Help: Room Block Confusion!!

[Michelle2010]

I've just received our Letter of Agreement and I'm now confused about the room block. Can anyone help please?

1. The rooms in the LoA only add up to 25 nights which of course is the minimum, but it does not include all the dates we told them we planned to stay. Should I insist that all dates are included?
2. If we book through the room block can we pay to have the Disney Dining Plan added on?
3. In fact, do we even have to book through the room block? Or can we book direct using our AP discount and just provide the wedding planner with the reservation number(s) to qualify for the complimentary one night stay at GF?
4. It looks like we can make reservations through the room block now for our dates, whereas dates are only through to December on the Disney website. If we do subsequently discover that booking direct with AP discount is cheaper can we cancel our room block booking and re-book direct?
5. Also, can our guests buy the Ultimate tickets in the UK separately to the accommodation and dining plan, rather than buying Magic Your Way tickets?

TIA for any info.

 

[daveyc150]

Don't Panic!!!!

There always seems to be an awful lot of confusion around the room block and in reality it is pretty straight forward.

When you choose what rooms are going into the room block Disney will hold threse rooms up until a specific date after which they are realeased back for general sale. This allows your guests to be garunteed a room right up until that date. However you and your guests can book your rooms however you want, it doesn't matter whether it's direct through Disney or on your own through a travel agent.

As your wedding approaches someone from Disney will e-mail you about the room block, I think maybe at 5 months before. At this time they will ask you to give them details of any hotel stays that have been booked in relation to your wedding. All you then need to do is give the booking reference, name and hotel for each booking and they will look it up on their system and add it to your list.

If you and your guests don't book through Disney and the room block it doesn't matter! Even if people booked different hotels from the block it still counts (as long as it's Disney) to your total number of rooms. Rooms booked on your own don't come off the blocked list and these would still be held until the date specified by Disney. Also if you have a booking that last two weeks then each of those nights will also count.

Don't Stress - just book your holiday how you want and as long as in total you have 25 nights you will get your free one.

 

[lurkyloo]

DaveyC gave you some great info! Let me just add...

1. The rooms in the LoA only add up to 25 nights which of course is the minimum, but it does not include all the dates we told them we planned to stay. Should I insist that all dates are included?

Only if you think you need to have them reserved, like if it's a busy season and the hotels might sell out for those dates before your guests reserve.

1. If we book through the room block can we pay to have the Disney Dining Plan added on?

Yes. You just can't get free dining or any other promotion because you are already getting the wedding room block discount.

1. In fact, do we even have to book through the room block? Or can we book direct using our AP discount and just provide the wedding planner with the reservation number(s) to qualify for the complimentary one night stay at GF?

No, yes, no. No, you don't have to book through the block. Yes, you can book with your AP discount and give the ressie # to your planner, but it will only count toward you minimum, not toward the complimentary night. In other words, if you provided them reservation numbers for 25 nights, but only 10 of those nights were booked through the wedding room block and the rest were booked using AP, free dining, a pin code, etc., you would meet your block requirement but not get a free night.

This is a recent change, and if you just got your LOA, you may fall under the old rules where *any* room nights counted toward the free night. Check with your sales consultant.

1. It looks like we can make reservations through the room block now for our dates, whereas dates are only through to December on the Disney website. If we do subsequently discover that booking direct with AP discount is cheaper can we cancel our room block booking and re-book direct?

Yes, but, again, you would have to provide the new ressie numbers to your sales consultant to count toward the minimum requirement, and they would not count toward the complimentary night.

2. Also, can our guests buy the Ultimate tickets in the UK separately to the accommodation and dining plan, rather than buying Magic Your Way tickets?

If you want the dining plan added to your hotel stay, you have to buy a Magic Your Way package that includes at least a one-day base ticket per person. (The exception is annual passholders - I'm just not sure if you can book under the annual passholder rules to add dining w/o a ticket *and* book using the wedding room block - you might have to book outside the block if you are an AP). However, the UK's Ultimate tickets are a very good deal, so it might be worth paying for a one-day base ticket per person in order to add the dining plan and then buying an Ultimate Ticket separately - you'd have to crunch some numbers on that.

 

[Michelle2010]

Don't Panic!!!!

There always seems to be an awful lot of confusion around the room block and in reality it is pretty straight forward.

When you choose what rooms are going into the room block Disney will hold threse rooms up until a specific date after which they are realeased back for general sale. This allows your guests to be garunteed a room right up until that date. However you and your guests can book your rooms however you want, it doesn't matter whether it's direct through Disney or on your own through a travel agent.

As your wedding approaches someone from Disney will e-mail you about the room block, I think maybe at 5 months before. At this time they will ask you to give them details of any hotel stays that have been booked in relation to your wedding. All you then need to do is give the booking reference, name and hotel for each booking and they will look it up on their system and add it to your list.

If you and your guests don't book through Disney and the room block it doesn't matter! Even if people booked different hotels from the block it still counts (as long as it's Disney) to your total number of rooms. Rooms booked on your own don't come off the blocked list and these would still be held until the date specified by Disney. Also if you have a booking that last two weeks then each of those nights will also count.

Don't Stress - just book your holiday how you want and as long as in total you have 25 nights you will get your free one.

Thanks for the advice David and good luck with your wedding, it is getting close!

DaveyC gave you some great info! Let me just add...




Only if you think you need to have them reserved, like if it's a busy season and the hotels might sell out for those dates before your guests reserve.



Yes. You just can't get free dining or any other promotion because you are already getting the wedding room block discount.



No, yes, no. No, you don't have to book through the block. Yes, you can book with your AP discount and give the ressie # to your planner, but it will only count toward you minimum, not toward the complimentary night. In other words, if you provided them reservation numbers for 25 nights, but only 10 of those nights were booked through the wedding room block and the rest were booked using AP, free dining, a pin code, etc., you would meet your block requirement but not get a free night.

This is a recent change, and if you just got your LOA, you may fall under the old rules where *any* room nights counted toward the free night. Check with your sales consultant.



Yes, but, again, you would have to provide the new ressie numbers to your sales consultant to count toward the minimum requirement, and they would not count toward the complimentary night.



If you want the dining plan added to your hotel stay, you have to buy a Magic Your Way package that includes at least a one-day base ticket per person. (The exception is annual passholders - I'm just not sure if you can book under the annual passholder rules to add dining w/o a ticket *and* book using the wedding room block - you might have to book outside the block if you are an AP). However, the UK's Ultimate tickets are a very good deal, so it might be worth paying for a one-day base ticket per person in order to add the dining plan and then buying an Ultimate Ticket separately - you'd have to crunch some numbers on that.

Thanks Carrie, I'm glad we can 'mix and match' between the USA and UK options! I'll check with my co-ordinator about the room night minimums (because it isn't clear on the LOA ) and then do some maths