? for those who took the free night incentive..

[danjulia]

Just wondering if you have booked your hotel stays and was it easy to get the dates you wanted? I will be firming up my add on at BCV later today and we think we are going to take the free nights since I can't initially reserve the vacation I wanted for next March (due to not being able to bank/borrow until June). So we were thinking of taking the free nights and splitting next march's vacation between BCV and, hopefully, the Polynesian. Any thoughts or feedback would be appreciated! Thanks.

Also, how soon will I be able to make the Poly resv provided I give my deposit on credit card today?

 

[IslandHap]

We took the free nights (7 & 3), and yes, we have made one of our two reservations.

You will not be able to make any reservations for your free nights, untill several things happen. You have to be approved (if your financing). All your paper work has to be complete and in Disney's hands. And, your cancelation period (14 days after you sign the papers) must have expired.

After all that, you can make a reservation up to 7 months in advance, or as little as one week in advance. All reservations must be made by June 1st, 2003, and completed by July 1st, 2003.

We made reservations for the last part of May at the Polynesian. This was our fourth choice of resorts, but we were told YC&BC, and Boardwalk Inn were not available. We wanted to eventualy stay at the Poly anyway, so I really can't complain.

I do suspect that these "free nights" have some sort of limited availability beyond the standard room only restriction, but I can't find anybody who can tell me one way or the other for sure.

 

[oshun]

Yes, we booked our 3 nights with no problem getting the August weekend that we wanted. We are staying at the Poly. From what I understand you just have to wait for the 14 day cancellation period after you sign your papers. Best Wishes!

 

[danjulia]

so based on what you are saying, I cannot make March 2003 resv at the Poly until 7 months prior? Can I make them as a cash resv now and then change them later? Oh, I'm so confused - don't know whether to take the $ or the free nights...

 

[Happy Birthday Cat]

I took the dollars off my add on at the BCV.

I did this because I have a September use year and therefore won't get the points until this coming September. Since I'm not going back to WDW until next year, I don't need the free room to stay anywhere before September.

If I wanted to go this July or August and wasn't going to get my points until September, I would have taken the free nights. Remember you can't borrow points until closing so that really would matter if you wanted to go soon.

good luck deciding.

 

[IslandHap]

danjulia...

I doubt Disney would let you switch your cash ressie to your free night stay, although you could ask your guide/MS. You could cancel your cash ressie after you make your free stay ressie.

 

[mad_cheshire_cat]

danjulia--
From what I understand you can make your ressie for the Poly
14 days after you sign your papers. We asked our guide if we could make the cash reservations while waiting for the 14 day period but she said that you can not switch the ressies. She said that there are rooms alotted for the free nights and they are standard rooms only.
You could book cash and then after 14 days call and make free night ressies, then cancel the cash ressie; but not really sure if this would do you any good.
Best Wishes!

 

[donmil723]

danjulia-You can book your free nights stay as soon as your paperwork is in completed and received status which is 15 days from the date you signed the papers providing there are no complications. However, you can only book 7 months in advance.

We took the free night stay hoping to use it in May when we already had a trip scheduled. Was able to book 4 nights of the 5 nights at Poly and hope to be able to get the 5th night yet. We could have stayed at the BWI but you have to use elevators there not stairs if you are on any floor besides 1st or 2nd. My DH is claustrophobic and has panic attacks on elevators. AKL was also available but we chose to hold out for the Poly.

We also had cash reservations at the Poly for those dates but cannot switch them. We can cancel with CRO and then try to rebook them with MS but there is a good chance that the room will get rebooked by CRO before MS would have a chance at it.

If our dates do not come through in May, we will use it next spring. I don't think you will have any trouble booking 7 months out. Cancellation policies are the same as CRO, cancel before 5 days prior.

IslandHap--What dates did you get for the Poly? We need 5/20-5/25 and was able to get 5/21-5/25. We could have gotten BWI for all 5 nights but that was our fourth choice! LOL!

 

[IslandHap]

donmil723...

Our stay includes days over the Memorial Day weekend. I'm sure that's why we couldn't get one of the Epcot resorts. I hope you are able to get your additional night at the Polynesian.

For others, the free night stays are for up to the amount given. For example, if you only wanted to use 5 nights of your free 7 night stay that's not a problem. You would just loose the other 2 free nights.

Also, someone on the board was able to get Disney to give them 2 free 5 night stays, instead of a 7 night and a 3 night. If you have special needs, it never hurts to ask.

 

[donmil723]

It's true! We bought 260 points and were supposed to get a 7 night and a 3 night free stay but I asked for 2 - 5 night free stays instead and our guide was able to get it for us as we wanted to use them at the same time.