just had the strangest phone call with FW

[Running_Bell]

We leave in 4 days for FW. I called to confirm everything and go over our requests if they can be honored. We have reserved a preferred loop... when I made my reservation...I was told that the preferred loops are 100,200,300.... but just now I was told by FW that they will move guests around to any loop to keep it "balanced". I asked if that would mean we could be put in a Full or a Premium and he just repeated himself and then said something like ..... "what you are thinking could be true, but we are required by law to say you could be placed anywhere, even if it means in a higher priced loop"... I said NO, I will not pay more than what we have already paid just because you want to balance the guests... he just kept repeating himself.

Now I know they cannot guarantee a loop... but if you've paid for a specific price tier... how can they force you to be in a higher priced loop.

IDK... this is only our third time at FW and I'm sure there is much about it that I don't know....but this call was just bizarre... it felt like I was either getting my palm read or talking to a politician.

Has anyone had this experience? Can they force us to be in a premium loop?

 

[BradyBz12]

I don't think they can force you to pay the difference because *they* have decided to put you in a Premium loop for some reason. I would think that would be more like when you get an upgraded room in another resort.... you don't pay more, it's just an unexpected "bonus."

The flipside of that *should* be that if they move you "down" from a preferred to full hookup, and you're ok with that, they should be providing you with a refund of the difference in price.

CMs at the Fort are very touchy about telling anyone ANYthing when it comes to what loop/site you'll be in. Seems like the orders are "don't promise them anything in case we need to move things around last minute".

But given that people book/budget their vacations based on specific site categories that Disney has set, I would not imagine they can mess with that in terms of what you're paying at least. That would be like showing up at POP and being told they were moving you to GF and you needed to cough up the difference.

Seems to me that they're moving towards a time when there's just one class of site to give *them* more flexibility when it comes to how they fill loops/sites. They've already started in that direction when it comes to pets, as they'll now put pets in just about any loop if they feel the need.

 

[ftwildernessguy]

I have never heard of anyone at any Disney resort being charged more for an involuntary upgrade.

 

[kaguilbeau]

I booked a preferred because loop 100, 200 or 300 (300 for a pet loop) was where I WANTED to be. I would not be thrilled to be moved to a premium, even if they did consider it an upgrade. Also, I'll have a tent - so I need the pad that the preferred site offers.

Let us know if anything different happens when you check in.

 

[DaveInTN]

I bet they will be "upgrading" many folks to Premium sites to "balance" things out for a while. I understand that some would not welcome that change, and will need to be vocal about their desires/needs. As has been discussed previously, they seem to have created more Premium sites than there is demand for such sites, at least at the price level they are currently at. However, I doubt they would have a need to "downgrade" folks from Preferred to Full hookup, as the remaining limited Full sites seem to be more in demand than the other site types. No need to "balance" anyone into those...they are already filling up due to demand.

So to the OP, if you would welcome a free upgrade to one of the Premium loops, just roll with it and see what happens. I sincerely doubt you would be charged extra. If you would truly prefer to remain in a Preferred loop you might want to call back and state that.

 

[Tri-circle-D]

This is interesting. On the Disney Cruise Lines, it is common for management to oversell the lowest cabin category in order to fill up the ship. Then, they upgrade folks to higher cabin designations. No one complains about this, as these are truly upgrades. They do not charge the guest for the higher category.

Perhaps the Fort management is thinking of using this technique to fill the premium sites that are currently overpriced. The thing is, some folks may actually want to be in a preferred or full site because of the location or their camping equipment, so a lot of folks would not be pleased with an "upgrade" to a premium site. I am sure that they would not ask anyone to pay the increased price associated with an involuntary upgrade.

It will be interesting to see if anything comes of this.

TCD

 

[Running_Bell]

I will let everyone know what happens. We aren't picky.... just didn't want to pay more than we had budgeted. Oddly, when I called to make the original reservations back in Sept, I requested a premium site. I was told they were all full and what was left were loops (preferred) - 100-300 and (Full) - 1600-1900... so we chose the preferred 100-300. So... with the lower price of the preferred, we saved enough to rent a golf cart for the day. Now, if we were to be asked to pay more... we would be over budget. I'm sure it will be fine... it was just an odd conversation, like he was reading a script and wouldn't deviate or directly answer any questions... like a stepford wives moment or like I had called Microsoft Technical support....

 

[2DIZNY]

We booked a preferred site for our August 2009 trip online in Feb 2009. When we arrived, we were "upgraded" to a premium site in the 600 loop. We wanted a preferred site because of the location. We were told there weren't any preferred sites available for our 12 night stay. We were not charged any additional money. It turns out that the 200 loop (preferred) was closed down for re-shrubbing before we left. Although we would rather have a site in 100 or 200, the 600 loop turned out nice for us.
After all, it's still Disney.

 

[BradyBz12]

Seriously hoping they're not going to try and push us out of a preferred to a premium in less than 2 weeks. We intentionally booked preferred pet over a year ago because we wanted to be in the 300 loop - which is an ideal location for us with our dogs. Hoping this won't be an issue because it's a slower time and they've already finished the maintenance to 300, but we'll stamp all 16 of our little feet if they try and drop us elsewhere.

 

[des1954]

Over the years we have been placed in sites higher priced than what we booked. We've never been charged the difference.

 

[HappyDznyCamper]

I will let everyone know what happens. We aren't picky.... just didn't want to pay more than we had budgeted. Oddly, when I called to make the original reservations back in Sept, I requested a premium site. I was told they were all full and what was left were loops (preferred) - 100-300 and (Full) - 1600-1900... so we chose the preferred 100-300. So... with the lower price of the preferred, we saved enough to rent a golf cart for the day. Now, if we were to be asked to pay more... we would be over budget. I'm sure it will be fine... it was just an odd conversation, like he was reading a script and wouldn't deviate or directly answer any questions... like a stepford wives moment or like I had called Microsoft Technical support....

Chances are, you got a call center CM not a FW CM. The published numbers for Disney resorts all go to a call center, the CM will answer as if he is at FW but really they are at call centers. If you got a real FW number from someone on the boards here, then keep it close as they are hard to find, if you called the number listed by Disney, you got a call center, which would explain the "scripted" feel.

 

[Shan-man]

If they upgrade me out of 300 they better have a space in 500 for me! Right next to Dave would be fine.

 

[BradyBz12]

If they upgrade me out of 300 they better have a space in 500 for me!

I was thinking the same thing Shan-man!

 

[ftwildernessguy]

I'm thinking you guys are stressing WAY too much over this.

 

[John I Haggerty]

I booked a perferred site for 13 nights in September and they put me in preminum 500 loop. No extra cost. However when I extended my stay one night, they got the preminum fee.

 

[DaveInTN]

If they upgrade me out of 300 they better have a space in 500 for me! Right next to Dave would be fine.

Aw shucks, I'm touched. But as I assume you are referring to Dave the Castle Guy, I checked the DIS calendar and he is arriving on 12/13 this year, which I think is later than last year. Unfortunately, we check out on 12/5, so will miss his awesome display this year. I really wish that whole work thing didn't get in the way, and I could spend the entire month of December at the Fort!

 

[laura-k]

I used to stay in 500 all the time ,but then the area I liked switched to premium and many of the trees where cleared and i really didn't care for it anymore now I am a preferred 300 happy camper usually -I hope they didn't switch to many sites over to the premiums so they will be "upgrading" you when you don't want to -
Laura-k

 

[BradyBz12]

We love 300 partly because of the location (and it being slightly cheaper since it's Preferred) but mostly because we're camping with 3 border collies and the proximity to the dog park and the dog walk along the canal make it really easy for us to make sure EVERYone has a good time. A tired dog is a good dog!