FD frustrations.....

[wdw4rfam]

OK, was all booked for months now in a garden room at POLY. We were hoping for FD, but I KNOW there was a chance those would not be available for FD. As I watched everyone get their pins, and then Visa members.....yup, got on the phone this morning and after an hour of holding, NO GARDEN ROOMS. Only club level, which took me almost to my pre-discount amount. Which is great to get club level for the same price as garden room I had booked with dining, but really wanted to save money. It seems I am seeing a lot of people also having to upgrade rooms to add FD. So my question is, Are the cheaper rooms very limited or do they even release them at all (I know they SAY they do)? Not just at POLY, but ANY resort. And do they ever add more later?

 

[Lehuaann]

OK, was all booked for months now in a garden room at POLY. We were hoping for FD, but I KNOW there was a chance those would not be available for FD. As I watched everyone get their pins, and then Visa members.....yup, got on the phone this morning and after an hour of holding, NO GARDEN ROOMS. Only club level, which took me almost to my pre-discount amount. Which is great to get club level for the same price as garden room I had booked with dining, but really wanted to save money. It seems I am seeing a lot of people also having to upgrade rooms to add FD. So my question is, Are the cheaper rooms very limited or do they even release them at all (I know they SAY they do)? Not just at POLY, but ANY resort. And do they ever add more later?

Yes, categories open up all the time.

From what I have observed through the years; Disney starts with a limited block of FD rooms, then releases more throughout the promotional time period. This could be due to an ongoing release of inventory that was initially partitioned for pincodes, events, conventions, etc.

For example; I have a FD pincode which expires in a few weeks (7/28)- same dates as GP FD. The pincode shows resort availability, in almost every category, during my trip dates - however the GP FD does not.

My guesstimation is - once that pin expires, those rooms may go into the GP FD pool.

As a DVC CM once told me - Disney is THE king of numbers and bundling. So my advice is to keep checking the website everyday.

 

[discookiemonsta]

It seems I am seeing a lot of people also having to upgrade rooms to add FD. So my question is, Are the cheaper rooms very limited or do they even release them at all (I know they SAY they do)? Not just at POLY, but ANY resort. And do they ever add more later?

Honestly, earlier this morning, after reading so many people's posts about having to upgrade rooms or switch to a more expensive resort altogether, I was beginning to wonder the same thing!!! I have a FD pin and I was able to use it for my standard room at ASMo, but all of these posts make me wonder what would have happened to my reservation if I would have had to try and get FD this morning?

 

[EpcotBill]

Something else that may be part of the problem is there are fewer Standard rooms this year. Disney keeps making up new categories leaving very few Standard and Garden View rooms. Just look at what they did at POR, now we have Standard, Garden, Preferred, Water View, River View, Royal Guest rooms Standard, Garden and River views. Did I leave anything out? So most people getting the new free dining at POR are being forced to upgrade.

 

[wdw4rfam]

I'm hoping they will open more. There are garden rooms still full price, so maybe when the pin codes expire, i will keep checking.

 

[USCAnna]

So question...my family REALLY wants to stay at the POLY next year, but the 5900 price tag is a little scary. Do you suggest that I go ahead and book the room now to guarantee that I have a spot at this resort and *HOPE* to get a discount code? I am a teacher, so I am really limited to the 2 month summer break to take my family for an extended vacation. I don't even know if they will offer any discounts during the peak season. We are really hoping to stay at the Polynesian...just a little taken aback by the cost!!! Any thoughts from more experienced Disney people would be awesome!

 

[Sammie]

When free dining opened up many lower cost rooms were already booked leaving only the higher priced rooms open for them to offer.

Also many times guest will book the lowest cost room at a resort they want to stay and hope that a discount or free dining comes along and of course by having that booking they are actually shutting themselves out of what they really want.

Disney looks at the occupancy levels at each resort before they decide if they need to even offer a discount or free dining.

 

[GovieMom]

That's awful about having to upgrade at the Poly of all places, since even their basic garden-view rooms are so expensive. Geesh! We had a basic standard-view room at the Beach Club booked, and were able to get the free dining without upgrading. That was lucky, whew!

 

[Kmygrl73]

We had been booked at POR standard room for months now for November and when I called today, I had to pay the extra for the water view which totally drives me crazy!!! but if there is no other way for the free dining I guess we have to pay the extra....

 

[mickeynut1]

OK, was all booked for months now in a garden room at POLY. We were hoping for FD, but I KNOW there was a chance those would not be available for FD. As I watched everyone get their pins, and then Visa members.....yup, got on the phone this morning and after an hour of holding, NO GARDEN ROOMS. Only club level, which took me almost to my pre-discount amount. Which is great to get club level for the same price as garden room I had booked with dining, but really wanted to save money. It seems I am seeing a lot of people also having to upgrade rooms to add FD. So my question is, Are the cheaper rooms very limited or do they even release them at all (I know they SAY they do)? Not just at POLY, but ANY resort. And do they ever add more later?

Anything is possible, so I would definitely keep checking.

I'm hoping they will open more. There are garden rooms still full price, so maybe when the pin codes expire, i will keep checking.

If the garden rooms are nearing capacity but not totally booked up, they will still be offered at rack rate, but not necessarily at a discount.

So question...my family REALLY wants to stay at the POLY next year, but the 5900 price tag is a little scary. Do you suggest that I go ahead and book the room now to guarantee that I have a spot at this resort and *HOPE* to get a discount code? I am a teacher, so I am really limited to the 2 month summer break to take my family for an extended vacation. I don't even know if they will offer any discounts during the peak season. We are really hoping to stay at the Polynesian...just a little taken aback by the cost!!! Any thoughts from more experienced Disney people would be awesome!

If you will stay at the Poly regardless of whether or not a discount is offered, I say book now so your guaranteed to get what you want. If you will stay there only if a discount comes out for your dates, I would wait as booking that room now will mean Disney is one room closer to capacity. As those rooms get booked, there will be no need to offer them at a discount later on.

 

[saskdw]

OK, was all booked for months now in a garden room at POLY. We were hoping for FD, but I KNOW there was a chance those would not be available for FD. As I watched everyone get their pins, and then Visa members.....yup, got on the phone this morning and after an hour of holding, NO GARDEN ROOMS. Only club level, which took me almost to my pre-discount amount. Which is great to get club level for the same price as garden room I had booked with dining, but really wanted to save money. It seems I am seeing a lot of people also having to upgrade rooms to add FD. So my question is, Are the cheaper rooms very limited or do they even release them at all (I know they SAY they do)? Not just at POLY, but ANY resort. And do they ever add more later?

Really quite simple. As much as we would all like to think WDW is some magical place where dreams come. It is a business. They are trying to make as much money as possible. FD isn't pixie dust, its a promotion to fill rooms that they are having trouble filling. They aren't going to give you a deal on your terms, if you want the deal its on a room they want filled, not a room they have people lined up to fill. Unfortunately the room your after isn't one they feel they need to discount to fill right now.

 

[sherirs04]

Yep. We were forced to pay for preferred room at ASMo today. Which almost makes me want to cancel. I am going to keep checking for the standards to open up. Hopefully like everyone is saying, they will open up. This whole experience today and the lack of fd dates compared to last year has kind of sucked the fun out of this vacation already.

 

[Phatoomch]

FD is to fill rooms. No-one is being forced to upgrade but plenty of people are. Makes perfect business sense to me

 

[Phatoomch]

Yep. We were forced to pay for preferred room at ASMo today. Which almost makes me want to cancel. I am going to keep checking for the standards to open up. Hopefully like everyone is saying, they will open up. This whole experience today and the lack of fd dates compared to last year has kind of sucked the fun out of this vacation already.

what terrible thing was going to happen if you didn't?

 

[kddisney502]

Have you looked into moving you dates slightly? I've been looking at possible dates for moving our vacation using the online booking. By just arriving on Monday instead of Sunday, I'm able to get any room I choose. If I checked in on Sunday, I could only get the highest price rooms. This seams to be the case at the 4 resorts I'm considering. But that could just be the week and those particular resorts.

I can understand the frustration with the Poly resort, but I wonder if room discounts come out that might be a better deal than FD. For us, it's only 2 adults, so a 30% room code at a deluxe is a better deal than FD.

 

[navywifetill2002]

I have the FD for our September trip. I booked with the Visa deal but didn't get ASMo (DD's choice), I had to take ASSp. TA called back when FD opened for the general public and she could get me into ASMo for the same price. Guess once the deal went public there were more rooms available.

 

[saskdw]

what terrible thing was going to happen if you didn't?

 

[mad madam mim78]

We had been booked at POR standard room for months now for November and when I called today, I had to pay the extra for the water view which totally drives me crazy!!! but if there is no other way for the free dining I guess we have to pay the extra....

I was able to get a standard room at PoR with FD. It is end of October beginning of November so I don't know if dates make a difference.

 

[smidgy]

Yep. We were forced to pay for preferred room at ASMo today. Which almost makes me want to cancel. I am going to keep checking for the standards to open up. Hopefully like everyone is saying, they will open up. This whole experience today and the lack of fd dates compared to last year has kind of sucked the fun out of this vacation already.

we tried for movies, too, on wed. (disney visa holders). no luck. only preferred.
we went with music

I have the FD for our September trip. I booked with the Visa deal but didn't get ASMo (DD's choice), I had to take ASSp. TA called back when FD opened for the general public and she could get me into ASMo for the same price. Guess once the deal went public there were more rooms available.

rats. didn't thinkf of that! oh well.

the thing is Movies has very few standard rooms anymore. only love bug and mighty ducks are standard. all of fantasia, toy story and dalmations are preferred..

ya know, I don't even know if movies went with a pool view (like pop did). in which case, a whole bunch of mighty ducks rooms would no longer be standard either.

the cool thing is how close these resorts are to each other. back in 2002, we had a room at movies in the mighty ducks section. it was a closer walk for us (albeit through a parking lot) to the music bus stop and food court and main pool. ) i think music is in the middle.
when we stayed at music in 2007 (I think) we often grabbed a sports bus if it came first.

 

[Magic2000]

With the rumor of FD coming, I priced out rooms at POFQ. At the time, I could only choose Garden View Or the King Rooms. But then yesterday, I was able to book a standard room with the free dining!!!