Missing first night of reservation

[Roobear77]

I was reading the thread about changing an existing reservation and of course now think I have screwed up. I had booked a Mon-Fri trip with free dining for December, but then found out we may have to change it to Sun-Thurs due to flight availability. So I called today and was successful in adding a night so the reservation is now Sun-Fri, and I figured I would drop the first or the last when I know our flight options. Now I know that likely won't be possible, and I may be eating the cost of a night we won't be there. If we don't show up till the Monday, is that a problem? Do we still get the dining credits for 5 nights even if we are only physically there 4?

 

[StitchesGr8Fan]

If you don't show up until Monday they may cancel your entire reservation as a no-show. Happened to a member of my group after they had called and confirmed multiple times that they were going to be very late (4:30 am). Happened again when a co-worker tried to remove a night on the front of the trip. Got a confirmation of the new arrival date and everything. Arrived on the new arrival day and the whole reservation had been cancelled.

 

[Roobear77]

If you don't show up until Monday they may cancel your entire reservation as a no-show. Happened to a member of my group after they had called and confirmed multiple times that they were going to be very late (4:30 am). Happened again when a co-worker tried to remove a night on the front of the trip. Got a confirmation of the new arrival date and everything. Arrived on the new arrival day and the whole reservation had been cancelled.

Ugh, this makes me so nervous now. Bad enough to waste money, but to arrive and have no reservation??
What did the people do in each situation? Did Disney fix it?

 

[StitchesGr8Fan]

In one case Disney did not fix it because they had no rooms available (marathon weekend). In the other the co-worker bunked with a fellow employee for one night and was able to get their iwn room for the remaining 2 days.

Seriously, do not risk it. If you do not show up the first night you will be considered a no show and your whole reservation will be cancelled and you will not get any money back. That is pretty standard at any hotel and you shouldn't expect Disney to be different.

 

[Roobear77]

I guess seeing as I booked a package and it will be paid in full before I even arrive, I don't really understand why they would cancel my whole reservation if I was delayed by a day due to travel issues for example.

Would it make a difference if I did online check in on my first day? It's not like they are going to do a bed check....

 

[bigbabyblues]

Probably not, because there is no guarantee you will get to skip the front desk with online check in. Some people do, some people don't, and there doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to it.

 

[busymommy2pink]

I would rather be out the deposit for two reservations. One for each situation. I would have my husband book a room under his MDE and I would book one. I wouldn't want to risk not having a room, then cancel whichever one doesn't work when my flights are settled.

 

[Nancyg56]

You have an option, but it may not include your discount. Once yourr flights are settled, call back and try to adjust. You may be able to rebook but lose your discount. Better that than show up an be "homeless. Diseny does nto need to "fix" something that is nto their mistake. Also, keep in mind that if they do have rooms available, you will probably pay rack rate, and you may not be able to stay at the class you booked, so look at those deluxe rack rates. They make me faint.

 

[Roobear77]

I would rather be out the deposit for two reservations. One for each situation. I would have my husband book a room under his MDE and I would book one. I wouldn't want to risk not having a room, then cancel whichever one doesn't work when my flights are settled.

I considered this, but his MDE is linked to mine, which would mean the 4 people he has on his reservation are the same 4 I have on mine, and I understand that they can cancel a "duplicate" type reservation.

Diseny does nto need to "fix" something that is nto their mistake.

The reason I asked about the "fixing" in the example given from the previous poster was because he had a confirmation number for his new dates. So in that case, it was Disney's mistake.

We will know within the next month the flight situation (flight details will be released first week of June). Until then I will just fret. I realize that if I want to fly with my discount carrier, I will have to try to adjust the dates with Disney. If I can't adjust the dates, then I will have to decide between taking my chances with online check in and hoping for the best, or sucking it up and paying to fly with another carrier at a higher cost (but hey, an extra day at Disney, so yay!).

 

[MakiraMarlena]

If you don't show up during the check-in period (a hotel "day" lasts until they run an inventory which is done around 5-6 am), that will forfeit your reservation, whether you did online check-in or not. Even if your reservation is a package. They'll know whether you entered the room or not. the system can even tell whether or not you checked in for DME. I would imagine that paying for the flights would cost less than losing the entire room reservation.

See if you can book another reservation with the dates you need to match up with your flights. Then you can keep one and drop the other. If you can't get that with free dining, then you're out of luck though. The only issue with this is whether they allow double booking with the same main name on two reservations.