lose the AP rate I have now. So, does it make sense to call back and try to book two separate 2-day reservations, for a total of 3 separate reservations over the course of 6 days? Then I could drop a block or two if I'm able to get a better rate on Priceline.

Would Disney let me do this (assuming availability)? Can I get them NOT to merge the reservations at this time, even though it's for the same people on consecutive days? I don't have the AP yet, so it has to be done on the phone. Anyone have experience with this?
 
It will all depend on availability. You can modify a reservation as long as you are doing package to package, room only to room only. IF the new dates are available with the discount. Disney won’t care how many consecutive reservations you have. You will need to put a deposit down on each reservation. Not quite sure having 2 new 2 night reservations will help get a discount, but you can do it if you want.
 
Not quite sure having 2 new 2 night reservations will help get a discount, but you can do it if you want.

Thank you.

I'm not thinking the multiple reservations will help me get a discount, but keep it.

If I book the full 6 nights at the AP rate, and then find a better deal on Priceline for two of the days sometime next month, I'm worried the AP rate will no longer be available for the remaining 4 days, putting me in the position of a better deal on two days, but reverting to rack rate for the remaining 4. Does that make sense?
 
Yep, get what u are trying to do. Don't think it will be a problem. They won't merge the reservations unless u ask them (I think u have to get transferred to Guest Services or something for that as I don't think a normal CM can do it).

The only annoyance is FP+ and any ADRs. I have my reservations split up into 3 separate reservations. When it came to my ADR day, I could only do 180+5 until my next window opened up.
 


Would Disney let me do this (assuming availability)? Can I get them NOT to merge the reservations at this time, even though it's for the same people on consecutive days? I don't have the AP yet, so it has to be done on the phone. Anyone have experience with this?
Disney will not merge your separate reservations unless you request that they try. I say try since they might be able to merge them but it is not a guarantee. Some times the best you could end up with is a "Continuing" reservation request.

Dave
 
Yep, get what u are trying to do. Don't think it will be a problem. They won't merge the reservations unless u ask them (I think u have to get transferred to Guest Services or something for that as I don't think a normal CM can do it).

The only annoyance is FP+ and any ADRs. I have my reservations split up into 3 separate reservations. When it came to my ADR day, I could only do 180+5 until my next window opened up.

Not a problem. I'm going in September and my FP day is already past. I'm going with my 4-year-old who is not at all interested in anything that moves very fast. So basically, I have no headliners to try to book because she probably won't ride Test Track, SDD, FoP (even if she were tall enough for it, which I don't think she is), etc. No rider swap possibility because I'm the only adult. We're going to take it easy, meet some characters, and ride easy-to-get-FP rides.
 
Thank you.

I'm not thinking the multiple reservations will help me get a discount, but keep it.

If I book the full 6 nights at the AP rate, and then find a better deal on Priceline for two of the days sometime next month, I'm worried the AP rate will no longer be available for the remaining 4 days, putting me in the position of a better deal on two days, but reverting to rack rate for the remaining 4. Does that make sense?

Oh, so all days are available now with the AP rate? You can definitely do 3 continuing reservations. So you’ll have days 1&2, 3&4, 5&6 all on different reservations? But what if days 4 & 5 show up on Priceline, one day from each of 2 different Disney reservations? Now you have to try & change 2 reservations with Disney. You will have to ask Disney to drop days & still keep the other days you want. They will not always let you just drop days. Priceline would also need to be the same exact room category too or you will have to change rooms. So potentially your reservations could end up: 2 day Disney, 1 day Disney, 2 days Priceline, another 1 day Disney. Or some other similar combination. While it might be doable, it seems like a lot of stress & potential work if you have to book different room categories. Especially with a 4 year old. Personally I would try to make just one reservation if at all possible.
 



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