DON'T DO IT...split ressie nightmare...long story

[OurDogCisco]

The question that comes to mind is how much money did you save vs the cost of how much time you lost.

I personally never try to save money at the expense of losing vacation time. It is one of my highest vacation commandments. It costs too much to be there and every moment wasted has a value to it and not just in hard numbers. I see people here speculate about different things like whether to order groceries from one of the services vs getting a taxi and the first thing I wonder is how much time will be lost using a taxi? Obviously if something is considerably more expensive unless you invest the time you have to weigh it out but it has to be a pretty big margin.

You knew going in that there could be problems. With that information if my budget were tight I would rather eat a ham sammich in the room with a smile on my face than try to afford a dinner plan that had the potential of causing so much heartburn (pun intended).

Hopefully as time goes by the bad parts of the trip will fade away and all you will remember is a nice vacation with family.

I agree... to me TIME is more like money to me. I would never want to waste time talking to the front desk other than for checking in.

 

[HayGan]

We thought about adding just a few DDP days to our upcoming reservation but I'm so glad that we didn't based upon all the horror stories we hear!

I wish they would just offer you the option of buying a few days of it upfront. Those credits would be good for the length of your stay. I have to believe that a system like that would be far more simple than the horrible system that is in place now. I just have a feelling that given all the problems that they are just going to take away the ability to buy and DDP days for DVC stays.

 

[TisBit]

We thought about adding just a few DDP days to our upcoming reservation but I'm so glad that we didn't based upon all the horror stories we hear!

I wish they would just offer you the option of buying a few days of it upfront. Those credits would be good for the length of your stay. I have to believe that a system like that would be far more simple than the horrible system that is in place now. I just have a feelling that given all the problems that they are just going to take away the ability to buy and DDP days for DVC stays.

Yes, but the profit margin is not there. They hope that either A: you can't use all your credits or B: if you do use them all, you will have eaten at more on site places than if you didn't have the plan.

Years ago for our honeymoon, instead of the DP, you could buy dining credits and the more you bought the more you got (so if you purchased $300, it was worth say $360 in the restaurants). But it was hard to know, especially for newbies how much they needed and you usually bought extra to get a higher percentage bonus.

 

[BEASLYBOO]

Sorry to hear of your trouble and aggravation, and I'm so glad I don't do the DDP!!

 

[bumbershoot]

We thought about adding just a few DDP days to our upcoming reservation but I'm so glad that we didn't based upon all the horror stories we hear!

I wish they would just offer you the option of buying a few days of it upfront. Those credits would be good for the length of your stay. I have to believe that a system like that would be far more simple than the horrible system that is in place now. I just have a feelling that given all the problems that they are just going to take away the ability to buy and DDP days for DVC stays.

But then you'd end up with a dining plan like at Disneyland. And that plan is nearly good for nothing but paying for food up front.

Not to shift the onus off Disney, but why the heck would anyone do split stays and other stuff like that. You are only asking for trouble, especially once you throw in splitting the stay due to changes in the dining plan. Have we forgot out KISS, Keep It Simple Stupid. By making the reservations as you did you were only setting yourself up for failure (of course, the inverse of that is Disney was setting itself up for failure by allowing people to do this).

People wanted to be able to do the plan for parts of their stays. So Disney decided to do it. But they can't do it perfectly, consistently. This isn't a problem with the guests...if Disney couldn't do it they shouldn't have rolled it out.

 

[rentayenta]

You should have been able to book the DDP in as many ways as they allow without any glitches. It's their responsibility to keep it straight and if they're unable then they shouldn't offer the service.

I'm sorry, what a headache!

 

[appleorchard]

I don't know what's wrong with the Boardwalk's system, but we had SO many problems with our reservation, which was admittedly confusing but didn't include any dining plan! We did have people arriving and departing at different times, which seemed to completely confuse the front desk. DH's cc on the room key never worked, even though he had it changed twice. A frustrating trip with only a few bright spots on the front desk and some really unhelpful and uncaring CMs, so I empathize!

 

[BeesKnees]

You should have been able to book the DDP in as many ways as they allow without any glitches. It's their responsibility to keep it straight and if they're unable then they shouldn't offer the service.

I'm sorry, what a headache!

You are right. They shouldn't offer it if they can't handle it. By the same token if you go to a restaraunt and make your order super complicated you sort of have to expect that the chances of them getting it right has lowered. 4 changes in 7 days is very complicated and probably the perfect scenario for breaking the system.

When this option was rolled out they probably did not expect it to be used in this manner because most people would find the possibility of checking in and out 4 times distasteful. That would make it a deal breaker for me for sure. You even run the risk that someone has requested that room and you might have to pack up and leave.

We all know that the Disney of the past has faded and now part of the responsibility of having a nice time is on us. It is a shame but it is the new reality. If we try to hold them to the same standard we will be disappointed. It may have faded but it is still a great vacation experience if we don't tempt fate.

 

[trasor]

I split my ressie this stay because I was not spending every day at Disney. Half of my problems had nothing to do with the DDP. For me, it wasn't a hassle to get new cards every segment because I am up and ready early. The cards are ready and waiting at the front desk. My problem came in trying to split charging privileges which I have done in the past with no problem.

I personally don't travel on a budget and am not sure why people seem to think that you would only do the DDP to save $. I also like to use it when traveling with more than just my family. Right now, however, the DDP works for me. I have young children and use my table service credits at dinner. The DDP is $11.99 per child. 1 dinner character buffet is at least $17.99. That saves $ at dinner and your lunch and snacks are free. To me, that's not stupid, that's smart.

My time is worth more than my money and I didn't spend all my time at the front desk because I had nothing better to do. I didn't tell my story to "gloat" which is a completely innappropriate term since there was no malicous satisfaction or delight in my sharing. I didn't plan my vacation looking for trouble. To me, that's like saying no one should by park hopper and more tickets or non-expiration tickets because how can you expect Disney to keep track of where you've been and how many days you have left. I planned my vacation within the boundaries offered. Again, if Disney is going to offer it, they should be able to properly implement it. I took the time to tell my story as a cautionary tale for those thinking to segment.

 

[Tinker74]

Iam getting very nervous about my BWV stay .....sounds like a lot of the problems are coming from their front desk!

Iam so glad now i decided against changing dining plans during my stay. I initially thought it was a great idea and planned to do deluxe at first then switch to regular. But the more I thought about ...it seemed like a logistical nightmare waiting to happen..so instead I went with regular dining throughout my stay.

BUT...my first night is in a studio (cash)...followed by 6 nights 1 bed. ALL nights have regular dining...I hope they don't mess this up...

 

[robinb]

Wait. You had to go to the front desk TEN TIMES for their errors and you were never comped a single thing? Not points? Not money? Nothing? Really? That is not acceptable. None of it is acceptable.

 

[Ms. WDW]

Hummmmm...I have a segemented stay coming up in June. First 2 nights no DP then the next 6 I have the standard DP. I'll be alone the first two nights and really don't need all that food but then my brother and family come down and thought with the kids never being there, I could see a few character meals on the menu!! Well I hope since mine is not complicated it should be ok. But you know what happened to "should" right???