Changing ressies after full payment made?

[Dana_Buckley]

OK, so the codes are out so late this year that my full payment is due before the codes will be out (i think). I have ressies at PO-FQ for Jan 11-14th and my full payment is due Nov 27th. General codes are *due out* Nov 29th and I was hoping to switch to Gr Floridian, (if $200/nt), if not then maybe WL. So, will I have a big problem switching after I have made full payment? Will they just transfer the full payment to the new ressie? Thank You!!

I'm so excited about our trip, I'm almost forgetting about Christmas!!

 

[sm4987]

Hi. The same thing happened to us last year. We had ressie's at one resort and after we paid in full switched to another. They do switch to the resort(s) that you want to and send the full payment over there. If you have paid to much, they give you a credit for when you arrive. This happened to us and it was great. We had $600 at the hotel left for us when we arrived. We just counted this as spending money for food, shopping, etc. It worked out great for us!

 

[Praise2Him]

I'm assuming your ressies are through Walt Disney Travel Co., not CRO since CRO doesn't require full payment until arrival. I called WDTC a couple of days ago about ressies in March and was told that full payment would be due by X date and that if any changes were made after that date there would be a $10 processing fee. I think this is something new, because I've never heard of it before. I guess if you were saving a lot of money by using a code the $10 fee wouldn't matter very much.

 

[justhat]

We made reservations using the Disney Club discount (so through WDTC) for the GF 1/1-1/4 until the AP rates came out. We paid in full when the time came and then called back with the AP code when it was available. The first person I spoke with told me I could not change to the AP rate unless I paid $100 cancellation fee since she would have to cancel the DC reservation and rebook with the AP coe--she said she could not just modify it. Also she said I need to have the AP already and since I told her I planned on purchasing it when I got down there she said I would have to either order it over the phone from her or not be allowed to get the AP rate because she said no one would check to see if I had an AP and so people could get the rate and not have to buy the AP, which they wanted to avoid. I hung up since this seemed ridiculous, especially the $100 cancellaton fee. Then I called back and spoke with a man who seemed helpful at the time and booked the room for me with the AP code and did not charge a cancellation fee. He said, however, that they could not switch the payment and that they would refund my entire payment and then I would have to pay again for the new reservation. This was fine with me so I went ahead and booked it. Well, I just got the confirmation in the mail and the dates are for 1/2-1/5, not the 1/1-1/4 that I had booked. So I called back and they said they had no rooms available for 1/1 and I was out of luck, even though it was their mistake (as I even had the man repeat the dates to me). After much arguing I finally got them to 'find' a room for me and change my reservation to 1/1-1/4,btu I still have to call back to confirm I have the same AP rate and that they didnt' switch that too. Ugh. So my answer is that I would never book ths way again!! If I could do it strictly through CRO at rack rate and then apply the AP rate since my payment would not be due till arrival, that would be ok I guess, but definitely not with using the DC discount and then switching to AP. So if you decide to do this be careful!!!

 

[marn913]

We recently switched from the DC discount to the AP discount and had a similar experience as "justhat" as far as the refund. We had to pay one night's deposit on the "new" reservation and we were then refunded the entire amount on our previous reservation. This could be because we were switching from a ressie through WTC to CRO. I'm not sure how it works if you switch/change a ressie already made through CRO. Good luck!

 

[HugsForEeyore]

Actually, there could be a chance you will have problems getting a discount with the codes. I see that your dates are Jan 11-14, which covers Marathon Weekend. The resorts are pretty booked up that weekend as it is. I should know - I been trying to get an AP rate at a moderate, but there is absolutely no AP rates left for that weekend for moderates, values, or WL when I called three weeks ago. That weekend is VERY busy, it seems.

But, who knows! Maybe you will be much more lucky than me!

 

[SuzyQue]

Dana.... I would call and ask if there will be a fee to change after full payment is made. We recently changed our CRO ressie to a DC ressie, CRO payment had to be credited back to charge card then recharged under DC, no problem there. I asked if there would be a charge if we made a change after final payment because someone else had posted that there was a $50 charge, and she said because I was a DC member the charge would only be $10.00. ~~

 

[behappy]

Justhat...agree the $100 cancel seemed strange, but, perhaps not the part about requiring some verification of AP 'possession'. Reading around the boards recently, I see where, because AP rates come out first, folks are tying up AP ressies, then deciding if the general codes are a 'good enough' deal when they come out, so as not to have to buy APs. Presumably, they then call and change to a no-AP code. Call me naive, but, I would have never thought to do this, nor would I ever do it....seems unfair to take rooms out of the 'pool' if there isn't a true intent to use them. Perhaps Disney will have to start requiring 'proof' or 'AP purchase' with AP codes. Not intended as a poke at the folks who are doing this, the rules allow it.

 

[justhat]

behappy, have never thought of the AP codes being misused in that way, but it does make sense. I just thought they were trying to prevent people from booking the AP rate, then never buying the AP but still using the rate for the hotel because no one checked for an AP. I thought they always checked for an AP at check-in when you used that rate, but then again I haven't used one in several years (past 2 trips we just used regular codes). That would explain though why the AP rates are often sold out so soon after release but then free up when regular codes came out. I always thought it was just something with Disney's computers trying to hold out on some rooms. Luckily I got my reservation straightened out and confirmed.

 

[raelee]

When I talked to CRO while booking my Dec. trip the guy told me that rooms people book with a code and then decide to cancel do not go back as "code price" rooms.

As I understood it, the rooms go back into the general pool of rooms.

So, does this mean that when people who book under AP rates to get a discount (not really intending to get AP just awaiting regular codes), that when they cancel the rooms they go back to the regular room pool and are not available as AP discount rooms??

That would really be a bummer! and also a reason for all of us on these boards to book AP code rooms only if we are buying AP's.

Before I get flamed, I am mainly asking the question as it was explained to me- cancelled code price rooms go back to the general pool.

 

[GoldenOldie]

Originally posted by raelee
...So, does this mean that when people who book under AP rates to get a discount (not really intending to get AP just awaiting regular codes), that when they cancel the rooms they go back to the regular room pool and are not available as AP discount rooms??...

That is correct. Cancelling a discounted room does not automatically equate with another discounted room becoming available to other people for rebooking. Each resort also makes their own decision about whether to participate in any discount programs and how many rooms they will offer.

Discounted rooms are offered based on projected occupancy of a particular resort. The lower the projected occupancy, the better the chances you'll see discounted rooms available. That occupancy is a very fluid figure since people are constantly booking rooms at Disney.

Where the occupancy may have been around 60% when you booked your AP rate room back in August, the rate may today be at 90% so there is no need to offer a discounted room.

Each hotel general manager checks these occupancy figures on a regular basis (daily, weekly, monthly, et al) and should they see a need for additional discounted rooms to be offered, they will add them to the available pool CRO draws from.

But in general, once a room is removed from the pool by booking it will not go back into the discounted room pool unless the resort manager so authorizes it.

 

[johndavid]

Dana_Buckley,

Right before our last trip in Feb of 2000, I had to switch reservations for 7 rooms from the CB to the WL. Since we were upgrading, they didn't charge us for changing the reservations. As I understood it, if we had gone from a deluxe to a moderate, there would have been a $10 charge for each change. The only charge I incurred was to have the the new paperwork expressed mailed. (I had to change the reservation 10 days prior to arrival.)