I discovered an interesting "fail-safe" method in the Magical Express reservations system.
I am traveling this year with a young married couple (my neighbors), their former roommate, his girlfriend, her five year old, and their one year old. We booked two rooms at POR and decided we wanted to stay in the mansions. Therefore, the five year old is on my reservation, so they were considered four to a room plus an infant.
The roommate and his girlfriend were on the fence about going, until I snagged free dining and it fell within their budget. While we were all able to get on the same flight going down, the tickets on our return flight had almost doubled. They did find another flight on the same airline that leaves about 5 minutes before we do with a layover. We will be on the same ME bus, so problem solved.
Here is the kicker:
I tried in vain to add the flight information for the departure flight for the five year old on my ressie and it would not accept it through CRO. After a few tries, a CM noted that I would have to call ME directly and they would most likely have me talk to a supervisor about it.
Sure enough, I called ME and was indeed told I needed to speak to a supervisor, but it would be no problem.
I verified for ME that the five year old was on my ressie for that very reason and why they couldn't take the same flight. I verified that our ressies were linked and her mother's name, flight number, etc. She checked the ressie and did indeed see the information. She noted that I called in the file, and explained to me that the system would not allow them to enter the correct flight number and my flight number would be listed on the ME packet. However, when we receive our ME info on our door the night before we leave, all the correct information will be on it for the child and we would most likely be on the same ME bus anyway.
She thanked me for my patience, realized that these things do occur from time to time. She explained Disney has a "fail-safe" in their system, that a parent cannot send a child off on another departure flight - like in the case of a custody battle where a parent would take their child to Disney, and then book them on a flight to a grandparent or another person in order to keep them from the other parent....... the system just will not allow someone to do that. Unless there were circumstances such as mine.
I found that incredibly interesting and made me feel better about knowing Disney does take many precautions for safety of their guests.
I am traveling this year with a young married couple (my neighbors), their former roommate, his girlfriend, her five year old, and their one year old. We booked two rooms at POR and decided we wanted to stay in the mansions. Therefore, the five year old is on my reservation, so they were considered four to a room plus an infant.
The roommate and his girlfriend were on the fence about going, until I snagged free dining and it fell within their budget. While we were all able to get on the same flight going down, the tickets on our return flight had almost doubled. They did find another flight on the same airline that leaves about 5 minutes before we do with a layover. We will be on the same ME bus, so problem solved.
Here is the kicker:
I tried in vain to add the flight information for the departure flight for the five year old on my ressie and it would not accept it through CRO. After a few tries, a CM noted that I would have to call ME directly and they would most likely have me talk to a supervisor about it.
Sure enough, I called ME and was indeed told I needed to speak to a supervisor, but it would be no problem.
I verified for ME that the five year old was on my ressie for that very reason and why they couldn't take the same flight. I verified that our ressies were linked and her mother's name, flight number, etc. She checked the ressie and did indeed see the information. She noted that I called in the file, and explained to me that the system would not allow them to enter the correct flight number and my flight number would be listed on the ME packet. However, when we receive our ME info on our door the night before we leave, all the correct information will be on it for the child and we would most likely be on the same ME bus anyway.
She thanked me for my patience, realized that these things do occur from time to time. She explained Disney has a "fail-safe" in their system, that a parent cannot send a child off on another departure flight - like in the case of a custody battle where a parent would take their child to Disney, and then book them on a flight to a grandparent or another person in order to keep them from the other parent....... the system just will not allow someone to do that. Unless there were circumstances such as mine.
I found that incredibly interesting and made me feel better about knowing Disney does take many precautions for safety of their guests.
