How close to check in date can you switch resorts?

Kristi391

Mouseketeer
Joined
Feb 3, 2007
Messages
317
Hello all,

I am taking my 7 year old nephew on a long weekend trip to WDW at the end of January. The plan was for my mom to come along too. We are booked right now with a room only reservation at POR. As life goes, my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer last month (stage 0, very early detection so very thankful for that). She was scheduled for a lumpectomy on December 13 with a follow up appointment on the 21st to discuss findings and if she even would need radiation. Her doctor told her to absolutely still plan on going on the trip. Well, this week she came down with Bell's Palsy and is now on a bunch of meds that would interfere with surgery next week. She was so upset when her doctor called today to tell her the surgery was rescheduled for January 10, as she was really hoping it would be over and she'd have some answers about any more treatment needed by Christmas and be able to enjoy that and start getting more excited for the trip. The new surgery date is exactly two weeks before our departure date.

Due to all of these events, she is not sure she will be able to still go. She plans to talk to her doctor early next week and see what she says. But she really won't know how she feels until after the surgery. If she is not able to go, I would probably switch to a value, since it would just be me paying for it (and the 7 year old would love to stay in the Mighty Ducks section of Movies). Is there a cut-off before check in as to when you can switch resorts? I am really hoping that it doesn't come to that and mom is able to go, and just relax and enjoy herself for a few days, but I want to have a back up plan to save some money if she can't go.

Thanks,

Kristi
 
The biggest issue is availablity. Do you have a room only or a package? For a room only you can change 6 days before. But there’s no guarantee there is any room available to move to.
 
The biggest issue is availablity. Do you have a room only or a package? For a room only you can change 6 days before. But there’s no guarantee there is any room available to move to.

Thank you. We have a Room Only and I know there is the possibility that there won't be anything available, I just had no idea what the cut off time was for switching. Thanks again.
 
I was able to modify my reservation online just 2 days before I arrived this past weekend - without penalty. We were booked at Grand Floridian Dec. 2 -5 in an outer building deluxe room with a public discount. On November 30, I was able to change it to garden view standard with an AP discount - saved myself quite a bit of money. I checked every single day, multiple times per day from the time I booked it in August until we were ready to get on the plane!

My reservation number remained the same, the deposit remained the same since the new room was now less per night - and we owed the difference between the new lower room total and the old deposit upon check-in.

I was completely surprised how much the inventory changed in the week leading up to our scheduled arrival. I expected some movement outside of the 5-day cancellation window, but rooms kept popping up even just a couple of days before we arrived.

I also had a similar situation with the hurricane in September - we left it up to the last minute to decide if we were going. 36-hours before we were scheduled to arrive I modified the reservation online to a different resort for the following week - no penalty.

One thing you cannot do, is change the lead on the reservation - so, I would make sure that whatever reservation you have is under your name now. Otherwise, it would not be a modification, but rather a cancellation (which must be done 5 days ahead of arrival on a room-only in order not to incur a penalty) and a new reservation.

I'm very sorry that your mother is going through all of this.
 

I was able to modify my reservation online just 2 days before I arrived this past weekend - without penalty. We were booked at Grand Floridian Dec. 2 -5 in an outer building deluxe room with a public discount. On November 30, I was able to change it to garden view standard with an AP discount - saved myself quite a bit of money. I checked every single day, multiple times per day from the time I booked it in August until we were ready to get on the plane!

My reservation number remained the same, the deposit remained the same since the new room was now less per night - and we owed the difference between the new lower room total and the old deposit upon check-in.

I was completely surprised how much the inventory changed in the week leading up to our scheduled arrival. I expected some movement outside of the 5-day cancellation window, but rooms kept popping up even just a couple of days before we arrived.

I also had a similar situation with the hurricane in September - we left it up to the last minute to decide if we were going. 36-hours before we were scheduled to arrive I modified the reservation online to a different resort for the following week - no penalty.

One thing you cannot do, is change the lead on the reservation - so, I would make sure that whatever reservation you have is under your name now. Otherwise, it would not be a modification, but rather a cancellation (which must be done 5 days ahead of arrival on a room-only in order not to incur a penalty) and a new reservation.

I'm very sorry that your mother is going through all of this.

Thank you! That is good to know. If it turns out she can't go and there is no availability, I will just keep looking. The reservation is in my name, so no worries there. Also, thank you for the kind words. She will get through all of this, but getting there is stressful.

Kristi
 
I can't add to the cancellation policy, but wanted to send good wishes for you and your mother. We were facing a similar situation last year (though not with a Disney trip involved). Here's hoping the process goes smoothly!
 
Thank you! That is good to know. If it turns out she can't go and there is no availability, I will just keep looking. The reservation is in my name, so no worries there. Also, thank you for the kind words. She will get through all of this, but getting there is stressful.

Kristi

I'll reiterate what the PP said regarding changing the reservation. As long as there is availability, you can change it at ANY point up until check-in. The 5-day deposit forfeiture policy only applies to outright cancellations of a reservation, not a modification.
 
I'll reiterate what the PP said regarding changing the reservation. As long as there is availability, you can change it at ANY point up until check-in. The 5-day deposit forfeiture policy only applies to outright cancellations of a reservation, not a modification.
This:thumbsup2
 
You can cancel a room only reservation 5 days prior to check in with no penalty (they will refund your one night up front payment). The problem you may have is finding availability at the new resort you will be booking. You might want to book the 'new' resort ASAP just in case, then wait till it gets closer to cancel your original reservation. At least that's what I would do.
 
You can cancel a room only reservation 5 days prior to check in with no penalty (they will refund your one night up front payment). The problem you may have is finding availability at the new resort you will be booking. You might want to book the 'new' resort ASAP just in case, then wait till it gets closer to cancel your original reservation. At least that's what I would do.

I was actually thinking of doing that, as Movies does have availability. When I spoke with my mom earlier this week, she was feeling pretty optimistic that she would be going. She was going to be speaking with her doctor the next day and I haven't talked to her since. I am just really hoping she can come with us.
 

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