Cast Member Family and Friends Discount questions

[grannyminnie]

But you are a good source of information, Kerry!

 

[KerryCM]

But you are a good source of information, Kerry!

Thank you!

 

[flea1267]

Our CM friend tried to book a Friends/Family for us the other day and he was told the Friends/Family rooms can only be booked at 4 months out now. A big change from previous years! So that would mean that January rooms wouldn't be able to be booked until like Sept. and for us who want to go in May, we can't book until Jan of 2020 for May of 2020.

 

[KerryCM]

Our CM friend tried to book a Friends/Family for us the other day and he was told the Friends/Family rooms can only be booked at 4 months out now. A big change from previous years! So that would mean that January rooms wouldn't be able to be booked until like Sept. and for us who want to go in May, we can't book until Jan of 2020 for May of 2020.

That is what I was told too! I have no idea what the discount will be either. There were no 50% off cast rates for 2020 when I booked all my rooms in July. Things are changing. It will be interesting to see what happens with the holiday discounts this year.

 

[flea1267]

Can I be nosey and ask...what discount did you get? I wonder if Disney is waiting to see how many rooms they can sell at rack rate before they release discounts to CMs? I went ahead and booked packages at rack rate so I could do our dining and Josh is going to call for us in January - worse case we will just stick with regular prices LOL we are going no matter what

 

[KerryCM]

Can I be nosey and ask...what discount did you get? I wonder if Disney is waiting to see how many rooms they can sell at rack rate before they release discounts to CMs? I went ahead and booked packages at rack rate so I could do our dining and Josh is going to call for us in January - worse case we will just stick with regular prices LOL we are going no matter what

All cast rates I booked were at 40%. Not sure what the discount will be for Friends and Family. You may be better off with general public rates. Your cast member friend may be able to see them on the HUB, I don’t have access since I am retired I have to call.

 

[flea1267]

All cast rates I booked were at 40%. Not sure what the discount will be for Friends and Family. You may be better off with general public rates. Your cast member friend may be able to see them on the HUB, I don’t have access since I am retired I have to call.

Thanks KerryCM!!! He called because we always like to add dining and you can't do that from the HUB - so we'll wait until January and see what happens we're blessed we can go either way. Just saving my pennies until May! I hope you have a great time when you go!

 

[OfCourseTheresAlwaysMyWay]

Do people call Disney all the time pretending to know CMs and trying to get discounts?

My best friend, who is a CM, made a resort reservation for me. I was calling to see if I could pay off the balance before arrival instead of day of. I was also looking for a clarification on the checkin procedure (whether he had to be there, whether he could stop by before my arrival with his ID, etc.) since info on the Hub was confusing to him. It's his first time using the Friends and Family discount.

Despite trying to provide a confirmation number, I was treated SUPER rudely by the CM I reached on the phone. It's like she didn't believe me that I actually knew another CM and that I actually had the reservation already.

I tried to be as nice as possible in response, but got nowhere. I told her "I'm just trying to iron out all the details and do everything I can for a smooth arrival with minimal stress for my friend" and she actually said "Well your friend's doing you a favor, so I don't see what the problem is. They can figure it out." Her tone was like a sarcastic 6th grade girl. It made me feel really icky after.

Maybe the checkin process info is for CMs only and not for the public, but she couldn't even be bothered to take my confirmation number to deal with the rest of the balance. Believe me, I tried. I wanted to give her a lot of money! Why should that be met with such a sour attitude?

She ended the call with "Have a magical day." We all know what that means.

 

[KerryCM]

Do people call Disney all the time pretending to know CMs and trying to get discounts?

My best friend, who is a CM, made a resort reservation for me. I was calling to see if I could pay off the balance before arrival instead of day of. I was also looking for a clarification on the checkin procedure (whether he had to be there, whether he could stop by before my arrival with his ID, etc.) since info on the Hub was confusing to him. It's his first time using the Friends and Family discount.

Despite trying to provide a confirmation number, I was treated SUPER rudely by the CM I reached on the phone. It's like she didn't believe me that I actually knew another CM and that I actually had the reservation already.

I tried to be as nice as possible in response, but got nowhere. I told her "I'm just trying to iron out all the details and do everything I can for a smooth arrival with minimal stress for my friend" and she actually said "Well your friend's doing you a favor, so I don't see what the problem is. They can figure it out." Her tone was like a sarcastic 6th grade girl. It made me feel really icky after.

Maybe the checkin process info is for CMs only and not for the public, but she couldn't even be bothered to take my confirmation number to deal with the rest of the balance. Believe me, I tried. I wanted to give her a lot of money! Why should that be met with such a sour attitude?

She ended the call with "Have a magical day." We all know what that means.

Wow! That was pretty bad. They have started to outsource many of their call center calls. There is a cast line to call, but it is answered by the WDW travel company cast members. I had a new cast member during one of my recent calls. I wanted to add dining for my son’s reservation that I had made and put the deposit on. The reservation was in his name, but connected to my reservation. I am going on the trip, I am the cast member. I have been doing this for well over twenty years, I know how it works.

He was extremely rude and finally I asked for a supervisor or to be transferred to guest services. He kept telling me because I was retired I could not make reservations for others and I didn’t have a clue how the company worked. I asked for his name again, asked for a supervisor and he disconnected the call. I called back, got a great cast member who helped me and was fantastic. The best thing to do is hang up and call again!

 

[OfCourseTheresAlwaysMyWay]

The best thing to do is hang up and call again!

I'll give it a try.

 

[Dave006]

My best friend, who is a CM, made a resort reservation for me. I was calling to see if I could pay off the balance before arrival instead of day of. I was also looking for a clarification on the checkin procedure (whether he had to be there, whether he could stop by before my arrival with his ID, etc.) since info on the Hub was confusing to him. It's his first time using the Friends and Family discount.

There is no change for the check-in procedure since you are on a Friends and Family rate. The CM is only required to be present and present ID is when the CM is staying on a CM rate.

The reservation is in your name or should be and since it is your reservation. You don't need to even bring up your CM friend. Just call-in and tell the phone rep that you want to pay the balance over the phone.

Dave

 

[OfCourseTheresAlwaysMyWay]

There is no change for the check-in procedure since you are on a Friends and Family rate. The CM is only required to be present and present ID is when the CM is staying on a CM rate.

The reservation is in your name or should be and since it is your reservation. You don't need to even bring up your CM friend. Just call-in and tell the phone rep that you want to pay the balance over the phone.

Dave

That’s how simple I thought it should have been!

 

[KerryCM]

The cast member can also fax in a copy of their ID 10 days in advance of the reservation, if they are not an on-site cast member.