December booking question

[momimouse27]

I'd like a little advice, please!

I'm planning on suprising my daughter with a trip for her 18th birthday. Its in mid December, and we plan to take her in early December. I'm going to surprise her early so she can plan her whole trip herself...food, parks, everything. She will love that!

So, were getting a little extra bonus from my hubby's work that will allow me to put a deposit down right now. I know that there is a likelihood that Free Dining will become available during early December, and I want to take advantage of that, but I need to be putting up money until that happens. Here's where my question comes in...

If I go ahead now, and put a deposit down on two rooms, and continue paying on them, then whenever Free Dining becomes available what are my options? I know I can just cancel if I want, get the money back and rebook under free dining. But is there a possibility of rolling the money over into the free dining package? I've never tried doing this before. Have any of you? It would be much easier than waiting for a credit from Disney and then rebooking.

Thoughts and advice? Thanks!!

 

[g-dad66]

I think when I did this, I had to make a new reservation (even though it was the same resort) and had to (1) put down a deposit on the new reservation, and (2) get a refund of the deposit on the cancelled reservation.

 

[Networth]

I would not book anything yet. Disney has no reason to give discounts if they are selling rooms without them. They are really looking to curtail discounts if they can, why help their decision is my view. We will also go in Dec again this year but are waiting till closer to book for this reason. Why discount something you already sold.

 

[momimouse27]

I may end up having to just cancel and rebook when the deal comes out. They've offered the free dining for that time at least the last several years, so I'm pretty confident they will. On the off chance they don't, I feel like I need to book it just in case.

 

[siskaren]

I would not book anything yet. Disney has no reason to give discounts if they are selling rooms without them. They are really looking to curtail discounts if they can, why help their decision is my view. We will also go in Dec again this year but are waiting till closer to book for this reason. Why discount something you already sold.

But it sounds like the OP plans to go whether free dining is offered or not, so why not book now to guarantee that she had the room she wants?

And you don't have to cancel and rebook to take advantage of a discount that comes out after you book, unless you've booked a room only and switch to a package. If you have a package, you can call and have a discount applied if there's availability at your resort for your dates.

 

[momimouse27]

But it sounds like the OP plans to go whether free dining is offered or not, so why not book now to guarantee that she had the room she wants? And you don't have to cancel and rebook to take advantage of a discount that comes out after you book, unless you've booked a room only and switch to a package. If you have a package, you can call and have a discount applied if there's availability at your resort for your dates.

Yes, This is the basic question I wanted to ask...I do plan on going either way, and I want to figure out if I'll be able to book a room only, and then make it a package once the FD becomes available. It's in their best interest to upsell a room to a package, so I thought maybe I could.

 

[disneyerin]

I'd like a little advice, please!

I'm planning on suprising my daughter with a trip for her 18th birthday. Its in mid December, and we plan to take her in early December. I'm going to surprise her early so she can plan her whole trip herself...food, parks, everything. She will love that!

So, were getting a little extra bonus from my hubby's work that will allow me to put a deposit down right now. I know that there is a likelihood that Free Dining will become available during early December, and I want to take advantage of that, but I need to be putting up money until that happens. Here's where my question comes in...

If I go ahead now, and put a deposit down on two rooms, and continue paying on them, then whenever Free Dining becomes available what are my options? I know I can just cancel if I want, get the money back and rebook under free dining. But is there a possibility of rolling the money over into the free dining package? I've never tried doing this before. Have any of you? It would be much easier than waiting for a credit from Disney and then rebooking.

Thoughts and advice? Thanks!!

What a wonderful birthday present! My DH and I took our 19yr old DD to WDW last December and had the best time of our lives!!

 

[momimouse27]

We are also going to pay for her BFF to go, too. I want her to feel like since she's 18 and growing up, she and her friend can have a little fun planning it all. I can't wait to tell her...it'll be hard to keep it quiet.