Hotel reservations and the park reservation bucket "hack"

[DLgal]

Okay, here is my situation.

Booked at DLH April 24-April 26

Booked at GCH July 2-5

Dream Key holders

Want to book parks April 30 and May 14. Currently no park reservations available for Dream Keys.

BUT

If I go through EITHER hotel reservation bucket, I can book these dates. I'm kinda shocked, honestly, that the July reservation will let me go back so far into April, but it will. I still can't even book my July dates yet.

Has anyone done this? It seems Disney is cool with you booking dates that fall WAY outside of your hotel stay.

Can I book these dates with the April hotel reservation bucket or will these future reservations be deleted once we check out? Is it safer to book them under the July reservation?

This seems like a great workaround for booked out weekends from now through summer, and I'm just wondering if anyone has actually done this successfully.

 

[DizMe]

Okay, here is my situation.

Booked at DLH April 24-April 26

Booked at GCH July 2-5

Dream Key holders

Want to book parks April 30 and May 14. Currently no park reservations available for Dream Keys.

BUT

If I go through EITHER hotel reservation bucket, I can book these dates. I'm kinda shocked, honestly, that the July reservation will let me go back so far into April, but it will. I still can't even book my July dates yet.

Has anyone done this? It seems Disney is cool with you booking dates that fall WAY outside of your hotel stay.

Can I book these dates with the April hotel reservation bucket or will these future reservations be deleted once we check out? Is it safer to book them under the July reservation?

This seems like a great workaround for booked out weekends from now through summer, and I'm just wondering if anyone has actually done this successfully.

I don't know the answer, but this is really interesting information! Thanks for posting about it. I would be very hesitant about using the April hotel reservation for the reason you mention; it seems very possible that your April 30 and May 14 reservations would disappear, but I really don't know!

 

[DLgal]

I don't know the answer, but this is really interesting information! Thanks for posting about it. I would be very hesitant about using the April hotel reservation for the reason you mention; it seems very possible that your April 30 and May 14 reservations would disappear, but I really don't know!

Yeah, I'm super curious! I suppose I could try it and if they disappear, simply re book using the other bucket.

 

[DizMe]

Yeah, I'm super curious! I suppose I could try it and if they disappear, simply re book using the other bucket.

It would be great to know! As long as you have enough key reservations in your cache then it might be a good idea to see what happens.

 

[cruisehopeful]

I've seen it like that since September. I have never booked a theme park reservation outside of the hotel stay in case it eventually gets noticed, but the option is always there that way.

 

[Astylla]

I've been using this "hack" for awhile just don't share it with the masses because well..working as Disney IT intended lol.

Also I had previously made a March reservation at GCH so made my park reservations. I had to cancel said stay due to work and forgot I made several park reservations for March and April in the hotel bucket using my dream key.

My reservations are still valid.

 

[Malcon10t]

I've been using this "hack" for awhile just don't share it with the masses because well..working as Disney IT intended lol.

Also I had previously made a March reservation at GCH so made my park reservations. I had to cancel said stay due to work and forgot I made several park reservations for March and April in the hotel bucket using my dream key.

My reservations are still valid.

Well, this will be fun now. People booking a room, making a reservation, then cancel the hotel.

That said, Disney has said if you cancel the reservation, they will cancel the park reservation. I know people were able to make reservations on expired tickets, but the reservations weren't valid at thee gate.

 

[sheilafri]

Well, this will be fun now. People booking a room, making a reservation, then cancel the hotel.

That said, Disney has said if you cancel the reservation, they will cancel the park reservation. I know people were able to make reservations on expired tickets, but the reservations weren't valid at thee gate.

Slightly different but back in the days of the fast pass at WDW, I booked under a hotel reservation. I later canceled it. It took a couple months but right before my trip I got emails saying my FPs would be canceled due to dropping the hotel reservation.

 

[DLgal]

Well, this will be fun now. People booking a room, making a reservation, then cancel the hotel.

That said, Disney has said if you cancel the reservation, they will cancel the park reservation. I know people were able to make reservations on expired tickets, but the reservations weren't valid at thee gate.

Ah, but if all the reservations are for BEFORE the check in date, it won't matter. They seem to give a window equal to the length of your ticket. When we stayed at GCH last summer on 5 day hoppers, we had a 14 day window of days to choose from. Now, with my magic key, they are giving me a 60 day window on either side of the check in date.

If Disney doesn't close the loophole, that's on them. I'm gonna take advantage. I just did, actually. Found out my kids have a minimum day next Friday and wanted to go to the parks after school, but no reservations available for Dream Keys. I just booked the reservation using my DLH hotel reservation bucket.

 

[PirateBrigade]

Chiming in here, this has been working this way for a while now, so I wouldn't begrudge anyone for taking advantage of a system that is built this way. I've added friends to my hotel reservations so they could book a park visit on their pass, but that's not a huge issue, since we would hang out in the hotel room, and to me, that makes them a guest, even if they're not physically sleeping there.

That said, the limiting factor would be the potential for getting locked out at the gate and having flown in for a trip. Less of a concern if you are local, but my gut says there are more out-of-towners staying in on-site hotels.

Personally, we're booked for mid-April, and due to a lack of park reservations, we booked a stay at PPH for +$700 over the JW Marriott with the sole intent to access the hotel bucket. Could I possibly cancel and flip back to the JWM? Yes, but I would risk reservations, and I've got too much invested (time off work, airfare, possibility of a disappointed kid, etc...) for the risk.

I don't foresee Disney "fixing" this anytime soon, because I think fear of reservation loss will keep the hoi polloi in line, this can't be that big of a leak for them. Also, if I were to cancel PPH and pick up a DLH reservation instead, I'm "in compliance" with the hotel bucket. If that triggers a cancellation of the park reservation, that's going to be a lot of work for someone.

 

[starlite_]

Chiming in here, this has been working this way for a while now, so I wouldn't begrudge anyone for taking advantage of a system that is built this way. I've added friends to my hotel reservations so they could book a park visit on their pass, but that's not a huge issue, since we would hang out in the hotel room, and to me, that makes them a guest, even if they're not physically sleeping there.

That said, the limiting factor would be the potential for getting locked out at the gate and having flown in for a trip. Less of a concern if you are local, but my gut says there are more out-of-towners staying in on-site hotels.

Personally, we're booked for mid-April, and due to a lack of park reservations, we booked a stay at PPH for +$700 over the JW Marriott with the sole intent to access the hotel bucket. Could I possibly cancel and flip back to the JWM? Yes, but I would risk reservations, and I've got too much invested (time off work, airfare, possibility of a disappointed kid, etc...) for the risk.

I don't foresee Disney "fixing" this anytime soon, because I think fear of reservation loss will keep the hoi polloi in line, this can't be that big of a leak for them. Also, if I were to cancel PPH and pick up a DLH reservation instead, I'm "in compliance" with the hotel bucket. If that triggers a cancellation of the park reservation, that's going to be a lot of work for someone.

Wouldn't the risk be gone if you went before the hotel reservation date tho? What are they gonna cancel if you already left the parks?

 

[PirateBrigade]

Wouldn't the risk be gone if you went before the hotel reservation date tho? What are they gonna cancel if you already left the parks?

Fair point, but I'm also thinking violating some T&C (that I can't find right now) and having an AP revoked.

 

[starlite_]

Fair point, but I'm also thinking violating some T&C (that I can't find right now) and having an AP revoked.

I suppose there could be a risk for APs.

 

[DLgal]

Fair point, but I'm also thinking violating some T&C (that I can't find right now) and having an AP revoked.

How would they prove intent, though? They can't prove that you didn't legitimately intend to stay at the hotel and then had something come up where you had to cancel last minute. As long as you are within the cancellation policy of the hotel reservation, they can't ding you for having made and used park reservations available through the hotel bucket link that THEY sent to you.

 

[PirateBrigade]

How would they prove intent, though? They can't prove that you didn't legitimately intend to stay at the hotel and then had something come up where you had to cancel last minute. As long as you are within the cancellation policy of the hotel reservation, they can't ding you for having made and used park reservations available through the hotel bucket link that THEY sent to you.

They couldn't, unless someone really spent the time to do a deep dive on someone's account activity -- that is, hotel reservations and park reservations.

I'm also having trouble finding any specific wording, term, regulation, or condition that reservations made using the hotel link are not valid if the underlying hotel reservation is cancelled.

Like, that's what I *feel* it should say, but I legitimately can't find it. If anyone sees it, please post it here!

 

[DLgal]

They couldn't, unless someone really spent the time to do a deep dive on someone's account activity -- that is, hotel reservations and park reservations.

I'm also having trouble finding any specific wording, term, regulation, or condition that reservations made using the hotel link are not valid if the underlying hotel reservation is cancelled.

Like, that's what I *feel* it should say, but I legitimately can't find it. If anyone sees it, please post it here!

There isn't any language on that at all. I've also looked. I've *heard* that some people were told that they *should cancel* their park reservations if they cancel the room reservation, but nothing says they HAVE TO.

 

[DontSpamMe]

Well so much for this "hack" staying quiet. Yes, been this way for a while. Any hotel reservation opens the hotel bucket for all dates before and after your reservation dates. Looks like it opens access about 90 days before a reservation.

I was always cautious about posting this publicly and was hoping it would never be published tbh. I imagine Disney will eventually catch on and close this loophole. Then again their site seems antiquated so who knows.

 

[PirateBrigade]

Well so much for this "hack" staying quiet. Yes, been this way for a while. Any hotel reservation opens the hotel bucket for all dates before and after your reservation dates. Looks like it opens access about 90 days before a reservation.

I was always cautious about posting this publicly and was hoping it would never be published tbh. I imagine Disney will eventually catch on and close this loophole. Then again their site seems antiquated so who knows.

Disney likely already knew about it, but spending staff time/resources to fix the issue and essentially kick people out of the parks didn’t seem worth it. How many people will want to front $500-700 for a hotel deposit to access the calendar? I’m sure plenty, but it’s a barrier. With a 5 day refundability/cancellation window, the risk of forgetting to cancel is a very real risk.

Most pass holders are grabbing the cancellations the day before, anyway.

I will say, though, that the extent of the problem is much more expansive than has been discussed here.

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

This thread is going into the territory of cheating the system. I'm going to go ahead and lock it now.