funkbucket007
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Sep 27, 2001
- Messages
- 209
Probably the most non-magical moment I've ever had with Disney. Here's a bit of background before I get into the conversations we had with two CMs yesterday. My wife is a school teacher & we had planned our trip over Fall Break (10-8 through 10-15). With her job, me being a professional firefighter & having our two boys (one of which will be in the 3rd grade at the time of the trip), we have to be pretty selective of our vacation dates & don't have much wiggle room. We wouldn't have actually arrived until 10-9 (Saturday) because we drive through the night. I always reserve the extra night on the front end so when we arrive at 4:00 am, we have a room instead of waiting until 3:00 pm check-in. It's worth it to me & has never been a problem. We had already paid our vacation in full & were kind of hoping we'd catch a promotion or a PIN.
Fast forward to yesterday. I get an email saying that Free Dining has been extended, however, our dates are one of the "blackout" times. I figured why not add another night onto the front end (10-7) & then Free Dining would be included throughout our vacation. Maybe I'm technically abusing the system but hey, I'm trying to save money & would be paying for 2 extra nights total that we wouldn't have even been there. We go to Disneyworld every year for at least 7 days, stay on property, etc. & have never caught a break so do I feel bad about manipulating it to work for us? Not really. Regardless, I was at work & with the possibility of having an emergency call & having to hang up mid conversation, I had my wife call.
After a 30 minute hold she finally spoke with a CM & explained exactly what we wanted to do. He told her that if we weren't there on our check-in date that they'd cancel the reservation completely so we couldn't do that. She explained that we reserve the room an extra night every year for the reasons I mentioned above & have never had an issue in the past. She also asked how they were going to cancel a reservation that we'd already paid $3000 in full on, regardless of when we arrived. He then said, "Yeah, well...now you're talking 2 nights instead of 1 that you wouldn't actually be here. They'll cancel it. Nothing I can do for you." So first they'll cancel it if we're not there until the day after our scheduled arrival, we explain that that's never been the case & then it turns into okay...but with 2 days they will? My wife voiced her displeasure & he asked if she'd like to speak with a Supervisor. Of course she did. 15 minutes later a Supervisor is on the line & is basically saying the same thing. So my wife says, "So if our reservation starts on 10-7 & we're not there until early in the morning of 10-9 they'll cancell my pre-paid reservation but if I'm there early in the morning of 10-8, everything is fine?" The Supervisor confirmed this as being true & my wife told her to do it & we'd get there on Friday somehow.
All in all, we got back $500 & got an extra CS & TS credit that we can use on 2 meals that we were going to pay for OOP. It's worth it but it was a HUGE hassle. We're part of a Grand Gathering & our other party called & were treated wonderful...no issues at all. Other than wanting to rant a little, I thought maybe this would be helpful to someone so they know what to expect & that's the only reason I posted this.
Have a magical day.
Fast forward to yesterday. I get an email saying that Free Dining has been extended, however, our dates are one of the "blackout" times. I figured why not add another night onto the front end (10-7) & then Free Dining would be included throughout our vacation. Maybe I'm technically abusing the system but hey, I'm trying to save money & would be paying for 2 extra nights total that we wouldn't have even been there. We go to Disneyworld every year for at least 7 days, stay on property, etc. & have never caught a break so do I feel bad about manipulating it to work for us? Not really. Regardless, I was at work & with the possibility of having an emergency call & having to hang up mid conversation, I had my wife call.
After a 30 minute hold she finally spoke with a CM & explained exactly what we wanted to do. He told her that if we weren't there on our check-in date that they'd cancel the reservation completely so we couldn't do that. She explained that we reserve the room an extra night every year for the reasons I mentioned above & have never had an issue in the past. She also asked how they were going to cancel a reservation that we'd already paid $3000 in full on, regardless of when we arrived. He then said, "Yeah, well...now you're talking 2 nights instead of 1 that you wouldn't actually be here. They'll cancel it. Nothing I can do for you." So first they'll cancel it if we're not there until the day after our scheduled arrival, we explain that that's never been the case & then it turns into okay...but with 2 days they will? My wife voiced her displeasure & he asked if she'd like to speak with a Supervisor. Of course she did. 15 minutes later a Supervisor is on the line & is basically saying the same thing. So my wife says, "So if our reservation starts on 10-7 & we're not there until early in the morning of 10-9 they'll cancell my pre-paid reservation but if I'm there early in the morning of 10-8, everything is fine?" The Supervisor confirmed this as being true & my wife told her to do it & we'd get there on Friday somehow.
All in all, we got back $500 & got an extra CS & TS credit that we can use on 2 meals that we were going to pay for OOP. It's worth it but it was a HUGE hassle. We're part of a Grand Gathering & our other party called & were treated wonderful...no issues at all. Other than wanting to rant a little, I thought maybe this would be helpful to someone so they know what to expect & that's the only reason I posted this.
Have a magical day.
) call the hotel and make the necessary changes. I will tell you that Disney is extremely understanding during these situations. I had to make numerous changes during the snowstorms this past winter, and Disney did not once charge my clients change/cancellation fees, etc. They could not have been more understanding or willing to work with me and my clients. That is the reason I work with Disney Travel sooo much. I wish I could say that the cruise lines or other tour operators were as understanding 
Have a great trip and glad you were able to work it out.
